The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

Totally the scariest most disgusting book I have ever read. With vivid descriptions of Ebola and other similar viruses and their effects on human and other animal tissues, this book is both horrifying and disgusting. Parts of the book seemed rather slow and unnecessary and I skimmed over those, but still, I will never forget this book. And now, with Ebola on the rise and people being brought into the US to be treated, it is totally freaking me out. Very scary virus.

Never Say a Mean Word Again by Jacqueline Jules

This beautifully illustrated children's book retells a medieval Jewish legend about how it is better to make a friend of your enemy than to do something destructive to him. In this story, Samuel is a rich Jewish boy and Hamza is a poor Muslim boy. As Samuel tries to make sure that Hamza never says anything bad about him again, his attempts backfire and result in friendship - a better solution anyway. I think this is a lovely book and it should be in all libraries and I think it shares a timely message. I received this book free to review from Netgalley.

If...: A Mind-Bending New Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers by David J. Smith, Steve Adams

With cute, fun illustrations, this book puts extremely large numbers into a new perspective. From the size of our galaxy to the age of the earth to life expectancy, population, food and more, this book gives a unique look at the size of the numbers involved. For example: "If all the enerty sources in the world were represented by 100 light bulbs... fossil fuels would power 81 of the 100 light bulbs." I think this book is fabulous and should be in all school libraries and all public libraries. It is a fun, informative book to share with children and people of all ages. I received this book free to review from Netgalley.

100 Tough Questions about God and the Bible by Stephen Miller

I received this book free to review from Netgalley. I found it to be well-written and easy to read. The author takes on 100 questions about God and the Bible and gives a variety of answers to each question explaining which people or groups back each answer. I like that the author gives a variety of answers and does not insist on any one of them being "correct", rather he just explains a variety of thoughts on each topic. I like this approach and find it refreshing. I imagine people who insist that the viewpoint that they agree with is the only correct one will not like this book, but I enjoyed it very much.

Garden Friends by Ed Ilkin

I found this to be a very informative and helpful gardening book. It is written for gardeners in the UK and some of the plants and animals mentioned are not found in the US where I live, but I still found it interesting and I learned a lot from it that will help me in my gardening. With chapters about plants and fungi, birds, mammals, insects and many other critters, composting, which plants help one another when grown together and more, this book contains excellent information to help the beginning gardener. I received this book free to review from Netgalley.

The Caller (Shadowfell, #3) by Juliet Marillier

This is an excellent final book in a fabulous young adult fantasy trilogy. Unlike some trilogies that start out with a bang and end with a whimper, this trilogy is consistently excellent all the way through. Neryn has only a little time to complete her training before the planned rebellion and so she goes to see the White Lady, the third Guardian, to learn the magic of the air with only Whisper, the owl-like Good Folk as her companion. The story alternates between Neryn and Flint as they both struggle to keep the plan of the rebellion moving forward so that they can end the cruel, tyrannical reign of King Keldec and his evil wife, Varda. Neryn is loyal, good and brave and always puts the kingdom first. Action, adventure, romance, magic and intriguing plot twists abound in this satisfying last book of the trilogy. I received this book free to review from Netgalley.

Raven Flight (Shadowfell #2) by Juliet Marillier

Another totally excellent book! Neryn, who is now 16 years old, must be trained in order to be a Caller so she must seek out the four Guardians of Alban. Traveling with Tali, she must go to the four corners of the kingdom to be trained and still meet a deadline. In this book, she visits the Sea Hag, who leaves her alone on a rock in the open ocean, and the Lord of the North, who has put himself into a sleep that no one has been able to awaken him from for several hundred years. Her love for Flint grows and the danger that he is in as he serves the king grows as well. There is more magic, romance, action and adventure in this second book and I look forward to reading the third one!