Tag: non fiction

Non-fiction Book Review: Big Kids, Bigger Feelings by Alyssa Blask Campbell & Rachel Stuart Lounder

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Non-fiction
Length: 288 pages
Author: Alyssa Blask Campbell & Rachel Stuart Lounder
Publisher: Harvest
Release Date: September 16th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the coauthor of Tiny Humans, Big Emotions, a guide to supporting children’s social and emotional growth through the elementary school years (ages 5–12), a critical but often-overlooked developmental stage.

TOO OLD FOR TANTRUMS

TOO YOUNG FOR TEENAGE DRAMA

Meltdowns. Name-calling. Hitting, kicking, and hair pulling. Except, these aren’t the toddler years. Why is your elementary schooler still having these outbursts?

Long thought of as years when parents can finally enjoy calmer kids and deal with less emotional volatility and tears, the elementary school years are anything but. During these pivotal years, our children navigate a new set of social and emotional challenges. From playground bullying to cliques and exclusion, ever-increasing academic challenges—and plenty of physical growth and hormonal changes thrown in the mix—the elementary school years are more complicated than most parents realize.

Big Kids, Bigger Feelings is the guide you need to help your child thrive during these developmentally complex and wonderful years. The social and emotional skills you provide your children with now will prepare them for a lifetime of self-advocacy and stronger emotional intelligence. Campbell’s revolutionary Collaborative Emotion Processing (CEP) method, used in preschool and elementary school environments, teaches you how to work with your children to help them understand how they are feeling and process their big emotions in healthy, constructive ways. Discover how

Teach kids to handle unkind behaviors and set boundaries. Help kids learn to regulate themselves when they feel angry, sad, and upset, Manage technology use in a safe and healthy way, Navigate puberty, body changes, sex, drugs, and other important topics, Develop a deeper connection with your child. The elementary school years are rife with change—from changing bodies to changing social structures—and there’s never a better time to help your kids handle these ever-increasing challenges so they can thrive today and tomorrow.  

WORTH THE LISTEN.

I’m fairly anti-self help/parenting books because I’ve seen many lean on them TOO much, but occasionally I want to read one and touch base with how I’m feeling towards how I’m parenting and I thought this was a good listen.

I liked that it wasn’t a one size fit all or you MUST do it this way. There were multiple mentions of studies and recent data about everything from risky behaviors to screen use. I liked the implementation ideas and that reading this didn’t make me feel like I was a bad parent.

There were some ideas I hadn’t considered or want to look into more and I think that’s the sign of a good non-fiction book too. Will I take every single thing here and use it? No and that’s okay (and the point honestly). I found enough to ponder that I think it’s a solid read if you’re looking for a little extra help.

Overall audience notes:

  • Non-fiction
  • Language: none

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Book Review: No Dumb Questions by Jason and Travis Kelce

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Rating: ★★★.5
Audience: Non-fiction
Length: 240 pages
Author: Jason and Travis Kelce
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: June 2nd, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Jason and Travis Kelce – brothers, Super Bowl champions, and New Heights podcast hosts – tackle their first book, No Dumb Questions, where the 92%ers get in on the fun to ask questions about sports, science, relationships, and whatever category “how many holes does a straw have” falls into.

This fraternal duo has dominated the football field and the podcast charts alike. Now, they take on a new opponent—life’s greatest mysteries—with spirited answers to their fans’ most burning questions such

What is a “down”? (Is it, like, dropping the ball?)IN THE Why don’t players squirt their own water? What would you do if you lived in a split household who root for rival schools? Which brother lifts the heaviest weights in the weight room? Do you pour the cereal into the bowl first, or the milk? MAD If you could make one of your body parts detachable, which would you choose? And so much more…
Packed with a slew of famous guests, insider football knowledge, and everything fans have wanted to know about growing up Kelce, No Dumb Questions perfectly captures the Kelce brothers at their wisest and funniest, no matter the subject.

Thank you to LibroFM for the gifted audiobook.

YEAH, I’M NOT SO SURE.

I’ve listened to many episodes of this podcast but I’m not an AVID listener. I just catch things here or there so I feel like that helped me not be totally annoyed by this audiobook.

So let me explain.

This audiobook is a bunch of podcast clips put together. There’s a forward from both Jason and Travis but besides that, they didn’t actually WRITE anything. I’m curious what a physical copy of this looks like because of this fact. It ended up feeling like I was just listening to a bunch of reels in a row. Since I happened to have not seen most of these before I still gave me some enjoyment and chuckles.

I feel like if you listen to this podcast regularly there’s no point in you picking this up.

Overall audience notes:

  • Nonfiction
  • Language: mild

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Non-Fiction Book Review: Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Non-Fiction
Length: 294 pages
Author: John J. Ratey
Publisher: Little Brown Spark
Release Date: January 10th, 2008
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A groundbreaking and fascinating investigation into the transformative effects of exercise on the brain, from the bestselling author and renowned psychiatrist John J. Ratey, MD.

Did you know you can beat stress, lift your mood, fight memory loss, sharpen your intellect, and function better than ever simply by elevating your heart rate and breaking a sweat? The evidence is incontrovertible: Aerobic exercise physically remodels our brains for peak performance.

In Spark, John J. Ratey, M.D., embarks upon a fascinating and entertaining journey through the mind-body connection, presenting startling research to prove that exercise is truly our best defense against everything from depression to ADD to addiction to aggression to menopause to Alzheimer’s.

Filled with amazing case studies (such as the revolutionary fitness program in Naperville, Illinois, which has put this school district of 19,000 kids first in the world of science test scores), Spark is the first book to explore comprehensively the connection between exercise and the brain. It will change forever the way you think about your morning run — -or, for that matter, simply the way you think.

GREAT READ.

This was mostly preaching to the choir because I know on a deep level how valuable and important exercise is (and how it has saved me more than once in my life). BUT I had a lot of fun listening to the studies and anecdotes of the research available on the incredible power of exercise. While it’s from 2008 so more information is available now I still found it a solid read.

If you’ve ever wondered about the nuances of what exercise does on the cellular level, for mental health, and for conditions like ADHD, Alzheimer’s, dementia, etc. definitely check this out. I liked the audiobook format! But it is also available on KU too.

I also appreciated that this wasn’t anti-medicine. He discusses the importance of both in some situations or starting with medication too. It just well emphasized that exercise should be added more often into treatment plans.

Overall audience notes:

  • Non-fiction
  • Language: none

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Book Review: The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom by Shari Franke

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Memoir / True Crime
Length: 320 pages
Author: Shari Franke
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: January 7th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From eldest daughter Shari Franke, the shocking true story behind the viral 8 Passengers family vlog and the hidden abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, and how, in the face of unimaginable pain, she found freedom and healing.

Shari Franke’s childhood was a constant battle for survival. Her mother, Ruby Franke, enforced a severe moral code while maintaining a façade of a picture-perfect family for their wildly popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which documented the day-to-day life of raising six children for a staggering 2.5 million subscribers. But a darker truth lurked beneath the surface—Ruby’s wholesome online persona masked a more tyrannical parenting style than anyone could have imagined.

As the family’s YouTube notoriety grew, so too did Ruby’s delusions of righteousness. Fueled by the sadistic influence of relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt, together they implemented an inhumane and merciless disciplinary regime.

Ruby and Jodi were arrested in Utah in 2023 on multiple charges of aggravated child abuse. On that fateful day, Shari shared a photo online of a police car outside their home. Her caption had one word: “Finally.”

For the first time, Shari will reveal the disturbing truth behind 8 Passengers and her family’s devastating involvement with Jodi Hildebrandt’s cultish life coaching program, “ConneXions.” No stone is left unturned as Shari exposes the perils of influencer culture and shares for the first time her battle for truth and survival in the face of her mother’s cruelty.

THE STRENGTH.

That’s the over arching emotion I had while listening to this book, rage. It’s hard to put into words thoughts about someone’s journey so this isn’t going to be a long review.

I think it was a powerful testament of Shari’s journey and what she went through. It’s incredibly well written and does not shy away from the deep wounds that have been created from this situation. The abuse and manipulation of Shari and her family went through is difficult but important to understand.

This helped me gain an even firmer stance on how I choose to keep my kids offline and the dangers social media and certain personalities can have on those around them.

I hope for peace and healing for all of those involved.

Overall audience notes:

  • Non-fiction memori
  • Language: none
  • Violence: high
  • Content warnings: discussions of multiple types of abuse throughout

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