Unlock Your Dream by Philip Wagner

   Everyone has a dream. There is no one who hasn’t a dream. We all strive for something.

   As a child it may be to be like our dad. We may wish to someday help others. Or make enough money to be able to finance a big project.

   We soon realize following a dream is hard work. Bur dreams are not unique to us. Everyone has one and that one dream may lead to another.

   Dreamers need others. We are not meant to dream in solitude. Our dreams for significance need someone else to cheer you on- to tell you you can make it.

   You don’t need someone to dowse your dream or add fear. The fear of duplicating the past is a great dream killer. But even with fear you need to know it cannot disqualify your dream.

   This book offers you encouragement. Each one of us has a purpose—an assignment to complete. Wagner acts as a cheerleader if you need one. But mostly, Wagner helps the reader to be able to help others make the dream they have a reality.

   It is written for the Christian who needs encouragement to keep on striving. But the general public would enjoy it also.

   This book was sent to me gratis by bloggingforbooks.com for the purpose of reviewing and posting to my book blog. No obligation was stated to slant the review. The conclusions reached are those of the reviewer and not necessarily those of the publisher.

   The book is published by Waterbrook and sells for $19.99

The Inkblots by Damion Searls

   In the field of psychology there is the testing. I am talking about Myers-Briggs, MMPI, Free Association, and the Inkblots also known as Rorschach.

    All have meaning and all have a purpose. Freud emphasized words and his overlay was sexual repression which was understandable seeing how Freud came from the Victorian period. Another practicing psychologist who wanted to help people was Carl Jung who based his theories on association. And then we have Hermann Rorschach who was interested in perceptions. He was looking to read people.

   He developed what became known as Ink Blots. The ink blots are holistic. Each Inkblot has a meaning.

   Just who was this Hermann Rorschach and how were the ten Inkblots developed and standardized?

 It is an interesting story and this book gives you the up to date findings.

   You start out this book with the biography. Then you move into the fate of the ink blots after the death of Rorschach up to the present day.

    It is an easy to read book and should be of interest to students of psychology and maybe people interested in the Inkblots.

   I enjoyed this book. Having been sent this book gratis from Bloggingforbooks.org to be reviewed I was not required to give a positive review in order to maintain the relationship. All I was required to do was read it and review it.

   It retails for $28.00.

The Wrong Side of GoodBye by Michael Connelly

  

   For all of us Harry Bosch lovers this is another adventure we have been waiting for. No matter how long it is between publishing, it seems to take at least a year or more from the time it is released to the agent who scouts out the book to publication.

   Connelly seems to alternate between Bosch and the Lincoln Lawyer in his output. I find the Lincoln Lawyer to be not as good as his Bosch series, although they are related characters. Connelly presents them as half brothers.

   You will find the Lincoln Lawyer in this story helping Bosch with one of his cases.

As in most good novels there are plots and subplots. The plot has to do with a missing heir. The subplot is a rapist.

   For fans of Bosh you know the novels are chronological. In this one he is pursuing the job of a private investigator. He still is able to use the equipment at the station.

   Asked by a dying billionaire to try to locate a possible offspring who can inherit his estate Bosh runs into opposition. At the same time he must find and stop a rapist who is picking on a certain type of female.

   The ending where the two stories are brought to a conclusion is very satisfying.

   I would recommend this book to all fans of Bosch.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

   A coming of age story done in the style of a graphic memoir.

   This year Santa Monica Library puts forth a book to be read and discussed by the people of the city. They have been doing this now for fifteen years. The process used is basically one of sending many submissions to the library board, suggestions submitted by the community, to be read by the library staff to winnow down to just one. Fun Home was set forth to be the 2017 read. The discussions this year will run from February 25 through March 30.

     The Santa Monica Read is something the library hosts to increase the literacy of the community.

    It is non-fiction and is done in the graphic memoir style. If a person likes comic books instead of real books written in proper syntax this style may interest them.

    It is an interesting way to tell her story. The recurring strand of her father’s influence on her life style holds the story together. A way to look it is that the past is never really past.   

   The title seems to refer to the atmosphere of the house she grew up in. Her father was also the mortician and the author would spend time as a youngster in his place of business. The funeral home played a big part in her childhood.

    If asked would I recommend this book I would say-- with care. The author is a dyke and she does illustrate some lesbian activities in the telling of her story. But that in itself would not make this gay literature. It is just part of the flow.

    Since  I received this book free to review and discuss I read it. I would not have spent money to purchase it at $14.95.

The Magnolia Story by Chip & Joanna Gaines

What does a life look like for an entrepreneur? How about two entrepreneurs who are married to each other? Is life a safe easy one or a risky one?
  Most of the answers are easy to discern. Yes, it is a risky life but, as seen in the story of Chip and Joanna Gaines and family (There are children in the mix) it is an exciting one.
  Even one that lead to a reality program and a ministry for The Lord.
  The secret to their success  is a delightful one and all should read it just to see what can be done when you have a dream.
  Life lived this way is not one everybody should follow but it is one that when you are blessed by God with resources and a vision is the best way to go.
   Waco, Texas is where you may find their TV Show, Fixer Upper. At least you could at the time this book was printed.
    Chip and Joanna transform renovated houses and flip them. They then use the proceeds to finance needed projects.
    This book will give you the story of what shaped therm and took  them to their present life  of entrepreneurship while living with four children on a farm with countless farm animals. It contains photos   as all good nonfiction books should.read. It may motivate you to do things with the resources you have.

Strengths Based Marriage by Jimmy Evans

Better relationship

   Each one of us has a bundle of strengths that we carry into our marriages. Knowing these straights will help you better to know yourself and your spouse. We all have twenty-four but the top five are the ones we should get most acquainted with. Your strengths will not match hers and this is where the fun begins.

   And the battles steam from this fact also.

   The book is written by two people who can help you understand yourself and your spouse in the strength area you bring into the relationship.

   Jimmy Evans has a television program he does with his wife concerning marriage. Allan Kelsey brings the certification for Gallup Strengths and therefore relates as a couch. They both try to break new ground in helping the reader understand where the strengths are and how they can be used in marriage.

   Each chapter concludes with a short questionnaire to help you think about what was covered.

   Don’t be one of those marriages that break up.

   The whole thesis is based on the results you can get when you take the Gallup’s Strengths finder 2.0 assessment. The details of how to get the assessment is listed at the end of the book as well as the place you can go to see a group of  seminars on Marriage Today held by Jimmy Evans and his wife.

   I recommend this book for marriage counselors. It is not very useful for premarital sessions.

   Booklook Bloggers. Com sent me this book gratis in order to review it. There were no handles attached to it. All conclusions are those of the reviewer.