Better Self

Inspiring Memoir “Killer Graces” Navigates Journey Out of Illness and Addiction

For Steve Melen and his wife, Jen, their relationship “was all covered in a blanket of positivity, of striving for the future.” They had successful careers, a nice house and a newborn daughter they both adored. But Steve’s persistent stomach pain and subsequent Stage IIIB stomach cancer diagnosis ripped that…

Chelsea CicconeJanuary 8, 2021

Better Self Better Self - Featured Nonfiction

An Intimate Memoir of the Bipolar Experience Penned to Pay it Forward

She needed to escape, so she ran. She found her way to the door of her house, slipped out and ran as fast as she could. “As I ran, I proceeded to strip every piece of clothing from my black body. I wanted nothing on me, nothing holding me back.”…

Jim AlkonFebruary 25, 2022

Better Self Nonfiction

“I Am Not Your Slave” Exposes the Harrowing Reality of Human Trafficking

There are unspeakable acts of depravity and cruelty in the memoir I Am Not Your Slave (Lawrence Hill Books) by Tupa Tjipombo and Chris Lockhart. It is hard to read, harder yet to believe that there are men in this world who can be so sadistic, so bestial, women who aid…

Sherri DaleyDecember 10, 2019

Better Self Better Self - Featured Nonfiction

Happiness: A Matter of the Lens Through Which You View It

Rosemary Schmidt tells the story of a teacher asking a young John Lennon what he wanted to be when he grew up. “Happy,” said Lennon. The teacher told Lennon he did not understand the question. Lennon told the teacher she did not understand life. Whether Lennon, or the Peanuts character…

Jim AlkonMarch 8, 2022

Better Self Better Self - Featured Nonfiction

Much More Than a Rough and Tumble Sport, Rugby Teaches Valuable Life Lessons

The saying has a practical message in terms of rugby: Go forward, never run sideways; don’t run away from your supporting players. Support, when the play breaks down, set up for what ensues, and remember that no one goes anywhere alone. Rosemary A. Schmidt, a former collegiate and club rugby…

Jim AlkonMarch 1, 2022

Better Self Book Club Network BooksToScreen Nonfiction Nonfiction - Featured

Ed Hajim’s “On the Road Less Traveled” Takes Us on an Unforgettable Journey

“A bend in the road,” says Ed Hajim, “is not the end of the road.” He should know. At the age of three, Hajim was kidnapped by his father, driven cross-country, and told that his mother was dead. He pressed his face against the car window, watched the miles pass…

Jim AlkonMarch 1, 2021

Better Self Nonfiction Recommended

Modern Fable Offers Road Map to Successful & Fulfilling Life

People have been telling us for years to “be prepared” — as far back, perhaps, as the Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts. But prepared for what? Life’s perilous yet exciting journey? Forks in the road? Obstacles when they threaten? Opportunities when they tantalize? To get prepared, people typically pick up…

Jim AlkonMay 31, 2023

Better Self Better Self - Featured Book Club Network Book Club Network - Featured1 Nonfiction

Patients and Doctors Will Understand Those “Gut Feelings” After Reading This Sequel

Several months ago I had the opportunity to read and review Gut Feelings: Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction and the Patient-Doctor Relationship. In the book, Dr. Douglas A. Drossman, MD, a renowned gastroenterologist, founder and COO of the internationally recognized nonprofit the Rome Foundation, and president of DrossmanCare, teams up with…

Barbara WilkovJune 7, 2022

Better Self Nonfiction Recommended

Doctors Commit to Patient-Centered Care, Empathy and Treating Those “Gut Feelings”

If you struggle with chronic health issues and you’re looking for answers, finding a doctor who will listen to you and truly try to help you can be extremely challenging. Doctors often dismiss those cases that are too difficult and frustrating to solve and may even suggest that it’s “all…

Barbara WilkovOctober 5, 2023

Better Self Nonfiction Recommended

Perseverance and Integrity Behind the Scenes of the Music Industry

Tim James is the writer of, among other standards, the song “My List,” recorded by Toby Keith. It has been on albums that sold more than 11 million copies. As James himself says, “Not bad for a Robitussin-selling, basketball-playing, 40-year-old guy that nobody had faith in.” Yes indeed, and remarkably,…

Jim AlkonMay 23, 2024

Better Self Nonfiction Recommended

Challenge to Find Peace Within Yourself & Create It in the World

There are many lessons to be extracted from Ronnie “Qi” Harvey’s just-re-released self-help book The Apprentice of Peace (Xlibris). But for me, two words ring out loud and clear, even if Harvey doesn’t use them himself: “Get real!” Get real, in the context of finding your inner peace. See beyond…

Jim AlkonJanuary 30, 2023

Better Self Nonfiction

One Man’s Spiritual Rebirth in “Every Grain of Sand”

David P. Wichman is an expert when it comes to surviving. Time and time again he picked the safer of two options — leaving his abusive stepfather for foster care; stealing a car to get out of town and escape his circumstances; hustling on the streets to make a little…

Jeff DaughertyMarch 11, 2020

Better Self Better Self - Featured Nonfiction

A Guide to Dietary Habits That Will Improve Your Sex Life

If someone had asked the Bard at the time whether he was trying to suggest a “diet” for great lovemaking and sex, who’s to say how he would answer. Fortunately, 420 years later, Christine DeLozier, L.Ac. has her own ideas about the food of love, and she has written the…

Jim AlkonJune 9, 2022

Better Self Book Club Network Nonfiction

“Clear!” Tells of Living Through Death and the Road to Renewal

“Herman Williams’s story of survival and triumph in the face of repeated medical crises will leave the reader inspired to tackle his or her own life challenges. Clear! demonstrates that with faith and determination, anything is possible” – Bill Frist, MD, Former US Senate Majority Leader —∞— “This gripping, inspirational…

Jim AlkonApril 20, 2021

Better Self Nonfiction Recommended

Sharing His Gruesome Yet Inspiring Path to Peace and Recovery

There’s a word I was looking for that, unless I missed it, does not appear in Blue Andrews’ gripping memoir, Choosing Life: One Man’s Journey Through Alcoholism and Depression to Wellness and Self-Discovery. That word is courage. Probably because it’s not a word a writer would necessarily bestow on himself,…

Jim AlkonMay 9, 2023

Better Self Better Self - Featured Nonfiction

Susan Lax’s Poetry Invites Peace, Poignance and Presence in All Life’s Moments

A Heart’s Landscape: An Invitation to the Garden of Moments is a meditative, healing debut by the lyrical Susan Lax. The author pens contemplative poems that aim to uncover some of life’s most important yet least gaudy occasions; tranquil pictures reinforce the themes. This one’s just waiting to live on…

Judy MorenoJanuary 12, 2022

Inspiring Memoir “Killer Graces” Navigates Journey Out of Illness and Addiction

An Intimate Memoir of the Bipolar Experience Penned to Pay it Forward

“I Am Not Your Slave” Exposes the Harrowing Reality of Human Trafficking

Happiness: A Matter of the Lens Through Which You View It

Much More Than a Rough and Tumble Sport, Rugby Teaches Valuable Life Lessons

Ed Hajim’s “On the Road Less Traveled” Takes Us on an Unforgettable Journey

Modern Fable Offers Road Map to Successful & Fulfilling Life

Patients and Doctors Will Understand Those “Gut Feelings” After Reading This Sequel

Doctors Commit to Patient-Centered Care, Empathy and Treating Those “Gut Feelings”

Perseverance and Integrity Behind the Scenes of the Music Industry

Challenge to Find Peace Within Yourself & Create It in the World

One Man’s Spiritual Rebirth in “Every Grain of Sand”

A Guide to Dietary Habits That Will Improve Your Sex Life

“Clear!” Tells of Living Through Death and the Road to Renewal

Sharing His Gruesome Yet Inspiring Path to Peace and Recovery

Susan Lax’s Poetry Invites Peace, Poignance and Presence in All Life’s Moments

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