Best Crafts, Hobbies & Home
By renovating homes in Waco, Texas, and changing lives in such a winsome and engaging way, Chip and Joanna have become more than just the stars of Fixer Upper , they have become America’s new best friends. Even back then Chip was a serial entrepreneur who, among other things, ran a lawn care company, sold fireworks, and flipped houses. Four children and countless renovations later, Joanna garners the attention of a television producer who notices her work on a blog one day. The time Chip ran to the grocery store and forgot to take their new, sleeping baby Joanna’s agonizing decision to close her dream business to focus on raising their children When Chip buys a houseboat, sight-unseen, and it turns out to be a leaky wreck Joanna’s breakthrough moment of discovering the secret to creating a beautiful home Harrowing stories of the financial ups and downs as an entrepreneurial couple Memories and photos from Chip and Jo’s wedding The significance of the word magnolia and why it permeates everything they do The way the couple pays the popularity of Fixer Upper forward, sharing the success with others, and bolstering the city of Waco along the way. Chip Gaines and his wife, Joanna Gaines, are co-founders and co-owners of Magnolia Homes, Magnolia Market and Magnolia Realty in Waco, Texas. Hand in hand is exactly how Chip prefers to work, which makes Fixer Upper even more fun to watch, and he enjoys seeing his and Joanna’s passions merge to complement and serve one another.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"They have overcome adversity and have built a life full of love, family, talent, professionalism keeping their faith first and foremost."
"Great reading couldn't put it down made me smile,laugh and see some things in life we all go through similar."
"I have been a huge fan of Joanna and Chip right from the very first show."
"This is a must read for all Fixer Upper fans."
"I found the back story of how the Gaines met, and got started, to be very interesting, and I would recommend this book to others … particularly someone who enjoys the TV show or has a passion for revitalization."
"Reading the history that led to "Fixer Upper" is fascinating, and it just makes me love the Gaineses and the show all the more. So The Magnolia Story is not a literary marvel, but it does appear to be true to who the authors are in real life (or at least on TV)."
"Chip and Joanna serve as role models for a marriage and individuals alike with their kind hearts and loving ways."
"I can't even imagine my husband making those kinds of decisions without my input, but their relationship comes off as very balanced despite these peculiarities."
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing Japanese organizational consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly declutter your home once, you'll never have to do it again.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I grew up in a cluttered house and married the King of Clutter (he's the type of person who'll open a credit card bill, pay it online, and then just leave the empty envelope, inserts, and bill itself randomly strewn on whatever surface happens to be nearby). It's a breath of fresh air and positive energy that brings real joy to the process of "tidying up." My clothes are all mine (which also means that they're in nowhere near as terrible a state as other things in my house), so going through them affects only me and involves only my own feelings. Her advice may sound silly at first, but if your belongings inspire feelings of unhappiness, guilt, etc., her anthropomorphism of them can really help you change your viewpoint in a positive direction. That is likely to carry a different level of meaning for someone in Japan than in the U.S. Other references to spiritual practice and feng-shui are not likely to resonate the same way for an American audience. There is a lot of discussion of travel toiletries, but very little about kitchen utensils, toys, or other items found most often in a family home. I'm now a week in, and 6 months seems like hardly enough time to tackle all the junk in my house, but I can fully see how this can be a life-changing process."
"I was browsing Pinterest one day and stumbled upon the "konmari method" and was intrigued, so I bought this book for kindle and read it in about an hour. I always thought I was a very organized person (because everything I owned had a designated, labelled place and my house was always super clean), but after reading this book I realized I was nothing more than a skilled hoarder. I probably discarded well over 100 bags of clutter in that 6 weeks and earned over $400 selling the big-ticket items via social media, which I used to make my house prettier."
Wired.com says, "If you're a LEGO fanatic (or know one), The LEGO Ideas Book is worth taking a look at." ©2016 The LEGO Group. He is the author of DK's New York Times bestselling The LEGO Book, The LEGO Ideas Book, LEGO Batman Visual Dictionary and LEGO Play Book.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I remember the Lego Idea Book 6000 the best, that's the one that follows Bill and Mary as they build a house, explore a city, travel to space, and then back in time to a medieval castle. The book is broken up into sections, essentially these are: vehicles, buildings, spaceships & robots, castles, pirates & adventure, and real world creations. This last section is very interesting, showing you things such as picture frames and pencil holders made out of LEGO. These include some interview style questions where you learn about the builder who wrote a particular section of the book. The lack of instructions also mean that it is probably more suited to an experienced LEGO builder - either an older child or a parent who enjoys building with younger children."
"The designs were all really cool, but we're far too complex for young kids."
"The perfect gift for kids who already have enough Legos."
"This book is much bigger than I expected!"
"I got this for my autistic cousin who enjoys legos."
"Really cool interesting ideas - my grandson loves to invent and try new ideas - great item."
"The kids liked this book filled with creative ideas for more lego masterpieces!"
"Disappointed in this book."
Best Antiques & Collectibles
Wired.com says, "If you're a LEGO fanatic (or know one), The LEGO Ideas Book is worth taking a look at." ©2016 The LEGO Group.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I remember the Lego Idea Book 6000 the best, that's the one that follows Bill and Mary as they build a house, explore a city, travel to space, and then back in time to a medieval castle. The book is broken up into sections, essentially these are: vehicles, buildings, spaceships & robots, castles, pirates & adventure, and real world creations. This last section is very interesting, showing you things such as picture frames and pencil holders made out of LEGO. These include some interview style questions where you learn about the builder who wrote a particular section of the book. The lack of instructions also mean that it is probably more suited to an experienced LEGO builder - either an older child or a parent who enjoys building with younger children."
"This is like an engineering version of a DK Publishing tour guide book, but for legos."
"The designs were all really cool, but we're far too complex for young kids."
"The perfect gift for kids who already have enough Legos."
"This book is much bigger than I expected!"
"Nice hardcover book with plenty of photos of various things (scenes, vehicles, themed) in lego form."
"grandson loved the book."
"The kids liked this book filled with creative ideas for more lego masterpieces!"
Best Crafts & Hobbies
Through a series of creative and quirky prompts, acclaimed guerilla artist Keri Smith encourages journalers to engage in destructive acts — poking holes through pages, adding photos and defacing them, painting pages with coffee, coloring outside the lines, and more — in order to experience the true creative process. “ Wreck This Journal encourages you to stop fretting about quality and start relishing the artistic process.” —Oprah.com. “I love this book and the playful way that Keri Smith teaches people the act of creating by putting you right on the spot. Wreck This Journal is a fun, interactive book that you will want to work in every day. “Wreck this Journal makes a great gift for someone who's going through a stressful time, needs a form of release, or anyone who could use a few minutes of fun.” — Jactionary. “Calling all bookworms and creative doodlers, Wreck This Journal is the perfect book to spruce up your summer. “A conceptual artist and author luring kids into questioning the world and appreciating every smell, texture and mystery in it.” — TIME Magazine.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I never even realized I was creative until this book came around."
"Somewhere in the book you will find a page that tells you to attach a string to the spine of the book and swing wildly."
"Never in my life would I think I'd find myself scouring the windowsills and corners of the garage to collect dead bugs (yes, really...there's a page for that) - but there are some petrified flies carefully enclosed in tape in my journal."
"I bought 3 of these as gifts."
"Really creative and fun, the recipient (age 14) was intrigued and kept flipping through pages to read the suggestions and laughing out loud."
"Ordered one for myself and one for my niece."
"My daughter loved the book."
"Bought for my daughter this is her 2nd book and she loves them."
Best Event Planning
![The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner & Organizer [binder edition]: Worksheets, Checklists, Etiquette, Calendars, and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51HW4bRQNhL._SS600_.jpg)
For the first time, the go-to wedding website, The Knot, has compiled all their essential planning tools—and dozens of new ideas—into this beautiful wedding organizer. From the author of The Knot Complete Guide to Weddings in the Real World, a thoroughly modern, must-have workbook to help you pull off the perfect wedding.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The difference between this and the binder addition: 1 page on rings. 1 page on marriage license. honeymoon planning section. budget tracker. seating chart list. The binder is just easier to plan with, bigger pages and filling things out in a book is difficult (especially when it comes to copying forms).I also think the layout is a bit better in the binder."
"I've added some sections and taken out sections that aren't applicable and I hole punch every vendor quote or email I get and place them in the correlating section. For example, if you're like me and say : you and your honey decide to take a long weekend trip to the mountains in October and it's August, and then you obsess over planning EVERY.SINGLE.DETAIL until you actually leave - you're going to be exhausted. You're going to be so burnt out from planning what time you leave, what time you get back, triple checking your Airbnb reservations, making dinner plans for at least one night, what you're going to pack and "is the weather going to cold?" Make sure you give yourself a break from planning every so often :)."
"I wish more reviews would have mentioned this but I know I was lucky enough for my friend to be honest about how much she would actually use of this binder. The binder itself is stiff beautiful, it came in great condition and was very easy to follow, it was somewhat didsheartwning to know how much money I spent on it tho only to see my friend fly through entire sections saying she wasn't going to do something that traditional or complicated."
"The entire binder looked like it went through a grinder before they sent it to me."
"Will be kept to look back on for years to come after her wedding."
"I also like how you can add pages to the binder so that you can keep all your contracts and receipts in one spot... One thing I would recommend though is prioritize what you want and don't want for your wedding before opening this book!"
"Not as helpful if you are good at planning, I already pretty much had everything in mind when I purchased it so I will probably only use it to keep track of everything for the day-of and hand it to my day-of coordinator."
"So full of ads and gross topics."
Best Gardening & Landscape Design
In The Drunken Botanist , Amy Stewart explores the dizzying array of herbs, flowers, trees, fruits, and fungi that humans have, through ingenuity, inspiration, and sheer desperation, contrived to transform into alcohol over the centuries. An Amazon Best Book of the Month, March 2013 : Peppered with fascinating facts and well-chosen anecdotes, Amy Stewart’s brisk tour of the origin of spirits acquaints the curious cocktail fan with every conceivable ingredient.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Just last night, I went to a booksigning with Amy Stewart for "The Drunken Botanist", the first time I'd heard Stewart speak. I laughed when Amy said that when she was researching her previous book, "Wicked Bugs", she had no volunteers to help her. What sets Amy's book apart is that she is a horticulturist, and she tells you about the fabulous plants that make or go into all the different kinds of fermented beverages man has come up with. The book is divided into three parts: 1. For example, the chapter on sugar cane (in part 1), tells you: - the first and current places sugarcane is cultivated and how it is cultivated. - the botany of sugarcane. - how to make rum. - spirits made from sugar cane. - how rum became linked to British sailors. - drink recipes. Did you know that the British navy had rum rations for it's sailors until 1970! I miss Briony Morrow-Cribbs' and Jonathan Rosen's incredible drawings and engravings that were such enchanting - and vigorous - enhancements to Stewart's previous books, Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects and Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities."
"Any hipster would appreciate learning about this hard to find drinks."
"Am highlighting places to check out on our trip to Italy this summer."
"Along with some history the author includes cocktail recipes which utilized some more obscure liqueurs."
"Anyone who enjoys plants and booze of any kind--beer, spirits, cocktails, wine, etc.--must read this book!"
"It's a very cool little book, and I learned quite a bit in the short amount of time I leafed though it."
"purchased as a gift, great little book full of lots of info for the gardener /drink lover in your life."
"Really fun to read and learn!"
Best Home Improvement & Design Books
By renovating homes in Waco, Texas, and changing lives in such a winsome and engaging way, Chip and Joanna have become more than just the stars of Fixer Upper , they have become America’s new best friends. Even back then Chip was a serial entrepreneur who, among other things, ran a lawn care company, sold fireworks, and flipped houses. Four children and countless renovations later, Joanna garners the attention of a television producer who notices her work on a blog one day. The time Chip ran to the grocery store and forgot to take their new, sleeping baby Joanna’s agonizing decision to close her dream business to focus on raising their children When Chip buys a houseboat, sight-unseen, and it turns out to be a leaky wreck Joanna’s breakthrough moment of discovering the secret to creating a beautiful home Harrowing stories of the financial ups and downs as an entrepreneurial couple Memories and photos from Chip and Jo’s wedding The significance of the word magnolia and why it permeates everything they do The way the couple pays the popularity of Fixer Upper forward, sharing the success with others, and bolstering the city of Waco along the way. Chip Gaines and his wife, Joanna Gaines, are co-founders and co-owners of Magnolia Homes, Magnolia Market, and Magnolia Realty in Waco, Texas.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"They have overcome adversity and have built a life full of love, family, talent, professionalism keeping their faith first and foremost."
"Great reading couldn't put it down made me smile,laugh and see some things in life we all go through similar."
"I have been a huge fan of Joanna and Chip right from the very first show."
"This is a must read for all Fixer Upper fans."
"I really didn't know much about Chip and Joanna, other than catching snippets of their nationally-broadcast show Fixer Upper, but now I feel that they're the type of next-door people that you would love to sit down and share a meal with and get to know. Toward the end of the book Joanna says teasingly how Chip is like the President of the United States - always running around shaking hands and kissing babies."
"Jo's sense of style and Chip's sense of humor make the show irresistible and makes me wish I lived in Waco, Texas so I can hire them fix up a house for me. I can honestly say, I had no idea what the hell shiplap was until I watched this show and apparently, Texas homes are loaded with it behind the walls."
"Chip and Joanna solved that problem magnificently - I always knew who was speaking which brought additional richness to the work. It is also a very encouraging book in a time when we all need that little boost to chase our dreams, but don't be deceived into believing all has been rose petals and blue skies."
"Loved, Loved, Loved this story."
Best Animal & Pet Care
Cat lovers will laugh out loud at the quirkiness of their feline friends with these insightful and curious poems from the singular minds of housecats. In four cat-egories - family, work, play, and existence - Francesco Marciuliano (writer of the comic strip "Sally Forth") has given voice to cats' 'every desire, their every conflict, their every epiphany.'. From expressing their love for dead mice to pulling over Christmas trees, cats reveal their genius and neuroses". Shelf Awareness. "With poems like 'Who Is That On Your Lap,' 'Nudge' and 'Kneel Before Me,' this quirky book will surely induce laughter and whimsical from all who decide to delve into its poetry."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The book is a small hard-cover that fits on a table without taking up a lot of space. Cat portraits showing our furry brethren in cute and/or compromising poses illustrate the pages."
"The author Francesco Marciuliano clearly understands cats, and his poems seemed to come directly from cats."
"This is a cute book, and enjoyable."
"I ordered this for my 10 yr old daughter for Christmas bc she has a silly sense of humor."
"This is the FUNNIEST book ever for any cat lover."
"Smaller than I originally thought, but this book is super cute."
"I found the book quite amusing."
"This book is hilarious."
Best Sustainable Living
Ed Smith's W-O-R-D system has helped countless gardeners grow an abundance of vegetables and herbs. Everything you loved about the first edition of The Vegetable Gardener's Bible is still here: friendly, accessible language; full-color photography; comprehensive vegetable specific information in the A-to-Z section; ahead-of-its-time commitment to organic methods; and much more. New to this edition is coverage of 15 additional vegetables, including an expanded section on salad greens and more European and Asian vegetables. Readers will also find growing information on more fruits and herbs, new cultivar photographs in many vegetable entries, and a much-requested section on extending the season into the winter months. The impulse to grow vegetables is even stronger in 2009 than it was in 2000, when Storey published The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible . clearly explains everything novice and experienced gardeners need to know to grow vegetables and herbs. Edward C. Smith is the best-selling author of The Vegetable Gardener's Bible and The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The GREAT garden book and probably the only one you will ever need for veggie gardening."
"It is the most comprehensive book on veggie gardening I have ever read."
"It provided me with enough information for create my own successful vegetable garden."
"If you love gardening like I do, this is a must!!!"
"This book is awesome."
"I need to use the book more but so far so good especially for the beginner."
"Great book to put in with garden tools and potting soils."
"Bought the book after checking it out in the library - great information and tips whether you're a beginner or have been gardening for years."
Best Weddings
For the first time, the go-to wedding website, The Knot, has compiled all their essential planning tools—and dozens of new ideas—into this beautiful wedding organizer. From the author of The Knot Complete Guide to Weddings in the Real World, a thoroughly modern, must-have workbook to help you pull off the perfect wedding.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The difference between this and the binder addition: 1 page on rings. 1 page on marriage license. honeymoon planning section. budget tracker. seating chart list. The binder is just easier to plan with, bigger pages and filling things out in a book is difficult (especially when it comes to copying forms).I also think the layout is a bit better in the binder."
"I've added some sections and taken out sections that aren't applicable and I hole punch every vendor quote or email I get and place them in the correlating section. For example, if you're like me and say : you and your honey decide to take a long weekend trip to the mountains in October and it's August, and then you obsess over planning EVERY.SINGLE.DETAIL until you actually leave - you're going to be exhausted. You're going to be so burnt out from planning what time you leave, what time you get back, triple checking your Airbnb reservations, making dinner plans for at least one night, what you're going to pack and "is the weather going to cold?" Make sure you give yourself a break from planning every so often :)."
"The entire binder looked like it went through a grinder before they sent it to me."
"Thank you for my product and the excellent customer service."
"I am in love with My Book!"
"I bought this for a gift for my best friend to help plan her upcoming wedding and she loves it!"
"Spend the extra dough and buy the binder."
"This was a waste on my end."