Here For It by Amy Weatherly and Jess Johnston

 We all long to do life together with people who really "get" us. Amy Weatherly and Jess Johnston, bestselling authors and founders of the wildly popular "Sister, I Am with You" online community, simplify some of the trickier aspects of friendship and give readers practical ways to deepen the friendships they already have.

Making friends as an adult is hard! It's weird and it's tricky and it can feel overwhelming. Maintaining those friendships and taking them to a deeper level can be even harder. Just as Amy and Jess gave readers a road map for finding real, authentic relationships with I'll Be There (But I'll Be Wearing Sweatpants), they now provide a toolkit for building up and building on those friendships. Here For It (The Good, the Bad, and the Queso) will dig deeper into the hows and whys of doing life together in a culture that constantly tries to keep us separate. Readers will learn how to

• distinguish between different types of friendships and recognize when a seasonal relationship has run its course;
• understand the importance of self-awareness, healthy confrontation, and differing love languages in friendship; and
• maintain long-distance friendships, foster real relationships with your neighbors, and establish traditions that strengthen your connections.

With this new book, Amy and Jess give readers the tools they need to continue laying a strong foundation and building relationships that are steady, secure, and made to withstand whatever life throws their way.

Pick up your copy here...

Here For It (the Good, the Bad, and the Queso): The How-To Guide for Deepening Your Friendships and Doing Life Together: Weatherly, Amy, Johnston, Jess: 9781400226832: Amazon.com: Books

Amy Weatherly is a Texas girl through and through, which is where she lives with her husband, three kids, and two rescue dogs—Lou and Brewster. She is passionate about helping women embrace courage, confidence, and purpose for their life, and she does it with a quick wit and down-to-earth sense of humor. She has written for The Today Show, Good Morning America, Yahoo.com and Love What Matters. 

My Thoughts...

A Must read! Wow! This was such a well done book. I felt like I was sitting with two friends sharing stories. Its very relatable and an easy read. I have to say I recommend this one.

5 stars two times!
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Klara's Truth by Susan Weissbach

It is May 2014, and Dr. Klara Lieberman—forty-nine, single, professor of archaeology at a small liberal arts college in Maine, a contained person living a contained life—has just received a letter from her estranged mother, Bessie, that will dramatically change her life. Her father, she learns—the man who has been absent from her life for the last forty-three years, and about whom she has long been desperate for information—is dead. Has been for many years, in fact, which Bessie clearly knew. But now the Polish government is giving financial reparations for land it stole from its Jewish citizens during WWII, and Bessie wants the money. Klara has little interest in the money—but she does want answers about her father. She flies to Warsaw, determined to learn more.

In Poland, Klara begins to piece together her father’s, and her own, story. She also connects with extended family, begins a romantic relationship, and discovers her calling: repairing the hundreds of forgotten, and mostly destroyed, pre-War Jewish cemeteries in Poland. Along the way, she becomes a more integrated, embodied, and interpersonally connected individual—one with the tools to make peace with her past and, for the first time in her life, build purposefully toward a bigger future. 

Pick up your copy here....

Klara's Truth: A Novel: Weissbach Friedman, Susan: 9781647426101: Amazon.com: Books

Susan Weissbach (Friedman) is a psychotherapist with a specialty in women’s issues, family therapy, and trauma-focused therapy. A graduate of Hamilton College, Boston University’s MSW/MPH program, and the Ackerman Institute for Couples and Families, she is also EMDRIA certified and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), and has been a practicing clinician for more than twenty-five years (she is not accepting new clients). Originally from Long Island, she now lives in Westchester County, New York, where she enjoys practicing yoga and mindfulness, going for walks in nature, listening to music, and spending time near the ocean. Susan has been married to her husband for thirty years and has two daughters in their twenties. Klara’s Truth is her first novel.

The Story of David and Goliath by Pia Imperial

 

Share the Biblical tale of David and Goliath with your little one and celebrate bravery and faith together!

Simple and biblically accurate text introduces readers to the most beloved stories of the Bible. David and Goliathis the perfect gift for parents and other caretakers to share their love of Christ and faith in courage with their young ones year-round.

Pick up your copy here...

The Story of David and Goliath: A Parable of Courage and Faith (Little Bible Stories): Imperial, Pia, Gledhill, Carly: 9780593523346: Amazon.com: Books

Pia Imperial lives in Connecticut with her loving husband. She has two grandchildren to whom she reads the Little Bible Stories.

Neena Lee is Seeing Things by Sheila Athens

 When a travel writer haunted by old ghosts comes face to face with a new one—who just happens to be one of the most famous men in the world—she has no choice but to dig into his past … and her own.

Fifty-six-year-old Neena Lee is determined to revive her career as a travel writer. Trouble is, the upstart editor at the travel magazine where she works has fired everyone else over the age of forty. Worse yet, Neena is still plagued by the panic attacks she’s been suffering since her brother’s death.

Despite her fragile condition, Neena’s flatlining bank account means she must go back to work. When the baby-faced editor finally offers her an assignment, she jumps at the chance. Even better: She’s being sent to the remote barrier island off the coast of Georgia where John F. Kennedy, Jr., and Carolyn Bessette pulled off a secret, paparazzi-free wedding.

But when Neena arrives at the tiny church on Cumberland Island where the fairytale wedding took place, she’s shocked to see John F. Kennedy, Jr. himself waiting for her in the back pew…even though he’s been dead for almost twenty-five years. Though Neena is sure she’s hallucinating, John begs her to hear him out—and to help him reunite with his wife.

Thanks to John’s continued presence and trademark charisma, one mission soon leads to another, and soon Neena has befriended a dead man. Nevertheless, she knows she needs to get back to her real life if she’s going to save her job, her reputation, and her home.

But the more Neena interacts with John, the more he pushes her to confront her own demons—encouraging her to worry less about not having saved her brother…and more about saving herself.

Pick up your copy here...

Neena Lee Is Seeing Things: Athens, Sheila: 9798989164714: Amazon.com: Books

Sheila Athens writes smart women's fiction with a hint of romance. Her books are set in that quirky part of Florida where the South meets the Sunshine State. She loves quiet spaces, eccentric people and the little band of Writer Hikers she walks with on a weekly basis. After growing up in the Ozarks, she moved to Florida--sight unseen--with the man who would become her husband. 

My Thoughts...

Suzy Approved always has the best book on her tours. This one did not disappoint. A new author with a good story.
Now to find out if this author has any more books out...
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey

 Maggie is fine. She’s doing really good, actually. Sure, she’s broke, her graduate thesis on something obscure is going nowhere, and her marriage only lasted 608 days, but at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, Maggie is determined to embrace her new life as a Surprisingly Young Divorcée™.

Now she has time to take up nine hobbies, eat hamburgers at 4 am, and “get back out there” sex-wise. With the support of her tough-loving academic advisor, Merris; her newly divorced friend, Amy; and her group chat (naturally), Maggie barrels through her first year of single life, intermittently dating, occasionally waking up on the floor and asking herself tough questions along the way.

Laugh-out-loud funny and filled with sharp observations, Really Good, Actually is a tender and bittersweet comedy that lays bare the uncertainties of modern love, friendship, and our search for that thing we like to call “happiness”. This is a remarkable debut from an unforgettable new voice in fiction.

Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                     Really Good, Actually: A Novel: Heisey, Monica: 9780063235410: Amazon.com: Books

Monica Heisey is an essayist, comedian, and screenwriter from Toronto. Her writing has been published in The New Yorker, the New York Times, Vogue, Elle, The Guardian, Glamour, New York Magazine, and VICE, among others. She has written for television shows like Schitt's Creek, Workin' Moms, and Everything I Know About Love. She lives in London.

Change your Diet Change your Mind by Georgia Ede

 Are you struggling with attention problems, mood swings, food obsession, or depression? Whatever the issue, you have far more control over your thoughts, feelings, and behavior than you realize. Although medications may bring some relief, in Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind, Dr. Georgia Ede reveals that the most powerful way to change brain chemistry is with food, because that’s where brain chemicals come from in the first place.

 
In this provocative, illuminating guide, Dr. Ede explains why nearly everything we think we know about brain-healthy diets is wrong. We've been told the way to protect our brains is with superfoods, supplements, and plant-based diets rich in whole grains and legumes, but the science tells a different story: not only do these strategies often fail, but some can even work against us. The truth about brain food is that meat is not dangerous, vegan diets are not healthier, and antioxidants are not the answer.
 
Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind will empower you to:

• understand how unscientific research methods drive fickle nutrition headlines and illogical dietary guidelines
• weigh the risks and benefits of your favorite foods so you can make your own informed choices about what to eat
• evaluate yourself for signs of insulin resistance—the silent metabolic disease that robs your brain of the energy it needs to thrive
• improve your mental health with a choice of moderate-carbohydrate and ketogenic diets that you can personalize to your food preferences and health goals

Drawing on a wide range of scientific disciplines including biochemistry, neuroscience, and botany, Dr. Ede will ignite your curiosity about the fascinating world of food and its role in nourishing, protecting, and energizing your brain.

Pick up your copy here...

Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind: A Powerful Plan to Improve Mood, Overcome Anxiety, and Protect Memory for a Lifetime of Optimal Mental Health: Ede M.D., Dr. Georgia: 9781538739075: Amazon.com: Books

Dr. Georgia Ede is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist specializing in nutritional and metabolic psychiatry. Her twenty-five years of experience include twelve years at Smith College and Harvard University Health Services, where she was the first to offer nutrition-based therapies as an alternative to psychiatric medication. Dr. Ede speaks internationally about nutrition science and dietary approaches to psychiatric conditions, and developed the first and only medically accredited Ketogenic Diets for Mental Health Clinician Training Program. In 2022, she co-authored the first inpatient study of the ketogenic diet for serious mental illness, and was named a recipient of the Baszucki Brain Research Fund’s Metabolic Mind Award. You will find many helpful free articles about nutrition and mental health on her website DiagnosisDiet.

Georgia lives in the northeast corner of Massachusetts with her partner Suzi Smith, who illustrates all of her articles, books, and presentations. 

My Thoughts...

This was a very interesting and complex read. I learned so much and I am making a lot of changes. This is a must read and one that I plan to share with many friends.

The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

 

Once Upon a Divorce by Betsy St. Amant

 What happens when the author of happily-ever-after romances gets divorced? As a divorce survivor and single mom, Betsy St. Amant Haddox--known for her charming rom-coms--shares her own raw, unfiltered story of what happens after the fairy tale ends. Complete with plenty of what-not-to-do tales, Once Upon a Divorce features what she learned on her bumbling journey to wholeness.

In her humorous, vulnerable, and authentic way, Betsy recounts how she navigated her ex-husband's abandonment and the seeming silence from heaven that followed. She takes readers through the thorny path of figuring out life as a single mother, healing from loss, and finding God to be faithful through it all. Once Upon a Divorce proves that the end of a marriage isn't the end of the story.
Christian women will embrace this book because it helps them feel seen and validated amid their own relationship storms. And they will appreciate the biblical perspective Betsy brings as she tackles divorce and its aftermath from a Christian perspective, not a "girl power" one.

Join Betsy as she shares heartfelt advice for the "now what?" chapter--advice learned firsthand on acceptance, forgiveness, and the hard-won truth of hoping for more, while being content right where you are.

Pick up your copy here...

Once Upon a Divorce: Walking with God After "The End": Haddox, Betsy: 9780825447983: Amazon.com: Books

Betsy St. Amant is the multi-published, award-winning author of many romantic comedies, including Tacos for Two, The Key to Love, and over twenty other romance novels and novellas. This is her first nonfiction book. She has a degree in communications and a passion for seeing women restored to truth. Betsy is remarried and lives in north Louisiana with her family. Find out more at betsystamant.com.