Title: 365 Daily Affirmations for Creativity
Author: Janet Luongo
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc.
Pages: 126
ISBN: 1-889262-93-5
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: March 2005
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This is much more than a list of affirmations. There are individual and group exercises for enhancing creativity. There are also many resources such as books, articles, websites, and associations cited. The affirmations are broken down into twelve different areas with explanations as to why they are important. The book is of value to both individuals and to trainers and life coaches. We rated it five hearts.
Title: The Self-Defense Deck: 50 Powerful Strategies for Staying Safe
Author: Jennifer Lawler
Illustrator: Stuart Holmes
Publisher and/or Distributor: Chronicle Books
Pages: 108
ISBN: 0-8118-4588-5
Price: $14.95
Publishing Date: 2005
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Self-defense maven, Jennifer Lawler, has done it again—come up with a really cool concept to teach self-defense and personal security concepts. This time it’s in the form of a large deck of cards. Each card shows an illustration of a situation and an appropriate response on one side of a card. On the other side are clear and concise how-to instructions with an important tip. This is ideal for a family or a small group of friends to read through, act out, and try out these solutions together. We rated this unique concept package a very high four hearts.
Title: 21st Century Samurai: The Secret Path to Success and Fulfillment
Author: Seymour Rifkind
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Interface Press
Pages: 202
ISBN: 1-932872-00-0
Price: $24.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This self-help book is not what one might expect. Although some of its concepts come from the martial arts, the book contains some of the most effective and most practical exercises in the self-help field. The author is an eclectic, renaissance man. He is a highly successful marketing consultant, a gymnast and a coach, and a black belt instructor. He brings all his experience to bear in this step-by-step approach to figuring out where one is, where one wants to go, and how to get there.
The book is well organized. The exercises and explanations make sense—most importantly they work. His approach is definitely a glass-half-full, optimistic way of looking at life and our place within it. We rated this book a high five hearts.
Title: Magical Peace: One Nation Under Love
Author: Tarin Frances
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Sirene Impressions
Pages: 155
ISBN: 0-9674449-3-4
Price: $14.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This self-help how-to book by a professional counselor teaches us how to rise above our prejudices and how we feel about ourselves and others. She gives very cogent guidelines on how to deal with the injustices in our own lives and in others around us. She includes specific actions that we can take to change how we look at one another. This is not a touchy-feeley book of impractical feel-goods, but a careful, step-by-step guide into life change using tools and attitudes that can truly make a difference. We rated this book four hearts.
Title: A Passion of her Own: Life-Path Journeys with Women of Kansas
Author: Kathryn Sommer
Photographer: Kathryn Sommer
Publisher and/or Distributor: Midwest Screen and Media Production
Pages: 192
ISBN: 0-9719665-1-6
Price: $24.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This is a character study of thirty-four successful women from Kansas who have made a difference in the world. Some were in politics, like Nancy Kassebaum Baker; some were performers, like Melissa Etheridge; and some have been business leaders, like Marilyn Fox, owner of a major Harley-Davidson Motorcycle dealership in the Kansas City area. Each lady’s accomplishments are described, each lady’s defining passion in life is described, and who was the major influence on her life. This is an excellent book on female role models and is ideally suited for consideration by women’s studies classes everywhere. The narration flows smoothly and we left with an impression of what makes each subject lady tick. We rated this book four hearts.
Title: Cursed by a Happy Childhood: Tales of Growing Up Then and Now
Author: Carl Lennertz
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Harmony Books
Pages: 224
ISBN: 1-4000-5045-6
Price: $19.95
Publishing Date: May 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
The author of this delightful memoir is Carl Lennertz, whom many consider to be the father of Book Sense, the brand of independent booksellers throughout America. Carl’s sweetly caring personality comes through so poignantly in this series of letter-like essays to his eleven-year-old daughter and the rest of us as well. Carl is a baby boomer who grew up in a happy home in the rural area of Long Island, New York. He constantly contrasts what childhood for him was like compared to his daughter’s growing up in New York City. He also compares parenting in the sixties compared to that of today.
This is a nostalgic memory walk enhanced with chapter headings which sport pictures of Carl’s favorite pop-tune 45rpm records of his youth. His love of music and culture always shines through. His considerate fatherly guidance to his daughter is just right—not too preachy and willing to let her try her wings with his heart in his mouth. Part memoir, partly philosophical, always mirroring his unique personality and life attitudes, Cursed by a Happy Childhood is a smooth, pleasant read recommended to young and older alike. We rated it a solid four hearts.
Title: Goin’ Solo…at 20 and 30: The Girl’s Guide to Starting Life on her Own in a Place She Can’t Afford
Author: Adina Kalish Neufeld
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Beagle Bay Books
Pages: 143
ISBN: 0-9679591-1-X
Price: $13.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This excellent how-to for ladies going out on their own is directed toward Big City life-styles. The issues it addresses are Big City issues; however, there are enough general one as well. It covers career possibilities, living accommodations, and even sane social living for single women. It makes an ideal college graduation gift or a guide for someone leaving home to the Big City for the first time. If my youngest daughter wasn’t married, I’d send a copy of this. We rated it four hearts.
Title: Meditation in Motion
Author: Barbara Bartocci
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Sorin Books
Pages: 190
ISBN: 1-893732-62-2
Price: $12.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Exercise and sports have a spiritual element, if we take the time to notice it. Meditation in Motion is a collection of interview essays with many different people from all walks of life who have found that spiritual element in their physical endeavors. The book’s purpose is to demonstrate how this spiritual element is there for anyone to reach out and take it. Adding the spiritual to a regular exercise program raises the level of what one can receive in return. The author provides many different ways in which this can be done, as well as the many examples from other people’s lives. If you exercise regularly or are thinking of doing so, this book will help you get so many additional positive benefits from your efforts. We rated it four hearts.
Title: What Do You Really Want?
Author: Beverly K. Bachel
Illustrator: Marieka Heinlen
Publisher and/or Distributor: Free Spirit, Inc.
Pages: 136
ISBN: 1-57542-085-6
Price: $12.95
Publishing Date: 2001
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This wonderfully executed guide for teenagers teaches them not only goal setting, but goal getting. The author walks the reader through a very realistic process that teaches how to move in a systematic fashion from one’s dreams to a reality that the reader constructs line upon line, precept upon precept.
This is a book one of my children could have used while growing up. This child always had great dreams, but was clueless as to how to make them happen. My guidance was generally not accepted, simply because I was the dad. This book is a nice, non-threatening guide that provides help and motivation from within teens themselves. One extremely helpful feature is the inclusion of nineteen reproducible forms to copy, fill in, and keep in the reader’s personal Goal Tracker. We ranked this guide a hearty five hearts.
Title: One Wheel, Many Spokes: USA by Unicycle
Author: Lars Clausen
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Soulscapers
Distributor Phone Number: 800-888-4741
Pages: 278
ISBN: 0-9719415-9-9
Price: $14.95
Publishing Date: April 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
One Wheel, Many Spokes chronicles a Lutheran minister’s record setting 9,136 mile tour through all fifty states on a unicycle. The one-wheel bike is much more difficult to ride than the normal two-wheel. Not only does one have to balance, but there is no coasting. The pedals must go around whether one is riding on the level, up a hill, or down a hill. The author conducted this tour to raise money for an isolated Eskimo community in Northern Alaska, collecting almost $300,000.
The author did an excellent job of chronicling his experience. His insights into people and their relationships with one another is very pragmatic. His challenges were very different from a normal bicyclist, showing the reader how difficult his feat was. We rated this book four hearts.
Title: From Hurting to Happy: Transforming Your Life After Loss
Author: Barbara Bartocci
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Sorin Books
Pages: 160
ISBN: 1-893732-54-1
Price: $12.95
Publishing Date: 2002
Reader: Teresa Starkey
Rating:
Grief is most often associated with the death of a loved one, but the process follows many difficult events in life. Grief and loss mean inevitable change, and whether that change results from death, job loss, divorce, a severed friendship, or even a shattered dream, facing it can be intensely overwhelming and unwelcome. Barbara Bartocci shows us the many faces of grief through heartfelt and true stories about everyday people, including herself, who have experienced these life challenges and triumphed over them. The stories are well-balanced with suggestions for not only coping, but for moving forward and finding the joy in living. From Hurting to Happy could easily become a handbook of choice for those suffering a recent loss. We rated this book four hearts.
Title: The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World
Author: Marti Olsen Laney, Psy.D.
Illustrator: Harry Bates
Publisher and/or Distributor: Workman Publishing Company, Inc
Pages: 330
ISBN: 0-7611-2369-5 (alk. paper); 0-7611-2589-2
Price: $14.95
Publishing Date: 2002
Reader: Isabelle A. Harman
Rating:
Introverts unite! From the moment you begin reading this book you will begin to feel the weight lifting off of your shoulders from years of wondering “Why am I like this? Why can’t I be normal like everyone else?” Don’t burden yourself with self-doubt and remorse–YOU ARE NORMAL! Marti Olsen-Laney, a self-proclaimed introvert, calmly guides the reader through stages of introversion. She takes the time to explain her experience as an “innie”; the revelations many of her clients have experienced once they learned to appreciate the gift of being an introvert, how to live with an extroverted spouse, dating and introversion, parenting introverted and extroverted children, and so much more! If you have taken the Meyers-Briggs test and still don’t understand why you are an introvert; if you have read through Please Understand Me I and II and still don’t get it–this book will fill in the gaps. It is a great companion text to two exceptional works in understanding personalities. Read this once, then read it again. This is a must for individuals, leaders, parents, and professionals alike. We rated it four hearts.
Title: Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing
Author: Jed McKenna
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Wisefool Press
Pages: 275
ISBN: 0-9714352-3-5
Price: $21.95
Publishing Date: October 2002
Reader: Teresa Starkey
Rating:
What is spiritual enlightenment? Each of hundreds of volumes around the world boasts of true knowledge and an absolute path to the ultimate goal: enlightenment. Often, the explanations and practices involved are ritualistic, complicated, and overly serious. When he was in his twenties, Jed McKenna experienced his own aha moment of truth. He quit his job, cast off material possessions, and began a new life with a simple understanding of enlightenment. In Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing, he shares his journey and epiphany, offering other spiritual seekers an unusual and wonderfully humorous look at an often confusing and elusive prize. Without negating the subject’s importance, the author peppers his unique style with witty dialogue and entertaining analogies. In the vast world of literature, readers are rarely treated to a fresh and surprising presentation of an old subject. This is one of those welcome finds. We rated this book four hearts.
Title: Zero Point: Moments Beyond Conscious Thought
Author: Thomas Paul Emerson
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Innersights/New Leaf Distributing
Pages: 137
ISBN: 0-9674671-9-5
Price: $12.95
Publishing Date: 2000
Reader: Teresa Starkey
Rating:
At a time when more people are exploring broader realms of spirituality and often overwhelmed with information, Thomas Paul Emerson offers a comprehensive, reader-friendly overview of a myriad of topics associated with “New Age” exploration. The author began his own spiritual search in the sixties and traveled throughout the world looking for the answers that would relieve his confusion. After decades of study and exploration, he gained not only knowledge, but also a more complete look at spiritual diversity and how science plays a compatible part within the whole. That journey has led him to his current profession as a meditation instructor and hypnotherapist. Mr. Emerson’s vast experience and open-minded philosophy are clearly communicated in this small, yet powerful book. This is an especially nice read for those who may be just beginning to explore beyond traditional spiritual boundaries.
Title: Life without Limits: A Guidebook to Turning Your Dreams into Reality
Author: Marjorie Brody, MA, CSP, CMC
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Career Skills Press
Pages: 82
ISBN: 1-931148-10-4
Price: $19.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This is a good little motivational and life purposing workbook. The author covers the importance of writing down the book’s exercises, how to use the mistakes and successes of the past, overcoming obstacles, getting the right kind of help, taking personal responsibility, and encouragement.
This is an excellent tool for people struggling on their own or for attendees at a motivational conference. It is well organized and contains the pertinent items needed to successfully plan one’s life effectively. We rated it four hearts.
Title: On Wings Like Eagles
Author: DayMaker Greeting Books
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Barbour Books
Pages: 50 pg
ISBN: 1-58660-821-5
Price: $4.99
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Jane Deskis
Rating:
What every golfer needs to carry in their hands while walking down the fairway to find that ball. This book has great inspirational clips to lift the spirit even on the worst putting days, humorous saying from some of the best in the game, some of the worst in the game, and in between. A nice little gift book to give that someone you love, who loves the game of golf. It’s also a nice little gift book to give to someone who plays but hates the game. This little book gets 5 hearts for being so uplifting.
Title: Becoming Soul Mates: How to Create the Lifelong Relationship You Always Dreamed Of
Author: Elva Anson, MA, MFT
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Emidra Publishing
Pages: 183
ISBN: 0-9723569-3-2
Price: $14.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This self help book is a pleasant alternative to Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. Unlike so many relationship books, which simply acknowledge men and women think differently or propose men make all the changes, this manual identifies typical problems and gives no nonsense, practical guidance. The author insists all parties in the relationship must take responsibility for their thinking and actions. Her advice is based on decades of experience as both a family and marriage therapist and a wife. We found the information to be invaluable. My wife and I intend to read this book aloud to one another as we travel cross-country on a vacation later this summer. We give it three hearts.
Title: Broken Gourds
Author: Beresford McLean
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: TFG Press
Pages: 365
ISBN: 0-9720017-5-1
Price: $15.95
Publishing Date: July 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Broken Gourds is an unusual inspirational book. Set in a poor section of Jamaica, it addresses the needs of a community to build a road through a historical site. In an attempt to redirect the route around the site, a man relates the history of the threatened sector. We are taken back about a hundred years to a young man who is totally unambitious. His father has almost given up on himeven to the extent of exercising tough love to move him out of the house. After the accidental death of the father, the young man, Dada, drifts into the role of a spiritual leader. Awakening to his actual purpose in life, which affects all around him in a positive way, even his enemies, Dada becomes an island legend.
This story had elements of Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. The author has an instinctive ability to render characters in a realistic way, showing their good and weak aspects. The spiritual development of Dada into his newly accepted role of Brother Walk, portrays how people's perceptions of others can shift, especially if there is a sudden benefit to do so. Dada/Brother Walk becomes a spiritual healing guru with magical powers. How he changes and the impacts of those changes on the people around him are mythic in scope. Here is a giant yet flawed protagonist readers will strongly identify with. We gave this book a four hearts rating.
Title: The Fine Arts of Relaxation, Concentration, and Meditation: Ancient Skills for Modern Minds
Author: Joel and Michelle Levey
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Wisdom Publications
Pages: 304
ISBN: 0-86171-349-4
Price: $14.95
Publishing Date: Feb 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This self help guide focuses on India-based techniques for relaxation, concentration, and meditation. It is filled with many approaches and alternative techniques. The authors have summarized the information they have learned, used, and taught over many years. It is known that not all techniques work the same or as effectively for everyone. This potpourri provides more than enough possibilities for people to work with and master. This is the best summary of India-based approaches this reviewer has seen. For those of us with higher experience in the martial arts, you will not see Chinese or Japanese approaches in this manual. We rated it three hearts.
Title: Road Signs on Life's Journey: Sayings
Author: Jan Yager, Ph.D.
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc.
Pages: 104
ISBN: 1-889262-91-9
Price: $21.95
Publishing Date: Jun 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Road Signs on Life's Journey is an excellent inspirational book for young people leaving the nest or graduating by an experienced mom and sociologist. The book is filled with 258 pithy nuggets of wisdom placed in various road sign graphics. They are based on commonsense and common courtesy. Although our bookstore staff has always recommended Yay You for graduate gifts, we are now going to be recommending this book, because of its practicality. We rated it five hearts.
Title: Song from Seoul
Author: Sherry McTee
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: SMC Ventures
Publisher Website: www.songfromseoul.com
Pages: 140
ISBN: 0-9743550-9-7
Price: $11.95
Publishing Date: August 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 4 hearts
Song of Seoul is a poignantly touching story of a young mother's quest to adopt a baby girl from Korea in the early 1970s. Her elegant writing draws us along her family's journey to adopt. Especially touching is her descriptions of her toddler's terror of the plane ride to America and of her adopted parents, who did not look anything like her foster ones. This is a roller coaster of emotionfrom the urgent need to adopt, to the joy of being approved, to the child's initial rejection of her new parents, to her final loving acceptance of her new family.
This is a well-written story of inspiration and love. We rated it four hearts.
Title: Blue Road to Atlantis
Author: Jay Nussbaum
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Warner Books
Publisher Website: www.twbookmark.com
Pages: 141
ISBN: 0-446-52821-8
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: 2002
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Blue Road to Atlantis is a fascinating and superbly written book reminiscent of Jonathon Livingston Seagull. Told through the voice of Fishmael, a remora fish partnered to Old Fish, a beautiful Marlin, the story addresses the coming danger of a Red Tide, which threatens to kill twenty million fish. Brave, warrior monk Old Fish, is asked by a delegation of the Gulf Stream Current fish to find a way to destroy the Red Tide and save their community. He knows he needs the special knowledge of the Green Spotted Dolphins of Atlantis to be able to fulfill his mission. He and Fishmael set out to find the Blue Road to Atlantis.
The author cleverly blends in elements from Moby Dick and The Old Man of the Sea to explain the metaphysics of his story. Old Fish finally meets up with a Green Spotted Dolphin with a great Jamaican patois who teaches him he has to learn to let go of life and that Red Tide cannot be fought, although there is a viable alternative. Mr. Nussbaum left a lucrative Real Estate Law practice to follow his own blue road to Atlantis and ended up teaching the metaphysics of the martial arts at Cornell. His writing is touching and deep, laced with satire and multiple layers of meanings, not unlike the ocean's depths and its layers, which define its ecosystem. The book is a quick read, delightfully humorous in places and profound in others. We rated it five hearts.
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Title: If Caterpillars Can Fly ~ So Can I
Author: Alvin Day
Illustrator: Steve Ferchaud
Publisher and/or Distributor: Million Mountain Press
Publisher Website: www.alvinday.com
Pages: 180
ISBN: 0-9727304-8-6
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: 1 May 03
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
Born in Jamaica, dirt-poor and abandoned by both parents, Alvin Day might have lived his life in poverty. His wise grandmother had other ideas. She rescued him and filled him with the wisdom to choose a better path. He gives her credit for his successes, although he must have had some wisdom of his own to take her teachings to heart. Now he gives her nuggets of wisdom to the rest of the world in If Caterpillars Can Fly ~ So Can I. It is an inspirational book, full of interesting parables and thought-provoking insights.
The author is very credible, given his own success. This book has both familiar and new exercises and techniques for self-evaluation and improvement. It earned our highest rating: five hearts.
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Title: Dojo Wisdom
Author: Jennifer Lawler
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Penguin Compass
Publisher Website: www.penguinputnam.com
Pages: 220
ISBN: 0-14-219622-3
Price: $13
Publishing Date: June 03
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Dojo Wisdom is a self-help guide to martial art concepts and how they can be applied in day-to-day life. There are one hundred mini-lessons within the pages of this enlightening manual. Each one supplies the martial art application and its real-life equivalent.
This is not a so-sad-you're-a-victim type of self-help book. It demands the reader take charge of her own life. The author, a lady black belt, martial arts author, and instructor, insists the reader get up off her duff and stand up to the world. She shows how to take many negative situations and turn them around to the reader's benefit or to fight and win. Individual effort and focus are highly emphasized. Although many physical concepts are mentioned, they are actually an embodiment of the attitudes, mindset, emotions, and spirituality one should have to walk down the mean streets of life. This book should be kept on the nightstand or in the bathroom where the reader has ready access to it for short chunks of time. It reads easily; however, each short lesson requires deep consideration, focus, and practicejust like real martial art techniques. An excellent book, we rated it four hearts.
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Title: In Our Shoes
Author: Charlotte Rogers Brown, Courtney Leigh Dyer, Jami McFerren, Ramona Sallee, Jane Norde, Karolyne Smith Rogers, Ph.D., Rashmi Goria
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: The Writer's Collective
Publisher Website: www.writerscollective.org
Pages: 208
ISBN: 1-932133-61-5
Price: $14.95
Publishing Date: May 30th 2003
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
Seven women meet to share their stories. First each of them decorates a pair of her old shoes with symbolsone foot representing her past, the other her future. Her socks represent the present. Next they each write a fable about the shoes, how they find them, and what they represent. After that come their life stories. The women share each of these over a period weekly meeting. Their hope is to empower themselves and each other by gaining a better understanding of who they are and why they act and react as they do to people and events in their lives. The final chapter contains guidelines and suggestions for women who want to form their "shoe group."
In Our Shoes is an ambitious undertaking. Ms. Brown, the group's founder, refers to it as a 21st century quilting group. Instead of sharing stories over a quilting frame, they write them and then read them. The fables are interesting, but the stories are riveting. We give it four hearts.
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Title: Say It With Flowers
Author: Suellen Brown/David Brown
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Hayter House Publishers
Author Email: skmillerokc@hotmail.com
Pages: 156
ISBN: 0-9644074-5-0
Price: $12.95
Publishing Date: 1999
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This is a collection of short stories told by David Brown and written by his widow, Suellen Brown. David was a gentle man with electronic skills from his tour in the Marine Corps in Viet Nam during the late 1960s. Some of the stories are about the men who kept the war planes in the air through their valiant maintenance support efforts. Others are about common folk in Oklahoma and Wales. One Welsh story will bring cheerful goose bumps everytime you read or think about it. These stories are achingly poignant, yet humorous at the same time.
The author, Suellen, is a self-made woman who, despite many setbacks, climbed the corporate ladder while helping others along the way. She and David were active in Toastmasters, and it shows. These stories are finely crafted. Each is only 1-4 pages long, yet each one says important things in a short time. David died in 1996. This book is his legacy to those who knew him or would have liked to. We rated in an almost perfect five hearts.
Title: I Do. I Did. Now What?! Life After the Wedding Dress
Author: Jenny Lee
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Workman Publishing
Publisher Website: www.workman.com
Pages: 256
ISBN: 0-7611-2599-X
Price: $18.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Barbara Spear
Rating: 5
I Do. I Did. Now What?! Is a must read for every bride and, ideally, every couple. It starts where the wedding planner left off and covers many of the "little things" that drive spouses crazy about each other. The author relates her own post-wedding reactions to her cute spouse, Cosmos, who uses gobs of her expensivehard to find-shampoo her moisturizer for hand cream, who spends more time in the bathroom than she does, and who leaves pistachio shells on the coffee table for decoration. She delves into kitchen duties, money matters, date nights, fights, and dealing with one TV remote. She presents life in the "uncharted territory of suddenly being a wife with a real-life husband" on a 24/7 basis in a hilarious way.
I loved this book. It nails the type of problems that crop up when two people from different backgrounds and lifestyles merge households. It provides these messages: you are not alone; talk about things; inject humor; and be patient. My engaged daughter and I read this out loud on our road trip from Kansas to Virginia. It made the eleven hundred miles speed by. We almost had to pull off the road we were laughing so hard. It stimulated great discussion on my marriage and her soon-to-be marriage and engendered great mother/daughter bonding. I rated this book five hearts.
Title: Inside Out
Author: Myron J. Radio and Rod N. Johnson
Illustrator: Juliet Zavon
Publisher and/or Distributor: Beaver's Pond Press
Publisher Website: www.beaverspondpress.com
Pages: 130
ISBN: 1-931646-93-7
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 4 Hearts
Inside Out is a personal development book especially focused toward the business environment. It takes the concepts of societies using children's stories as ways to teach societal values to a different level. It demonstrates how children's stories may be used to teach leadership and business values and concepts in a way that penetrates to our very cores. The authors show that it only takes a little more effort to use children's stories as teaching and learning tools for a variety of applications. The examples of how they do this are refreshing and entertaining. This book makes good supplemental reading for anyone interested in bettering themselves and their organizations. We rated it four hearts.
Title: Light that Splits the Dark
Editor: Paul Elmo Keenan
Photographer: Mark S. Philips
Publisher and/or Distributor: Publishers Place
Publisher Website: www.publishersplace.org
Publishing Date: 2002
Pages: 83
Price: $8.95
ISBN: 096760514-8
Reviewer: Bob Spear
Rating: 5
Light that Splits the Dark is a collection of introspective essays by students from five different West Virginia high schools. Their assignment was to read one of these books: Gift from the Sea, Walden, Pilgrim at Tinker¹s Creek, or River Fog Rising. They were then given a list of introspective questions to ponder: Who am I? What is my life all about? Where am I in relation to those who came before me and lived in this place? Who am I to those who will come after me? What will my life be like five years from now? Ten? What kind of contribution can I make that will make a difference? Finally they were given pen and paper, taken out into the woods, and left in solitude to ponder and write down their thoughts concerning these questions.
This collection of short essays is the result of this experiment. They are startling in their depth of thought and earnestness. The photography is lovely as well. This book is a must read for teachers, school administrators, and parents of teenage children. We rate it five hearts
Title: A Teacher's Touch
Author: Dr. Lonnie J. Edwards
Publisher and/or Distributor: 1st Books
Publisher Website: www.1stbooks.com
Publishing Date: 2002
Pages: 136
Price: $16.95
ISBN: 0-7596-2094-6
Reviewer: Bob Spear
Rating: 3
A Teacher's Touch is A Teacher¹s Touch is recommended reading for new and aspiring teachers. It is a memoir of the first black male teacher to work in a newly desegregated school in Dekalb County, Georgia. It chronicles the extreme initial resistance to him from the school¹s administration and faculty. Through personal competence and perseverance, the author gradually overcame this resistance and gained the support of all. The story is centered particularly around the positive difference he made in the life of a young girl who had been born without fingers on one hand. Their story has been told on Sally Jessy-Raphael¹s show and a contract has just been signed with Showtime for a movie based on this story.
The author does an excellent job of pointing out important professional attitudes and tools and how best to use them. This book will increase professional knowledge. We gave it a solid three hearts.
Title: Passion and Purpose
Authors: Marlys Hanson with Merle Hanson and Arthur F. Miller
Publisher and/or Distributor: GreenLeaf Book Group
Publisher Website: www.greenleafbookgroup.com
Publishing Date: 4/2002
Pages: 264
Price: $19.95
ISBN: 0-9717215-4-8
Reviewer: Bob Spear
Rating: 3
Passion and Purpose is a self-help book quite different from the usual feel-good pap that is out there. This is a work book and the emphasis is on mental sweat. It is based upon the theory that we cannot be all that we want to be. We should look for patterns in our lives where we were successful and the personality qualities and tools we used to be so. The idea is to find a job/career that capitalizes on what we do best.
The authors are highly experienced and successful corporate consultants who have developed self-evaluation mechanisms which open up vistas into our minds to help us become aware of what we are good at and what we, therefore, like. These exercises aren't easy because they force one to dig down deep into our psyches and come up with self-knowledge that has, perhaps, been lurking and never acknowledged before. We rated this book three hearts.
Title: The Raven Who Spoke with God
Author: Christopher Foster
Publisher and/or Distributor: Singing Spirit Books
Publisher Website: www.singingspiritbooks.com
Publishing Date: 2001
Pages: 157
Price: $12.95
ISBN: 0-9711796-0-3
Reviewer: Bob Spear
Rating: 4
The Raven Who Spoke with God is by a storyteller who captures the essence of what it's like to be a raven, chosen of God- destined to reclaim a long-forgotten relationship with mankind. The story is about choosing to stay inside our comfort zones or living up to our foreordinations. The young raven, orphaned by cruel boys, has to overcome many dangers and temptations along the way. Some of his greatest obstacles are the most insidious, pleasurable ones. The lessons the author teaches us through this raven's exploits are important steps toward the meaning of life.
The author uses symbolisms, emotions, and dialogue to very good effect to teach through this story. It reminded me of a Jonathan Livingston Seagull in the Rockies. We rated this book a four.
Title: Monster Lies: A Woman's Guide to Controlling Her Destiny
Author: Sally Franz and Jennifer Webb
Publisher and/or Distributor: Beagle Bay Books
Publishing Date: 07/2002
Pages: 323
Reviewer: Bob Spear
Rating: 4
Monster Lies: A Woman's Guide to Controlling Her Destiny is an amazingly complete self-help book. Although the title directs the book's subject toward a female readership, most of it applies to men as well. After reading only fifty pages, I found myself apologizing to my wife for having degraded her self confidence in little day-to-day things without even realizing it. I can't wait till this book is published so I can purchase a copy for every member of my immediate family--it's that good. This book addresses twelve major attitudes that constantly drag us down. What people tell us about ourselves and what we feel about ourselves we tend to internalize as being true. In reality these attitudes are lies--big monster lies.
The authors teach us how to recognize these lies; how to realize what they actually are; and how to take conscious efforts to eliminate them from our lives. They present common wordings or phrases to help alert us to the presence of these lies in our lives. They then teach us through practical exercises how to overcome these deceits and to dispose of them. This is one of the most useful self-help books I've ever read. Unlike Men Are From Mars and Women Are From Venus or Reviving Ophelia, which only go as far as defining the problems, Monster Lies gives very complete solutions. The information in this book is timeless--it should be in print for years to come. We rate this a solid four hearts.
