I recently read and reviewed another book by Brown, Daring Greatly, which focused on her doctoral research and social work study into vulnerability, shame and empathy. This is her most recent (2015) book, which expands upon her research in the previous book.

She believes that people coming out of a vulnerable situation go through three stages: The Reckoning, The Rumble and The Revolution. Unlike other self-help or spiritual books, this one is packed full of academic research and anecdotal examples to help readers understand what it takes to be brave enough to try and rise up after we fail.

This short book would make a perfect gift for someone going through a difficult time. Hoffman wrote it after being diagnosed with breast cancer and each short chapter is a roadmap to help heal.

From “Choose Your Heroes,” to “Choose to Enjoy Yourself,” Hoffman sprinkles in advice with literary quotes and tasty recipes. In “Choose Whose Advice You Take,” Hoffman shares anecdotes about her grandmother while providing suggestions for those who want to support someone going through a tragedy. Hoffman’s writing style makes this one easy to recommend.

This is the third installment in the Coughlin trilogy that continues the story of Joe Coughlin from Live By Night. It’s now 1943 and Coughlin has made a life for himself in Tampa after the death of his wife. He is haunted by a ghost that seems to be foreshadowing a grim future, and when a rumor surfaces that someone wants Joe dead, it seems like his connections to the mob may finally end his life this time.

I read this in April during National Poetry Month and was moved by Kaur’s painful collection of poetry about survival. The book can be triggering for some as it deals with violence and abuse, but those who read it will be forever changed.

I first learned about Glennon from her Momastery blog at http://momastery.com/blog/ and Instagram account. She writes bravely and honestly about love, parenting and the other struggles many of us face. I read books by her fellow “PerSisters” from the Compassion Collective – Brene Brown, Cheryl Strayed and Elizabeth Gilbert – and decided that if Glennon was good enough for Oprah to name it as an Oprah Book Club selection, then it was good enough for me! This memoir details Glennon’s struggles with her now ex-husband’s infidelity, her pain from a reckless youth of too much alcohol, drugs and bad sex, and how she rose above it all to become the warrior she was meant to be for herself, and for her family. This is a great book for women struggling to have it all, and those who don’t want to settle for just a “good enough” life.

I had been waiting to read Weiner’s first nonfiction book, which featured essays about her life, her family and her career before she became a full-time writer. Weiner was a reporter for the Centre Daily Times and lived in Bellefonte, Pa., before her writing career took off and her observations of small-town life were spot-on. This is a great book for fans of Weiner’s work and includes chapters about her time at Princeton, her tweets, her obsession with “The Bachelor” and her ongoing work to have more contemporary women writers treated fairly by major news publications and her feud with Jonathan Franzen.

I’ve been reading a lot of books related to clutter and minimalism lately, so I’m of the belief that “if you’ve read one good decluttering book, you’ve read them all.” Palmer spends a lot of time talking about the emotional fear of not having enough rather than just giving the reader tips to clean up and throw out. He did mention one good point when we come across items we don’t know what to do about: If you hesitate; it’s clutter.

Reich is a professional organizer, so she’s seen it all when it comes to the clutter in people’s homes. She has four steps that she applies to any organizing project: purge, design, organize and maintain. She focuses on a room-by-room approach and gives helpful guidelines about exactly how many towels you should have and what items should stay in the kitchen. I’ve been reading a lot of decluttering/minimalizing books lately and have found a few takeaways from each book but overall I would only recommend reading one or two. Barbara did encourage me to use a color system for family towels and downsize the number so drastically that the whites load is no longer something I dread.

To be fair, the author did a great job breaking down this topic for a beginner but I've been reading a lot of books about minimalism and organization lately so some of this was a repeat. Recommended for new moms or those just beginning their journey to less stuff.

This is the first book in Penny’s wildly popular Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series that takes place in Quebec. Gamache and his team are called to investigate an unusual death in the small hamlet of Three Pines. Beloved school teacher and budding artist Jane Neal was found dead in the woods of an apparent bow hunting accident. But all is not what it seems and Gamache and his team interview a unique cast of characters to solve this mystery. I’ve been told that you can read the 12 Gamache series books in any order, but I am starting from the beginning to get a better feel for Penny’s style and French Canadian atmosphere.

If you’ve ever heard about The Bechdel Test – which asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man – this the author to whom it’s credited. Bechdel, a Beech Creek native, created this fascinating graphic novel about her family’s funeral home, growing up in small town America with a closeted father, and her own struggle with being gay. This book is heartbreaking and funny at times as she struggles with grief after her father’s possible suicide.