Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

Are Your Kids Naked Online? is a non-fiction book focusing on parenting in the digital age, penned by co-authors Chris Good and Lisa Good. Self-described as a guide on ‘How to protect your tech-savvy kids from online self-destruction’, this intriguing book goes beyond the exploitative world of the ‘send nudes’ culture into darker and more concerning areas of the internet to which young people have free and easy access. Designed for parents and guardians who may not be particularly tech-savvy themselves, the book provides comprehensive chapters on important topics such as the Dark Web, Online Pornography, Cyber Bullying and addresses the immediate concerns as well as those of the future of young people.

Co-authors Chris Good and Lisa Good have a wealth of experience in technology and cybersecurity, which gives a professional and authentic edge to the work which has gone into this well organized and comprehensive guidebook. The formatting of the book is such that you can read it in any order depending on the issues which most pertain to your situation at the time, whilst also picking up safety and security tips regardless of how long your kids have been engaged in online activity. There is a very serious note to the narrative, though it is also very non-judgemental and takes into account the nature of teens to explore, follow trends of their friends, and also sometimes get into worlds of which they don’t mean to be a part. Overall, Are Your Kids Naked Online? is an excellent and informative work.

Reviewed by Amanda Rofe for Readers' Favorite

A Chicken in the Wind and How He Grew: Stories From an ADHD Dad by Frank South is a non-fiction memoir recounting the nerve-wracking life of Frank South, off-Broadway playwright, long-time television writer, and producer. He explains, in his own inimitable style, how he deals with life-changing health problems including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), hypomania, myriad other co-morbid disorders, and alcoholism. Husband and father of two, he shares the overwhelming challenges faced by himself and his family. The power of love and strong family bonds see them through, as well as providing a better understanding of ADHD and other mental health issues.

Frank South is a superb raconteur. His writing contains warmth, humor, and originality. Words roll out of the book like an express train, hardly allowing you time to catch up. To say this is an honest account would be an understatement. To describe it as a mental health memoir makes it sound boring. It is funny and deeply profound. I often felt like I was reading a compelling novel. Frank has a way of expressing exactly how he feels that is not only insightful but also entertaining. I love the way the book flits back and forth in time, providing flashbacks of his childhood. He includes many pivotal moments in his life, showing us his workings out on the way. A Chicken in the Wind and How He Grew blows opens the lid on mental illness, confronting the issues and making them far more accessible. I enjoyed this book very much and have no hesitation in recommending it.

Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite

Incompatible with Nature: A Mother's Story by Tracie Frank Mayer is a poignantly written, engrossing, and hugely inspirational story, a memoir that brilliantly captures the essence of a mother’s love, redefining what it means to be a parent. Afro-American Tracie Frank Mayer doesn’t speak German. She goes to Germany, following the love of her life, and it is here that she gives birth to her first child, Marc. But when the pediatric cardiologist tells her to let her newly born baby die, she knows something is seriously wrong. Yes, the child is born with a rare heart defect. This narrative chronicles her fight to keep her son alive and protected, a journey of resilience, love, and survival.

Here is a story that will fill the eyes of readers with happy tears. It is emotionally and psychologically engaging. Tracie Frank Mayer recounts her story in a very compelling voice, sharing her experience of pain and anxiety, her solitude in a country where she can only speak comfortably to her husband. The story begins with the birth of a much awaited son, an event that quickly becomes one that inspires anxiety. The reader follows her journey as she strives to give her son a normal life. Incompatible with Nature: A Mother's Story is a tale with a powerful message — love heals. Love finds answers. Love permits us to win in the most complicated, difficult, and trying situations. Beautifully written, this narrative extols the grandeur of the human spirit and teaches readers that there is always hope, even in the grimmest of situations.

Reviewed by Dawn Weaver for Readers' Favorite

The modern American family tends to struggle with the balance between home, school, work, and activity demands. The distractions caused by ever-connected screens make the problem worse. The Well-Balanced Family by Dr. Robert Myers has the answers to help restore balance and teach families to connect in healthy ways. Beginning with outlining the problems seen in our modern families, Dr. Myers then offers a clear plan to help resolve common issues, restore family connectedness, and instill fun and meaning into the times family members share. Complete with guidelines, charts, and ample suggestions adaptable to any family, he covers such topics as family meetings; screen-time limits; types of parenting; healthy parent, child, and sibling relationships; physical activity and fitness; organization and much more.

I cannot say enough good things about The Well-Balanced Family by Dr. Robert Myers! I have three grown children and two that are almost grown. Although we have used many resources as they have grown to help us improve our parenting, I truly wish this book had been available years ago. Do you have a child that cannot seem to get enough screen time? This book teaches you how to address it in a healthy, affirming way to help your child realize the effects and learn to make healthy choices. Do you need help handling sibling rivalry, couch-potato syndrome, or family togetherness? This is the book for you! It presents clearly defined, obtainable objectives and gives you hope that, no matter how far from balanced your family is, the answer is here!

Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Bento C. Leal's 4 Essential Keys to Effective Communication in Love, Life, Work—Anywhere! is a handy guide for all readers who want to learn, practice, and improve on their communication skills and relationships bit by bit, day by day. The 4 essential keys to communication shared by the author are the core fundamentals of successful interpersonal communication. Practicing these skills will help readers achieve relationship success and will enable them to take their relationships to a whole new level of intimacy, satisfaction, and success. Using the essential tools suggested in the book will help readers to listen well, express themselves with more clarity, and teach them how to solve problems effectively.

I like the way the author has handled the topic and it is important that readers go through the chapters with an open mind and a willingness to learn new skills. The opportunity for self-reflection is at the end of each chapter where the short questions will help them reflect on what has been said and the appropriate actions that can be taken to implement the skills. The key communication and relationship skills discussed in the book all revolve around the primary skill of empathy and it is a simple guide that is practical and straightforward.

The author has kept this guide short, succinct, and easy to relate to and put into practice. This book is a good reminder to improve on one's communication skills and also on listening skills. The 12-day communication challenge is effective and the real life examples make it easy for readers to connect with the author’s concept and words. Readers will see a steady development in their communication skills, an improvement in their empathy and ability to listen, and they will be able to speak well once they finish reading this book.

Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite

Mothering with Courage: The Mindful Approach to Becoming a Mother Who Listens More, Worries Less, and Loves Deeply by Bonnie Compton is a self-help book that will help new mothers and even bring something new to the old pros. This book focuses on helping women feel confident and enjoy motherhood. I felt that this book had some pretty cool nuggets of wisdom that will help new mothers gain confidence, help them understand their needs and the needs of their child, and simply become a better mother.

What I loved about this book is that it does not just give you advice, cramming your mind with information that you don’t have time to process. It also helps mothers by giving them exercises so that they can test, try out, and educate themselves to become better mothers and gain confidence. I think this gives women the opportunity to understand their strengths and start believing in them. They will learn to trust their instincts and build a bond with their children, which is how it should be. The material is helpful, comes down to the level of the reader, and gives sound advice without becoming overly informative.

This is not bang-bang-success advice as well. Mothers are encouraged to take their time, learn, adapt, and simply explore motherhood. I loved the fact that the book was written in a simple yet relevant style so that the reader can connect with it and grasp more. This is wholesome information that will allow young and new mothers to grow with their children, understand their needs, and at the same time learn that just a little courage can help them become a better mom.

Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite

In Leader of the Pack: How a Single Dad of Five Led His Kids, His Business and Himself from Disaster to Success, Matt Sweetwood (CEO, Keynote Speaker, Life Coach, and Lumix Photographer) shares his incredible experience of transformation. The author takes readers through his impassioned story of divorce and how he had to let go of the illusions he’d lived with for years and embrace reality, how he learned to stand up for what matters and beat the odds at his lowest moment in both family and career. But most importantly, the author chronicles his experience of becoming a successful single dad and business owner.

This is an inspiring story with powerful lessons for readers. Written in a friendly, easy-to-understand, yet insightful style, the book will evoke stirrings in the hearts of readers, the hunger to pursue what really matters in life. Imagine what it would feel like to wake up as a single dad, looking after five small kids, with the youngest at 18 months old? It was a very frustrating experience for the author and he captures the emotion in the following words: “On the day my life changed forever, I looked wildly around for any means of escape, but all I saw were their pale and frightened faces, staring up at me.”

This book made me cry in some places, made me smile as well, but it is the connection with the protagonist that had me repeating “You can do this,” as though I was cheering on a champion, and that made it a great read. It’s packed with insight and wisdom and a path that leads to success. I highly recommend Leader of the Pack: How a Single Dad of Five Led His Kids, His Business and Himself from Disaster to Success to readers who want to make a difference, single dads and business professionals. It’s a treasure trove.

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

I Still Want to Be a Mom: Escaping Hopelessness & Embracing Motherhood is a nonfiction health/medical parenting guide written by Julie Pierce. Pierce is a fertility and healthy lifestyle coach, whose familiarity with the challenges faced by the many women for whom pregnancy is elusive, makes her a particularly empathetic and persuasive guide. Looking back, she knew she had done all the right things as she was growing up. Pierce had been determined not to become one of those accidental moms who had to give up their dreams of college and professional goals because of an unplanned pregnancy. She would finish her academic studies, enter the profession she had studied for, and wait until she and her husband were ready, financially and emotionally, for the next big step in their lives -- becoming parents. Pierce also wanted to ensure that she could personally support herself and a young family, and she wanted to explore life as a couple with her husband before they began the process. As with many of her clients, however, Pierce found herself besieged by the cruel, if well-intentioned, reminders from family and friends about her biological clock, the aging of her eggs and the “selfishness” of women who didn’t embrace motherhood. She also felt a growing imperative as she watched her friends start their own families, but when she and her husband decided to go ahead and make that baby, nothing happened.

Julie Pierce’s nonfiction health/wellness guide was of particular interest to me as I’ve had some problems understanding the imperative felt by many women who are willing to sacrifice so much to afford extraordinary expense and endure the discomfort involved in fertility treatment. I’ve also read a number of articles and columns written by women who had decided not to have children, detailing the intense criticism and outrage expressed toward them by family, friends and “well-meaners.” As someone who would never be that intimately involved in the process, I still wanted to understand what was going on in a substantial segment of the population. Pierce’s honest and moving account went a long way towards giving me the answers and providing the bridge to understanding that I was seeking. Her descriptions of the emotional curves of hope and despair experienced by women each month when trying to get pregnant was moving, and her shared account of the delivery of her stillborn daughter, Ava Catherine, really brought home the suffering and loss she experienced.

Pierce doesn’t promise fertility miracles -- no one can. What she does do is help women understand the intricate processes involved in baby-making and get them to a place where they can see, sense and feel their future lives as a mom. Her counseling is designed to get her clients to consider any emotional or deep-seated roadblocks to becoming a mom that might be interfering with the process, and for them to have a clearer sense of becoming one. Along the way, she commiserates with the sometimes awful, if well-meaning, interference of family and friends, and clarifies some misconceptions about biological clocks and past-their-sell-by-time eggs. Her book answered my own questions and gave me new insights into the biological urge for motherhood and the accompanying stress and hardship experienced by many. I Still Want to Be a Mom: Escaping Hopelessness & Embracing Motherhood is most highly recommended, not only for the target audience but also for the men in their lives.

Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

A Mother’s Heart (Memoir of a Special Needs Parent) by Eichin Chang-Lim is the true story of the author’s journey through the at times difficult and always challenging world of raising a special needs child. Eichin Chang-Lim's first child, Teddy, was born profoundly deaf and with some vision issues as well. Chang-Lim candidly relates the initial shock and disappointment that her long-awaited bundle of joy was not quite so perfect after all. The author takes us along with her as we follow the development of her beloved child and the often unexpected pressures raising such a child can put on a couple’s relationship as well as with other family members, including siblings. In a simple, un-sugar-coated way Chang-Lim shows the reader the practical and pragmatic steps parents must take to ensure their child receives the necessary help, understanding and compassion required for the child to develop into a well-rounded adult ready to contribute successfully to society and to him or her self.

This book surprised me just a little bit. I guess I was expecting a very sad and angst-ridden story of the difficulties of raising a special needs child. What I got instead was a simple, straightforward account of the highs and lows of dealing with the needs of a child who has some form of disadvantage compared to other kids. I found the chapter written by Teddy’s younger sister illuminating in highlighting the differences in perspective between the special needs child and his or her siblings. The author's love for her child could never be brought into question, but even she admitted that when Teddy became an adult, it was difficult for her to let go and to give him his independence. This is an honest, frank and heartwarming memoir of one woman's journey with her special needs child. I very much enjoyed taking it with her and I know other readers, especially those in a similar position, will feel the same way.

Reviewed by Ashley Tetzlaff for Readers' Favorite

Karen Gordon and her husband, Evan Myshrall, know what the pain of divorce is like. But they also know that a second chance of happiness is possible. In How my Husband Keeps Me Happy: Secrets to a Low Maintenance Marriage, they share their secret to a fulfilling and happy marriage. Whether you are starting again (like they did) or trying to boost a struggling marriage or about to start for the first time, Karen and Evan have something for you! Each chapter focuses on something, like “Listen (And Prove It)” or “Make Each Other Laugh”; Karen and Evan talk about that topic from personal experience as a couple and individually, as well as give general tips; then the chapter ends with “Rating” (on a scale of 1-10, how good are you or your partner at the concept presented in the chapter?), a “Question” (What/how could you do better at this concept?), and “Making this work” (ideas for how to incorporate the concept into your life).

Although my husband and I have a great marriage, I love to read marriage guidance books to see if there is anything else I can learn. Reading Karen Gordon and Evan Myshrall’s story in How My Husband Keeps Me Happy: Secrets to a Low Maintenance Marriage was actually quite encouraging. Their second marriage is a lot like our first marriage: both partners are committed to loving and supporting each other, and open conversation about pretty much everything. Karen and Evan’s style is so easy to read. Their anecdotes are encouraging and fun. How My Husband Keeps Me Happy is a great book to tuck into a bride-to-be’s bridal shower gifts. And for those who have gone through a divorce, I’m sure the book can be an encouragement for the future. Some of the ideas can even be incorporated (on a less intimate level) with others as a way to be a very good friend. This is one of those “unforgettable books” that you wish you could buy in bulk and hand out to other people. Loved it!