Book Review: Fighting for Our Lives: My Battle With Cancer to Save My Baby and Myself By Heather Choate

Fighting for Our Lives: My Battle With Cancer to Save My Baby and Myself

By Heather Choate

Fighting for Our Lives: My Battle With Cancer to Save My Baby and Myself by Heather Choate is probably the most emotional book that I have read all year. It is an awesome testimony of the determination of a mother and the power of faith.

Life throws some very upsetting punches in Heather’s direction. Imagine being told that you have breast cancer at age 29...while you’re 10 weeks pregnant, with your 6th child.  Any one of these things can be overwhelming, but to have them all on you at one time - and thrive - takes one strong, determined woman, a devoted husband and family, and faith in a loving Heavenly Father. Heather is, and has, all of those.

Fighting for Our Lives brought me to tears on more than one occasion. There are smiles and even a giggle or two along the way. Though I have not been diagnosed with breast cancer, I could relate to Heather’s feelings on many occasions. It is an emotional story, but she has a positive attitude and her faith is evident throughout the book.

This book is written like one would write in a diary or journal. Some days are skipped along the way. Some days just have a line or two. Other days, Heather pours out her heart in words that engage your heart, leaving you wanting to reach through the pages and give her a hug, as you both bawl your eyes out.

Fighting for Our Lives is an inspiring story of faith and hope.  It is a story of being scared, but doing it anyway, because not doing it would mean the end of the story.

This book earns all 5 stars. I highly recommend it to anyone going through a tremendous test of faith, even if it isn’t cancer. You may cry an awful lot as you read it, but you won’t be sorry that you did. You may just find a revival of your own faith within the pages of Heather’s story.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

 

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: Superconsumers: A Simple, Speedy, and Sustainable Path to Superior Growth By Eddie Yoon

Superconsumers: A Simple, Speedy, and Sustainable Path to Superior Growth

By Eddie Yoon

If you are interested in a different approach to growing your brand, Superconsumers: A Simple, Speedy, and Sustainable Path to Superior Growth by Eddie Yoon may just be the tool you need.

Yoon gives his readers some real world examples of how trends can be leveraged to optimize sales.  

We have had different experiences in the adult beverage industry that lead us to doubt some of the data Yoon cites in Superconsumers. While working at two different convenience stores in Texas, we discovered that the average beer consumer in those stores spent on average of $20 per day on beer every day of the year.  Maybe some Texan out there isn’t drinking his fair share.

Other than that observation, it appears that Superconsumers is spot on. It is well-written and well-researched.  If one is in leadership in a business and is looking to grow that business then, Superconsumers would be a helpful resource for them.

We give it all five stars.  We enjoyed the book and think it could be a valuable tool for someone trying to grow a business.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

 


Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: Building the Successful Theater Company 3rd Edition By Lisa Mulcahy

Building the Successful Theater Company 3rd Edition

By Lisa Mulcahy

If one were looking to start a theatre company, Building the Successful Theater Company 3rd Edition would provide a great deal of background information and be a place to start.

This book provides information learned from interviews with people who have actually started successful theatre companies and lived to tell about it.

The author gives a little background along the way of the different theatre companies she interviewed.  There are stories of what went right and what went wrong.

Building the Successful Theater Company 3rd Edition provides tips to help the aspiring theatre company.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: Thrive By Design: The Neuroscience That Drives High-Performance Cultures By Don Rheem

Thrive By Design: The Neuroscience That Drives High-Performance Cultures

By Don Rheem

There are many “so called” management books out there that speak to the idea of management as a science.  Many fall short of that and instead reveal another “management du jour” plan.

Thrive By Design: The Neuroscience That Drives High-Performance Cultures by Don Rheem is not like that.  Instead, Rheem discusses why different approaches to management work and why others don’t.

Rheem gives examples of how management should work and why it will work that way.

I promise you there is none of that pass out pins, put up posters, hold hands, ropes course kind of management in Thrive By Design.  This is a well-written book about how things work in the real world of management.  

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: Acts of Kindness: 101 Ways to Make Our World a Better Place By Rhonda Sciortino

Acts of Kindness: 101 Ways to Make Our World a Better Place

By Rhonda Sciortino

Acts of Kindness: 101 Ways to Make Our World a Better Place is a little book with big ideas that anyone can do to share a bit of kindness with others.  

Most of the ideas are easily implemented. Some ideas, though, I think may not have the result that is expected. It really depends on the mindset of the person on the other side of the intended act of kindness.  

Some older people struggling to load or unload their groceries do NOT want a young whippersnapper offering to help them. It makes the older person feel like people think they can’t do anything for themselves. This is one that can go either way. Some folks would dearly love an offer of assistance and so often do not get one.

Another suggestion in Acts of Kindness would be a very bad idea if you’re dealing with a very shy person. Some people do nice things and don’t want to make a big show of it. This author suggests publicly praising them for what they did. In my opinion, this is one of the worst things you can do to those of us that would not like being put on display.  You have to know the personality of the person you’re dealing with on something like this or it may be counterproductive. 

There are many great suggestions and several that I had never even thought about, but hope to put into practice very soon.

Acts of Kindness: 101 Ways to Make Our World a Better Place earns all five stars. It is a short book with great ideas for the long run. I think that you will enjoy it, too.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

 

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: A Bridge Named Susan by Sharon Chase Hoseley

A Bridge Named Susan

By Sharon Chase Hoseley

Wow! I really don’t know what to say about such a wonderful book! A Bridge Named Susan is about the life of the author’s mother, who was named Susan.

Susan started out life with things against her, namely her own mother. She was a girl. They had a farm and farms needed boys, not girls, at least in Minnie’s opinion. Susan’s daddy, John, loved his little girl very much.

This book takes us from Susan’s early childhood through adulthood. Along the way, she faced many challenges and much heartache. There were some extremely tense and terrifying moments that got my heart racing as I read them.

Susan found strength in faith in our Heavenly Father and daily turned the struggles of her life over to Him. Things happened along the way to make her question her faith and if He had forsaken her, but in the end, her faith was rewarded.  

A Bridge Named Susan earns all five stars. It was a book that was hard to put down. I had to see how it ended!

Warning: Parts of this book may be a trigger for those who have suffered emotional or sexual abuse.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

 




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Book Review: Softening the Grief By Joan E. Markwell, Janie Fields, Patricia Hollingsworth, and Susie McDonald

Softening the Grief

By Joan E. Markwell, Janie Fields, Patricia Hollingsworth, and Susie McDonald

 

Softening the Grief is a book written by and for women who have lost a child, and for those that love them and want to help them through such a heartbreaking time.

These women know, as I do, that the pain doesn’t stop just because the calendar ticks off two weeks or the friends stop coming by or calling. It is something that is in our hearts, a part of our being, until our own time comes.

This book lists many hurtful comments made by people that have not been there, that do not realize the hurt they are heaping upon an already broken heart. Suggestions for things to say instead of the usual “it happens to everybody” or “you have other children” are given. Most of the suggestions are good ones. A few, from my perspective, are just as hurtful as the original, unthinking comment.

These women and many others are members of a club that none of us wants to be in: The Bereaved Mothers Club. While Softening the Grief may be very helpful to those dealing with the loss of older and adult children, it doesn’t touch on the pain suffered by those who never got to know their children.  Those of us that have experienced miscarriage and stillbirth do not have memories of kindergarten or graduation or the other special moments with this child to lean back on. All we have is what might have been but never got a chance to be.

This book is great for the group that it serves. If you have a loved one in your life that has lost a child and you do not know how to help her deal with her traumatic loss, you will find this a good guide.

Softening the Grief earns 5 stars.  It is available if you need it and I pray you never do.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: Friendship Matters: Memoir, Life Lessons, Laughter By Sanda Neshin Bernstein, PSY.D. and Wendy Satin Rapaport, PSY.D., L.C.S.W.

Friendship Matters: Memoir, Life Lessons, Laughter

By Sanda Neshin Bernstein, PSY.D. and Wendy Satin Rapaport, PSY.D., L.C.S.W.

Friendship Matters is a book about interacting with friends in ways that help to grow and deepen the friendship and the individuals themselves. It is about the decades long friendship between the two authors - Wendy and Sandy - and is written in a conversational style.

Friendship Matters is an interesting book and parts are very entertaining. It was written by two psychologists and they talk like you would expect psychologists to talk. Their suggestions are sound, in my opinion, but I just can’t picture having conversations like theirs with any of my friends!

We are encouraged to slow down and think about things rather than reacting on assumptions. Sandy and Wendy give examples from their own lives together and experiences they’ve had with others.

If you want to learn ways to grow your friendships to a deeper level and improve your relationship all around, I think you will enjoy Friendship Matters and find it to be a useful guide.

Friendship Matters is well-written and mostly easy to follow. It earns 5 stars based on all the thinking it made me do!

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: A License to Heal: Random Memories of an ER Doctor by Steven Bentley M. D.

A License to Heal: Random Memories of an ER Doctor 
By Steven Bentley M. D.

Granny Clampett said the the M. D. after her name stood for “Mountain Doctor”. This could apply to Dr. Steven Bentley as well in his book A License to Heal: Random Memories of an ER Doctor where he tells of his experiences in various ERs, some of which were located in the very rural mountains of North Carolina.

People around you might begin to believe you have become half a bubble off center when they observe you reading A License to Heal.

You will laugh so hard your sides will ache.  Then, just a few paragraphs later, you will want to cry.  As you read further, you will become outraged. This roller coaster of emotions goes on throughout the book.

We give A License to Heal all five stars.  It is very informative and very entertaining. If you didn’t already know that health care isn’t about treating patients these days - it’s all about the money, you will learn that in this book.

There is no money in making people well.  The money is in treating them.  Gone are the days when the kindly, old doctor made house calls.  Now, doctors get disciplined if they take too much time with a patient.  

This is a wonderful book and makes great reading. It is well-written and entertaining.

We were sent a complimentary copy of A License to Heal.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: How I Got Here: A Memoir By Ceil Lucas

How I Got Here: A Memoir

By Ceil Lucas

 

How I Got Here: A Memoir is a memoir of the life of Ceil Lucas, an Arizona native who spent most of her childhood in countries other than the United States. It gives us a glimpse into her childhood in Guatemala and Italy, but also the depths of her family’s history here in the United States.

Though I have never left the United States, I could connect to Ceil on several occasions. Like my own family, Ceil’s family was living in what would become the US long before it became the US. Her people lived out their dashes in the same areas as our people did.

She talks of things that were going on in the world at the time, and specifically the US, of which the school children were not aware. She shares snippets of moments with her parents, interactions with others, going between countries and languages, and some of the confusing and funny moments that occurred due to her multicultural upbringing. She expresses her lack of motivation in the realm of religion as well.

Though it started off slowly for me, I ended up enjoying the book very much. I especially enjoyed the apricot tree story. In my life, it was a forsythia bush. You’ll have to read it to understand why this made me smile and wince at the same time.

There are minimal uses of profanity and no graphic intimacy scenes. It is a very well-written and interesting story. I give How I Got Here: A Memoir 5 stars.

I think that, if you love history and learning the stories of other families as I do, you will enjoy this book, too.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

 


Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: 10 Financial Mistakes You Should Avoid by Stephen S. K. Ng

10 Financial Mistakes You Should Avoid by Stephen S. K. Ng

We really wish this book had been written back when we were first embarking on our adult life. In his book, 10 Financial Mistakes You Should Avoid, Stephen S. K. Ng shares financial mistakes that are all too common.

The problem is reaching people while they are still  young enough to take maximum advantage of all the advice this author has to give.

Years ago, our income took a major blow when we found out that David was rapidly becoming legally blind.  His employer no longer wanted him because he would be too costly to accommodate. They had been seeking ways to get rid of him since it was a small company and he was too expensive to cover with the group insurance.

Had we had this book back then, and any disposable income at all, we could have lessened the impact.

Even better is that the author is a Christian and he is unashamed of that fact.  As we know, God wants His people to be frugal and plan ahead.  

We give 10 Financial Mistakes You Should Avoid by Stephen S. K. Ng all five stars.  We appreciate the sound financial advice given by a born-again Christian.

Perhaps reading this book will help you, or someone you love, avoid those common financial mistakes and help with an easier retirement.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: How to Build a Piano Bench: Lessons for Success from a Red-Dirt Road in Alabama By Ruthi Postow Birch

How to Build a Piano Bench: Lessons for Success from a Red-Dirt Road in Alabama

By Ruthi Postow Birch

Manian Debil Productions is located in Wharton, Texas.  We tell you this because the author of How to Build a Piano Bench: Lessons for Success from a Red-Dirt Road in Alabama, Ruthi Postow Birch, spent a small part of her early life living in Wharton, Texas. This tells us personally that she came a very long way, from the bottom of the heap, in a very short time.

How to Build a Piano Bench is not about building a piano bench, but then again it is.  The author explains this and uses this as a way to teach a very important lesson.

This book is part autobiography, part life lesson, part lesson in how to sell, and all entertaining.  The author tells some very entertaining and often funny stories. Each story makes a point. If you aren’t careful, you just might learn something.

We give How to Build a Piano Bench all five stars and two artichokes (you will have to read the book to understand that).  It is very well-written and probably one of the most entertaining books we have read in a very long time. Many passages out of this book were read to our family because we found them so interesting and funny.

How to Build a Piano Bench actually fits in both our niche blogs because it is about business AND  personal growth. This would make a great gift for any person you know in leadership or management. It would also make a great gift for any parent who is feeling less than perfect.  It would make a great gift for any teacher, past or present.  In fact, this book would make a great gift for just about anyone.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: Make Art Make Money: Lessons from Jim Henson on Fueling Your Creative Career By Elizabeth Hyde Stevens

Make Art Make Money: Lessons from Jim Henson on Fueling Your Creative Career

By Elizabeth Hyde Stevens

We purchased Make Art Make Money: Lessons from Jim Henson on Fueling Your Creative Career by Elizabeth Hyde Stevens in the Kindle format.

This is a very interesting read and very informative as far as learning more about the Muppets and Jim Henson.  

Readers learn a little about what decisions Henson made along the way.  Although this book is an interesting read and entertaining, we are not sure that it will be incredibly helpful to aspiring artists. That really remains to be seen.  Most likely this will depend upon the takeaway that each reader gets from this book.

One of the biggest concerns we have is the mention several times of a certain board that is used to delve into the occult.  The illustration is not needed and it takes it out of the realm of being “Christian Friendly”.

We give Make Art Make Money four stars.  We could not give it all five stars because we just don’t feel that the lessons the author is trying to teach are readily apparent.

As a biographical book, this is a good read.  As an  artistic “how to” book, it comes close but doesn’t quite make it.  As a business book, it is helpful but misses the mark slightly.

We suggest this book would make a fair companion book with Real Artists Don’t Starve by Jeff Goins.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: Keep Climbing: A Millennial’$ Guide to Financial Planning By David Rosell

Keep Climbing: A Millennial’$ Guide to Financial Planning

By David Rosell

We live in a very different financial world than our parents did.  Millennials have different hopes and dreams for their lives than generations past did.

Keep Climbing: A Millennial'$ Guide to FInancial Planning by David Rosell addresses this different financial world in a way that would be appealing to many Millennials.

Face it, most books on personal finance are about as entertaining as watching paint dry.  Rosell uses stories from his past adventures to illustrate the lessons he teaches in Keep Climbing

This book is entertaining while at the same time being educating. We live in a world where most young people look at text and respond with “TLDR”.  They do this because saying “Too long, didn’t read” is just too time consuming for this instant gratification generation.

We give Keep Climbing all five stars.  We think that the target audience will find it very helpful to them as they plan their financial futures.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Book Review: The Heart of the Old Testament By John R Sampey

The Heart of the Old Testament

By John R Sampey

 

John R. Sampey was an Old Testament professor with the Southern Baptist Convention many years ago.  He wrote The Heart of the Old Testament to help Bible students better understand what they were reading in the Bible.

This book was written back when writing was a craft.  Sampey teaches the Bible very well and this book is very well-written.  It is easy to understand, even today when reading is a lost art.  

It would be wonderful if Broadman/The Southern Baptist Convention were to reprint The Heart of the Old Testament.

The Heart of the Old Testament is part of our personal library.  We do not recall how we obtained this book.  Most likely we obtained it through a Friends of the Library sale.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.