February 2023 MBR The Self-Help Shelf

The Self-Help Shelf

Happy Money Happy Life
Jason Vitug
Wiley
c/o Wiley Professional Trade Group
111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com
9781394171262, $27.95, HC, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Happy-Money-Life-Multidimensional-Financial/dp/1394171269

Synopsis: With the publication of "Happy Money Happy Life: A Multidimensional Approach to Health, Wealth, and Financial Freedom", writer, speaker, and entrepreneur Jason Vitug delivers an exciting and practical discussion at the intersection of our mental and emotional health and our money.

"Happy Money Happy Life" explores the importance of physical and spiritual wellbeing, the interconnectedness of environmental comfort, meaningful work, and social connections as you learn to live a healthier, wealthier, and happier life. With insightful data from happiness research, you will understand how money weaves itself into every aspect of your life and how you can masterfully use it to choose happiness.

"Happy Money Happy Life" features: Descriptions of the 8 dimensions of wellness and a hands-on framework you can use to achieve your financial and life goals; 4 key principles to living a happier life; A holistic strategy for transforming your relationship with money into one that improves every apect of your wellbeing.

Critique: An indispensable roadmap to mental strength, physical health, financial success, and emotional intelligence, "Happy Money Happy Life: A Multidimensional Approach to Health, Wealth, and Financial Freedom" is an ideal DIY instructional guide for professionals, managers, workers, executives, entrepreneurs, and non-specialist general readers who are ready to explore the possibility that life is about joy and happiness, not merely titles and salaries. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Happy Money Happy Life" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Financial Management collections.

Editorial Note: Jason Vitug (https://www.jasonvitug.com) is an award-winning creator, author, speaker, entrepreneur, and producer. He is also the founder of the personal finance website www.phroogal.com and the creator of the Road to Financial Wellness. Additionally, he is the author of You Only Live Once: The Roadmap to Financial Wellness and a Purposeful Life.

A Bridge Not Too Far
Deepak Ohri
Waterside Productions
9781957807836, $24.95 Hardcover/$31.95 Audio

https://www.amazon.com/Bridge-Not-Too-Far-Creativity/dp/1957807830

A Bridge Not Too Far is both a memoir and a celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit. It charts the rise of Deepak Ohri from modest means to becoming the CEO of a circle of luxury hotels and restaurants in Asia, an endeavor that earned him financial success and acclaim as an innovator in this field.

More than a rags-to-riches tale, however, A Bridge Not Too Far is the story of a businessman who created a vision of opportunity and achievement that embraced both the bigger-picture thinking of the concept of hospitality, and its simpler incarnation in joining employees and customers as part of a supportive symbiotic relationship. This approach to business is what ultimately contributed to the success of a vision that embraced both loyalty and understanding the job and motivations of the lowest employee in the company.

"My goal was to make the world sit up and take notice." How this goal was envisioned, achieved, and superseded by other goals more intrinsically tied to relationships and bridge-building is an essential focus, here. This guide will appeal uniformly to self-help and business readers, with its real-world examples of adversity, bridge-building, and creating support systems that work on many levels. The examination of what comprises success, achievement, and the humanistic moves to achieve both will appeal to a wide audience.

While, of course, business leaders will want to consider A Bridge Not Too Far for its focus on how wealth and business success work hand in hand, readers equally interested in self-improvement and cooperative life ventures will find many lessons applicable to all kinds of life situations.

From birds-eye views to bigger picture thinking, A Bridge Not Too Far tackles the gap that often exists between ideals and applications, offering, through many examples, strategies that can be applied to all walks of life and a myriad of ventures. Libraries looking for success stories that translate well to discussion groups will find A Bridge Not Too Far also highly recommendable to general reading groups, self-improvement circles, and business discussion meetings as a survey of the educational and collaborative process's ability to transform hearts and minds.

Find Your Mini Pumpkin
Victoria Short
www.authorvictoriashort.com
Grendel
9798986647005, $17.99, PB, 230pp

https://www.amazon.com/Find-Your-Mini-Pumpkin-Lessons/dp/B0BF6T5HJF

Synopsis: You are ready to take on the next chapter of your life, equipped with all you have learned in school. But did your education prepare you for the reality of becoming a successful adult?

With the publication of "Find Your Mini Pumpkin: Life Lessons to Live with Purpose", English teacher Victoria Short gives you the wisdom and wide-ranging advice she shared with her own students over her long career as an educator. From how to invest in your own self-care to seeking out new authentic life experiences. "Find Your Mini Pumpkin" is collection of witty and honest guidance that is like taking your favorite mentor with you on your life journey.

Find your path to greater meaning with this collection of funny, insightful, and kind stories designed to help you face the world with mindfulness and grace. Reflect on how you choose to live with tips on: How to find your "mini pumpkin" (your chosen object, person, or idea that reminds you life is beautiful and encourages you to be present); Improving self-care by listening to your body, being gracious toward your shortcomings, and setting boundaries; Strengthening your relationship network by listening closely, being honest, managing disappointment, and letting others help you; Uncovering the surprising benefits from imperfect people and unfair criticism; Pursuing your career and family life with aspiration, doing difficult things, and refusing to worry about the approval of others.

The road ahead is unpredictable and overwhelming, filled with the joys and pitfalls of the human experience. But the message of Victoria Short is that you are not alone. Whether you are a graduate embarking on a new path, or are simply looking for encouragement and direction, you will appreciate and benefit from the wisdom in comprising this creative and encouraging guide to living authentically.

Critique: An inherently fascinating, insightful, and inspiring read from first page to last, "Find Your Mini Pumpkin: Life Lessons to Live with Purpose" will be of special appeal to readers with an interest in Career Development and Vocational Guidance. While especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Jobs/Careers and Self-Help/Self-Improvement collections, it should be noted that "Find Your Mini Pumpkin" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Victoria Short (https://authorvictoriashort.com) is a retired English teacher and veteran of the U.S. Army. She has been named Teacher of the Year and been featured in Harvard Ed. Magazine. In over 28 years as a teacher, she taught thousands of students and mentored many young educators. Through the lens of literature and constant classroom interaction, she developed a philosophy of looking at the world with a curious and discerning eye.

The Fight Inside
Lynette Eddy, MSW
Independently Published
9798987419113, $29.95, HC, 196pp

https://www.amazon.com/Fight-Inside-Winning-Battle-Between/dp/B0BPVVJ9XF

Synopsis: After her husband died by suicide in 2010, Lynette Eddy fought through the agonizing grief with one goal: to reclaim her personal strength and joy. This healing journey taught her that, while her husband's ego voice drove him to despair and self-destruction, there is another voice within us, crying to be heard: the voice of our spirit. By tuning into this positive, life-affirming voice (and by minimizing the negative, destructive voice of the ego) Eddy improved the relationship with herself and released that which caused her psychological suffering and held her back.

By overcoming her own personal struggles and through her experiences as a social worker, Eddy created the Open Heart Mindfulness approach, which will help you discover the sense of freedom and inner peace that comes from silencing fear-based voices and instead listening to the voice of your true self.

In addition to personal transformation, listening to ego or spirit results in consequences at a collective level. With so much going on in the world today, it's more important than ever to tune into our spirit so we can connect with ourselves both individually and at the community level. Through her experience as a social worker, volunteering, and founding a nationally recognized center for homeless and at-risk youth, with the publication of "The Fight Inside: Winning the Battle Between Your Ego and True Spirit", Eddy details the steps we can take as a society to overcome the ego and be the change we want to see in the world.

Inside of you are the keys to authenticity, fulfillment, and happiness, as well as the power to resolve even the most complicated existential threats in our society. "The Fight Inside" will guide you toward a rich, meaningful life.

Critique: Showing how to triumph over tragedy, "The Fight Inside: Winning the Battle Between Your Ego and True Spirit" is especially commended to the attention of anyone who is suffering severe loss, debilitating grief, life-stilfuling depression. Exceptionally well written, impressively insightful, and ultimately inspiring, "The Fight Inside" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Emotional Self-Help/Self-Improvement collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Fight Inside" is also available in a digital book format ($4.95).

Editorial Note: In addition to having a Masters degree in Social Work (MSW), Lynette Eddy (www.lynetteeddy.com) is an author, social activist, and the founder of Eddy House, www.eddyhouse.org, an organization serving at risk and homeless youth. She is a recipient of several national, state, and community awards for her achievements in social work. The Fight Inside is her first book.

Gameness: Land on your feet, not on your feelings
David Dennis
Gameness Resources
https://gamenessleadership.com
9781951022228, $19.95, PB, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Gameness-Land-your-feet-feelings/dp/195102222X

Synopsis: What's gameness? We often hear the cryptic question, "Got game?" But gameness isn't just about sports -- it's about life. It's a person's ability to live beyond the inevitable problems and pains that threaten to derail us from our fullest potential. It's realizing that God didn't put us on earth merely to survive, but to take charge of our lives!

Gameness also means living each day with a never-quit mindset, resoluteness to a purpose, a fighting spirit, and the will required to act beyond our feelings. What is it about those who face life's biggest heartaches and find a way to bounce back and turn setbacks into breakthroughs? They've found the secret of making life work, and with the publication of "Gameness: Land on your feet, not on your feelings", author David Dennis explains the secret to all of us.

These aren't merely academic concepts to David. He has lived them, refined them, and now, he's imparting his wisdom to the rest of us.

Critique: Essentially a DIY instructional guide written from a Christian perspective for personal transformation and self-improvement, "Gameness: Land on your feet, not on your feelings" is impressively well written and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation. An inspiring and 'real world' world practical compendium of observation, insight, personal experience, and encouragement, "Gameness" is highly recommended for community library Self-Help/Self-Improvement collections. It should be also be noted for personal reading lists that "Gameness" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.49).

Editorial Note: David Dennis (https://eckerd.org/leadership/david-dennis) is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Eckerd Connects, one of the nation's largest nonprofits providing workforce development, Job Corps, juvenile justice, and child welfare services across the country. He has earned certifications as a licensed professional counselor, marriage and family therapist, and childcare administrator. He holds a bachelor's degree from Oklahoma Baptist University and a master's degree in marriage and family counseling from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Reclaim Your Story
Carrie Jarosinski
August Learning Solutions
https://www.augustlearningsolutions.com
9781941626535, $17.99, PB, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Reclaim-Your-Story-Wellness-Storytelling/dp/194162653X

Synopsis: With the publication of "Reclaim Your Story: Renew Your Health and Wellness through the Power of Storytelling", Carrie Jarosinski leads you on a guided journey to renew your health and wellness by harnessing the power of storytelling in your life.

Storytelling is a powerful tool that has been used through the ages. It can be used to teach the next generation what to avoid and how to be successful and to warn of errors of the past. It can be leveraged to prevent repeat failures or shared to rouse joy, wonder, and hope. Our ancestors drew pictures on walls to tell a story, elders told bedtime yarns to babes, pen was put to paper in fables that were written to entertain us with embedded morals. Storytelling is interwoven in our human nature to impart wisdom.

"Reclaim Your Story" analyzes the power of storytelling within ourselves to support a journey to wellness. It uniquely blends storytelling and journaling to help you on your wellness journey.

In the pages of "Reclaim Your Story", Carrie Jarosinski shares anecdotes, asks questions, and helps you write your script for renewed health and wellness. With prompts and journaling space right in the book, it becomes your ultimate DIY guide to self-reflection and renewal.

Critique: An impressive compendium of instructive commentary, "Reclaim Your Story: Renew Your Health and Wellness through the Power of Storytelling" will have a special value for anyone seeking catharsis from tragedy, illness, or loss. Eloquent, insightful, inspiring, 'real world practical' in organization and presentation, "Reclaim Your Story" is highly recommended for personal and professional Self-Help/Self-Improvement collections.

Editorial Note: Dr. Carrie Jarosinski (https://www.boldcontentment.com) is a registered nurse, wellness coach, educator, inspirational speaker, and author.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

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James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review