Reviewed by Joanne Ang for Readers' Favorite

One Pound, Twelve Ounces, written by Melissa Harris, is a tale based on a real-life event of a mother’s journey with difficult pregnancies. The story starts with her extraordinary uterus that made getting pregnant an outright miracle. While her first child was born with few complications, her second and third pregnancies were the storm that shook her world completely. From early contractions that progressively got worse, to repeatedly being reminded of the harsh reality they were in every minute, the prognosis for her pregnancy could not possibly get any worse. One Pound, Twelve Ounces is a miraculous journey of how a premature infant was born when all the odds were against him.

Melissa Harris, the author of One Pound, Twelve Ounces, is perhaps one of the strongest women I have ever encountered in my life. Her determination and bravery in showcasing her darkest moments and intense fears deserve to be applauded a million times over. One Pound, Twelve Ounces is the story of a mother’s love and desperate desire for her baby to have his best chance at life, even when there was only a 20% chance of hope. I also really loved how there was a shift between time frames (2010 and 2008) which multiplied the feelings and emotions that were going on in Melissa’s mind when faced with such immense difficulty. The challenge does not end at birth, and Melissa managed to capture the heart-wrenching moments where all hope seemed fruitless yet she persevered. I would definitely recommend this book as an eye-opening tale of miscarriages and preemies.

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

Uncolonized Latinas: Transforming Our Mindsets and Rising Together is a work of non-fiction in the women's writing and cultural issues subgenres. It is suitable for the general reading audience and was penned by author Valeria Aloe. The book is an analysis of the Latina way of thinking and asks which aspects of the culture are actually holding Latinas back. Seeking to explore why Latinas aren’t represented as they should be in politics and business, the book is a discussion on the things holding members of the community back from individual success, such as the cultural narratives that narrow the perception of Latina people both for outsiders and for themselves.

This book immediately establishes itself as a work based squarely on empowerment and a compassionate understanding of the cultural context in which the target audience lives. Author Valeria Aloe is an intelligent writer who keenly articulates nuanced ideas about social and cultural norms in an accessible and engaging way, opening the door to deep and meaningful discussions about the future of the Latina people. By grounding the lessons taught and observations made in the history of Latina culture, the book is constantly able to create eureka moments in the reader as the root of behaviors and ways of thinking are laid bare. Overall, Uncolonized Latinas celebrates the potential in every Latina person to push past the chains their culture has endured for generations and find power and identity in the modern world. This is an important book in cultural understanding for Latina readers and anyone wishing to deepen their understanding of Latino history and the cultural practices and habits that have survived into the 21st century.

Reviewed by Pikasho Deka for Readers' Favorite

Have you ever wondered why it's mostly women who are tasked to take notes in corporate settings? Why is it always female employees who are specifically asked to bring coffee during meetings between business executives and why do female entrepreneurs receive less funding than their male counterparts? In Never Get Their Coffee, CEO and thought-coach Lakisha Ann Woods sheds light on the inherent biases women have to face in their careers and offers valuable insights to help them navigate those challenges. The societal impact may affect a woman's ability to grow in her career. Like the way women are judged based on their looks much more than men. But it's important to avoid doubt and back yourself in your endeavors. Woods also provides advice on leading as a woman of color and dealing with discrimination in its myriad forms.

In recent years, there has been a noticeable rise in women candidates fighting in elections for representation in Congress, but the ratio is still nowhere near what it should be. Lakisha Ann Woods highlights some of these relevant issues in Never Get Their Coffee. She lists all the types of challenges that women in leadership positions may face in today's increasingly competitive world and gives her perspectives on all aspects of leadership, including embracing diversity, mentoring, managing mistakes, communication skills, and much more. If you're a career-driven woman, this is a must-read, so grab a copy. I assure you, it will be an informative as well as an illuminating reading experience.

Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Chasing Perfection: A Journey to Healing, Fitness, and Self-Love by Rachel Brooks is a thought-provoking book that will inspire, encourage, and empower readers to embrace a life filled with passion and purpose. Most of the time in life problems are not addressed properly, they are just pushed aside. Reading the insights in this book will give hope to many readers out there to make their own choices and determine their destination; choose truth over lies, love over hate, confidence over doubt, faith over fear, and courage over comfort. The tools in the book will help readers to love and accept the self, and understand the key to unlocking destiny is in the power of choices they make for themselves.

What makes readers easily connect with Chasing Perfection is because the author's personal story and experiences make the book more human and palpable. Rachel Brooks speaks about how her struggles and hardships shaped her as a person and made her what she is today. The Points to Ponder section will actually help readers to reflect and make positive changes in the areas of their lives where they need it is required. The book is also a good way to make readers become more aware of themselves and see how their perception about themselves and the world around them needs to be changed. The author's honesty when it comes to talking about herself and her life is heartwarming and makes this book real and tangible.

Reviewed by Astrid Iustulin for Readers' Favorite

Many women feel dissatisfied at midlife but do not know where to start to get something more. Yet, if they find the right person to help them, it is possible for them to make their next decades the best of their lives. Thanks to Ellen Albertson's mind-blowing book, Rock Your Midlife: 7 Steps to Transform Yourself and Make Your Next Chapter Your Best Chapter, women who now feel they are suffering a midlife crisis will find powerful tips to understand who they really are, learn to love themselves, reprogram their brains thanks to neuroplasty, get rid of their Good Girl syndrome, and much, much more. Thanks to Albertson, these women are seven steps away from their fulfillment.

Rock Your Midlife is a book that every woman who has reached middle age and does not want to settle for what she has achieved should read. Ellen Albertson is a wise and sensitive adviser who never forgets what significant changes happen in a woman's life in these delicate but beautiful years. She covers all topics of interest to her readers, from loving their bodies to relationships with children and partners. I liked that Albertson includes many stories (including hers) of women she met and helped because they enable readers to realize they are not the only ones facing these problems. I also liked the 7-day plan of action at the end of the book because it will help readers put Albertson's advice into practice right away. Rock Your Midlife cannot be praised enough. It is the first step on a fabulous journey that every woman deserves to take.

Reviewed by Tammy Ruggles for Readers' Favorite

Newcomers in an Ancient Land: Adventures, Love, and Seeking Myself in 1960s Israel by Paula Wagner is a moving, powerful memoir about finding who you are in your life and finding the strength to be your own person. Traveling was in Paula's blood from an early age. Her travels took her from England and across America (Texas, Kansas, etc.). Her early experiences include living in California with her family, then enduring a boarding school with Naomi in London. She was familiar with her mother's heritage, but it was her father's Jewish history she wanted to know more about, so at the age of eighteen, she and her twin sister Naomi left the family nest. An excellent language student, Paula studied Hebrew, met a man, and traveled to France, but Israel called her name. She made surprising discoveries about her lineage and herself. Having a twin sister led her to carve out an identity that was solely her own. She wanted to make her own way in life, and this modern nation with ancient roots helped her do that.

Wagner has opened the door to herself and to Israel as it was in the 1960s. This is a memoir full of life, character, and meaning, and as you read, you begin to learn who this woman is and what she's about, chapter by chapter. In a way, the conflict and uncertainty that was going on in 1960s Israel echoed what was going on in Paula's life. The writing is warm, colorful, and sure, serving as both a slice of history and a captivating family drama and isn't meant to be an all-encompassing history book. You will also learn life lessons about other cultures and the hopes, fears, and dreams of their people. It was a defining time in her life, making this a wonderful coming-of-age YA story with themes of idealism versus reality and innocence-to-experience. This is a travelogue with style and substance, humor, heart, and wisdom. The accompanying photos add another layer of depth, bringing you closer to the story. The author's use of rich detail and vivid imagery shows us a time and place that we can only vicariously experience.

Wagner seems to be a natural-born storyteller, expertly sifting personal experiences into the time's history, politics, and culture. You will hear about her father Leon, her mother, her sister Naomi, other siblings, and other family members. Wagner's use of sparkling dialogue and Biblical references adds to the book's appeal. Her comparisons of modern Israel to 1960s Israel are poignant. But perhaps most intriguing of all is the bond she shared with her sister and how she yearned to have a separate identity. If you're looking for a standout memoir this year, make it Newcomers in an Ancient Land: Adventures, Love, and Seeking Myself in 1960s Israel by Paula Wagner.

Reviewed by Melinda Facal for Readers' Favorite

When Strong Women Speak, Strong Women Listen: Inspired Words of Wisdom on Life, Love, Happiness, and Success by Adriana Fuentes Diaz is an uplifting collection of thoughts from some of the most inspiring women of our time. Wisdom is shared by women of diverse backgrounds from Mother Theresa, Taylor Swift, Frida Kahlo, Brene Brown, and many others. Encouragement is shared for many different areas in life from happiness to love and success to values. Fuentes Diaz shares how her faith and strength have helped her overcome obstacles and challenges throughout her life. These enlightening words serve to strengthen and encourage the reader through life’s inevitable ups and downs.

Adriana Fuentes Diaz’s When Strong Women Speak, Strong Women Listen is a testament to the power that words have to heal, restore and uplift us. These heartfelt messages share knowledge applicable to many situations throughout life, from believing in oneself to how to forgive. This is a great book to have on hand whenever you need a little pick-me-up or a dose of inspiration. It is both comforting and empowering to see how women have persevered and thrived throughout time despite struggles and challenges. At times lighthearted and at other times offering sage advice, this inspiring book will make a wonderful gift for a woman at any point during her life. I highly recommend When Strong Women Speak, Strong Women Listen for a thoughtful and motivating read.

Reviewed by Tammy Ruggles for Readers' Favorite

Surrender: A Memoir of Nature, Nurture, and Love by Marylee MacDonald is a moving coming-of-age story about adoption straight from the heart. From the first few paragraphs, you will be touched by how adoption shaped her--from birth, through her formative years, and later, as a teenager and the surrender of her firstborn child from an unplanned pregnancy. The author captures the feelings, turmoil, and issues of living with uncertainty, confusion, and lack of support. You begin to realize that a great number of adopted children must experience some of the same emotions and struggles. Her craving to sort out nature/nurture is a major theme, as is her quest to nurture the child inside that lost out on so much.

Adoption, from all angles, seems to have permeated the author's life, and she has a beautiful way of conveying all the nuanced thoughts that come with it. I like that the book reads like a fiction novel as well as a memoir, complete with interesting dialogue, conflict, and pacing. MacDonald's style is honest yet full of grace. I like that she gives a brief introduction about her own adoption, and the surrendering of her son, and then backtracks to slowly pull you into the story and her inner conflicts, and how they affect her relationships, decisions, and self-image. The opening dialogue with her husband Bruce about moving to Phoenix is a priceless slice of life. It's about control, and you can cut the tense realism with a knife. As the story moves through its arcs and her desire to connect with her oldest child, you will be drawn deeper and deeper into it, until you become a part of this woman's life in a way and will find yourself relating to her, even though you may or may not have any experience with adoption. Surrender: A Memoir of Nature, Nurture, and Love by Marylee MacDonald is a must-have for your reading pile.

Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Chasing Perfection: A Journey to Healing, Fitness, and Self-Love by Rachel Brooks is a thought-provoking book that will inspire, encourage, and empower readers to embrace a life filled with passion and purpose. Most of the time in life problems are not addressed properly, they are just pushed aside. Reading the insights in this book will give hope to many readers out there to make their own choices and determine their destination; choose truth over lies, love over hate, confidence over doubt, faith over fear, and courage over comfort. The tools in the book will help readers to love and accept the self, and understand the key to unlocking destiny is in the power of choices they make for themselves.

What makes readers easily connect with Chasing Perfection is because the author's personal story and experiences make the book more human and palpable. Rachel Brooks speaks about how her struggles and hardships shaped her as a person and made her what she is today. The Points to Ponder section will actually help readers to reflect and make positive changes in the areas of their lives where they need it is required. The book is also a good way to make readers become more aware of themselves and see how their perception about themselves and the world around them needs to be changed. The author's honesty when it comes to talking about herself and her life is heartwarming and makes this book real and tangible.

Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite

It’s the simple things in life that are the most important. Through trials and tribulations, one can always resort to the sage words of wisdom from great minds like Mahatma Gandhi: “Where there is love there is life.” Growing up in South Africa in the 1980s, Michelle struggled with both her health and her sense of belonging during a difficult time in South African history. Being of East Indian descent, she was neither black nor white. Her frequent asthma attacks and near-death experiences as a child made life complicated on the home front and the tension between her parents mounted, making home life feel almost hostile. Burdened with regret, as a young girl she believed she was responsible for the family’s turmoil, a heartbreaking reality in so many broken families. But, there were some good times, and, as the author admits, “Many unforgettable moments are worth more than a lifetime of memories.” A dream formulated in her mind and heart, a dream that would take her an ocean and a continent away from her family. Her dream was to move to America. Although she achieved her dream, it didn’t come without a lot more hard work and hardship.

Michelle Felix’s memoir, Whole Heart: One woman’s incredible and heartbreaking journey from Africa to America, is a touching, compassionate story about a young woman’s difficult journey. For that’s what life is, a journey full of joy and sorrows, sometimes more one than the other. The author begins her narrative with her ancestry and how her family came to be permanent residents of South Africa but never fitting in because they were neither white nor black. She gives a heart-wrenching tale of the family discord that escalated throughout her growing-up years. Coupled with her multiple near-death experiences due to being born with severe asthma, there were few happy moments in her youth. The author has a powerful command of language, especially in her descriptive narrative which eloquently and sometimes brutally describes the scenes and the situations in this woman’s life. At times, the memoir is vibrantly raw in its harsh revelations of a tragic life. Frequently being hit by unexpected and unhappy events, the author proved her strength and resilience to carry on. This is a powerful story that will encourage others to carry on, despite the odds stacked up against them. Beautiful writing.