Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

The Armchair Real Estate Millionaire by Michael Dominguez is a self-help educational investment strategy guide for those who are doing little to enrich themselves both personally and professionally. Dominguez's subtitle is as clipped and succinct as the rest of the book: If You're Sitting There Anyway, You Might As Well Build Your Wealth. True, indeed. Written by an expert in the area of real estate investment and with an impressive portfolio to back up the effectiveness of the model in his own life, Dominguez breaks down the strategy over fourteen chapters. He covers areas such as legal insider trading and renovations, the ins and outs of renting properties an investor owns, and building on that wealth once a strategist makes it there.

I've always assumed that it takes a big, bold individual to land on solid footing in the real estate market. Most of this was due to only viewing the market as a means of selling, without fully understanding the nature of the beast from an investment point of view. Michael Dominguez clears this up in The Armchair Real Estate Millionaire and takes away the smoke and mirrors to reveal how straightforward investing in property can be. The most enlightening chapter for me was eleven, A Part-Time Job That Will Make You A Millionaire. Owning and renting real estate might not be the same as a timecard punching job, but it is still a job. You still have to do the work, and I think this is what separates Dominguez from other authors who promise that you do not have to catch the stars because they will just fall into your lap. Instead, Dominguez is blunt about the fact that you actually have to be proactive, hitch the darn wagon, and keep on driving it. The writing is flawless and engaging, the format is simple, and the facts are all there. The result is a practical blueprint for would-be investors that makes the task feel a bit less daunting.

Reviewed by Daniel D Staats for Readers' Favorite

Chauncey McGlathery is a man of many talents. In his book, The Hero’s Journey: Deliver Yourself from Evil, he shares his theories on improving yourself and saving yourself from the performance trap. His method includes embracing the performance mentality and using it for good. Chauncey believes (to paraphrases Shakespeare) that all life is a performance. He shares how he learned to love genuinely and that love allowed him to look to the needs of others. If one thinks life is all about themselves, they lose. Chauncey turned his lifestyle and philosophy around before he was able to start winning. His winning was because he began to head in the right direction. The correct style of living leads to generous giving. Chauncey learned that it is not about what he receives but about what he can give.

The Hero’s Journey: Deliver Yourself from Evil by Chauncey McGlathery describes his journey from the performance trap of love based on one’s performance to living to serve and help others. Chauncey shares his journey to reinvent himself into a more loving and kinder person. He writes in the first-person narrative. He shares how he came to realize the error of his ways and how he went about fixing himself. Chauncey writes in a style that will cause you to think. You will examine your own life to see if you might be living in some of the same traps in which Chauncey lived. Take your time reading this book and use it to help guide you into a new and improved lifestyle. Drawing on a life of stage performances, Chauncey teaches that the best way to live is by being generous and giving. Investing in others is the best investment one can make.

Reviewed by Manik Chaturmutha for Readers' Favorite

The Strength of Silk by Lakysha Laing is a non-fiction story filled with the author's struggles in her life. First, she had to go into foster care and deal with the grief of losing her twin sister. Then, she struggled as a black woman in a male-dominated workplace to make her career. There is a mention of her struggles with cancer as well. The author shows us how trauma and challenging situations can make one grow and become stronger. This book is about her struggle to not let the way her life started and what people said get in her way. This is a story of friendships and family and how the support from both can help you in your time of need.

Some of The Strength of Silk was hard to read as it contained raw suffering and the experience Lakysha Laing went through. However, to see how the trauma shaped her was so satisfying and awe-inspiring. How the author went through her life journey was emotional, shocking, and very well executed. What I liked the most was that the chapters ended with a heart-touching quote. I really liked how she never shied away from telling the hard parts. In the last few chapters, the author showed us that when she was getting chemotherapy and was so tired that she couldn't talk to anyone, she started writing a journal to inform her loved ones; it was so hard and emotional to read. There was an authentic depiction of tiredness and not wanting to get out of bed.

The Strength of Silk is for you if you are looking for a book that shows a person's story, no matter how hard or how happy the times are. This book will be an inspiration and a model of strength for many people going through the same things in their life. If you are a non-fiction reader and like to read autobiographies, this book is for you.

Reviewed by Philip Van Heusen for Readers' Favorite

Mohsen Estesnaei shares his mystical understanding of overcoming poverty. His book—The Depth of Vision: Screw Up Poverty with This Vision—presents the advice of several mystics, especially Rumi, the famous 13th-century Persian poet, and mystic, for those who do not know. Mohsen records a group of conversations between himself and a teenage boy named Amir. While working on his thesis, Mohsen circulated a photograph of a young boy living in poverty. Amir said he saw wealth in the photo. This intrigued Mohsen, so he set up a meeting with Amir to discuss his odd answer. From their series of conversations, Mohsen’s idea of poverty changed, and he wrote this book to share his alternative way of looking at life.

What do you see when you view a picture of children living in poverty? If you are like most people, you see despair and hopelessness. You see the negative underbelly of life. However, in The Depth of Vision: Screw Up Poverty with This Vision, Mohsen Estesnaei shares a different view of poverty. Eastern mysticism is explained in this book. There are quotations from several mystics who tend to look at life from a fresh and different angle. Mohsen had been very concerned about those living in poverty. While this book might not lead to poverty’s demise, it gives a new way of looking at it that makes it more tolerable. The difficulty of life is often the result of how we think about life. Mohsen offers us a way to become one with nature.

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 K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

The Genesis Code: Revealing the Ancient Path to Inner Freedom is a work of non-fiction in the religious and philosophical subgenres. It is suitable for the general adult reading audience and was penned by author Richard L Haight. The book is an analysis of a principle of spiritual freedom derived from the book of Genesis which focuses on helping readers to identify the truth of their lives. By revisiting the teachings of Genesis with the benefit of modern thinking, the book aims to provide an essential companion for anyone who finds themselves on a journey of self-improvement and personal growth.

It's a quite remarkable feat to write a self-help book that is both enormous in scope – exploring the true nature of the universe and the experience of being alive within it – whilst also focusing on the minute and personal; the feelings of regret, anxiety, and self-confidence. Richard L Haight continues to show his pedigree in guiding people toward understanding their place in the universe and finding contentment in it with this essential book for any reader who seeks solace and guidance from their spirituality. Corralling the infinite potential of human life into an achievable and fulfilling path is a daunting prospect for any of us, but with The Genesis Code as your guide, this mission has become significantly more achievable. This book is for anyone who is on or is interested in taking a spiritual journey to fulfillment and contentment. Backed by scripture and enlightened discussion of the Old Testament, this compelling and insightful work should be an essential read on your own journey.

Reviewed by Astrid Iustulin for Readers' Favorite

The Atheist and the Afterlife is the story of Ray Catania's life and the first volume of a series that promises to be very interesting and inspiring. The Atheist and the Afterlife tells the experiences of a former atheist who realized that the afterlife exists. How did it happen? Catania reveals it in these pages without omitting tragic episodes and giving a scientific explanation to the events. By his own admission, Catania would not accept anything that was not scientifically proven, so The Atheist and the Afterlife does not just record facts but helps us understand them by exploring scientific disciplines such as quantum physics. Overall, it is a book to discover.

What I liked most about The Atheist and the Afterlife is that it is a book that helps its readers to reflect. Although it narrates a man's personal life, many of Catania's explanations are useful to help readers better understand the world in which they live. I was particularly impressed by the pages that Catania dedicates to energy and quantum consciousness. These notions, if applied, improve our understanding of many aspects of our lives and minds. Overall, The Atheist and the Afterlife offers a splendid overview of how Catania's life has changed. I invite readers to read it both as a book that can help them in their personal growth and as a personal experience story. There is much food for thought in The Atheist and the Afterlife. It just needs a reader who desires to learn and understand.

Reviewed by Eileen Johnson for Readers' Favorite

In Just Hit the Damn Ball!: How to Stop Thinking and Play Your Best Golf, Dave Johnston writes an instructional manual that flies in the face of "conventional golfing wisdom." Based on Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), this book is much easier to understand than the concepts of NLP. Basically, Johnston's instructions are based on the assumption that every golfer has untapped natural ability -- and if you stop worrying about the things you are doing wrong, you can become a better golfer. The trick is to begin with the fundamentals -- know how to stand correctly, grip the club, and then swing it. After you have those three fundamental skills, you can then begin to concentrate on those things you are doing right. Reinforcing those habits and rituals when you hit a shot perfectly will encourage you to reproduce those actions instead of the actions that happen when you focus on a bad shot.

As a really average golfer, I found Just Hit the Damn Ball!: How to Stop Thinking and Play Your Best Golf by Dave Johnston very appealing. I have spent many hours on the golf course berating myself for every bad shot -- only to find that one bad shot typically leads to several more! The concept of keeping a journal of "good shots" and really dissecting what you did before and during those shots makes sense and seems almost too easy. I look forward to getting through those 30 days of improvement to see if the system really works!

Reviewed by Tammy Ruggles for Readers' Favorite

Monkeys on the Road: One Family's Vanlife Adventure South in Search of a Simpler Life by Mary Hollendoner is the award-winning part memoir, part travelogue of one American family's trip to the most southern point on the globe--fun, funny, heartwarming, heart-pounding--a rollercoaster ride in a van. Destination: South America. A daunting task for a jobless family going by van with their six-year-old child. They expected a few hiccups, but this may be more than they bargained for. Mary and her husband John decided to ditch their old life and set out for new horizons, hoping to reconnect again with what was most important in their lives: A sense of family, quality time together, and a life of adventure. This three-and-a-half-year journey brought them in touch with new people, beautiful nature, some danger, and life-changing memories, from small villages to wild animals to police searches. Then comes COVID-19.

Hollendoner writes in such a personal way that you feel as if you know her family. As you read, you imagine how you and your own family would react and interact on a trip like this. I like the range of emotions, going from tense situations to those that allow you to relax and catch your breath. At the heart of it is their family, and their yearning to hold on to what they have before it slips away. Another appealing aspect is the travel itself. You may never travel in a van, or even venture outside your country, but you can visit these places vicariously and get an idea of the locations, people, and cultures--so this book is as educational as it is entertaining. The book has an even pace, and we become familiar with Mary's "voice" as she shares her family's stories. You can't help but think that their daughter Lilly's experiences shaped her in good ways, and there are plenty of images to accentuate the text. If you like stories of travel and self-discovery, Monkeys on the Road by Mary Hollendoner is one you don't want to miss.

Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite

It’s not often I pick up a memoir and find that what I’ve read is not only an engrossing story but a fascinating and most unexpected education. Dave Kobrenski, the author of Finding the Source, managed to keep me thoroughly entertained by his unpretentious approach to sharing details of his often chaotic life. From the time I first met him in his memoir, he exhibited a thirst for knowledge beyond what he could get from regular education, along with restlessness and an insatiable need for artistic expression. Kobrenski ultimately satisfied those needs during his travels to West Africa where he was mesmerized by African ritual drumming, but along the way, he succumbed to a crippling auto-immune disease. Back home, his only relief was through typical Western pharmaceuticals that kept him semi-functional in an opioid haze. But in the back of his mind was what he had been told by shamans and natural healers in West Africa: that he had somehow offended ancient spirits and he needed to make reparation or forever suffer from the curse they had put on him.

Hence, Kobrenski’s memoir is about finding the source of both his physical and spiritual problems. Does he find that source? That, dear reader, is for you to find out. But what about this education I mentioned I received while reading Finding the Source? Well, for one, Kobrenski told me about Elmina, a castle-like fortress where slaves were kept in complete darkness, standing shoulder to shoulder in their filth while waiting to be shipped out. Another time, he filled me in on just how our current opioid crisis began: I had no idea how its simple beginnings evolved to what we have today. Then there was one of the most beautiful and touching parts of my education under Kobrenski: his close look at the African culture and mentality when it comes to community and strangers within it: “In the village mentality…even a ragged stranger who ends up on your doorstep must be provided for.” Contrast that thinking, says Kobrenski, to how in the west, we allow so many to go without.

In Finding the Source, Dave Kobrenski, without being preachy or boring, and often in a humorous, self-deprecating way, teaches readers about so many different subjects, including his great love of African drumming. Further, he captures the essence of the African people through his art, which you can enjoy on his website at www.davekobrenski.com. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting his site after reading this wonderful memoir. I hope you will do the same. Highly recommended.