Reviewed by Foluso Falaye for Readers' Favorite

The Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive in the Next Decade explores different innovative practices and groundbreaking ideas in various industries and societies around the world. Rohit Bhargava and Henry Coutinho-Mason spent most of the last decade examining early signs of transformations in different fields that are likely to shape our world. The book is divided into three parts. The first focuses on the changes that could occur in the experience of individuals relating to relationships, health, learning, and other aspects of day-to-day life. The second examines how we're likely to work, consume, and live together in our societies. In the final section, we see long-term innovation and a prediction of humanity's chances of surviving with futuristic cities, environments, agricultural practices, and governments.

The book includes substantial references, insightful quotes, a summary at the start of each section, and a comprehensive appendix. I learned about many things I never knew existed, such as stealth learning and job sharing. Apart from preparing readers for the future, The Future Normal also incorporates a writing style that's suitable for today's generation and possibly the next since it is concise, graphically appealing, and captivating enough to reach all readers. If you love reading about new trends, innovations, and technology, you should read Rohit Bhargava and Henry Coutinho-Mason's work. You will be inspired to embrace new ways of doing things that will improve your health, learning, relationships, mental health, work culture, and general well-being.

Reviewed by Vincent Dublado for Readers' Favorite

In his middle years, Peter J. Boni is at the top of his professional career as a veteran high-tech CEO who is the go-to guy for organizations in disrepair. While his career has been competing for time and attention with his family, his mother suffers a post-surgical stroke. His wife then reveals to him that his mother, while regaining her memory, tells his wife a story that Peter’s father is not his biological parent. This is the story of Uprooted: Family Trauma, Unknown Origins, and the Secretive History of Artificial Insemination, where author Peter J. Boni traces the roots of his genealogical origin that took him twenty years. With the help of Tracy, his resilient and creative daughter, he comes to learn of the consequences of assisted reproduction as a long-lost sister, Roxy, enters the scene. As Roxy adds a few missing pieces to complete their genetic puzzle, Peter wonders if he has more half-siblings from a single sperm donor.

Uprooted is a passionate telling of a secret that was intended to be taken to the grave. I cannot help but admire Boni’s precise choice of words to aptly describe his feelings about the whole revelation and the moving narrative about his crusade to decode his genetic identity. This is a story that not only provides a startling look at reproductive technologies but similarly serves as a wake-up call for an industry practice that no one talks about. The most thought-provoking part of his journey is knowing that he is not alone as donor-conceived individuals continue to flourish. In discovering his own truth that has set him free, I strongly recommend that you read this work to encourage you to trace your own roots. Whether or not you are a product of a natural union, there is something liberating about knowing who you are at a genetic level.

Reviewed by Astrid Iustulin for Readers' Favorite

Cathy Studer was six years old when her stepfather started abusing her by telling her she was bad and deserved punishment. The nightmare lasted until her adolescence when her mother discovered the letters in which he had Cathy describe what he was doing to her. From that moment Cathy's healing process began, and she recounts what she underwent and the conclusions she has drawn in the book Broken to Beautifully Whole. This is more than a memoir; it is a means the author has chosen to raise awareness and change things.

When I started reading Broken to Beautifully Whole, I expected to share Cathy Studer's personal story of abuse and healing. Instead, the author offered me something far more profound. Her goal is to invite other people who have been abused or know someone who has been, to come forward and set matters right. I am sure that after reading these pages, many will feel compelled to do so. Studer gives us some frightening percentages (the one that shocked me most was that one in four girls and one in six boys have been or will be abused) but also gives hope to those on the road to recovery by talking to them about resilience, gratitude, faith, and forgiveness. There is more than wisdom in these pages - there is a call to action to change the things we cannot ignore. I hope this book will influence many people. It is the right tool to make the world safer for our children.

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

#ONECHOICE – How Ten Seconds Can Change Your Life is a work of non-fiction in the social issues subgenre. It is suitable for the general reading audience and was penned by author Becky Savage, with contributions from the memories of Nick and Jack Savage. The book tells the story of two brothers who were celebrating the end of their high school careers with their classmates when they made the fatal decision to take Oxy after someone started offering it around at a party. The legacy of the brothers sends a powerful message about peer pressure, drugs, and the effect that a single decision can have.

This is one of the most powerful works of non-fiction I’ve ever read, written by a mother in the spirit of the two sons she lost to an overdose one fateful night when a single decision cost them everything. Author Becky Savage does a beautiful job in capturing the spirit of her sons Nick and Jack as she explores the events that led to them making a single, uncharacteristic choice that led to their deaths whilst still in their teens. It is aimed predominantly at educating parents and teenagers about the deadly consequences of narcotics by highlighting the fact that it only takes one bad choice in one moment to have life-changing consequences. Overall, #ONECHOICE never shies away from the harsh reality of drugs, peer pressure, or grief, but it does find a successful approach to the discussion by focusing on non-judgmental education for young people who find themselves in a similar situation to Nick and Jack and, in doing so, I believe that in the right hands this book could help save lives.

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

Disappeared: How A People Who Once Lived in a Small Caribbean Village Vanished Without a Historical Trace to Humankind is a work of non-fiction in the cultural and historical subgenres. It is suitable for the general reading audience and was penned by Dr. Martin Matthew on a subject very close to his heart. The work covers the history, development, and eventual demise of a utopic society based in the Caribbean basin, where life was built on values that appreciated nature and one another. In this detailed treatise, Dr. Matthew discusses what a great loss it is to the wider world for such a respectable, cultured, and enlightened way of living to be lost, and allows readers into his world to understand this unique society more and take its intrinsic values with them into the future.

It is always fascinating when I get to read about other cultures and their ways of life, and especially thrilling to discover places and people that I’ve never heard of or thought about. Dr. Martin Matthew pens this incredible book with a loving and nostalgic hand, and I’m certain it will create vivid memories for those who have been lucky enough to experience similar cultural backgrounds in their lives. The work is well organized and highly informative, but it also has the atmospheric and cinematic narrative quality of an immersive novel, bringing you into a warm and loving atmosphere in vivid color. Overall, I would not hesitate to recommend Disappeared to any reader interested in human values, nature, sociology, and preserving culture. It is a love letter to morals, ideas, and beliefs that we sorely need in today’s world.

Reviewed by Vincent Dublado for Readers' Favorite

Not So Black and White: An Invitation to Honest Conversations about Race and Faith by Reggie Dabbs and John Driver is a book on social issues that doesn’t mince words to get to the core of the message it imparts. Jumping instantly into a talk about racism can prove awkward, and there seems to be no comfortable way to engage with people about this issue. But it is the touchy subjects that always clamor to be addressed. Thankfully, this is what the book aims to do—to make your conversations about race and faith relevant without the trappings of misinterpreted context. A caveat: some chapters will trigger your feelings, and this is fine. This signals the beginning of your conditioning of reinterpreting terms and how to respond to given stimuli.

Not So Black and White is, by far, the most eye-opening book I have ever read on the issue of race and faith. If you still feel offended by the authors’ brutal honesty after reading the book, that’s on you. It is clear that Reggie Dabbs and John Driver didn’t write this book to feed anyone’s ego but to simply help create a better understanding of race and faith as topics that have proven to be too contentious in a time of self-entitled and easy-to-offend snowflakes. Dabbs and Driver try to help you gain knowledge of the racialized contexts in our society, and at the same time, stir you to create and nurture that much-needed connection when racial realities and faith come together. I recommend this book to anyone to help expand their awareness and make their conversations about race and faith more meaningful.

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

The Weight of Air: A Story of the Lies about Addiction and the Truth about Recovery is a work of non-fiction in the memoir subgenre, and was penned by author David Poses. Owing to the use of explicit language throughout and some sexual content, the work is best suited to the mature adult reading audience. In this stark and emotionally raw work of autobiographical writing, David Poses explains his lifelong struggle with addiction and mental health issues, relating to serious topics such as drug abuse, depression, and suicide attempts. What results is a fascinating and harrowing journey over three decades of life during the American opioid crisis that has a lot to say about the way we approach mental health care in the world today.

Author David Poses has crafted a work that will literally blow you away, whether you have any experience in the world of drug addiction or not. The honesty with which he writes is second to none, but there’s a wise command of language that always prevents the work from becoming too dreary or self-absorbed. I really appreciated the focus of the work and the raw detail that the author is able to go into, particularly about his feelings of guilt and shame, which are so hard to admit even in private. There is a wonderful sense of activism that underpins even the darkest messages of the work, and this always makes a reader feel that they are being guided through these experiences by someone who is now securely able to help others climb out of the same hole. Overall, I would not hesitate to recommend The Weight of Air as a superb and eye-opening read for those who have not yet explored the realities of addiction, and also as a comfort to those who already bear these struggles themselves.

Reviewed by Tom Gauthier for Readers' Favorite

Don't Expect Me To Cry is a powerful autobiography by Janet Bentley, relating the horrors of mental, physical, and sexual abuse she endured from infancy. In an amazing piece of writing, Janet tells her story, reflecting her thoughts and experiences at critical stages of her life from age four until today. Janet describes the struggles to deal with the pain and fear she experiences as she begins to share her deeply held secret. With the constant thought of ending it all, she fights to hold on. The highs are high, the lows are beyond belief as she learns that it is possible to heal from the depths of the darkest shame and trauma and achieve a life of peace and contentment. Janet Bentley has shared an inspiring life story, cathartic to some, shocking to all, eliciting emotions at once raw and real.

Janet Bentley is an amazing writer. If Don't Expect Me To Cry was a novel it would receive high praise for its drama, raw descriptions of violent assault, and glimpses of hope from skilled therapists which end up dashed time and again. Dramatic arcs in masterful presentation. But it is not a novel. It is Janet’s own autobiography written honestly and directly, with a unique ability to show the evil done to her without becoming maudlin, alongside her learning of the science behind her lifelong struggles. Janet writes with fragility and strength as the victim, and as a unique form of therapist that only one who has experienced the trauma can provide. Her detailed highlights of the professional therapists who began her healing, and the contra events of dependency and transference that her fragility led her to, are true clinical insights and of value to all who read it.

While Janet’s work is obviously a view of catharsis, it is also therapeutic to readers who have shared her experience on any level. Beyond that, it educates us all about the horrific reality of sexual abuse. It will engender anger over the abject failure of society, family, teachers, neighbors, and friends to act on behalf of a toddler, a human being in the deepest distress. Janet Bentley deserves the highest praise for her writing, and for her amazing tenacity to hang on to life and see it through to the goodness and caring that actually exist in the world. I highly recommend this book.

Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite

Bold, sizzling, and candidly narrated, My Whorizontal Life is the first book in An Escort’s Tale series by Sephe Haven, a memoir that covers the author's first six months as an escort. Readers are pulled into the author's search for love through the most unlikely path: prostitution. The story starts with the setting and the timeline of New York City in the late 1980s. Sephe is an idealistic, empathic young woman blinded by her desire for fantasy and romance, fearful of the “real world,” who dreams of true love and being an actress extraordinaire. But just after her Juilliard graduation, poverty and debt overwhelm her and she takes what she thinks will be a very limited leap into the underground world of escorting. But she finds it’s not so easy to get out of it. And maybe she doesn’t want to?

Thus begins a memoir that is told in a compelling, humorous voice, each line calculated, well written and packed with wit. The humor greets the reader right from the start with the failed waitressing job and the meanness the author thinks the world reserves for her, for she can't understand that after having spent a good time with a man and shared laughter, then he dumps her. That is what sucks more than the meanness...it's the dumping. The levity, the lightness and the humor with which the story is told had me reading on. She makes readers buy into her worldview, sit at her feet and listen to her story. With candor and honesty, Sephe Haven leads readers into the dilemmas of her life along with the difficult choice of taking the path of an escort. The prose is awesome, alluring and infused with sexiness. It is interesting how the author transforms a painful journey into something that is fun and entertaining and, at times, the reader wonders if this is a real-life narrative or fiction. My Whorizontal Life made me want to meet this author. She is so genuine, so honest, and so funny that even a saint would want to listen to her story.

Reviewed by Lois Henderson for Readers' Favorite

How to Rob a Bank in Drag: A True Story of ODD LGBT Issues by Dawn Lawson is the tale of one woman’s progression from being a 14-year-old runaway from an emotionally battered childhood to where, at the age of 53, as a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, she is able to reflect on and recount the saga of her journey through life. With a father who was, thankfully, consistently supportive of her, and with the growing realization of her own nature as a gay young woman with an addictive personality, who was more prone than not to land up in the wrong relationship at the wrong time and in the wrong place, Lawson triumphs, at least on the personal front, despite it all. Her love for animals and her appreciation for the basic good in humankind is a tribute to the generosity of her spirit throughout.

As a dog lover myself, I especially appreciated Dawn Lawson’s developing awareness of the importance of those of the canine breed expressed in How to Rob a Bank in Drag—as she states, the multifarious mutts rescued her more than she rescued them. Her time spent in prison for bank robbery to feed her drug habit was also of much interest to me, as I have a close friend who went the same route after one too many DUIs. Her descriptions of the highs and lows of her involvement with Alcoholics Anonymous, ranging from close companionship and affection for her fellow attendees to her debunking of the so-called “professional expertise” of an out-and-out fraudulent psychologist, who was more on a personal power trip than a worthy facilitator of healing, were also close to my heart, as they should be to anyone who has befriended those with a somewhat risqué background.

The audiobook of Dawn Lawson’s How to Rob a Bank in Drag, voiced by Lynne Perry, warmed me to the soul and had me so enthralled that the moment I had finished listening to the entire book, I listened to it again (which, I’m sure, can’t be said for many audiobooks)! The whole journey of a fellow suffering spirit is totally riveting, and Perry does it full justice, with her full-scaled empathy with the author’s travails and traumas. I also enjoyed the American Indian chanting between chapters, as it lent a sonorous quality to the text. In short, an audiobook not to be missed.