Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Awaken Your Greater Health: How Energy Medicine Opens the Way To Healing is a nonfiction spiritual self-help book written by Heidi DuPree, RN CTN, an author and energy healing therapist. In her introduction, the author sets out a metaphorical tale about a wise, kind and powerful king who was deposed by a tyrannical peasant who confined him in a dungeon. The peasant then undid all the rulings and customs which the king had imposed in favor of a harsh, restrictive and repressive rule. The people in the kingdom chafed under the peasant’s rule and grew angry and quarrelsome, and wars between neighboring villages began to break out. DuPree uses this allegorical tale to show how our lower selves can take over and keep our higher selves from manifesting. Through a series of stories about her clients and their issues and awakenings, she shows, through the metaphor of regaining access to the castle, how one can get in touch with the higher self and understand more fully the machinations of the lower self and how to deal with them in a loving, healing and accepting manner. She includes a series of life skill lessons for readers to use in their own healing journey and an appendix with summations, instructions for tapping, and a list of recommended reading references.

Heidi DuPree’s nonfiction spiritual self-help book, Awaken Your Greater Health: How Energy Medicine Opens the Way To Healing, is an illuminating and inspiring guide for anyone who wants to use the energy resources that are at their disposal to enhance their wellness and well-being. I was impressed by the author’s ability to convey her theories and methodology through metaphor and story, and found the material to be well-presented and highly accessible. Her choices of case studies present varied situations which allow the reader access to more personalized guidance. I particularly enjoyed her ingenious comparison of her Energy Medical First-Aid tools to CPR techniques and her use of tapping as part of the energy healing process. Awaken Your Greater Health: How Energy Medicine Opens the Way To Healing is highly recommended.

Reviewed by Gisela Dixon for Readers' Favorite

Lying Beliefs: Stretching the Boundaries on Your Path to Enlightenment by Mr. Maurice Johnson is a philosophical, part-spiritual, part-memoir work about how human beings are shaped into believing and thinking about themselves and others due to demands placed by other humans and society in general, and how that takes us away from our “natural” or inborn way of feeling and thinking. Maurice Johnson goes into a considerable amount of detail to illustrate the idea that we are born pure, body, mind, and soul and that our environment, culture, society, and of course other people’s influence change us into people with a set of beliefs that are false and “man-made.” By this definition, we don’t really know ourselves unless and until we shed this man-made image of ourselves that is different from our consciousness at the time we were born. Lying Beliefs: Stretching the Boundaries on Your Path to Enlightenment is divided into various chapters that illustrate these points in detail, which include bits from his personal life. There are also various references and a glossary at the end which readers may find helpful.

Lying Beliefs by Maurice Johnson is a book about a very unique perspective on life and how we see ourselves. The writing style is simple, engaging, and the book is written in an informal, conversational tone that creates an easy connection with readers. I found some of the insights and perspectives very interesting and these definitely gave me something to think about. I wouldn’t mind going back and re-reading some of the portions as I feel I may get more out of it the more I read it. A book from a unique perspective and one that I would recommend to all!

Reviewed by Tracy A. Fischer for Readers' Favorite

In a highly personal and affecting true life story, 37 Seconds: Dying Revealed Heaven's Help -- A Mother's Journey is simply an inspiring and wonderful read. Authors Stephanie Arnold and Sari Padorr have done a fantastic job in telling Stephanie's story. Pregnant with her second child, Stephanie has a premonition that she will die during delivery, a premonition that comes true. Stephanie flatlines for 37 seconds due to a rare complication, and then remains unconscious for six days after the birth of her child. After she recovers, she begins to recount the experiences she had during this time, experiences she witnessed on her own from outside of her body, surrounded by spirits. The experiences that she had and the messages that she returned with comprise an important and meaningful message for all.

I loved 37 Seconds. Loved. It. How's that for a review? This book is emotional and moving and contains such an important message of God's love. Authors Stephanie Arnold and Sari Padorr have presented a lovely, impactful and interesting read, and one that will keep readers turning the pages from the start to the very end. I highly recommend 37 Seconds: Dying Revealed Heaven's Help -- A Mother's Journey to any reader looking for a great book with a beautiful message. I would be interested in reading more from this writing duo as well, and hope that they will consider collaborating on another project in the near future. For potential readers, I suggest you pick up and read this book as soon as you possibly can!

Reviewed by Anne Boling for Readers' Favorite

“The premise of 'The Broken Gift' is: The rigorous approach of science and a careful and equally rigorous analysis of Genesis produce the same events and timelines for the appearance and early history of humanity.” Author, Daniel Friedmann begins his book by defining Science and Creation. Science is the methodical method of collecting data about the universe and shaping it into concepts and rules that can be verified. Genesis is the first of the five books of law called the Torah. “The Torah is the blueprint of the universe’s and humankind’s existence from a faith-based perspective, drawn from a tradition of oral and written principles.” The author’s theory is that science and scripture should go hand in hand with the same outcomes. The largest discrepancy between science and scripture is the timeline. While Genesis states that creation took 6 days, while science declares it took billions of years. There is also the question of whether life evolved. Among the things covered in this book, the reader will find discussion on: why humanity was required, the creation and fall of Adam, the flood, and the spread of human language.

“The Broken Gift” by Daniel Friedmann gives believers and scientists much to ponder. I can only hint at the wealth of information in this book as Daniel Friedmann has thoroughly researched his topic. He presents his thesis in logical terms. There is a glossary in the back of this book along with a list of references. The author has successfully presented information that should bring science and religion into balance. I highly recommend this book.

Reviewed by Roy T. James for Readers' Favorite

Listen Up! The Other Side Is Talking by Kelle Sutliff, as the author says, is pearls of wisdom and inspirational ideas for a fuller life. The book begins with her journey in search of the person inside her, how she held nature in reverence, the many facets of identifying and directing psychic energy and its use, the way it helped her in identifying others’ needs and desires and, above all, how it helped her in getting answers to each and every question. She talks about events and the signs pointing to them; for example, how even the horrific happenings of 9/11 could be identified in a few signs she and others of psychic power had to feel or witness.

Listen Up! The Other Side Is Talking by Kelle Sutliff is not an easy read, especially for people like me, uninitiated into the dark world of the psyche. Her treatment of the section regarding her initiation into the spiritual world is quite candid, and also of the necessity to accept this calling willingly. Using the metaphor of a ‘Psychic Coffee,’ the author emphasizes the need for continuous, daily preparations to make this as one's second nature. The part her grandmother played in her career as well as the helpful support from her mother stand out in her sojourn through the alleyways of the spirit. I have no such background to make one capable of appreciating the realm of the spirit, and consequently am in no position to examine the content critically. However, I did find this useful in understanding something new.

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

The Shining Within Me: Communications from the Afterlife is a spiritualist memoir written by Freddie Rivera. Rivera grew up sensing, hearing and even seeing presences as a young child. At first, he thought that this was something everyone experienced, but later he came to see his gifts as something to be hidden lest people think he was insane. School and later the army were very intense experiences for Rivera as he had to cope with the emotions of his peers as well as his own. It wasn't until Rivera was an adult that he realized that while everyone didn't share his gifts, many people did. He reached out to others cautiously at first, but soon found a warm and supportive community of psychics, mediums and spiritualists. Rivera also discusses how he reconciled his Christian faith with his spiritualistic abilities by acknowledging that those gifts came from God.

Freddie Rivera's spiritualist memoir, The Shining Within Me: Communications from the Afterlife is a fascinating and well-written real-life coming of age story. I especially enjoyed the chapters dealing with his early years in Spanish Harlem and his four years in the army. Rivera shines as he recounts the military experiences he had in Germany, the tropics and Alaska. He also gives a unique and incredibly moving account of his visit to Dachau. Without ever being preachy or didactic, Rivera discusses astral projection, lucid dreaming, evidential mediums (which Rivera is) and the difference between clairvoyance, clairsentience and clairaudience. He doesn't try to convince the reader of his gifts, rather he simply yet eloquently tells stories about his life and about those who he was able to comfort through his readings. I had a marvelous time reading The Shining Within Me: Communications from the Afterlife and learned a lot from it. It's highly recommended.

Reviewed by Kim Anisi for Readers' Favorite

Do you often feel you are stuck in your life and wish you could make a difference for yourself? Then The 5 Star Points for Success by Jacqueline Oya Thomas might be just the right book for you. In this self-help book, you will learn how you can work on the five different areas that have an influence on your success and happiness. They are: mind, body, spirit, emotions and environment. The book explains why it is important that you work on all five star points, and gives you good instructions on what you can do to make a difference in each area.

I found The 5 Star Points for Success by Jacqueline Oya Thomas to be a really well-balanced book. It is not an incredibly long read, but that is a positive point. Many self-help books just go on and on and on without ever getting to the point. Jacqueline Oya Thomas has found a good balance of mixing her own experiences with helpful advice, and ideas on how the reader can turn their life around. Some readers might be quite surprised about how they need to put effort into something like their environment, when all they want is a better job or the love of their lives. This book shows how the different areas in your life are all tied together, and it does so in a good way. The book is definitely worth a read - either as your first book of that kind or as a quick refresher if you need some motivation to keep on track.