Read More in 2024 | Part 2
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Read More in 2024 | Part 2
LIFE ON THE GROCERY LINE, and THE PATRON SAINTS OF GROCERY
By Adam Jonathan Kaat
About the Book:
“Adam Kaat’s real-world, extraordinary experiences as a cashier at the onset of the pandemic prompted him to write Life on the Grocery Line, a book that served as a microcosm for the global angst, paranoia and uncertainty of the time. His new book, The Patron Saints of Grocery, continues the saga of protagonist Daniel, giving readers a look at how life plays out for the forgotten “heroes” working the frontlines of essential stores after the novelty and initial shock of the crisis wears off.
“The past (pandemic) is important, and I think we should look back with curiosity about that time in life,” Kaat said. “I would love for people to find connections with those who couldn’t stay home and had to go to work and deal with the madness every day.”
Although works of fiction, both books draw generously from Kaat’s life and the real-world interactions he had with customers and other employees. And both books offer eye-opening glimpses into a world most people don’t see: the revolving door of retail, where gristled veterans collide with transient teenage employees, and where some of the country’s lowest paid workers were asked to shoulder an immense burden during an unprecedented time. But Kaat is quick to point out that it’s not all doom and gloom. Both books contain their fair share of absurd situations and moments that are laugh-out-loud funny.
“Both books are meant to be humorous time capsules,” Kaat added. “Where you get a look behind the scenes at the lives of retail workers, both the good and the bad.”
About the Book:
“The Patron Saints of Grocery continues the saga of protagonist Daniel, giving readers a complete story about a cashier working throughout the height of the pandemic.
“The past (pandemic) is important, and I think we should look back with curiosity about that time in life,” Kaat said. “I would love for people to find connections with those who couldn’t stay home and had to go to work and deal with the madness every day.”
Although works of fiction, both books draw generously from Kaat’s own experiences as a cashier at the onset of the pandemic and the real-world interactions he had with customers and other employees. And both books offer eye-opening glimpses into a world most people don’t see: the revolving door of retail, where gristled veterans collide with transient teenage employees, and where some of the country’s lowest paid workers were asked to shoulder an immense burden during an unprecedented time. But Kaat is quick to point out that it’s not all doom and gloom. Both books contain their fair share of absurd situations and moments that are laugh-out-loud funny.
“Both books are meant to be humorous time capsules,” Kaat added. “Where you get a look behind the scenes at the lives of retail workers, both the good and the bad.”
In The Patron Saints of Grocery, Daniel is feeling the numbness stemming from an underappreciated life. New pressures from climbing the corporate ladder, protocols and regulations from the government, and the increasingly restless public all impose their wills on Daniel’s dreams. Working hard to climb the ranks feels meaningless without any recognition, and the slow grind of retail life begins to take its toll. Will he finally get the push he needs to prioritize a secret alternative life moonlighting as a panda for social media, or will he just fade away into the retail abyss?
About the Author:
“Author Adam Jonathan Kaat worked in a grocery store as a cashier and then as a prepared foods supervisor from January 2020 until May 2021. After college, he bounced around through the corporate world until leaving it all behind in the fall of 2019 to write his first novel. By January 2020, he had taken a job as a cashier to earn money while preserving mental energy for his creative pursuits. Once the pandemic hit, everything changed, and he began to blog about his experiences. Eventually, those stories informed his two novels: Life on the Grocery Line and The Patron Saints of Grocery.”
For more information, please visit https://adamkaat.com/, or follow him on Instagram (@kaatadam), X (@kaatadam) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/adamjkaat/).
Both Books Published by Inspired Forever
Both Available on Amazon
THE JOY OF IMPERFECT LOVE
By Carla Marie Manly, PHD
About the Book:
“Embracing the messiness of real love, The Joy of Imperfect Loveexplores attachment issues and personal growth, uncovering the secrets to lasting, joy-filled connections.
Stuck in unhealthy relationship dynamics? Yearning to find (or be) that perfect someone? Can you accept someone while also wanting them to grow? The key to healthy relationships is accepting that real love is messy, imperfect, and a work in progress!
Clinical psychologist Dr. Carla Marie Manly’s The Joy of Imperfect Love guides readers on a transformative journey of compassionate, healthy love. With research-backed insights, captivating case studies, and empowering exercises, readers explore how attachment issues and unresolved personal issues negatively impact both self-love and the quality of our relationships. Dr. Manly offers sound solutions for creating the awareness and healthy habits that promote lasting love. Readers will breathe a sigh of deep relief as they discover the doable, real-life secrets to creating joy-filled relationships and genuine, imperfect love.”
About the Author:
“Dr. Carla Marie Manly, a practicing clinical psychologist, author, and speaker, uses a mindfulness-based approach that is rooted in neurobiology. Dr. Manly’s passion is helping others discover joy, balance, and optimal wellness from the inside out.”
Published by FAMILIUS
Available on Amazon
THE MAGICAL PLACE WE CALL SCHOOL:
Creating a Safe Space for Learning and Happiness in a Challenging World
By Carla Marie Manly, PHD
About the Book:
“At a time when public discourse rages on about what students should or should not be taught, when books are being banned, when school shootings fill the news, and when families are still reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic—here comes The Magical Place We Call School. With its fresh focus on the power and perils of education, it’s an intentional way of thinking that will intrigue readers everywhere.
In her literary debut, school principal Dr. Kathleen Corley, a forty-year veteran in elementary education, writes knowingly and with unique humor and insight about the value of education, how kids think and learn, what they need to succeed in and out of school, and how their home life affects their performance. Plus, she tackles some of the most daunting societal issues impacting children today, from bullying to gun violence and beyond.
Dr. Corley reminds us that something extraordinary still occurs in classrooms across America—not just miraculously, but by design and with tenacity.
In The Magical Place We Call School, Corley shares human interest stories that shed light on what is and isn’t working and provides a calm hand and a much-needed perspective from the front lines of learning. Her deep caring for the children, educators, and parents in her midst shines through, providing a true sense of what she calls “the magic of schools.” It’s a book not to be missed.”
About the Author:
“Dr. Kathleen Corley is an award-winning educator, an authority on school culture, and the charismatic principal at Red Cedar Elementary School in Bluffton, S.C. Renowned for her unique communication and management skills, Corley has a bachelor’s in music education from the University of Illinois, a master’s in music administration from Chicago Musical College, Roosevelt University, and a doctorate in Educational Administration from the University of Illinois.
Chicago-born, Dr. Corley began her career in education as an elementary music teacher and transitioned to education administration to make a wider impact upon student achievement and school culture. She entered the administrative ranks as an assistant principal in Palatine, Illinois, then became an elementary school principal in Lynchburg, Virginia, Salem, Massachusetts, and Bluffton, South Carolina. She was the founding principal at three of those schools and has been an educator for over forty years (and still counting). Corley has been an assistant professor at Salem State University and continues to mentor principals.
A lifelong Cubs fan, Corley lives in Bluffton, South Carolina, with her husband, Wayne, and dogs Wrigley and Fenway. The Magical Place We Call School represents her debut as an author.
For more information or to contact Dr. Corley, please visit www.TheMagicalPlaceWeCallSchool.com”
Published by Forefront Books
Available on Amazon
RED HANDS
By Colin W. Sargent, Ph.D.
About the Book:
“KENNEBUNK BEACH — When writer and publisher Colin W. Sargent first met Iordana Ceausescu, “She wanted deeply to be heard. She didn’t want to be dismissed and wind up one of the silent dead in the subway,” Sargent said. And from the moment Iordana asked Sargent to listen, he knew she had no one else to trust.
Iordana and her young son were being hunted when they wound up in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, on Sargent’s doorstep. Fleeing a bloodthirsty Romanian populace hell-bent on executing anyone with the Ceausescu name, Iordana’s life was in Sargent’s hands, and soon, her remarkable life story would be as well.
“Her story is a cautionary tale, and while it focuses on her personal experience of getting involved with a dictator’s family, it represents a whole country,” Sargent recounts. “The more I listened to Iordana, the more I realized it was a horror story. If we’re not careful, we can all get seduced and then destroyed by the nightmare.”
Sargent would go on to protect Iordana’s and her son’s secret for several years, all the while learning their remarkable history. He conducted hundreds of hours of unique interviews, read newspaper accounts from the time, watched Iordana’s favorite movies and listened to her favorite music — all to construct the framework for his powerful book based on Iordana’s life, Red Hands.
Told in Iordana’s own voice, Red Hands is a true-life tale that spins readers into the pleasures, excesses and horrors of late 20th-century Europe, and follows her as she falls in love with, marries and becomes estranged from, the Romanian dictator’s son.
“As much as Iordana must tell her tale, she finds the telling excruciating,” Sargent recalls. “She feels shame as she recounts the speedboats, designer wardrobes, exclusive access to Western culture via television and a private home theatre, and the mansions and gardens with staff enough to have a caretaker for her pet lamb.”
But all of that material excess comes at a cost. Nicolae Ceausescu mismanages Romania’s money, plunging the country into crippling debt and chaos. Babies are torn from their parents and relocated to education/work farms. Countless citizens do not survive. Those who do are in a rage and plot to storm the city.
Meanwhile, Iordana’s marriage crumbles, and when the Ceausescu dictatorship is overthrown by starving citizens with nothing to lose, Iordana must find a way — against all odds — to keep herself and her young son alive.”
About the Author:
“Colin W. Sargent, Ph.D., is the founding editor and publisher of Portland Magazine as well as a novelist, playwright and poet. In addition to Red Hands, he is the author of Flying Dark, The Boston Castrato, and Museum of Human Beings. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, he has an MFA from Stonecoast and a Ph.D. in Creative Writing from Lancaster University in the UK.”
Published by Barbican Press
Available on Amazon
THE LINCOLN ZOO REBELLION
By Larry Belling, with Art Twain
About the Book:
:A fun adventure novel for middle-grade kids 8-14—and young-at-heart adults
An elderly zookeeper who can converse with animals, a pretty young veterinarian, a fugitive African teen, zoo animals, and kids from the American town of Lincoln join forces in a rousing rebellion to defend zoo animals’ rights when a corrupt mayor and his cronies greedily attempt to turn the zoo into an amusement park.
The Lincoln Zoo Rebellion deals with animal rights and preservation in an entertaining and humorous way, making it an engaging read for kids from 8 to 14—and young-at-heart adults. It connects with today’s kids, who are more aware than previous generations because of the internet and faster moving times. It makes learning more exciting and fun.”
About the Authors:
“Larry Belling’s creative history includes playwright and former writer/producer of Clio award-winning advertising campaigns for clients including American Express, Greenpeace (Save the Whales) and The African Wildlife Foundation (Save the Elephants). His first play, a dark comedy called “Stroke of Luck,” was a success at the Park Theatre in London, which has optioned three of his one-act plays for next season under the title “For Art’s Sake.”
Larry has also had several other careers including being Editor-in-Chief of internal communications for Europe’s largest computer consultancy, manager of recording artists and record producers, including those of the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd, and a narrator of commercials and documentary films of the Discovery Channel, the BBC, PBS and National Geographic plus a few audio books.
His most recent play—Love in the Time of Hacking—is about computer hackers, identity thieves, and romance.’
“Art Twain, childhood friend of Larry Belling, has written and produced over 3,000 radio and TV spots. He is a copywriter, author, musician, music composer and arranger. His award-winning voice work has been heard by tens of millions. Art took the Gap from one store to five hundred stores with his creative and marketing skills. He’s won Clios, Emmy, International Broadcast awards and much more. He plays several instruments, which has helped him in the creation of his jingles and music tracks. He has written and produced musicals and performed humor on stage. He also wrote and produced a five-minute-a-day humorous radio series aimed at school-age kids. Art and Larry were together in a popular comedy music trio at UC Berkeley.
Art has successfully worked with and advertised to kids of the target age of this book. He worked with the kids of Montera Middle School on a national Nike-sponsored ad campaign aimed at convincing kids to stay in school. They competed against a multitude of middle schools and high schools across America. His kids won!
His Levi’s Kidswear TV spot, aimed at middle school-aged kids, received the highest score ever given in scoring history up to that date. As a teen, Art had 26 assorted animals in his home zoo, including 3 skunks, 2 alligators, lizards, snakes, turtles, tortoises, rodents, a ‘possum, and even a hand-sized tarantula. He’s pampered Siski, the mountain lion and Lorita, a 64-year-old Amazon Green parrot. He says he’s had conversations with all of them. Art loves to play and watch basketball.”
Published by Speaking Volumes
Available on Amazon
THE HAPPINESS FORMULA:
A Scientific, Groundbreaking Approach to Happiness and Personal Fulfillment
By Dr. Alphonsus Obayuwana
About the Book:
A scientific, groundbreaking approach to happiness and personal fulfillment.
“In 1979, Dr. Alphonsus Obayuwana was awarded a national research grant and Smith-Kline Medical Perspective Fellowship to develop an instrument for measuring human hope, with the purpose of detecting hopelessness early enough in troubled human individuals so assistance could be offered in time to prevent suicide. The Hope Index Scale (HIS) that resulted from this grant became very popular with Fortune 500 companies and other institutions both in the US and in other countries. This led to the foundation of decades of research that ultimately resulted in this cutting-edge book, The Happiness Formula: Using Science to Understand Personal Satisfaction, Human Hope, and Subjective Well-Being.
Unlike other books about happiness, which are too often filled with dos and don’ts, wishful thinking, and empty aphorisms, The Happiness Formula breaks new ground by introducing a universal unit of measure called the “Personal Happiness Index” or PHI. This makes it possible—for the first time ever—to calculate and assign numerical happiness scores to human individuals by plugging their unique hopes, hungers, assets, and aspirations into an equation.
Despite its title, The Happiness Formula is much more than a mathematical equation for measuring happiness. It is a book about life; the relationship between human hope and happiness; how to find, measure and boost them; and, most interestingly, how to confirm the happiest country in the world and even help identify the happiest living human, or HLH. It challenges the World Happiness Report of 2023, debunks three major happiness myths, and then introduces the Triple-H Equation—the simple but profound formula about what makes life worth living. This is a book for happiness seekers and happiness advocates everywhere.”
About the Author:
“Alphonsus Obayuwana, MD, PhD, CPC, is a physician-scientist, a happiness coach, and the founder and CEO of Triple-H Project LLC—an entity that trains and certifies happiness coaches. He is a Literary Titan Gold Award-winning author who has published several peer-reviewed articles in the national medical journals about human hope and happiness, including The Hope Index Scale that became widely used at the Coca-Cola company, General Motors, Veterans Administration, and many academic institutions inside and outside the United States. He is also the author of The Five Sources of Human Hope and How to Live a Life of Hope.
After thirty years of relentless research on human hope, he successfully derived the Triple-H Equation that is at the core of this book. Throughout his faculty tenures at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, and the University of Toledo, he has taught and mentored medical students, resident physicians, nurses, and fellows in the art and science of caring and promoting happiness for themselves and their patients.
Dr. Obayuwana is also a retired Major in the US Air Force (Reserve). He is married to Ann Louis, his wife of forty-seven years. Together, they have two sons and three granddaughters. For recreation, he loves to walk, read, listen to music, and play his drum set.
More about Alphonsus can be found at www.triplehproject.com.”
Published by Health Communications, Inc.
Available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, and Bookshop
BECOME A SUPER LEADER
By Gary C. Laney
About the Book:
Bestselling author, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and strategic consultant Gary C. Laney helps business professionals turn leadership competencies into competitive superpowers that can set them apart from the competition in his new, Amazon #1 Bestseller, Become a Super Leader: The 4 Essential Anchors for Mastering Influential Leadership.
“Here’s the secret: No one is born with the ability to be a super leader, but it can be learned,” Laney said. “Acquiring competitive competencies is achievable, and developing one or more leadership attributes into a personal superpower is doable.”
In the book, Laney presents 40 top-ranked competencies gleaned from a three-year study conducted with more than 1,000 business leaders. He teaches readers how to trim the list down to the top 13 they want to focus on, and then, Laney takes it one step further with a system for turning one or two leadership competencies into competitive superpowers.
Included are interviews with four globally known leaders: Nando Cesarone, EVP and President of UPS U.S.; Cindi Bigelow, CEO of Bigelow Tea Company; David Meltzer, CEO and Co-Founder of Sports 1 Marketing and former CEO of the legendary Leigh Steinberg Sports Agency; and Jody Richards, CEO of Process Technology and an EY Entrepreneur of the Year.
Intended for established and emerging leaders alike, Become a Super Leader is for those who are not satisfied with status quo success, are confident their journey is far from over, and want to rise to the level of influential and super leader.
“You must raise your sights, look to the horizon, envision yourself as a high-performing leader and — this is the most important thing — follow a personal plan to identify, develop, and acquire the leadership competencies and then the competitive superpower that will set you apart from the competition,” Laney added. “The question is, are you willing to commit? If so, then strap yourself in and get ready to soar to new heights in your leadership quest.”
“Gary C. Laney is CEO of Success Masters, the No. 1 bestselling author of two books on leadership, including Become a Super Leader (new release), and his first book, The Power of Strategic Influence. Laney is also a former hi-tech software executive and a serial entrepreneur. A dynamic speaker and trainer, Laney has inspired and motivated tens of thousands of entrepreneurs, business leaders and salespeople. He has 35 years of executive management and start-up experience with 20 companies, including a public company where he was VP of Sales. He is known for his ability to turn around businesses and create dramatic revenue growth. He has a triple major MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management in finance, marketing and policy.”
Available at Amazon
Sounds like all are great books! I haven’t picked up a book since january (a friend g ave me one but haven’t started on it yet)…Thanks for these, I’m inspired.
I love to read! Thank you for this list. I will have to check out these books.
Sounds like a lot of great books. I’m also trying to read more this year. I have a book scratch off poster that I read from, and it’s really interesting seeing all the different books on there to read.
I always say I’m going to read more and then never do! The Magical Place Called School sounds like a great book.
Ohh yes, one of my goals this year is to read more.so I’m saving this list to check out each for my monthly read. Thanks for this. Cheers SiennyLovesDrawing
These titles seem like a perfect mix of humor and insight into the everyday heroes we often overlook. Can’t wait to dive into ‘Life on the Grocery Line’ and ‘The Patron Saints of Grocery’—sounds like they offer a fresh perspective on the realities of working in retail during such a tumultuous time.
Wow these sound like amazing reads. I would especially like to check out the books about grocery workers during the pandemic – such an overlooked set of workers who were definitely on the frontlines! And the one about education sounds really thought provoking as well.
I like reading and watching movies, but lately, I have watched more films than books. The list of books you recommend reminds me of books again. Thank you.
i am going to be adding these books to my reading list.. especially starting with the first two here