Book Nook: Books for Active People from Mango Publishing

 I recently had the chance to review three books that are great for people who are active and/or outdoorsy.

Mother Nature Is Not Trying to Kill You: A Wildlife & Bushcraft Survival Guide - this was actually my daughter's favorite of the three books. She loves learning about survival and we enjoy camping, so she read this book with probably more attention than she gives her school books! The book was quite well created - there are enough visuals to make things interesting with being distracted, the layout and font for the text are very readable, the book is compact and concise but still extremely informative, and there's just a little bit of dry humor throughout to add interest but not take away from the message. 

The book covers a wide variety of topics, but focuses on specific animals and plants from all over the world, with a quick general survival guide in the back. While you may not ever travel to places where you're likely to encounter some of the more exotic animals, it's still worth reading the whole thing!

Surviving the Wild: Essential Bushcraft and First Aid Skills for Surviving the Great Outdoors - this was an extremely close second to the book above. This book had even better visuals in the form of photographs to clearly illustrate what was in the text, like knots and other survival skills. It was also very readable and comprehensive. It actually went more in-depth with different general survival skills that are practical no matter where you are in the outdoors, so I found it a little more useful for what we as a family do (primarily camping in the Midwest; when we travel elsewhere we aren't likely to encounter a great deal of wildlife).

A lot of the tips in this book will come in handy even if nothing major goes wrong - it's always good to know how to identify poisonous plants, build a fire, and do basic first aid. Hopefully you never have to try to figure out how to signal rescuers or other major things, but that information is included too in this well-written guide.

Functional Training and Beyond: Building the Ultimate Superfunctional Body and Mind - I didn't getquite as much out of this book, maybe because it wasn't quite what I expected going into it. I expected more concise information about specific workouts and moves to do. That being said, it was still a well-written book worth reading. It clearly made the case for why functional training is important - and, unlike many fitness books, included information about functional training for the mind.