Author:  Charles Duhigg                                              
Publisher:  Random House
Pages: 400
Genre:  Self Help
Source:  BEA












Goodreads:  A young woman walks into a laboratory. Over the past two years, she has transformed almost every aspect of her life. She has quit smoking, run a marathon, and been promoted at work. The patterns inside her brain, neurologists discover, have fundamentally changed.

Marketers at Procter & Gamble study videos of people making their beds. They are desperately trying to figure out how to sell a new product called Febreze, on track to be one of the biggest flops in company history. Suddenly, one of them detects a nearly imperceptible pattern—and with a slight shift in advertising, Febreze goes on to earn a billion dollars a year.

An untested CEO takes over one of the largest companies in America. His first order of business is attacking a single pattern among his employees—how they approach worker safety—and soon the firm, Alcoa, becomes the top performer in the Dow Jones.

What do all these people have in common? They achieved success by focusing on the patterns that shape every aspect of our lives. 

They succeeded by transforming habits.

In The Power of Habit, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg brings to life a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation. 
    

 Along the way we learn why some people and companies struggle to change, despite years of trying, while others seem to remake themselves overnight. We visit laboratories where neuroscientists explore how habits work and where, exactly, they reside in our brains. We discover how the right habits were crucial to the success of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and civil-rights hero Martin Luther King, Jr. We go inside Procter & Gamble, Target superstores, Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, NFL locker rooms, and the nation’s largest hospitals and see how implementing so-called keystone habits can earn billions and mean the difference between failure and success, life and death.

At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary companies and social movements, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. 

Habits aren’t destiny. As Charles Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.

Ope’s Opinion:  This book felt more like a research paper, then a self help book.  I am not sure of the authors intentions, but the research to back up his theories sort of bogged down the enthusiasm I wanted to feel to change my habits.  It took so long to read and get through the research I lost my excitement about trying something new.

Rating:  Two Chairs – I may have one friend who might like this book.

     FTC – Disclosure of Material Connection: 

            I received one copy of this book free of charge from BEA. 

            I was not required to write a positive review

                 in exchange for receipt of the book;

         rather the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

                                                       

                                       

Author:  Ann Bird Joseph Beatty                              
Publisher:  Publisher Page
Pages:  480
Genre:  Mystery
Source:  BEA

Amazon:  James and Caroline Mayfield had lived for thirty-seven years never knowing their only child, Emily Mayfield, who was kidnapped at birth and taken from her rightful parents.

For the first time in his life, Ty can’t bear to leave. Helping this sexy seductress-in-training walk on the wild side is making him desire things he shouldn?t?including leaving the military for good. As their just-for-fun fling becomes something more, Mallory and Ty wonder if they could really be this lucky in love. After all . . . anything can happen in a town called Lucky Harbor.

Ope’s Opinion:  I enjoyed reading this story.  I did not realize this was part of a series.  I thought the book stood on it’s own.  I did not like the constant use of the “f” word – I thought it didn’t add ( actually took away ) from the characters.  There was a lot more description of their sex then I needed.  All said,  I would still read another book by this author.  The actual story was enjoyable.

Rating:  Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

                             

                           

                                              FTC – Disclosure of Material Connection: 

                                I received one copy of this book free of charge from BEA. 

                                         I was not required to write a positive review

                                             in exchange for receipt of the book;

                                  rather the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

                                                       

        

           

Author:  Susan May Warren
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Pages:  353
Genre:  Christian Fiction
Source:  I purchased it.






Goodreads: A beautiful blanket of snow may cover the quaint town of Deep Haven each winter, but it can’t quite hide the wreckage of Noelle and Eli Hueston’s marriage. After twenty-five years, they’re contemplating divorce . . . just as soon as their youngest son graduates from high school. But then an accident erases part of Noelle’s memory. Though her other injuries are minor, she doesn’t remember Eli, their children, or the tragedy that has ripped their family apart. What’s more, Noelle is shocked that her life has turned out nothing like she dreamed it would. As she tries to regain her memory and slowly steps into her role as a wife and mother, Eli helps her readjust to daily life with sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-heartwarming results. But can she fall in love again with a man she can’t remember? Will their secrets destroy them . . . or has erasing the past given them a chance for a future?

Ope’s Opinion:  When I started this book it grabbed me.  After a while it started to drag, but because I had read Susan May Warren before I did not want to give up on it.  There were some good parts.  I am a fan of Christian Fiction, but even parts of this sounded – not preachy, but a lot of faith talk.
                     
                            I would recommend this author.  She has written some awesome books.  Find one of her story lines that you are interested in and she will keep you reading.



Rating:  Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

Author:  Sally John
Publisher:  Tyndale House Publishers
Pages: 388
Genre: Christian Fiction
Source:  I purchased it.







Goodreads:    What does a nationally known marriage expert do when her own marriage falls apart? Just as Jillian Galloway sets out for a publicity tour to promote her new book, her husband drops a bombshell: He wants a divorce. Jill flees to her parents’ home in the California desert, wondering whether everything she’s built her career on–indeed, everything she’s built her life around–is a sham. Navigating this “side road” of life is an uphill climb that leads to new understandings about herself, her marriage, and her relationship with the One who created marriage.








Ope’s Opinion:   It started out good.  It caught my attention at the beginning.  I got bored real fast.  It just moved too slow.   I thought there was too much time wasted talking about where Jill was and how she couldn’t figure out how to deal with Jack wanting a divorce.  I felt like I read the same things over and over again in each chapter.
                             There is a third book, I am not even going to attempt it.


Rating:  Two chairs – I may have on friend who might like this book.

Author:  Sally John
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Pages:  391
Genre:  Christian Fiction
Source:  I purchased it.








Goodreads:  Sheridan Montgomery leads a charmed life as the wife of Eliot, U.S. ambassador to Venezuela. But an attack on their lives cripples Eliot, and they retreat to a remote Mexican village. As Sheridan quietly cares for her husband, she sees her dreams slipping away. Luke Traynor shatters their reverie when he arrives to tell Sheridan of her father’s heart attack and the evidence implicating him in a conspiracy. Sheridan returns to Chicago to untangle the web of her father’s past and is forced to confront her feelings for Luke, a trail of deceit, and the truth about her marriage.




Ope’s Opinion:  I am ( was ) a huge Sally John fan.  This one really disappointed me.  It began very
 s-l-o-w  and never picked up the pace.  There were some interesting twists in it, but it took them a long time to be revealed.  It was kind of a depressing book.  There are three in the series.  I am going attempt number two and three, with the hopes of better results.
                            If you have the opportunity, please pick up one of Sally John’s other books.  They were amazing.





Rating:  Two Chairs – I may have one friend who might like this book.

Author:  Phil Stuzz, Barry Michels  
Publisher:  Random House
Pages:  288
Genre:  Self Help
Source:  BEA










Goodreads:      A groundbreaking book about personal growth that presents a uniquely effective set of four tools that bring about dynamic change in the present and impart a greater understanding of the depth and complexity of the human condition over the longterm.
 
The Tools addresses the most common complaint patients have about psychotherapy: the interminable wait for change to begin. Barry Michels, an LA-based therapist, was frustrated by his inability to bring his patients faster relief from the issues that plagued them. He found a mentor in Phil Stutz, a psychiatrist who years before devised a methodology that arose from a similar disenchantment. The traditional therapeutic model sets its sights on the past, but Stutz and Michels employ an arsenal of tools–exercises that access the power of the unconscious and effectively meet the most persistent problems people face–and the results are electrifying. Stutz and Michels are much sought-after–a recent profile in The New Yorker touted them as an “open secret” in Hollywood–and treat a high-powered and creative clientele. Their first work, The Tools transcends the typical self-help genre because of its paradigm-changing material, the credibility of its authors, and the instant appeal and empowerment of its message.

Author:  Ellen Hopkins
Publisher:  Atria Books
Pages:  496
Genre:  Poetry
Source:  Atria Books

Goodreads:  Written in Hopkins’s stunning poetic verse style, Collateral centers on Ashley, an MFA student at San Diego State University. She grew up reading books and never dreamed she would become a military wife. One night she meets a handsome soldier named Cole. He doesn’t match the stereotype of the aggressive military man. He’s passionate and romantic. He even writes poetry. Their relationship evolves into a sexually charged love affair that goes on for five years and survives four deployments. Cole wants Ashley to marry him, but when she meets another man, a professor with similar pursuits and values, she begins to see what life might be like outside the shadow of war.

Collateral captures the hearts of the soldiers on the battlefield and the minds of the friends, family, and lovers they leave behind. Those who remain at home may be far away from the relentless, sand-choked skies of the Middle East and the crosshairs of a sniper rifle, but just the same, all of them will sacrifice a part of themselves for their country and all will eventually ask themselves if the collateral damage caused by war is worth the fight.

Author:  Brenda Jackson

Publisher:  Harlequin Kimani
Pages:  224
Genre:  Romance
Source:  BEA

Goodreads:     No man has ever tempted her like this…Nikki Cartwright can’t believe Jonas Steele—the Jonas Steele—has chosen her for a high-profile marketing venture. It could make her career. But when she remembers the kiss they once shared, a kiss so intimate it sent their desire skyrocketing from simmering to blazing, Nikki knows she must guard her heart against the seductive Phoenix playboy as if her life depends on it.

Jonas has no problem making their professional relationship personal. With the beautiful and talented photographer within his reach, he can erase her from his system once and for all. From a whirlwind Las Vegas affair to jet-setting across four continents, this Steele discovers getting Nikki out of his system is easier said than done, and now he wants her to belong to him heart and soul—as the woman of his most passionate fantasies.

Ope’s Opinion:  I enjoy reading about the chemistry between two single adults, but I like a story with it.  This book had little to no story.  It was all about how much the two characters wanted each other.  There was very little conversation.  I kept reading thinking there might be something more to this book.  I have another book by Brenda that I don’t think I will be reading.  I will pass it on to a friend who might enjoy it.

Rating:  Two Chairs – I may have one friend who might like this book.

                                            FTC – Disclosure of Material Connection: 

                                                                            I received one copy of this book free of charge from BEA. 

                                                               I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the

                                                                           book; rather the opinions expressed in this review are my own.