Reviewed By Alyssa Elmore for Readers' Favorite

Journey through the heartwarming, heartbreaking, and heart-healing stories of Solo Moms in the inspiring Solo Parenting book, We Got This (Solo Mom Stories of Grit, Heart, and Humor) edited by Marika Lindholm, Cheryl Dumesnil, Katherine Shonk, and Dominica Ruta. The term Solo Mom is, in itself, empowering. Being a single mom indicates that one's status is incomplete. Being a Solo Mom indicates that this momma can do it on her own without the help of a mate. While having another parent around is wonderful and can be quite beneficial, it isn't necessary, and sometimes can be detrimental to both mother and child. Follow the experiences of seventy-five women along the path of solo-parenting as they learn to face hardships, joys, and fears on their own, and as a community. Learn how to navigate divorce, death, and even dating, through humorous, if sometimes raw recounts, by actresses such as Amy Poehler and Evie Peck, best-selling novelists, Solo Moms, and Solo Mom advocates. Diverse and authentic, these stories serve to remind the Solo Mom to pause and forget about what everyone else thinks or says, and just enjoy being a mom.

Discover the joy of unconditional love and support through seventy-five stories in We Got This. This book, through a collection of stories, poems, and essays, shows the reader the good, the bad, the ugly, and the extraordinary beauty of being a Solo Mom. Yes, she struggles. But she can overcome whatever hardship she faces because she has a reason to struggle, to barely ever sleep, to stay up all night worrying; she's a mom and her kid(s) are worth every tear she sheds, every premature white hair, every internal battle she must fight. The best part, she doesn't have to go it alone. There is a whole community of Solo Moms that are ready to support and encourage each other, to teach each other how to fight for what is theirs and empower them to remember who they are and why they are fighting through exhaustion and paralyzing fear. As Solo Mom, I feel that this book is the perfect read for the Solo Mom swimming in the uncharted seas of parenting alone. If, as a mother, you feel lost, alone, or abandoned, this book is a must-read.

Reviewed By Bernardo Salcido III for Readers' Favorite

Inspired Wisdom Word Search: Yoga for the Brain by Cristina Smith and Rick Smith is a well thought out and implemented combination of inspiration and brain enhancement. Its design is simple - to provide relevant and helpful self-reflecting stories and pair that with a word search that has the reader finding keywords from the same story which precedes it. After reading, and then completing the word search, the reader reveals one more hidden message that sums up the entire section. This style, including various pictures, continues fluidly throughout in order to create this anthology. Additionally, the stories within draw upon experience from the perspective of a range of authors - ages 16 all the way up to 80 - and the stories provided come from a mix of topics including a letter from Santa to the deep science of epigenetics.

What Inspired Wisdom Word Search: Yoga for the Brain does, it does very well. The blend of puzzle and inspiration is a great combination of personal motivation and brain advancement through two distinct activities. The readings are well written and provide uplifting and spiritual support regardless of the topic. Cristina and Rick have selected excellent pieces of work that avoid repetition while still providing meaningful and personal content. Then, of course, there are the fun word search puzzles with the added bonus of increased brain function and providing mental peace. Coming from the Guinness Record Holder for greatest memory, the journey through the pages of Inspired Wisdom Word Search is more than an exercise in brain capacity; it is a pleasurable and rewarding journey into the reader's truest self.

Reviewed By Randy B. Lichtman for Readers' Favorite

What would it be like to be in a room and be able to interview 70 entrepreneurs and leaders, with an average of 25 years of experience, from a large variety of industries, and discover the important lessons they have learned through mentoring and being a mentor to others? How much knowledge and wisdom would be available to you and how much could you grasp in a day? It would be difficult to remember all the amazing information you learned, but what if you could take your time, learn from each of those people, and apply them to your own life and business. Good news. You will be able to take your time and enjoy learning the lessons at your own pace. What you have in one book is truly amazing and inspiring. The book is Supreme Leadership Mentors: Top Entrepreneurs’ Greatest Business Strategies by Alinka Rutkowska. It is amazing to gain valuable information in this anthology of articles from entrepreneurs about starting a business, cash flow, building and maintaining teams, business, and personal challenges, building a culture, and so many important areas of entrepreneurship.

The entrepreneurs were well selected and the various articles were well written and edited. It contains lessons so beautifully told through the eyes of the entrepreneurs including their ups, downs, and business episodes where they expressed tremendous gratitude after receiving valuable advice from a variety of sources. Often the lessons of people mentoring others were based on the mentoring they received and enjoyed paying it forward. The book is divided into 6 sections, often containing multiple forms of mentoring with the stories focusing on mentoring from and to families, coworkers, clients, older or younger employees, and a host of book recommendations that influenced their lives. I would suggest reading slowly through each interview, take notes, and reflect on how the lessons can be utilized in your own life and business. You will meet so many interesting individuals and often find their visit was too short and wished they could speak about their experiences even more than in this volume.

This anthology of entrepreneurial mentorship is truly amazing and inspiring, and I loved reading it, finding it to be exceptional, worthwhile, and full of heart. If you are interested in improving your life, business, and relationships, I highly recommend reading Supreme Leadership Mentors by Alinka Rutkowska.

Reviewed By Edith Wairimu for Readers' Favorite

An amazing compilation of photography, poetry, drawings, narratives, real-life events, and more, Her World: Creative Collections by Her Place Any Region brings together the thoughts and experiences of women from different parts of the world. The collection is divided into six categories: dejection, survival, hope, healing, salubrity, and love. I Will Never Allow is a poem in the first part, dejection. It carries a passionate message of growth and setting limits: “I will never allow your darkness to dim my light. I will allow my growth to help you blossom.” In Some of You May Know, Lorelai Vilandre shares her struggle with depression and her healing journey in healing, the fourth part of the collection. Exploring light-hearted discussions such as childhood memories and tough topics like cancer, the compilation will resonate with many women.

I loved that Her World is not only restricted to prose but includes photography and art that brighten the pages and that add to the messages. The collection is extensive and opening a new page felt like I was moving to another engaging experience. I also liked that the collection involves the perspectives and experiences of women from different parts of the world. The similarities and unity in their thoughts and experiences were other amazing aspects of the work. The collection also discusses important topics such as sexual abuse, anxiety and depression, ADHD, childhood trauma, and more in a sensitive way. Her World by Her Place Any Region is a vast and inspiring collection that brings attention to crucial issues. It also contains special moments and incredible insight.

Reviewed By Ruffina Oserio for Readers' Favorite

“Be strong.” “They are in a better place.” “They wouldn’t want you to be sad.” These are several consoling expressions that people hear every time they are grieving. The question is: Are these what people who have just lost someone precious to them want to hear? Breaking Sad: What to Say After Loss, What Not to Say, and When to Just Show Up by Shelly Fisher and Jennifer Jones is a book that explores the themes of loss and grief and proposes a path towards healing. In this book, the authors share powerful insights and advice on how to effectively help anyone grieving from loss, indicating what is appropriate and what needs to be kept to oneself. In this book, readers will understand when they need to speak, when they need to be silent, what they can say, and when they just need to be there, quietly.

Shelly Fisher and Jennifer Jones have written a book on a subject that is very sensitive, helping readers understand what it takes to be experts in being there for anyone who has lost someone. The book features stories from people who have suffered loss, including Montel Williams, Olivia Newton-John, Scott Hamilton, Giuliana Rancic, Valerie Harper, and others. It is filled with practical advice and tips on understanding loss, the different kinds of loss, and what to do when someone loses someone dear to them. Breaking Sad: What to Say After Loss, What Not to Say, and When to Just Show Up is a book that offers readers the wisdom needed when with people suffering from loss. Intelligently written and filled with steps to deal with loss.

Reviewed By Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Firsts: Coming Of Age Stories By People With Disabilities is a nonfiction anthology edited by Belo Miguel Ciperiani. Ciperiani lost his vision when he was 27. He grew up looking forward to his weekly trip to the library where he would pick up a new selection of audio books. Popping the first one in his Discman for the bus ride back home, he’d forget his surroundings and get lost in the newest story. One thing in particular bothered him; that was the depiction of disabled characters in those stories. It seemed as though the failings of those characters were intricately linked to their disabilities. The nonfiction memoirs he read were equally unsatisfying as they were generally written by people who had beaten the odds and regained their sight, hearing or the use of their limbs. Ciperiani gravitated to writing in part in reaction to his efforts to find writers who could share the experiences of the disabled. This book is the result of his call for disabled authors to share their coming of age experiences. Out of the hundreds of submissions he received, he selected the eleven stories that are found here.

Firsts: Coming Of Age Stories By People With Disabilities is one of those rare books you want to never end. I lost myself in each of the stories found within this collection. Heidi Johnson-Wright’s short story, Life with Lexie, is the perfect opening tale; one that anyone, able-bodied or not, would have a hard time not relating to. Heidi’s life went pear-shaped when she was nine years old and rheumatoid arthritis left her totally dependent upon a mercurial and ill-tempered mother, until that day when she went off to college. Once I had begun reading Johnson-Wright’s story, I was hooked into reading each of these marvelous and inspirational stories. I met amazing people; some were autistic, others blind, still others suffered from debilitating PTSD. In The Hearing Child, Kevin Souhrada shares his world as a second-generation deaf man. His story reveals the community and support systems that were so much a part of his upbringing, his culture. In Sleeveless at Least, Teresa M. Elquezabal defies the medical establishment’s grim prognosis on her chances of ever walking again after an accident because her love of tango will not let her surrender.

In each rite of passage, there’s a hero. His or her voice speaks persuasively and with such strength. They share their frustrations, their moments of self-doubt and insecurity, but overall there’s the shared exhilaration of reaching for that first and getting it. Each story captures the human experience so eloquently and with such power. I’d love to see more of the submissions that editor Belo Miguel Ciperiani received for this collection and hope he’ll consider publishing a second one. Yes, these stories are that good. Firsts: Coming Of Age Stories By People With Disabilities is most highly recommended.

Reviewed By Joel R. Dennstedt for Readers' Favorite

The admittedly concise collection of short articles compiled by Janine Myung Ja in the booklet Adoptees: We Are Not Who They Think We Are, while meant to introduce readers to the often-volatile subject of Adoptee Rights, actually delivers a huge and revealing punch way beyond its modestly stated agenda of presenting the alternative point-of-view to the more commonly accepted wisdom stated by professional adoptive institutions. The author is an active, compassionate voice for adoptees in general, asserting their basic and essential human rights – especially the right to be heard. One such revealing counterpoint of view: “Wisdom gained from experiences like hers provide evidence that "poverty-stricken" children do not have to be taken out of their "dire" situation, or nation of birth, to be happy.”

Including personal background information as well as story excerpts from other interested parties, Janine Myung Ja does not resort to angry diatribe in Adoptees. Rather, she presents a compelling, rational, highly-researched foundation for advocating an evolutionary appraisal of the adoption world, followed by an equal inclusion of adoptee voices in creating positive change in the system. What makes her collection so compelling is the deeply personal revelations of the writers regarding their unique experiences, the profoundly troubling reports (much understated) of mental and physical abuse, as well as the startling recognition of how severely adoption procedures and practices are weighted in favor of existing, profit-motivated institutions as opposed to adoptee rights and consideration. Prepare to have your comfortable preconceptions challenged. Plan to be grateful for these highly illustrative writings of Janine Myung Ja.

Reviewed By Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite

My Job: More People at Work Around the World is the second book in a series by Suzanne Skees that explores the human aspect of what we do. In this book, the author asks a very important question and allows workers from all walks of life and around the globe to share their experiences, underlining how what we do affects us and how our job can become an extension of our personality or how it allows us to redefine who we are. The book also shows how work can become an expression of our humanity, allowing us to connect deeply with others and with ourselves.

As you read this book, you begin to see clearly the relationship between “doing” and “being” and how work shapes us and instills in us a sense of meaning and purpose, a direction in life. Suzanne Skees remarks: “Even if your work is grossly underpaid or underappreciated, cobbled together with a combination of gigs, or completely overlooked by society (e.g. caring for family members), your job may be what compels you to get out of bed every morning. For better and for worse, your job may provide you with purpose and connection.”

While the book features stories from different workers and professionals, from tourism to health workers to diplomats, it also explores the fact that our deepest satisfaction in what we do might not result from the financial benefits we get but rather from the perspective it brings to our life. My Job: More People at Work Around the World is filled with interesting stories that are eye-opening: it is well researched, gripping, and entertaining.

Reviewed By Divine Zape for Readers' Favorite

Reaper's Lament: Aviation Stories by Pilots Who Should Be Dead by Steven Lane Smith is a collection of short, real-life stories that capture the exhilarating, awe-struck moments and experiences of near-death encountered by pilots. There are stories from private pilots, fighter pilots, airline pilots, bush pilots, combat crews, and traffic controllers, experiences that describe the moment they thought it was all over. Readers quickly understand that while flying can be a fun job, it also has its perils. In this book, different pilots share their stories, and it is not so much what happened as how they tell it that will have the reader turning eagerly from one story to the next. The book features experiences from a wide selection of pilots, including Roger Champagne, Robert “Bob” Shumaker, G. H. “Spud” Spaulding, Melvyn Paisley, Tom Lee, Richard “Dick” Schafer, and many others.

The opening lines of the book already give readers insights into the experiences with the Grim Reaper: “Although the cockpit was as cold as an igloo, I had good reason to perspire as if I were in a sauna. In the middle of a night darker than a grizzly bear’s armpit, I was alone in a Cessna 404 cruising at 160 knots through fog, drizzle, and heavy clouds in forecast icing conditions.” The narrative is lyrical, evocative of the thrill of flying, and even the fighter pilots have learned to bless themselves: “God bless the fighter pilots who roar into the blue, taunting the Grim Reaper ‘till he comes to get his due…” The descriptions are powerful and vivid, presenting scenes of confusion, suffocation, drowning, and trauma. There is a poetic element to these stories that makes them enjoyable. Steven Lane Smith offers entertainment to readers, deftly exploring the themes of life and death. Reaper's Lament: Aviation Stories by Pilots Who Should Be Dead is exciting and told in a voice that puts every emotion into the stories.

Reviewed By Dan M. Kalin for Readers' Favorite

How the Camp Fire Girls Won World War II . . . and Other Memories is a mostly time-linear series of short stories spanning the author's life. Rebecca G. Morris intentionally obscures which stories are fiction and which are not, but the feel is that of a complete piece. The titular Camp Fire Girls segment is something easily envisioned; many of us can remember stories where the height of patriotism was to scavenge any metal for the war effort. Along the way, stories include vignettes about growing up during the Depression, movie house afternoons, a rescued player piano, life in Catholic boarding schools during the war, first stirrings of the call-to-write inspired by a manual typewriter in her high school years, and a move to attend Columbia University in New York where as a newlywed graduate student she contracts tuberculosis. The disease necessitates a lengthy quarantine stay in Bellevue and seems to have precipitated a divorce. The balance of the book contends with the emotional aftermath and how she won through subsequent hardships.

I very much enjoyed How the Camp Fire Girls Won World War II. The scenes growing up in Ohio feel real and fully inhabited. I find Rebecca G. Morris's writing to be superb and vivid. The segment where she waits for her Reno divorce to be final, in the full heat of summer, is both heartbreaking and real. In such situations, a routine of daily swims, ice cream, and gin-before-bedtime is something we can all understand. Even afterward, the routine supports the beginnings of a new life. Morris takes the reader's hand and safely leads them through various points of view for each tragedy while not losing sight of where they are in the larger narrative. Any book which can engender such deep emotions in a reader is one which should be taken seriously.