You Can Create An Exceptional Life

A Pity Trees Died for This Book, November 5, 2011

I don’t blame the authors for this waste of perfectly good paper. The publisher admits he pitched the idea to Louise and Cheryl, which in his mind must of gone something like this: “Let’s see if we can squeeze more money out of you two cash cows by having you rehash your old stuff in a collaboration.” The power-of-positive-thinking concepts are fine but could be expressed in two pages, and you’ve probably read them all before. Most of the book is Cheryl’s bland “The Making of this Book” narrative, and without it, there wouldn’t be enough pages for a book at all. Louise Hay wrote one of the best self-help books ever, “You Can Heal Your Life.” Buy that instead.

Life…The Reader’s Digest Version: Great Advice, Simply Put

Good Advice, Simply Put, November 5, 2011

The subtitle says “Great Advice,” but that’s hyperbole. It’s good. Some of the advice is common sense, and for other topics, you might be able Google reasonable answers. But I found this little book worthwhile, honest and sensible. No matter who you are, you likely will find topics in here that make you say, “Huh! I never thought of that. Good to know.” Organized into just two sections — “Be Better” and “Do Better” — the book is light, tight and bright. It’s classic Reader’s Digest: no wasted words, no fluff, direct and to the point.