Making Kind Choices : Everyday Ways to Enhance Your Life Through Earth- and Animal-Friendly Living

Rating:
Summary: This mother approves
Review: As a working mother who strives to make my family's relationship with the world a positive one, I have precious little time to devote to this endeavor, much less to pleasure reading. At the end of the day, this book with a couch, a fire, and a glass of wine is my oasis. I was pleased at the quick chapter layout and Newkirk's energizing, welcoming writing style. Nice tips for people in all walks of life who care about the earth and about animals.

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Summary: Cruelty-free living just got easier!
Review: Avoiding animal products, buying Fair Trade and shade-grown coffee, donating an unwanted fur, investing in socially responsible companies, and volunteering at an animal sanctuary are just a few of the subjects you'll find in Ingrid Newkirk's latest book. The president and cofounder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Newkirk eloquently bridges the gap between John Q. Public and the animal protectionist or staunch environmentalist, creating a user-friendly guidebook for integrating compassion into our daily lives.

The book is organized into ten parts: Home and Garden, Fashion and Beauty, Food and Entertaining, Recreation and Vacations, Animals in the Home, Children and Family, Business and Education, Health, Volunteering and Getting Active, and Celebrations. Each section is filled with short chapters that explore the topics in more detail. "Home and Garden," for example, addresses decorating and furnishing your home using cruelty-free products; finding cleaning solutions that are eco- and animal-friendly; and using humane methods to deal with insects, mice, and other uninvited creatures. The chapters are supported by a list of resources that should help answer just about any "But how do I...?" question. Of course, there are also plenty of simple vegan recipes -- even for making your own vegan dog and cat food.

Although PETA (now in its 25th year) is well known for their often-shocking and controversial campaigns, "Making Kind Choices" prudently relies instead on stories from a wide variety of voices, from engaged activists and international celebrities to everyday people just trying to make the world a better place. Whether you want to learn more about the vegan lifestyle, how to rescue an injured animal on the road, where to invest ethically, which charities do not test on animals, what goes into planning a compassionate wedding, or anything in between, I think you'll agree the modest price of this book is money very well spent indeed.


Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Gifts I Ever Received
Review: I am totally engaged in this book. It is rich with true stories about people and animals, and the well-known author shares a lot of her personal feelings, experiences and humor. Albert Schweitzer said ethics that omitted animals was like playing a piano using only half the keys. Newkirk uses all the keys to embrace both people and animals, and her result is warm, beautiful and inspiring.
Carla Bennett
Long Beach, California

Rating:
Summary: a must-share book
Review: I try to share a compassionate lifestyle with my family, friends and companion animals, and Making Kind Choices is a pleasant, thoughtful guide. One of the foremeost lessons is to never pass up the opportunity to do a bit of good, so I'll be sharing this book with both my do-gooder and nay-sayer acquaintances.

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Summary: Book makes it easy to live cruelty free
Review: I've done my very best to live without causing harm to any living beings; this book not only gave me even more ideas on how to continue doing so, but also simple and easy ideas that I can share with family and friends who have thought it difficult to do. I highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to leave their world a better one for their children to inherit.

Rating:
Summary: Choosing kindness over cruelty
Review: If given the choice, I think most people would always pick kindness over cruelty--but many of us don't know where to start. Ms. Newkirk's wonderful new book shows how easy it is to turn compassion into action--from buying products not tested on animals to trying a mock meat in place of the "real thing" in a favorite recipe. Even if you can't do everything to stop animal suffering, you can do something. This book will inspire you to do several little "somethings" every single day.

Rating:
Summary: Good deeds made easy
Review: If you thought saving the world was hard work, this book will change your mind. Ingrid Newkirk's upbeat, personable writing style, sprinkled liberally with entertaining anecdotes, makes you believe that changing the world for the better is not only possible, but not really all that much work. She makes "making kind choices" even easier by providing a wealth of helpful resources. Truly a handy and inspiring reference.

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Summary: This book is hilarious!
Review: Knowing Newkirk to be one of the least kind, nastiest, funniest human beings on the planet, I found her satiric take on all those feel-good do-good books out there to be the greatest beach read of the season. I took it to the south of France with me and laughed and laughed and laughed.

Rating:
Summary: I love Making Kind Choices
Review: This book is really useful and entertaining. Ingrid Newkirk is an engaging storyteller and a real fountain of information. She doesn't simply tell readers to buy humane alternatives to cruel products, she offers a variety of suggestions and gives resources for finding compassionate products and services at the end of each chapter. She provides helpful advice for people of all interests and finances. The chapters are short and entertaining, not at all preachy. This book will make you realize that by doing things to benefit animals and the environment you are also benefiting yourself.



Rating:
Summary: who knew it could be so easy to help animals?
Review: This is an uplifting, cheerful book about a subject--animal welfare--that could be a downer. But somehow Newkirk makes it so accessible, so easy for anyone to make a difference. Her stories, which are drawn from decades of working to make life better for animals, are interesting and she makes it sound completely sensible to make kind choices rather than thoughtless ones. I'd recommend this book for everyone who cares about animals, and even if you don't, maybe you'll want to read it anyway, just to see how our actions affect others.