Reviews with TLC

The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion: Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions by Christopher K. Germer, PhD focuses on mindfulness in a way that gently glides into self-compassion. Germer weaves his personal and professional experience using mindfulness to get to self-compassion with research into self-compassion in a way that is easy to read and makes both mindfulness and self-compassion feel approachable. He includes exercises and meditations to demonstrate the effectiveness of mindfulness on self-compassion. I really like that Germer explains that self-compassion isn't a self-help goal but a continuous journey that sometimes brings up pain while helping one to heal in a way that encourages and inspires one to pursue embracing self-compassion.  The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion helped me with my own journey to strengthen my mindfulness and my self-compassion. Check back soon for my thoughts on other books I'm reading including: Write for Life: Creative Tool...

Meditation: How to embrace mindfulness, inner peace, and happiness in life by by Rafik Osker is a short, easy to read primer on meditation. I downloaded this ebook during a free promotion several years ago and just got around to reading it. I think it would probably be a good book for a beginning meditator, but was a little too basic for me. All that said, it appears this book is no longer available. Check back soon for my thoughts on other books I'm reading including: The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion: Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions  by Christopher Germer Write for Life: Creative Tools for Every Writer  by Julia Cameron Above the River: The Complete Poems  by James Wright The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook  by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer The Testaments  by Margaret Atwood Reviews will be posted as I finish these books. (Technically, I'm a few books behind on writing reviews right now, so I have already finished reading seve...

Killing It On Kobo: Leverage Insights to Optimize Publishing and Marketing Strategies, Grow Global Sales and Increase Revenue on Kobo by Mark Leslie Lefebvre offers a primer for authors to use Kobo to their advantage along with an understanding of the history of Kobo. Lefebvre uses his experience working for Kobo as well as publishing on Kobo to inform writers how to use the service to sell more books and make more money. I found much of the book helpful and wished it had been available when I first added my books to Kobo. As with any book of this type, things change, so it's important to use the knowledge as a starting point not as a definitive instruction manual. Lefebvre uses examples and illustrations (sometimes hard to read in the paperback) to show how he and others have used Kobo to find success. I have already started using some of the tips! Overall, Killing It On Kobo is a useful and interesting resource for any writer publishing on Kobo or even thinking about publishing...

A Certain Smile by Joanne Pence continues her cabin series. I have to admit I had mixed feelings about Pence turning the trilogy into a series. It felt rather complete with the sisters all finding love and making peace with their past. But, when I found out she'd written a fourth one, I couldn't resist checking it out. A Certain Smile brings in mostly new characters with references to the sisters. As the ghosts continue their journey to bring people together, even skeptics, there's a joyfulness behind the haunting of the cabin that made me wish for the existence of such things. As guests arrive at the cabin now being managed by the sister's aunt, there's a feeling of angst created from the differing personalities and their motives. As two guests, Tray and Sophie, grow closer and pull away from each other, secrets and miscommunications push them to face their own insecurities and pain as well as their assumptions about one another and themselves. Pence leaves a que...

Like the Heart, the World by Sage Cohen felt like a meditation. The poems explore inner life and outer life through the intersection of experience and reaction. Cohen's poems feel like they describe a life both lived and observed. Having attended a workshop taught by Cohen and read several of her nonfiction books, I was excited to read her book of poetry. My excitement was rewarded with a book of poetry that was easy to read and relate to. I looked forward to my poetry reading time every night that I was reading  Like the Heart, the World  and felt a little sad but also satisfied when I reached the end.  Like the Heart, the World  walks a fine line between emotional connection and thoughtful detachment without stumbling over the places where emotions detach and thoughts connect. Check back soon for my thoughts on other books I'm reading including: Killing It on Kobo: Leverage Insights to Optimize Publishing and Marketing Strategies, Grow Global Sales and Increase Re...

Positivity: Discover the Upward Spiral That Will Change Your Life by Barbara L. Fredrickson explains her research into how positivity affects people's lives. I  took a Coursera course taught by Fredrickson several years ago, but I didn't read Positivity until recently. Positivity illustrates her findings and conclusions in an easy to understand way that left me wondering what the research has shown since Fredrickson wrote Positivity . It's always important to understand that science is always evolving. Fredrickson's underlying principles of positivity's effect on one's life seem to be sound and, frankly, just make a lot of sense. I enjoyed reading Positivity even during the moments when I felt skeptical and found myself at my keyboard looking up things to see what the science has revealed since it was published. Fredrickson's work and presentation inspired me to look for the positive in my life. Check back soon for my thoughts on other books I'm readin...

This Has Everything To Do With My Life by Tony Haynes explores the highs and lows of life in a collection of poetry that touches on many aspects of life. I first discovered Tony Haynes's poetry on social media in a poetry group. I thoroughly enjoyed the poems he shared in the group leading me to read (and review) a few of his other books of poetry. As usual, I find his play on and with words in This Has Everything To Do With My Life delightful, even when he covers very serious topics. Haynes plays with language in creative and surprising ways that are both thought-provoking and heart-provoking. There's a joyfulness that threads through This Has Everything To Do With My Life , even when Haynes addresses serious, distressing, or sad topics, that lends to inspiring hopefulness and a sense of connection.  Check back soon for my thoughts on other books I'm reading including: Positivity: Top Notch Research Reveals the 3-to-1 Ratio That Will Change Your Life  by Barbara Fredri...

Mother Swamp by Jesmyn Ward latches on to the psyche and won't let go. I couldn't stop thinking about this story. It enthralled me in ways I really didn't expect. The clinging to the old ways and the desire to break free battling in this story of survival demonstrate the lengths people will go to to survive and to propagate. When First Mother develops a plan to keep her lineage alive and follows through with it, it's a risk that starts a ritual that feels at once necessary, uncomfortable, and unsustainable. Ward writes beautifully of the world she creates in the woods and the relationship/non-relationship between the two communities with similar goals. Mother Swamp explores how rituals can become traditions that stymy the recognition of options to achieve goals with a subtly and brilliance that never get in the way of the story itself. Check back soon for my thoughts on other books I'm reading including: Positivity: Top Notch Research Reveals the 3-to-1 Ratio That ...

  A Wild Rose by Fiona Davis is a lovely story about confidence, intentions, and self-compassion. As professional pianist Gloria battles a medical issue that stops her from playing the piano, she must reconcile her past and her present to figure out her future. When she makes an unexpected decision that puts her career and her marriage in jeopardy, she starts to connect with herself again through letting go of her material comforts and embracing the artistry of a group of other artistic types who have their own problems as well as views of the world. Davis paints a world that feels all too real while questioning norms about success and relationships and friendship as well as progress. A Wild Rose feels a little wild and little delicate as it explores the pain and the pleasure of embracing one's talent and the success it can bring. Check back soon for my thoughts on other books I'm reading including: Positivity: Top Notch Research Reveals the 3-to-1 Ratio That Will Change You...