Reviewed by Vernita Naylor for Readers' Favorite

Opioids, alcohol, and prescription drugs used in moderation can help in several ways for pain relief and relaxation, but in excess these can become an addiction. Why would people risk their lives and their well-being for prescription drugs or another drink? It's not them personally; the signals that their brain gives off is the cause of their addiction. An addiction is the dependence on a legal or illegal drug, substance or medication. The Craving Brain: Science, Spirituality and the Road to Recovery by Dr. W. Anderson Spickard Jr., James B., and Barbara Thompson is a candid account of how the brain signals cravings that stimulate addictions. The Craving Brain: Science, Spirituality and the Road to Recovery is a self-help guide that provides the reader with everything that they will need to know about addiction and how to start the healing process. In The Craving Brain, you will learn a lot about how addiction can be genetically susceptible and be passed on from one generation to the next, the negative effects of addiction including abuse, and learn the symptoms of addicted behavior. Whether you or a loved one are struggling with some type of addiction, understand that you are not alone and that The Craving Brain can help you to become fully equipped with a comprehensive solution to the problem.

To fully understand the value that The Craving Brain brings, the book was developed and told from various sides. In The Craving Brain, a recovery addict tells about his journey into the world of cocaine and alcohol; Dr. W. Anderson Spickard Jr., a recognized expert in the field of addiction and substance abuse, gives his advice and input on the patients that have been in his care, and author Barbara Thompson has the expertise in putting the finishing touches on a story and bringing it to life. Immediately upon reading the Table of Contents, you are hit with section titles like Heavy Drinking: A Trap At Any Age; Like Father, Like Son; It Will Never Happen To Me; The Family Trap; Surrender to Win and Sustaining Recovery. Within seconds you want to learn, read and understand more about addiction and substance abuse. Addiction and substance abuse have a catastrophic effect not only on the individuals, but on their families, the community, the healthcare system and our tax dollars. People can overcome addiction and substance abuse, but it takes a lot of work and effort. With your own copy of The Craving Brain: Science, Spirituality and the Road to Recovery by Dr. W. Anderson Spickard Jr., James B., and Barbara Thompson, it can make the path to recovery easier.

Reviewed by Ankita Shukla for Readers' Favorite

As the name suggests, The Bi-Polar Express by Ela and Natasha Simon is a book that throws light on how the life of a family is affected by depression and other mental instabilities. Ela, in the first half of the book, expresses the point of view of the mother of a daughter who is suffering from bipolar disorder. The life of a mental patient is difficult as it is; however, the caretaker of the patient, especially if he/she is a family member, goes through an overwhelming journey themselves. They often end up requiring some help to keep them sane. This is what happens when Natasha, the daughter of the author, is diagnosed with ADHD. Even before she was diagnosed, Ela and her husband, Peter, knew that there was something different about her. Natasha was always restless, sometimes utterly active and multitasking; on the contrary, sometimes hopelessly depressed. Although making friends was difficult for her, keeping them was a bigger task. Picking up the signal that she was not wanted was always hard for her. So, she would try her best to keep these "friends" in her life, not realising that she was being played by these people. When she realized the reality, she would be heartbroken. In these moments, only her family and she would be left to pick up the pieces. Ela's struggle to keep up with Natasha's manic episodes, and her desire to keep her daughter happy are well depicted in the first part of the book.

The second part of the book, which is written by Natasha, gives readers an insight into Natasha's side of the story. I have often wondered about how the entire picture changes based on the perception of the audience. This proved to be true from the second half of the book. For instance, according to Ela, Natasha was coming on too strong and thus many of the guys whom she assumed were "The One" ran away; however, when I read this part in Natasha's own words, I realized that she knew when a relationship was over. She could understand it clearly from the guy's behavior, but she chose to hold on because of her undying faith in love. While reading Natasha's version of her life, I developed strong feelings for her. I felt protective of her, which doesn't happen very often. Nevertheless, while reading Ela's part, I could not help but respect her every step of the way. Of course, a mother's love is above every other love, but, in Ela's case, she actually proved her limitless love for her daughter even when Natasha pushed buttons that Ela didn't even know existed.

The interactive style of writing of both the authors is extremely entertaining. From the first chapter to the end, I became a part of the world of Ela and Natasha. I connected with both of them on so many levels. Although the subject of the book is quite emotional, the book is far from it. The authors have ensured that the book doesn't become a dark universe, where readers would only see the darkness. They have kept the mood light and introduced many light-hearted events as well. I learned a lot about bipolar disorder and have developed more empathy towards its patients and their families. I would recommend this book to readers who wish to know more about mental problems or who have, in any way, been in contact with its patients. Also, readers who are intrigued by well-written memoirs should give this book a try. I loved everything about the book.

Reviewed by Lit Amri for Readers' Favorite

Part of the Family: Christadelphians, the Kindertransport, and Rescue from the Holocaust, Volume 1 by Jason Hensley is an ongoing project by the author, an attempt to catalog the lives and experiences of the Jewish refugees who were sheltered by Christadelphians during the 1930s and 1940s. This book gives readers an intrinsic introduction to this small Christian sect and how they responded to WWII, particularly the Holocaust, before moving to the personal experiences of the interviewed Jewish refugees.

Part of the Family is a commendable, well-documented work from Hensley that shows the great effort that he put into his research. It gives an insight into another part of the Holocaust history that I had little knowledge of. The clear cut prose makes the reading easy, informative and touching, especially when each refugee shared both their happy and painful memories in trying to adapt to a new country, culture and language. The story of Rella Adler is the last entry for the refugees’ experiences, as she recalls her reluctance to leave the Christadelphian family that she grew to love before going to the United States to live with her biological aunt. The pictures help readers to see back in time and put faces to names of those that Hensley interviewed, giving a sense of familiarity of how the lives of those refugees turn out in the end. On the whole, this is a great read and I wish Hensley the best for this ongoing collaborative project between him, the interviewees, and their family, as well as the Christadelphian families who housed them. I hope more stories that have never been told before can be discovered and shared with the world.

Reviewed by Charles Remington for Readers' Favorite

The title Launching Sheep by Sarah Angleton continues: And Other Stories from The Intersection of History and Nonsense. The volume is comprised of eighty-six informative, fascinating and entertaining articles taken from the author’s weekly blog, which were published over a period of more than four years up until September 2016. They cover a mind-boggling variety of subjects from the history of tandem bicycles and the development of fire hydrants, to why Scottish bagpipes were considered weapons of war and the origins of the phrase ‘bringing home the bacon.’ In the opening article, ‘History’s Pants Are on Fire,’ Sarah quite rightly points out the random and often unreliable nature of historic records and the inclination of historians, where hard fact is lacking, to simply make things up. At the same time, she dismisses any claim to her being a serious historian in the academic sense. Her articles are more the type of weekly columns found in many newspapers over the years, centuries even, by authors and journalists like Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones’ Diary), Giovanni Guareschi, James Thurber, and others too numerous to mention. Like Guareschi, she weaves her family life into the storylines and manages to produce a mixture of interesting facts, history and day-to-day life in the Angleton household, all blended into a series of charming, sometimes thought-provoking, and often amusing vignettes.

As a bit of a trivia nut, I much enjoyed Launching Sheep - it’s the sort of book that you can read from cover to cover or dip into at random and keep at your elbow for future reference; a perfect travelling companion, and a treasure trove of useful information that will never leave you short of an interesting anecdote. But what I particularly liked about the book is the way that, as we go along, we get glimpses into Sarah Angleton’s family life, her birthdays, and those of her husband and two young sons, the rainy day traumas of finding them something interesting to do, the anniversaries and Christmas celebrations. All are woven into articles such as how women’s high heeled shoes were first made for a vertically challenged princess, how President Lincoln was an insomniac, or how Pluto got its name. A thoroughly enjoyable book from a talented author, and highly recommended.

Reviewed by Heather Osborne for Readers' Favorite

The Way of the Fairy Godmother by Jennifer Morse MS PhD is a self-help book aimed at aiding people in reaching the path of enduring happiness. She does this through relating challenges to the story of Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother. Instead of focusing on Cinderella, as most authors would, Morse chooses to look at the Fairy Godmother, and her never-ending supply of optimism. Each chapter begins and ends with certain key things the reader must do to find their happiness. For example, Morse is very passionate about the reader finding their Deepest Desires. She urges us to focus on harmonizing our lives to look past the things we have maybe settled on to find the things we really want. Morse goes on to encourage the reader to follow a Proclamation, much as the prince issued in the story of Cinderella. What does the reader want most in their lives, and what are the key steps to achieving this goal? The book continues to delineate Nine Keys to Happiness, all the while relating them back to the life of the Fairy Godmother.

I found Morse’s usage of the Fairy Godmother to be unique, and not something I have seen done before in self-help books. While the approach is different, she took something familiar and relatable (the fairy tale itself) to the reader, and this is a positive aspect of this book. I felt at times the book was repetitive, but I surmised this is a common thread to all self-help books: constant reminders of the goals the reader should strive to achieve. Overall, I can see how The Way of the Fairy Godmother by Jennifer Morse MS PhD would help a person who might have lost sight of their optimism and life goals, and give them the means to rediscover what truly makes them happy.

Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite

Anyone who has ever had to take on the onerous task of being chief caregiver to parents, once they have become incapable of fully looking after themselves, will fully relate to Virginia A. Simpson's memoir, The Space Between. In my own late adult years, I faced this same challenge with my mother, for about the same length of time as "Ginni" did, and like the author, I nearly fell apart at the seams with the load I had chosen to carry. And yet, just as Virginia found, that load brought about one of the best times in my entire relationship with my mother. It was a time when, at last, we came to know so much more of each other than we had during all the The Space Between our mothers' healthy days and subsequent decline, a time when honesty mattered more than keeping face and always being strong.

This is the story that Virginia A. Simpson shares in The Space Between. With the help of Linda Joy Myers of the National Association of Memoir Writers, Simpson has "gone deep", where one should go when writing a memoir. By doing so, by baring her innermost thoughts, fears, and regrets about her past relationship with her mother, and through this chance that life has now given them both, they get to know and understand each other so much better. Virginia discovers the real reasons why her mom was the way she was and why she, in turn, became who she is. And the most important thing they each discovered was that all along, they had indeed truly loved each other, but too many things had gotten in the way of expressing it. That was exactly what I had experienced with my mother.

I am a huge believer in the importance of writing memoirs. It is stories like The Space Between that puts into print what everyday people live with and feel. The world wide web can fill us in on what we need to know when we become chief caregiver to someone we love. But it is memoirs like The Space Between by Virginia A. Simpson that will tell us how it really feels to step into that role.

Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite

Some people call it ‘survivor’s guilt’, that violent sense of abandonment from reality, that robot-like functioning in a world that carries on, the survivor forever feeling guilty for having survived when all around him or her have died, have been sacrificed. The generation that followed the Second World War is full of stories of children abused by parents who suffered, in one way or another, the tragedies of such a horrific war. Jewish children, born of parents who survived the Holocaust, were brought up in a home full of ghosts and guilt, a melancholy full of fear and anger. While the world recalls in horror the events of the Holocaust itself, the world also overlooks the aftermath, the victims of the victims, the children of the survivors.

Florence Grende’s heartrending account of her Jewish upbringing, a child of Holocaust survivors, weaves a story of pain and sorrow, fear and anger, and the hidden melancholy (the Dee Melchome), the depression that makes monsters out of otherwise ordinary people. The Butcher’s Daughter is a memoir that speaks for those too traumatized to voice their stories: the survivors and their children. The story is unveiled in patches, fragments of a fragmented childhood and an uncertain survival even in the land of plenty and opportunity, America. And the symbolism of the torn black ribbons worn at Tateh’s funeral, the story, which at first appears fragmented, becomes a testament of the sorrows of not just one generation, but two: the Holocaust survivors and their children.

And through it all, the ever-uttered words, “Ess. Ess.” (Eat. Eat.) Survivors who have faced starvation enforce the importance of eating – and eating lots – on those they love. It’s a means to protect those remaining loved ones. The author claims that she “grew up among the dead”, and, in many ways she did. In between the lines of her story unravels the story of her parents; Tateh, who was a Guerrilla in the Polish woods, fighting back and providing food for the starving Jews hiding in the woods, and Mameh, who, as a young girl, survived the harsh Polish climates by hiding in a dugout in the woods. Tateh and Mameh lost family in the Holocaust, but they survived. They married after the war, but they never seemed happy or content with each other.

Food, the ever present need of nourishment, something that was sorely missing while surviving in the woods, reappears frequently in the story. Food is the sustenance that binds body, mind, soul and the unity of friends and family. In her mother’s notebook, the author finds incomplete recipes, which reminds her of “the spaces within and between us. Only the basic amenities moved our brief conversations – stock greetings, inquiries into health, family news: never a topic that might carry the weight of emotion, the hint of vulnerability, or the gift of the personal.”

This story is much more than just a memoir. It’s a testament: a statement of a life shattered because of a brutal war. Hitler’s evil affected more than just those who lived through it. His evil stretched into the next generation, not just amongst the Jews, but also amongst the children and the grandchildren of high ranking Nazis. A powerful story told with compassion. A must-read.

Reviewed by Kayti Nika Raet for Readers' Favorite

The Sportscaster's Daughter is a moving memoir by Cindi Michael, the daughter of legendary sportscaster George Michael. Anyone looking at Cindi would see a person with a charmed life, a loving husband, beautiful children and a successful career.
She seems to have it all yet she still longs for the love of her estranged father, having been abruptly ousted when she began to show independence and refused to bend to his controlling demands. Still, throughout her twenties, she longs to find out how did things go so wrong? How did her father turn from the man who fought for sole custody of her and her siblings, saving them from a neglectful home, to one who would become verbally and emotionally abusive at every turn. Despite it all, Cindi still remained hopeful of a reconciliation, all the way up to George Michael's death and the shocking realization that she had been written out of his obituary.

The Sportscaster's Daughter by Cindi Michael is a tale of forgiveness and self acceptance. I'm not an avid sports listener by any means so I feel that I was able to dive into The Sportscaster's Daughter without any preconceived notions of the man who for a time was such a dominant figure in her life. While that lack of knowledge was a boon as I was able to fully grasp the scope of Michael's story and see how much the need to please and prove herself affected many decisions in her life, I also felt that a lot of the emotional impact in this memoir was predicated on knowing at least a little about George Michael himself. Still, I found myself rooting for Cindi at every turn, hoping that she would find the stability and love she so desired, to find her own triumph despite the rejection she faced. The Sportscaster's Daughter by Cindi Michael is a great read for anyone looking to dig deeper into the legend, to find not a god, but a man with flaws like everyone else. A man whose flaws hurt the people who loved him most.

Reviewed by Gisela Dixon for Readers' Favorite

The Model T in Me by Sarah Newberg is a short autobiographical memoir and tribute from a daughter to her father. The Model T in Me revolves around and specifically focuses on Sarah’s experiences growing up with her dad and his passion for cars, and the Model T in particular. This is a short read and begins with an introduction to Sarah’s family living in Everett, Washington state, and continues with a walk down Memory Lane around her father and how he brings home his first Model T. Being a fixer and jack of all trades, he is able to build a car out of spare parts. As the years go by, things change but his love of cars remains the same, even as Sarah grows up, becomes a teenager, and starts her own family. Sarah relates how his passing in 2013 inspired her to become an avid Model T fan. Soon, Sarah herself joins the Model T Club, takes lessons, and carries on her father’s legacy.

The Model T in Me by Sarah Newberg is a touching memoir and tribute from a daughter to her father whom she obviously misses. The book is accompanied by several pictures over the years of Sarah’s family, as well as their beloved Model T’s. I liked looking at the pictures almost as much as reading about them because they truly paint a vivid picture of Sarah’s background and life growing up. The writing is very easy to read in short paragraphs and, although this is an autobiographical/memoir style work, it only covers this specific aspect of the author’s life and love of her father and his hobby of rebuilding old cars. All in all, this is a quick and interesting read.

Reviewed by Danita Dyess for Readers' Favorite

How do you live a life of purpose if you live it in multiple worlds? That is one of the questions asked in The Neo-Generalist: Where You Go Is What You Are by Kenneth Mikkelsen and Richard Martin. According to Mikkelsen, Marie Curie, Winston Churchill, Hedy Lamarr - along with countless sports figures, artists and even iconic business leaders - had one thing in common: They were neo-generalists, multi-talented individuals who deftly used their abilities to create the best of both worlds. These polymathic generals honed their "dragonfly vision" to view things with a kaleidoscope effect. Neo-generalists don't like being confined to a single box. Instead, they serve as liaisons and catalysts for companies or tribes "with no desire to belong to the group." With 53 million freelancers in the US, you may perceive this nonfiction guide as verification that you are not the "oddity" you may have thought you were.

The cover image was thought provoking and apt. I immediately identified with the message of refraining from managerial measurement practices and adding new flavor to a recipe. I pondered my existence, identified my preferred learning method, and examined society's influence on hyper-specialism. The comprehensive bibliography will serve as an invaluable lifelong resource. Kenneth Mikkelsen, founder of FutureShifts, has had his articles published in The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. Richard Martin is a writer and editor who authored Mean Streets and Raging Bulls. The Neo-Generalist is a must-have tool that is predicted to receive critical acclaim, and is highly recommended .