3 comments about Why Doesn't She Just Leave?.

1. This book is essential reading for anyone who has a friend or family member unable to leave an abusive relationship. It's title highlights the frustration those of us on the outside feel while the destructive situation continues. It is a diary of one persons struggle to free herself and her children from such a debilitating relationship. It is an eye-opener for those of us who have not had such experiences, and an inspiration for those who are now struggling to free themselves from an abusive relationship. In addition, it provides invaluable insight for those who work with people like Lisa as they struggle to free themselves and their children from physically and/or emotionally abusive relationships.



2. This is the story of a capable intelligent woman staying in the abuse. Not until her child is severly abused does she find a way involve the police.

   The book did not help me understand why women stay it just made me angry. I am angry that she stayed and in the end never tells other women how to get out where to get help. I was also angry that in her case as in others that I am closer to therapists did not help just enabled the abuser with more and better excuses to abuse and means to tear down the woman.

   If you are looking for a way to help a friend or family member in the situation this is not the book for you. It has nothing that tells you how to help. I read the book in hopes that I would be able to give it to a sister to inspire her to find a way out. I read it first and I am glad I did. What it showed is that the situation could be worse that abuse should be tolerated. Additionally the moral of the story is that a woman can not, should not, is incapable of getting away.

   If you are wanting to know what it feels like to be the woman in that situation, then this is the book, for anything else find something else.




3. Wow! This book got me inside Lisa's heart and soul, and showed me what it's like to be an abused woman. Now I understand what they go through. It's a real eye-opener and a very readable book, just like reading somebody's diary. I recommend it highly!

1 comments about Give Me One Wish: A True Story of Courage and Love.

1. This is the true tale you bring out when your teen is complaining about not being able to go shopping, etc. Christine would do anything to live without Cystic Fibrosis. She does her best to live her dreams and we see her courage through her struggle come to life on the pages. What a wonderful tribute Jacquie Gordon wrote for her daughter. This book should inspire us all to reach for the stars and live each day like it might be our last.
   Chrissy K. McVay
   author of 'Souls of the North Wind'

No comments about On A Roll: Reflections from America's Wheelchair Dude with the Winning Attitude.

1 comments about I Don't March to the Beat of a Different Drummer: I'm the Whole Band: Perceptions of a Bipoloar Life.

1. This book is for children,adolescents,adults,nurses,social workers,school councelors, Psychologists, Psychiatrists, and Doctors, as well as the general public. This book tells a story about the writer,with humor and also medications are listed. There is a chapter containing the names of famous people that are or have,in the past been Bipolar. There are several pages of web sites to go to for more information and over all, the book serves to educate the public on mental disorders and for answering problems in the workplace for Bipolar People and the Mentally ill. I have heard that the book is selling well in several countries in Amazon stores.There is a section on addictions as well.The index tells you about the humor, as well as a serious look at Bipolar issues, and I highly suggest that the customer be aware that this book is not meant to cast a funny look at the disorder but to offer healing and recovery.
   One chapter called We're not in Salem any more Toto: chastises the people that refuse to learn how to help the Bipolar and the Mentally ill. I hope that this helps. five stars!

2 comments about Remember Me? / Te acuerdas de mi? (Bilingual Edition).

1. This is a great example for young children. The author was my little brothers 2nd and 3rd grade teacher and he absolutly loved her. Her book was just as good



2. Children tend to live in the present. This trait helps a young girl deal with her feelings of guilt about her grandfather's alzheimer's disease. As children often do, she thinks he doesn't want to remember her because of something terrible she did or said. There is a powerful message for parents to realize the possibility of this reaction in children. Talking about it helps.
   
   The child's tendency to live in the present and her grandfather's life without memories from the past, ends the book with a hopeful note as the two relate to each other on a new level.
   
   An added benefit is that the book has English and Spanish on each page. It also has a glossary to help readers of both languages.

No comments about Birth in a Chicken House: A Collection of Stories.

No comments about Pain in the Arms of Joy: Thoughts of a Borderline Personality.

5 comments about Secret Life: An Autobiography.

1. My Dad used to teach me that no one is "weird", but that we are all people of different backgrounds and experiences. This book shows that truth in the life story of Michael Ryan. It's a brilliant example of the experiences that shape each individual life, for better or worse or sometimes, eventually, both



2. I found Secret Life reveals many insights about human nature. Michael Ryan models a way to honestly face the worst aspects of oneself--right through adolescence--with humor, compassion, and therefore the capacity to change.



3. This is one of the very best books I have ever read about sex addiction. Not only does it present a powerful, gut-wrenching account of what it feels like to be such an addict, it also tells a moving, often tragic, but also inspiring story of growing up in the America of the '50s and '60s.

   The author wins you over early as he leads you slowly and painfully through his early childhood and molestation, his memories of his alcoholic father, academic and athletic struggles, peer conflicts, bottoming out in his sex addiction, then seeking recovery through a 12-step program.

   Must reading for anyone affiliated in any way at all with any of the nearly half dozen programs dealing with sex/lust addiction. Highly recommended for other 12-step recovery people who might be tempted to snear at sex addiction. Ryan demonstrates that his disease was just as deadly as alcoholism and drug addiction. After reading the book, one realizes it is no laughing matter - regardless of what some sitcoms and commercials say.

   Compares well with "Asylum" by Patrick McGrath, also about sex addiction, but, unlike "Secret Life," a novel with the tone of a thriller. Ryan's story is so compelling, one almost feels sorry to put it down but wishes the author well at the end as he embarks on a hopeful journey of recovery.




4. I never understood sexual addiction until I read this book. Ryan is incredible - he is able to completely convey what horrors this compulsive behavior meant for him. What said it all to me is when he explained he would go into bars and pick up whomever - a man, a woman . . . it didn't seem to matter! (He wasn't bisexual) Another shocker is that he had an incredible position at Princeton, but just couldn't keep his you-know-what away from his students. All that mattered is that he HAD to have sex, the compulsion was so incredibly intense, he just approached whomever was handy. In addition, this book, surprisingly enough, is amazingly funny (it reminds me of another memoir, "Permanent Midnight" in that way). Sometimes I found myself laughing out loud! It seemed that the humor was a great healer for him. My only regret is that he didn't reveal his treatment, which I would have loved to have learned about, as his compulsion was so deeply engrained. Bravo to him for "coming out of the closet" on this issue, writing this book, and showing us what this compulsion took from him.



5. This book was tasteful and interesting. I bought and read this book because I saw that my english professor was reading it--I didn't even know what it was about. When I bought it and saw it was about an addiction to sex I felt a little embarrassed--but soon got over it because it's not about sex, it's about a man with an addiction. I reccomend this as a literary read if nothing else. Ryan has true talent.

No comments about The Courage to Live: Donna Gustavel's Triumph Over Cerebral Palsy and Deafness.

4 comments about Heavy Snow - My Father's Disappearance into Alzheimer's.

1. Not a picture book, not a story board, and not an illustrated novel, but a book like few others in which the artist/author shares his experience by using a rich variety of visual metaphors. A powerful story painful to read and view, but in the end Alzheimer's disease becomes more real. This book will help those whose families are touched by this illness and will aid others' understanding of it.



2. John Haugse's drawings and narrative are an unusually affecting medium for telling the story of his relationship with his father. Heavy Snow is sure to resonate with anyone who has been estranged from a parent because of lifestyle and career choices, with anyone who has experienced the unsettling role reversal from dependent to caregiver, and especially anyone who has a parent or other loved one suffering from Alzheimer's. While the story is a painful one, it is not without humor and the revelation of the possibilities of enhanced human contact in even this most difficult of situations.

   I have given this book to friends who have been comforted and learned from this depiction of a situation similar to their own.




3. An estranged father and son are brought together by the son's caretaking duty as his father "disappears" into Alzheimer's. Though Alzheimer's brings them together, it also acts as a roadblock to reconciliation. Haugse tracks the vagaries of memory using both words and picture to illustrate the story. The present is intercut with flashbacks of childhood memories of his dad. This unusual book depicts the anguish and love that arises in dealing with Alzheimer's. Though a bittersweet memoir, the book is true to life, insightful and inspiring.



4. Mr. Haugse has depicted his personal experience with Alzheimer's in a very unique way - with a cartoon story.
   Having had family experience with these issues, the story, as depicted with cartoons, made it seem even more relevant than a story with text only.
   He has done an eloquent job relating his experiences.