Kristen's Favorite Books
Updated October 19, 2007
These are books that I own and cherish. I recommend them to all of my friends. They make great gifts, too.
Animals
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Dog Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook
This is an excellent book to help dog owners keep their dogs healthy and treat their pets when they become injured or ill.
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Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook
This is an excellent book to help cat owners keep their cats healthy and treat their pets when they become injured or ill. I'm a cat owner, and this book has saved the day several times when the veterinary clinics have been closed. It also helped me learn how to nurse my cats back to health and treat them for illness at home rather than in a cold, scary veterinary hospital.
Arts and Crafts
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Knitter's Handbook : A Comprehensive Guide to the Principles and Techniques of Handknitting
I've looked at lots of books about knitting, but this one is by far the best reference book. I've yet to find a knitting question that can't be answered in this book. I only disagreed with the author on one point. She suggested that uneven stitches are a sign of poor craftsmanship, but I actually love uneven stitches for that handmade look.
Business
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Homemade Money: Bringing in the Bucks! A Business Management and Marketing Bible for Home-Business Owners, Self-Employed Individuals and Web Entrepreneurs Working from Home Base
If you want to start a home-based business, and you've never managed a business before, this is the book to get. It's easy to read and understand but gives you as much information as a good business management class.
Family
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The Pregnancy Book: Month-by-Month, Everything You Need to Know From America's Baby Experts
My absolute favorite guide to pregnancy and birth.
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The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two (Revised and Updated Edition)
My absolute favorite guide to babies. I agreed with it
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The Discipline Book: How to Have a Better-Behaved Child From Birth to Age Ten
I wish more parents understood child discipline like this.
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Becoming the Parent You Want To Be: A Sourcebook of Strategies for the First Five Years
Hey, I'm not the only parent with issues after all.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics Guide to Your Child's Symptoms: The Official, Complete Home Reference, Birth Through Adolescence (Guide to Your Child's Symptoms)
Every parent needs this book. If your child has a symptoms of an illness or injury, this book will walk you through yes/no questions to help you determine if your child needs to see a doctor. It has a section just for infants, a section for older children, a section for teenager, a section that illustrated first aid techniques, and a section with tips about how to avoid illness and injuries in the first place. It's the first book I grab whenever my children are ill or hurt.
Food
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Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book
I love homemade ice cream, and this book is the best for inspiring your ice cream creations. You'll be making gourmet ice cream and inventing your own recipes in no time.
Genealogy
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The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy(Revised Edition)
If you want to know where you can find a record in the US, this is the book to you need.
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Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian
Citing your sources is one of the most important aspects of genealogy research. This book will help you format citations for many of the sources you will encounter in your research.
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The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual
If you want to present your information in a way that future genealogists (maybe your grandchildren) can clearly understand, you need to do it in a standardized way. This book explains the standards used by the majority of professional genealogists and all BCG certified genealogists. It's a bit technical to read, but it supplies lots of example reports, and you can base your own report formats on those examples.
Happiness (Psychology, Philosophy, and Spirituality)
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The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching
This is an excellent introduction to Buddhism. Inspiring, no matter what religion you practice.
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The Dhammapada
I love this translation. Inspiring, no matter what religion you practice.
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The Nag Hammadi Library
Scripture they didn't teach in Sunday school. Inspiring, even if you don't take it literally.
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The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament: A New Interlinear Translation of the Greek New Testament, United Bible Societies' Third, Corrected Edition With the New Revised Standard Version, New
I love the footnotes and seeing how translation affects interpretation. Inspiring, even if you don't take it literally.
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Who Wrote the Bible?
A must read for anyone who finds inspiration in the Bible.
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Encyclopedia Of Wicca & Witchcraft
Wicca and Witchcraft are highly misunderstood; there's actually no Satanism or concepts of evil involved. Even if you don't believe in the mythology, the principles are inspiring.
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Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
A more detailed look at the daily practices of Wiccans, which makes the religion less mysterious for the rest of us.
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Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
Amazing little pieces that remind you to stay mindful of the moment.
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Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings
An excellent philosophy book for the beginner thinker.
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Philosophy, Third Edition
Great if you want to learn the basics of philosophy without straining your brain.
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Man's Search for Meaning
An amazing story that will certainly convince you of the importance of finding meaning in your life.
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The HarperCollins Concise Guide to World Religion: The A-to-Z Encyclopedia of All the Major Religious Traditions
An excellent reference for learning about or researching many religions.
Money
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9 Steps to Financial Freedom: Practical and Spiritual Steps So You Can Stop Worrying; Revised and Updated Version
The most honest guide to getting control of your finances by changing the way you think about money.
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Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom
A new way to think about wealth.
Writing
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The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Mythos Books)
A must read for fiction writers.
...by Feed