The Light of His Presence: Prayers To Draw You Near To The Heart Of God by Anne Graham-Lotz

My Rating: 4.9

Why is it that as soon as we bow our heads to pray, we start thinking of other things we need to do? How do we make time to pray in the middle of our busy lives? And how do we know what to say and how to say it?

I was raised praying so, I honestly never thought about "how" to pray. Anne walking me through how she prays and this was so helpful. After the into, each prayer is just a couple of pages which meant that I could read whatever prayer applied to where I was that day - so helpful. Definite recommend.

Enjoy Your Journey by Joyce Meyer

 My Rating: 5.0

Do you ever think "I will be happen when....". You will learn such lessons as how to make the decision to enjoy life, how to rid yourself of regret, how to experience simplicity in life, how to find joy during times of waiting, and much more! Enjoying life is an attitude of the heart, and you can learn how to enjoy where you are on the way to where you are going.

I consider myself an optimistic person so I wasn't sure if I would glean much from this book. I definitely did - things from working too hard to our expectations of other people. As usual, Joyce had a lot of gems that made me look at things differently.

Simplify: Ten Practices To Unclutter Your Soul by Bill Hybels

My Rating: 5.0


Exhausted. Overwhelmed. Overscheduled. Sound familiar? What if your life could be different? What if you could be certain you were living the life God called you to live―and building a legacy for those you love? If you crave a simpler life anchored by the priorities that matter most, roll up your sleeves: Simplified living requires more than just cleaning out your closets or reorganizing your desk drawer. It requires uncluttering your soul. By eradicating the stuff that leaves your spirit drained, you can stop doing what doesn’t matter―and start doing what does.

Let me start that I am not a fan of the Marie Kondo method and I will never be a minimalist. That being said, this book for prioritizing the focus  and simplifying of your soul was excellent! It covers everything from Family, Work, Exercise, Friendships and more. He tells stories to enhance the point and get you to understand how you can apply these techniques to prioritize your life.

My Time With God by Joyce Meyers

My Rating: 4.8

Over the course of three years, Joyce Meyer recorded in her journal the personal devotions and inspirations that guided her busy life. Those writings comprise MY TIME WITH GOD, the 365-day devotional that shares powerful insight into Joyce's spiritual reflections and journey.

I like that this includes personal stories from Joyce's life that made it relatable. Each devotional is only a page or two and perfect to leave you with something to think on for that day.

Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

My Rating: 4.9

This daily devotional is one that I find hits closest to home for me with it's messages. It is written from the perspective of Jesus talking directly to you. While some folks don't care for that, it felt completely natural and comfortable to me. I also feel that of all the devotionals that I read, this one most often has a message that resonates with me and I reflect back on throughout the day.

The Prayer of Jabez Devotional

My Rating: 5.0

You could call them God's fingerprints. Suddenly you're seeing them all over your life. Unexplainable encounters. Little miracles. Big answers to simple requests that only recently you wouldn't have had the courage to utter.

This book intrigued me but, little could I have imagined not only the results of this book but, the strengthening of my connection to God. I started praying differently and, as it says, I suddenly started seeing God's fingerprints everywhere in my life. Such a powerful book and I loved how short the chapters were so I could read a chapter a day and digest it. This will definitely be one I read again and again.

Captivate by Vanessa Van Edwards

My Rating: 2.3

Do you feel awkward at networking events? Do you wonder what your date really thinks of you? Do you wish you could decode people? Apparently, you need to learn the science of people.

This seemed more geared towards someone who is completely lost when it comes to reading people and their facial expressions...like COMPLETELY lost. I don't know anyone who is this inept at reading people. Maybe I have exceptional interpersonal skills (NOT!) but even when I got others who I viewed as less socially adept to take the quiz in this book, everyone scored very well. This book seemed very rudimentary without anything groundbreaking. Overall, this felt quite fluffy with advice like "don't force yourself to do things you don't want to do" and not anything amazing. 

For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn

My Rating:  1.5

This is a collection of surveys sharing that men want respect vs women wanting love, that sex is a man's way of connecting, that they are visual and a bunch more basic ground-breaking discoveries that Feldhahn claims to have made from her discovery while admitting she plagiarized others work.

The author is very taken with herself and her "discoveries" and yet, it appears she stole all of her "findings" from Dr. Emerson Eggerichs who she does give credit to. I don't know why she had to rewrite his book and recommend you read the much better written Dr Eggerich's Love & Respect book. Her delivery on the audio is very annoying.Definitely do not recommend.

Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy by Martin Lindstrom

My Rating: 4.7

People are predictable, and companies capitalize on this! There was also some shocking things like how they intentionally target children while they are in the womb!! How they capitalize on our paranoia and so much more.

I consider myself pretty aware of the gimmicks used to get us to buy but I still found this very interesting. Whether you are aware or not, this is a great reminder of the ways that they entice us to buy.

The Year of Yes by Shomda Rhimes

My Rating: 5.0

This poignant, intimate, and hilarious memoir explores Shonda’s life before her Year of Yes—from her nerdy, book-loving childhood to her devotion to creating television characters who reflected the world she saw around her. The book chronicles her life after her Year of Yes had begun—when Shonda forced herself out of the house and onto the stage; when she learned to explore, empower, applaud, and love her truest self. Yes.

Three things that stand out for me about this book:
1. I have never sat down and devoured a book cover-to-cover before
2. I have never laughed so hard
3. Every memoir/self-help book should be so real, honest & fabulous

The Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman

My Rating: 3.5

This is told through a parable and conveys learnings like not resisting what comes your way.

This is a mixture of Zen and Taoist with a healthy dose of humor thrown in. It is a self-help book told as a novel.  Two complaints I have heard is that it has mystical realism (or magic) and that it is very drawn out and you have to slog through parts. I feel there are definitely books with better writing but, it is all about what resonates with you to help you understand the concepts.

The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer

My Rating: 4.8

What would it be like to free yourself from limitations and soar beyond your boundaries? What can you do each day to discover inner peace and serenity?

This book is not for everyone. It is about enlightenment and some reviewers felt that it is very preachy. I like the first portion of this book that deals with becoming aware of your inner voice much better than the rest of the book. There are many statements that are made as fact ("the analytical mind can not handle the infinite" - really? I guess no one told John Wallis this!) which becomes very annoying. Combine this with the latter part of the book being very repetitive. If you can get past this and that it can feel "woo woo" it is a great concept of: you are not your thoughts and not allowing your thoughts to control you.

Love and Respect by Dr Emerson Eggerichs

My rating: 4.8

Women need love and men need respect. If you fight giving your spouse what they need, they won't give what you need. If you know what they need, give it and see what happens. I did and was pretty amazed at the results.

Although this is very Christian based, I feel that anyone of any religious or non-religious belief could benefit from this book. It is the type of book that is easy to skim over the scriptural sections if you wish and still glean the message of the book.

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor

The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Watch his video to get an understanding of the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXy__k...

What I got from the book was:
- Your mind is a computer and will believe what you put in to it
- Positive thinking will generate happiness and success (not the other way around)

His recommendations to practice happiness are:
1. Identify 3 NEW things each day you are grateful for
2. Journal about something you are grateful for
3. Mediate
4. Practice random acts of kindness

On Intimacy by Harrier Lerner

On Intimacy: How to Create a Remarkable Relationship by Harriet Lerner
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Another excellent book by Harriet Lerner. This one talks about how when we are least able to step back and think out of the box, is probably the time when we need it most. She talks about the patterns that happen and why and how we can change those patterns. She talks about the fact that you can't make intimacy happen by pursuing it, just like you can't make friends with a squirrel by chasing after it.

This audiobook is like having a wonderful conversation with a dear friend.

The Dance of Connection by Harriet Lerner

The Dance of Connection: How to Talk to Someone When You're Mad, Hurt, Scared, Frustrated, Insulted, Betrayed, or Desperate by Harriet Goldhor Lerner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As with all of her books, Harriet calmly and clearly helps you to understand how to handle things in a simple clear concise fashion to communicate your goal in a time of criss. Now if only I could have Harriet there holding my hand during those moments! Of course, this is where practice comes in. Thanks Harriet for another fabulous book.

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Frankl's descriptions of his experiences and thoughts during the Holocaust were memorizing. To hear him express his professional thoughts alongside his memories so detached made it all the more powerful.

 When a man talks about having a purpose and meaning for living while he is inside of a concentration camp, it can inspire the rest of us to live a meaningful life. The second part of the book is very heavy on psychiatry but was still interesting. Overall, this is a great book that I would recommend.

The Dance of Intimacy by Harriet Lerner

The Dance of Intimacy: A Woman's Guide to Courageous Acts of Change in Key Relationships by Harriet Lerner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Normally, I find 'self-help' books a struggle to read and, even if they are informative, I am usually very glad to finish them as the reading is so dry. Not so with Harriet Lerner's books. Whatever book I am reading of hers is always my favorite. The Dance of Anger is excellent in addressing overfunctioning/underfunctioning roles. This book continues to deal with influencing change by focusing on yourself but deals more with understanding triangles. I have already downloaded another Harriet Lerner book to my kindle from the library as I love all of her books.

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The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships by Harriet Lerner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It has been years since I read this book and it is as good as I remember. Clear and simple in how to get to the root of issues, take responsibility (not try to change the other person) and handle things productively. It talks about how when one person over-functions, this allows the other person to under-function (any guesses on which role the woman usually has? ) and how to correct that balance. I think that every woman should read this book! Excellent.

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