Book Review: The Smart Couple Quote Book

About the book

The Smart Couple Quote Book: Radically Simple Ways to avoid Pointless Fights, have better sex, and build an Indestructible Partnership by Jayson Gaddis is a 142-page non-fiction book. This book was published in the year 2017 by TCK Publishing. Jayson Gaddis is the founder of the Relationship School, host for Smart Couple Podcast and is a relationship student and teacher, so he is qualified to write this book and he knows what he is talking about since he lived through it, too. He learned about this the hard way and wants to help the reader.

The Purpose of this Book

The purpose of this book "is to give you an upgrade in how you see, experience, and live inside of an adult, long-term relationship" (The Smart Couple Quote Book by Jayson Gaddis, 2017, 1). The author will challenge us to look deeper into our heart and mind so we can act and think differently. This is not your typical book that gives you a step-by-step way to a better marriage but a book on the trials, hardships, and joys of marriage. The author promises to give us the reader ways to have a better relationship in our marriage.

Summary of the Book

With many ways to approach this topic, I think the author did a great job in writing this book that included his experiences and research. While reading this book, the author gives little tidbits on his relationships with his family. For example, when his son acts out, he takes him and his son outside to look for animals to reconnect. The author delivers on his promise by adding pearls of wisdom and tips on how to make your relationship better throughout the book. Within each paragraph is a way to do it and then he expands a little on how to do it. An example is when working out a conflict say "I heard" instead of "you said" that way your not pretending to know what the other person said or look for patterns in your life that keep repeating itself, if you find them, it is an opportunity for you to work through them and then change.

Another example is "there are two main options when it comes to dealing with your emotions in your relationship. One, we can use them to run our "poor me" story, and keep the faucet on, staying in our victim seat. Or, if we truly want to get empowered, we can use the rawness of our emotions to bring us back to our heart and greater alignment. Our emotions are feedback, helping us come back home to our integrity" (The Smart Couple Quote Book, Jayson Gaddis, 2017).

There are so many examples of tips and wisdom in this book that the reader would have to read the entire book on their own. This book will change the way you think about you, and your relationship with your spouse.

My Thoughts on the Book

This book is a good reminder that a relationship is a work in progress and it's not always a bed of roses. You have to work at a relationship if it is important enough for you. I love that this book is easy to read and understand. The author uses words that anyone can comprehend. The format is simple and easy to navigate with words of wisdom that reaches into your heart and tips that will make your relationship stronger.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is married and in a relationship. If you want your relationship to work then you need this book.

Book Review: A Vietnam Veteran's Journey

When you read Terrence Crimmins, A Vietnam Veterans Journey: The effect of a tour of duty in Vietnam on a man's life, you can read first hand on what this young man went through from first being drafted to his tour of duty and finally coming home to civilian life. Terrence Crimmins short 8-page essay was sold by Amazon Digital Services LLC on the 3rd of July in the year 2013. The author was a history teacher and he writes about the drama of the American experience. This fiction essay has a theme of war and military action.

This book starts out in Haverhill, Massachusetts in Dan's dad's pickup truck drinking beer as his dad tells him he was drafted. Dan already knew then it fast forward to his tour in Vietnam and what happened over there. Then the last part of the book focuses on when he came back to Haverhill. I like that it starts out with Dan on the phone talking to his boss wondering why they hadn't called him back to work then it flashes back to when he was working. He got a job as an oiler to a construction site in the north of Boston, maintaining giant cranes. He wanted to have fun and he started drinking which affected his job due to coming to work with a hangover and sleeping on the job. You would think that they would give him some slack but they didn't because they didn't understand what he went through in the war. Dan ended up spending more time at a bar called Jim's Place because that was where more veterans like himself could hang out.

"Dan had found in civilian life that many people did not appreciate his service in Vietnam, and this troubled him" (A Vietnam Veteran's Journey, Terrence Crimmins, 2013). The Vietnam War was the only war that I know of that the soldiers were treated badly. This is sad because they risked their lives for this country. I can't imagine being called baby killers but that is what protesters called the soldiers when they came back from war. Can you imagine hearing that after seeing what you did but like a true veteran keeping silent on your experiences because no one understands what you went through? Then if this wasn't enough, you start having what we now call PTSD symptoms like flashbacks, touchiness and being frightened easily. Dan started to jump at work when he heard loud noises that erupted behind him that made him think of Vietnam while his co-workers would just laugh at him.

This a great book that gives us insight into what it was like to be a soldier in the Vietnam War. I would recommend this book to history, military and adventure buffs. I think that they would like it.

Did you know that there are millions of people in this world who suffer from this thing called anxiety? Most of them will seek help and some don't even know they have it but will think they are crazy. Some of these people will need medication to help them control it and to live their life. The reason that I am reading this is so I can learn as much as I can about this disorder so I can help a friend and a sister of mine. They both suffer from this but whereas one takes medication the other does not. So if I can learn from this book then I can convey what I learned to them so it will help them.

Title and Author Information

Do you want to get control of your anxiety then read Leonard McGregor's book on Anxiety: The Proven Guide to Beating Anxiety and getting Control of your Life. It is a 41-page book that was published on the 7th of October in the year 2017 and sold by Amazon.

Even though there is no background information on the author, he seems to know how to beat anxiety and to take control of your life.

Summary

According to the author, this "book was written to help those who are ready and willing to fight and overcome their anxiety and put an end to their panic-stricken lives" (Anxiety by Leonard McGregor, 2017, p2). He accomplishes this by defining your anxiety; The Anxious Mind and Body; discusses the types of anxiety disorders; seeking medical treatment; the alternative forms of getting treatment and how to take one day at a time.

In order to beat anxiety, we need to know what it is and how it is different from good anxiety. Good anxiety would be like if you're nervous before a test but after the test is over you feel fine. Bad anxiety would be if you continue to stress about days after the test. I didn't even know that there were two kinds of anxiety. This book explains what the main effects of anxiety are and they are headaches, discomforts, dizziness, shakiness, increased heart rate, choking sensations, nausea and the feeling of going to the bathroom. Did you know that anxiety can have a long-term effect on your immune system, can cause kidney and heart problems, depression and digestive system? If you have these problems, I would make an appointment to see your doctor.

Leonard even mentions the different types of anxiety which include panic attacks, phobias, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). With each of these disorders, he discusses the signs and symptoms and the cause and treatments.

He dedicates a chapter on medical treatments like Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with how it works, and some of the medications that are prescribed. Another chapter is on the alternative medication that you can take if you don't want prescribed medications.

In conclusion, by the time you finish reading this book, the reader will have "learned the basics of anxiety, how it develops, and what signs to look out for. You have learned how the anxious mind works and the way stigma makes the situation worse and the different types of anxiety disorders" (Anxiety, Leonard McGregor, 2017).

My thoughts on this book

The way this book is laid out, it is easy to read and understand. From reading this book, it seems to be accurate and everything in this book pertains to anxiety. What I like is that the author had said at the beginning of the book what was going to be in this book and he did write about the things that he said he would. Before reading this book, I didn't know that there were millions of people who suffered from this or that some of them wouldn't seek help. By reading this book, I was able to get a better understanding of what it is and how it can be treated.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who suffers from this disorder or thinks they are. I also think this book would be good for friends or family members who would like to know what is happening to their loved ones.

Source

Walter Moore wrote a 92-page non-fiction book called The Great Book of 1967, U.S. yearbook Full of Interesting Facts and Events from 1967. The book was published in 2017 by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. Walter Moore has written books on Physical Chemistry, Basic Physical Chemistry and many more.

Would you like to know who was in office and the President in 1967? Or the top music and movies that were playing in 1967? My favorite facts of 1967 are reading about the books and literature and the everyday living and cost of 1967. But for some, it would be the sports and the celebrities and the famous people born in 1967 that would be interesting. This is what the author writes about in this book. This book accomplishes this by devoting a chapter on these topics.

What do Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Kurt Cobain, Faith Hill and Mira Sorvina have in common, they are some of the celebrities or famous people who were born in 1967. I'm a believer, I think we're alone now, All you need is love and Ain't no mountain high enough are some songs that came out in the same year. The book even mentions the top movies of that year with its gross earnings, the budget and the producer the number one movie was the Graduate with its budget of 3 million and was produced by Embassy Pictures/United Artists with gross earnings of $104,901,839.

What do Faye Dunaway, Audrey Hepburn, Jane Fonda and Michael Caine have in common, they were actresses and actor born in 1967. One of my favorite books was popular in this year and it was The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Another list of names are the Green Bay Packers players who won the Super Bowl. These are just some of the tidbits listed in this yearbook of 1967.

My favorite part was learning that my name, Lisa was one of the fifty common girl names in 1967. Whoever reads this book will find it easy to read and navigate because the format is easy to understand.

I love this saying "1967 was an extraordinary and historic year. It led to plenty of social changes and fascinating developments in the United States and around the world. Some of its greatest accomplishments were in the areas of popular culture, with tremendously influential music, movies, and books" ( The Great Book of 1967: U.S. Yearbook Full of Interesting Facts and Events from 1967 by Walter Moore, 2017 p.85).

Even though this book didn't have any pictures or illustrations, in my opinion, it didn't need it because of the layout. The author had the layout simple with its short paragraphs and lists. There is nothing in this book that I would change. I found that I couldn't put this book down until I finished reading it. It captivated me from the first page. I love this book because I love learning about history and how people lived back then. So for me, the whole book was my favorite.

I believe that history buffs and anyone who is interested in this era would love reading this book. There is something for everyone in this fantastic yearbook of 1967.https://www.amazon.com/Great-Book-1967-Interesting-Anniversary/dp/1979502242/ref=pd_ybh_a_9?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0CZHK0NTXTVZVQJBTV0B

Book Review on Who is Joseph Pulitzer? by Terrence Crimmins

Who is Joseph Pulitzer by Terrence Crimmins is a 278-page historical fiction novel that is based on the personal life and professional conflicts of Joseph. This book was published by Knollwood Press in Boston Massachusetts on the first day of September in 2016. In his life, the author Terrence Crimmins has led an exciting life with his writing online columns, having his work published in scholarly journals, by writing biographical picture screenplays and as a teacher of history in Baltimore Maryland. He is now writing comedy and drama on the American experience through his short stories and novels.

In today’s world, we the public are in awe of men who influence major changes in regards how the news is broadcasted. There were men like that in the 1800” s in which Joseph was one of those men. As you read this novel, you will be fascinated on how Joseph goes from having nothing to being in control of the newspaper industry.

The public love their rag to riches stories. What would you do if you went from rich to rags then back to riches, again. This is what happened to Joseph. He was born in Hungary to a wealthy Jewish father and mother. When his father died, seventeen-year-old Joseph’s mother remarried so that the family wouldn’t be in poverty. He walked out on his mother’s wedding and tried to join the army, but no one would take him due to his being to skinny and wearing glasses. What would you do if you found out that the army you joined was only after the bounty? During his voyage over to the United States, he found out that the reason that the army signed him was for the bounty that they would get since they were not planning on giving it to the recruits. So, Joseph jumped ship and swam to shore where he went to get his money. He ended up serving in a bureaucratic role instead of fighting.

. After the war, he ended in St. Louis doing the odd jobs to make a living. Joseph would have a tough time because he had a high opinion of himself, thought he could do things better, didn’t like taking orders and had huge ambitions which made him short of temper with mood swings. When he wasn’t working, you could find him in the library reading all he could. He learned English and even passed the law exam. He loved reading the classics. He met his future bosses Carl Schurz and Thomas Davidson while he was a waiter at a restaurant/barroom.

It's not surprising that with all his ambitions that buys the Post newspaper from his boss and buys out another newspaper.

Pulitzer, at the age of forty-one, lost his eyesight due to a broken blood vessel in one of his eyes. He also developed asthma, stomach problems, depression, nervous affliction and weak lungs. His doctors wanted him to quit the newspaper business, but it did not happen. He ended up hiring teams of men to act as his secretaries as his eyes and ears. For a while, he and his secretaries would move from place to place so Pulitzer could seek the peace he needed from noise. Soon he was running his newspaper by telegrams and letters. Towards the end of his life, he and his secretaries sailed off in his yacht to take a trip around the world, so he could find that peace. His wife and two daughters were there to send him off.

The sad thing was that after his death, the World newspaper went into bankruptcy because he was not there to manage it whereas the Post-Dispatch newspaper remained in business. Before his death, he created the Pulitzer Prize to give awards to people who achieved greatness. What an amazing legacy.

Pulitzer changed the way journalism was regarded by creating sensationalism and stopping the exploitation of the poor from corrupt politicians and the wealthy. He is my favorite character because within twenty years of emigrating from Hungary to America, he fought for the underdogs (i.e. the poor and the immigrants) by using the two newspapers that he owned to undercover the corruptness of the wealthy. That’s not bad for an Hungarian immigrant who spoke little English and was poor himself. He owned two of the biggest newspapers in his time, the Gilded Age.

I loved the book. Even though this is a historical fiction it is based on Pulitzer’s life and the novel is filled fascinating and intriguing facts. I am so glad that I was able to read this. I have to admit that before reading this book, I didn’t know anything about the Pulitzer Prize except what they do now. I didn’t know that it was named after someone.

There was nothing about this book that I didn’t like. I found this book to be full of rich details about the life of Pulitzer. It was enjoyable to read about a man who went from riches to rags to riches. His journey was aspiring in that he didn’t let anything get in the way of his ambition or dream.

I would recommend this book to everyone who loves to read especially novels based on fact. I believe that anyone who is fascinated with the history of our country, history buffs and anyone interested in biographies would love this book.

Strong Heart book review by Charlie Sheldon

Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon

Charlie Sheldon, the author of Strong Heart, lives in Ballard Washington, always keeping up with his love of writing. He is working on the next tale called Adrift, which will be published in 2018. Charlie has been a writer a long time with his publication of Fat Chance which came out in 2005. In his long life, he went to Yale and University of Massachusetts for Wildlife Biology and received a Master’s degree. He then began a lengthy career on the sea as a fisherman in New England, catching lobster, cod, haddock, red crab, and squid before being a consultant for Fishery Management Councils, then 28 years working on seaports as project and construction manager then being a Seaman and Bosun on a military ship.

Strong Heart is a 246-page book that you can either read or listen to. It grabs your attention as soon as you read it. As you read, you know there is a journey inside of a journey and you want to read until the end just to see what happens.

There’s a knock on the door and Tom answers it to find his ex-wife and a girl on his doorstep. His ex-wife says this is your granddaughter, Sarah and leaves. Tom was going hiking and camping on the mountain to make sure his grandfather’s grave was secure from the possibility of the mountain being developed. His friends persuade him to take Sarah with them and off they go with Tom saying it’s not a clever idea. At first, Sarah doesn’t want to go thinking it’s the end of the earth. Along the way, Sarah sees things that no one else does and William and his daughter believe her. Then it is discovered that Tom found an Native Indian artifact years ago and took it off the mountain and that he is part Native. Then Sarah goes missing, they search for her before calling for help. Eventually, the search is called off and only Tom, William are left to search. After being missing for 8 days, she finds her way to her grandfather. When she comes back she tells them what happened but only William believes her. Because of this, Sarah’s grandmother takes her back. Things began to happen as you continue to read this book that proves that she is telling the truth. You will need to read the book to find out.

This book is a story of coming of age for a teenage girl who it seems no one wants. First her mother dies years ago, then her stepdad decides to ship her off to her grandparents because he wants a time out, then her grandmother and her husband ships her off to Tom, her grandfather. Through this story, you see Sarah starting to grow and you start hoping that she has a permanent home with her grandfather. The relationship between her and her grandfather start to grow from not believing her to in the end believing her in what she says.

This is also an adventure book in that when they hike up the mountain something happens to them as a group and Sarah, alone. She goes missing for days and when she comes back with her own journey, her grandfather, Tom doesn’t believe her.

I love this book and can’t wait until I get to read Adrift next year. It is an amazing book with no mistakes that I can read. Charlie gives good detail on what is going on and what they see which is great because it’s like you are there with them climbing, hiking and camping. There is nothing that I didn’t like about this book.

I would rate this book a 4 out of 4 because it’s that good. Normally, this kind of book would have taken me days to read but this one I read almost all of it in one night. This book is good for teenagers, young adults and even adults. If you love family oriented, adventure and coming of age books then this is for you. I highly recommend everyone to read it for themselves.

A Book Review on The King of Anavrea by Rachel Rossano

King of Anavrea by Rachel Rossano is the second book in the Theodoric Saga, was published on the 15th of October in the year 2014. It is considered to be a Christian and fantasy book. Rachel was the oldest of four children to a missionary pastor and his wife. She was always reading a book and decided to put her adventures down on paper.

What would you do if your older brother abdicated the throne and you were the king even if you didn't want to be? That is what happened to Ireic Theodoric, King of Anavrea. He is king because his brother abdicated the throne and you will see why if you read the first book in this saga.

What would you do if you were just a pawn to your father, just someone he remembered when you are useful to him, that is the life of Princess Lirth Parnan, the only daughter of the King of Sardmara.

When Ireic, King of Anavrea goes to Sardmara to sign a treaty he finds to his dismay that he is to marry the king’s daughter also. For the sake of his country and people, he signs the treaty but finds out that his bride is not there. He goes looking for her and rescues her from her captors. Lirth has been waiting for this day for years, someone to rescue her, but is it friend or foe. Then she finds out that her rescuer is her husband to be. Can he be trusted? She is at first afraid of him then she falls ill with fever. He learns that she is blind. The council won’t like it, but he did vow to marry her? He takes her to his brother’s home, where she recovers, and they marry. His vow to marry Lirth could cost him his life and throne.

The Theodoric Saga Book 2 | Source

Ireic and Lirth run into problems since the day they arrived at the castle. In Ireic absence, the council has convened and has made laws without the king there. So Ireic has to spend long hours with the council to undo the laws they put in place and to make matters worse they find out that their Queen is blind and try to come up with a way to dispose of her causing Ireic to disband the council and causing some of them to rebel and start a revolt. Then someone tries to kill Lirth but injured Ireic instead. They flee the castle and head to Ireic's only property to regroup. His brother is there waiting for him with loyal soldiers. In the end he gets his castle back and routes out his enemies.

My favorite character in this book is Lirth for many reasons but the main reason is that she didn't let her blindness get in her way of what she wanted. She didn't give up when she was held captive for five years, she clung to her faith in God. She was able to portray calm and serenity on the outside even if she didn't feel it to help Ireic. When she had hard times, she didn't complain just accepted it and moved on. I can relate to her in that I may not be blind but I am hearing impaired. Even though this is just a book, we both have God that we hold on to. It was not easy for her to be blind but she didn't let her down. I wish that I had read this book years ago. I could have learned a lesson in not allowing my hearing impairment get in the way of what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a nurse but didn't think I could with my hearing loss.

My favorite part of the book is of course the ending where they both come through their problems together and stronger. I loved the whole book but this is my favorite part. They had many obstacles to overcome and they did without giving up.

I think the author did a great job in regards how the characters go together. There wasn't anything out of place in that the scenes and the characters meshed together. There wasn't anything in this book that shouldn't have been there. For me, there was nothing that I didn't like about this book. I couldn't see or read any grammar or spelling errors.

For me, this book is 4 out of 4 stars because it caught my attention from the beginning. This is my third time reading this amazing romance, intrigue and time period book. And since I love it this much, I bought the book so I could reread it in the future. This book will interest readers who love to read clean romance, about rebellions, intrigue and adventure. I would definitely recommend this book to other readers.