Reading, Writing & Pondering

  I have followed Jessica Turner for several years so I wanted to read her story in I Thought It Would Be Better Than This .  Jessica tells her story of her 16-year marriage that ended when her husband came out as gay in 2020. This book is full of heart and hope for anyone who is in that situation. That isn't me. However, I did find a lot of helpful information in this book anyway. I would also add that I have a relative that came out as gay so I could relate to that issue in some other ways than as a spouse.  I especially like how Jessica goes through all of the areas of her life that were affected and changed as a result of going through this experience. It touched her life in many ways. I can understand that too. She shares how she had to grieve her marriage and learn to forgive others and herself. She shares how she held on to friendships and made new friendships. She shares how she learned to take care of herself on her own through exercise, eating healthy alone, mak...

    You are the Boss of You: Cultivate the Mindset and Tools to Live Life on Your Terms •  Publisher:  Regalo Press (February 4, 2025) •  Hardcover:  272 pages From the founder of the multimillion-dollar wellness company Alaya Naturals comes  You Are the Boss of You , the A-to-Z guide for living an empowered, purpose-driven life inspired by your most authentic self. You Are the Boss of You  is a uniquely actionable and compassionate body of wisdom that addresses the ten most essential building blocks of a truly inspired life: · Defining boundaries · Soothing yourself · Softening perfectionism · Redefining your self-concept · Honoring sleep · Healing trauma · Feeling it all · Creating your rhythm · Advocating for yourself · Building your future In this uniquely refreshing guide to accessing emotional freedom and connecting with your inner guidance, Shauna Brittenham Reiter takes readers on a deep-dive into the process by which she relieved her...

  Losing a loved one is never easy for anyone. In the past month, five people I know have passed away. The last one was the unexpected loss of a classmate. I have to say, I am sad in my heart and soul right now with all of these losses. J. S. Park has a new book out that talks about grieving from a chaplain who has counseled people in all walks of life about all types of deaths. He writes a book with solid practical advice and encouragement as you walk the grieving road ahead of you. In  As Long As You Need by J.S. Park, he offers an honest and unrushed engagement with grief, decoding four types of grieving–spiritual, mental, physical, and relational–and offering compassionate self-care and soul-care along the way. In his nearly decade of service as a chaplain at a major hospital with a designated level one trauma center J.S. understands firsthand how rushing or suppressing grief only adds a suffocating layer of pain on top of the original wound. (From the Back of the b...

  When I was young, I used to help my Grandma gather eggs on the farm where they lived. Grandma's egg money used to help her buy things she wanted and needed too. While I have never had chickens of my own, those fond memories led me to read Therapy Chickens by Tedra Hamel Therapy Chickens: Let the Wisdom of the Flock Bring you Joy is a beautifully colorful and interesting six-inch square book. I love the beautiful chicken art pictures throughout the book that the author made. I love the gorgeous cover that is colorful and has texture. I also enjoyed reading about the author's flock of chickens. In Therapy Chickens, the book is divided into seasons, followed by a biography of each chicken in the author's flock. Hamel Shares a lot of interesting information about living with chickens--and their eggs. She also shares how the chickens change throughout the year with the seasons. At the same time, she relates the chickens to how people could better live their lives too. It is ju...

  Are you a sports fan? I'll be honest, I'm not a huge sports fan although I occasionally watch some. However, I really enjoyed Lucky Girl by Scout Bassett. Some people, like Scout, like to watch sports all the time--when they aren't participating in them. When you look at the cover of Lucky Girl , you probably noticed that Scout Bassett's legs don't look alike. Scout's story begins in China where she survived a fire that took her right leg. She also spent many years in an orphanage before being adopted and coming to America. While that may sound like a dream come true, it also is a dream that comes with a bag full of trauma and struggles as Scout felt different than other people, as a minority and a disabled person. In this book, she shares her story from her beginning until now. She also shares how she learned to accept herself as she is and many of the things she has overcome throughout her life.  I found Lucky Girl to be an inspirational book. I enjoy mem...

  Trust. Who of us hasn't had someone break our trust? Trust: Knowing when to give it, when to withhold it, how to earn it, and how to fix it when it gets broken in life and business by Dr. Henry Cloud is a wealth of information on the subject. Trust is divided in to five sections: Trust Makes Life Work The Five Essentials of Trust Growing in Trust The Model for Repairing Trust Moving Forward I like how well organized this book is. The Five essentials of trust was especially helpful to me: Understanding, Motive, Ability, Character and track record. All are important and all described in detail by the author. I also like the detailed section with a model for repairing trust and the seven steps that Cloud says are important for real change to take place.  Trust is written in a straightforward manner. It is easy to understand and relate to. Cloud uses real stories of real people as well as all of the wisdom he has gleaned from his years as an expert psychologist. For me, it isn't...

    There are a lot of leadership books out there so why read this one? This one is different. According to Jeff D. Reeter in Do Life Differently if you want to be a leader, you must first lead yourself. Do Life Differently is all about helping you become the best version of yourself that you can be, which will ultimately help you be a better leader. Do Life Differently is divided in to 3 parts after an introduction written by Dr. Ben Carson and and introduction written by Jeff Turner. Part one is "Lead Yourself--choosing a life by design," Part two is "Your global position," and Part three is about planning the course and living the dream. Jeff Reeter is a successful businessman and leader who has guided himself and many others on the leadership path. He shares his experiences, as well as the experiences of others as examples. He includes exercises and information on guiding yourself to be a good leader through some paper exercises.  There is a lot of good inform...

  I have often heard people say that they don't have a creative bone in their body. I heartily disagree with that statement. I believe we all use creativity in more ways than we realize. Mary Potter Kenyon's new book, Called to Be Creative inspires all sorts of creativity and reminds the reader that they are indeed creative in many ways. For me, reading Called to Be Creative was like sitting down with the author at the coffee shop and chatting about writing, artwork and all the things that we mutually enjoy that take a bit of creativity. I enjoyed her conversational tone. I also liked that each of the twelve chapters concludes with an inspiring real-life story from another creative person and an assignment to do something creative--for example, writing in a journal or making a vision board. For the purposes of this review, I read straight through the book and made some mental notes regarding the assignments. However, I plan to go back through and do the assignments and I am r...

I could relate well to the introduction from Inspired Mama by Sez Kristiansen. In this part of the book she shares how she is tired and worn out from trying to keep up with demands and be a mama while putting herself last. It was a wake-up call and she realizes she needs to make some changes in order for her to enjoy life and to be who she really is at her core. Inspired Mama is divided into three parts: Freedom of Mind, Freedom of Life, and Freedom of Comfort Zones. In each section she shares exercises to live a more inspired intentional life through journaling, meditating, mindfulness, living according to your purpose and more. It is a book best used alongside a journal as she encourages readers to do. Kristiansen expects readers to take and make notes of their thoughts and things they have learned through exercises she offers in the book. Many of the exercises involve deep thinking, intuition and subconscious thought processes. For me, Inspired Mama offered some interesting...

Let's face it. Some days adulting is hard. On those days, it can be difficult to make a decision about what to have supper, let alone what step to take next to work towards find a new job or something big like that. The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman offers solid advice as you work towards making good decisions in your life. The Next Right Thing contains 24 chapters FULL of advice and stories as you consider how you make decisions. Each chapter focuses on one aspect of a decision making process and ends with a prayer and a practice. The practice section gives you something practical to do to help you learn, grow and/or make changes and decisions. This is a book that I marked up and took notes in my journal. To get the most out of the book, you may want to use a notebook or journal to answer questions she poses along the way and to work on the practice exercises. Also, to get the most out of this book, I think for most people it is a book to read in bite-sized pieces ra...

I have seen a lot of books of uplifting quotes to think about since I have been a reader.  A Shift a Day for Your Best Year Yet by Dean Del Sesto is not just another book of uplifting quotes. Instead this book give you something to consider each day. A Shift A Day for Your Best Year Yet has 365  original quotes that really make you think. I found myself meditating on these thoughts for awhile each day. I marked several as favorites. This is an example of one of my favorites from page 111: "A good book is something you dive into. A Great book dives into you. Finding books that minister to your fulfillment or growth can be a journey, but it's a journey worth traveling because books can change, build, comfort and challenge you." A Shift a Day for Your Best Year Yet is a small book that could make a difference in your day and your life if you took the time to read one each day. I like that it fits into my purse or book bag easily. It would make a neat graduation gift...

"I will hold myself to a standard of grace, not perfection." This quote from the back of the book grabbed my attention. I smiled because I wish someone had given me this gorgeous A Standard of Grace guided journal by Emiliy Ley when I was a young mom. A Standard of Grace is a journal designed to help readers to discover their hopes and dreams and to invest some time into themselves through prompts, short readings, quotes and Scriptures. It is divided into 52 weeks so the reader could do one a week through the year. However, it does not need to be started at any particular time and it could be done at any pace that works for the woman doing the work. Each of the 52 sections include a Scripture, a short reading and a question or prompt with space to write. There are also a lot of full color pictures throughout the book. A Standard of Grace is nicely bound with thick paper useful for using a variety of journaling pens. Each section includes ample space to write unlike so...

Often times people think the "lucky people" catch all of the breaks in life. They don't see the work that goes into those "breaks."  The Book of Mistakes by Skip Prichard follows David, a recent college graduate, as he navigates the world of work and life after college. Along with the story of David, we follow the story of an ancient manuscript that holds powerful life lessons for everyone if used correctly. As the Book of Mistakes begins, David is disheartened and stressed, living a life he isn't really sure he wants to be living. However, he doesn't know how to live the life he wants to either at this time. Then one day he meets a mysterious young woman and everything begins to change. It doesn't happen all at once, but throughout the book, we follow David as he changes his life through learning some ancient lessons one by one. Little by little his life begins to change. The Book of Mistakes is a sort of modern day parable that is packed wi...