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SECRET AFFAIR Mary Balogh (2010). A Secret Affair. 5th and final book in the Huxtable series set in the Regency era of England. Hannah Reid marries an old rich Duke, becoming the Duchess of Dunbarton and learns platonic love...when the Duke dies 10 years later, she has an affair with Constantine Huxtable, illegitamate son of the Earl of Merton...over time they discover that they each have charitable hearts, households set up to help the poor that is kept secret, slowly they learn to care for each other and eventually marry and have a son. Favorite lines: I will always love you...nothing you do will make me stop (16) Everyone is a rose...of infinitely layered petals...precious at the heart of their being (142) We found something to laugh at every day...laughter is better than medicine (185) ...her life had followed a definite pattern...she could have never have predicted or planned...those years had not been an interval in her life...They had been integral to it...[italics mine] (226)...
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INCLUSIVE THERAPY Bill O'Hanlon (2003). A Guide to Inclusive Therapy:                                               26 Methods of Respectful                                               Resistance-Disolving Therapy O'Hanlon has a Master's of Science in Counseling and Psychology from Arizona State University--a clinical hypnotherapist and author of over 30 books at the time of this writing...founded "possibility therapy" and "inclusive therapy." one key issue in therapy is balancing validating a person's experience while also inviting them to change (as most people will resist suggestions to change). some of the PRINCIPLES of inclusive therapy: give permission for ALL experiences (not necessarily behavior, but f...
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FORGIVE Everett Wrothington (2003). Forgiving and Reconciling:                                                          Bridges to Wholeness and Hope Worthington has a PhD in Psychology, began studying forgiveness in the 1980's, and at the time of this book in 2003, published over 150 articles/papers on forgiveness (mostly from a social science and Christian orientation). forgiveness is an individual decision to not behave negatively toward a person that has hurt one, and making concrete attempt(s) to restore the relationship, whereas reconciliation is a relational process (requiring the cooperation of the offending party) that reestablishes trust in the relationship after trust was violated. the core process of forgivenss (this can be done individually without the offender involved) is summarized by the acronym REAC...
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TO HOLD Mary Balogh (2007). Someone to Hold. This is the 2nd book in the Westcott romance series set in the Regency era of England. Camille Westcott (raised as lady Wescott but when here father dies, she discovers she is an illegitamate child of an illegitamate marriange) takes on a job as a teacher at an orphanage where her legitimate sister Anne had been teaching for 26 years...she meets Joel Cunningham who grew up in the orphanage and vounteers teaching art...Joel discovers he is the nephew of a wealthy man who dies and leaves him a fortune...Camille and Joel have an awkward relationship, but eventually marry and adopt 2 children from the orphanage. Favorite quotes: Choices...accept and move forward, deny and carry on, hide away and close one's mind, explore, make sense of it, and be born anew (49) Something that seems tragic, in hindsight, often holds an unexpected gift (374) Joel's paintings capture the character, the qualities of a person, not just the imag,e and for that...
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AGING Connie Zweig (2021). The Inner Work of Age:                                               Shifting from Role to Soul. Zweig has a PhD in Depth Psychology...thesis: aging provides an opportunity to shift life perspective from outside roles of the hero's journey, ego, family, work and so forth to universal soul orientation of awareness, mindfulness, meditation, spirit, love, and service. we can grow into the wise elder (e.g., Gandalf, Obi Wan Kenobi) by entering 3 portals of awareness: shadow--e.g., ageism--hear and befriend the messages of the body as it ages pure awareness--cultivate via meditation, opening, silence, from "doing to being" mortaility--coming to terms withour personal death (e.g., life review) practices: digest the life we've lived by performing a life review distill the lesson learned from our life review turn the lessons into ...
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SEDUCTION Mary Balogh (2009). Seducing an Angel. This is the 4th book in the Huxtable series set in Regency England. Stephen, the Earl of Merton, the youngest of the Huxtables, is targeted for seduction by Cassandra Belmont (a widow with a checkered past, according to the ton), but the plan backfires, and through extraordinary circumstances, the two marry. i love how Balogh takes seemingly disastrous circumstances and turns them around for a long-term good as in the case of 2 nights of seduction which results in the discovery of a pregnancy 7 months later solidifing their decision to marry. Favorite quotes: Think of those who have been kind to you today. Forget those who have not.116 Some events, some moments, were dropped deliberately into one's life...by an unseen hand. But that hand has no power to dictate one's response. It is up to the individual concerned to make something out of these events and moments. Or not. 150 ...I would be ready to come here and be healed. And to ...
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WAR Yeva Skalietska (2022). You Don't Know What War Is:                                                  The Diary of a Young Girl from the Ukraine. Yeva was 12 years old when the war began in her city in the Ukraine...she kept a detailed diary by day and time for 28 days, from the sound of the first bomb to her landing in Dublin, Ireland, free at last. The fear, uncertainty, and trauma of the bombings come through powerfully in Yeva's story--all material concerns are nothing compared to the overwhelming need to survive for oneself and one's loved ones.  The kindness of ordinary people who helped her escape Ukraine to Hungary, then to Dublin, restores my faith in humanity.  The ability to connect by mobile phone was a blessing and a curse.  Prayer was a central part of the story--G help us, get us safe.  I (Jim) feel so GRAT...
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