The Seven Day Mental Diet updated by Jacueline Garwood

In 1935, eminent New Thought leader, Emmet Fox, wrote The Seven Day Mental Diet. He promised that, by refusing to let negative thoughts take root in your mind, you could change your life in only one week. 

Jacqueline Garwood, author of Future Pull, Partner with the Universe to Create the Life of Your Dreams, has updated this classic for the 21st century. This small book maintains the key message that Emmet Fox first gave the world--that you are what you think--but adds seven guidng principles to aid you in putting it into practice.
The seven guiding principles are the distilled wisdom of individuals who have been able to succeed in the Seven Day Mental Diet challenge. As Emmet Fox said, "It is simple, but it isn't easy." Changing your default attitude from negative to positive takes commitment, discipline, and persistence, but it is definitely worth it. 

The Seven Day Mental Diet, updated for the 21st century will show you how to become a conscious thinker, monitor and replace negative thoughts with positive, and use reframing to deal with difficult situations. You'll learn now to change your thoughts by moving your body and how to 'act as if' until you truly are what you want to become. 

In today's non-stop environment of negativity, perhaps there is nothing more important than fostering a perspective of positivity. You are what you think, and so is everything else. It's up to you to change yourself and ultimately to change the world. Take the challenge.

Published:    2011
Publisher:  Sun Moon and Compass
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand Alone
Source:  Owned

MY REVIEW

I will first say that I am writing this review about 3 weeks after finishing this book.  Not because I found it difficult to review but I wanted to give this concept a go and try it for a period of time to see if this method was for me.  I picked this up because it intrigued me and I wanted to give it a go.  I have tried various different concepts which focused on anything other than the way you think about this.  This book made me think and that's a good thing.

Although, for me, it is a slow process it is working and making  a difference for me.  This is one of those books that you should read and then delve back into time and time ago for motivation.  Although I have a long way to go, I am continuing to give this a go and is working very well for me so far. 

Book Review / Love, Life and the List by Kasie West

Seventeen-year-old Abby Turner’s summer isn’t going the way she’d planned. She has a not-so-secret but definitely unrequited crush on her best friend, Cooper. She hasn’t been able to manage her mother’s growing issues with anxiety. And now she’s been rejected from an art show because her work “has no heart.” So when she gets another opportunity to show her paintings Abby isn’t going to take any chances.

Which is where the list comes in.

Abby gives herself one month to do ten things, ranging from face a fear (#3) to learn a stranger’s story (#5) to fall in love (#8). She knows that if she can complete the list she’ll become the kind of artist she’s always dreamed of being. But as the deadline approaches, Abby realizes that getting through the list isn’t as straightforward as it seems… and that maybe—just maybe—she can’t change her art if she isn’t first willing to change herself.

This is the first in a set of three standalone books with crossover characters.

Published:     26th December 2017
Publisher:  Harper Teen
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand Alone
Source:  Library

MY REVIEW

Whenever I am in the mood for a light easy and fun read, I always look to Kasie West and have not been disappointed before.  Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this story as much as I have done her previous novels.  Yes, it was fun and light hearted but I did have a few issues with the plot line.

In this story, we story we follow Abby who has a very hard home life.  Her father is serving abroad and her mother suffers from what I believe to be either extreme anxiety or agoraphobia.  Abby's best friend Lacey is going away for the summer with her parents where they have banned all communication devices, so Abby turns to Connor to hang out with over the summer.  She makes a list of things that she wants to accomplish over the summer. 

First of all, I wasn't really comfortable with the message of this book.  To be able to get ahead in anything, you have to change who you are.  You have Abby who does not do well at an art show because it shows no heart so she things that  if she changes who she is she will get better.  This is just my opinion, but no one should change who they are to be able to achieve success in whatever they want to achieve.  I believe that you just need to learn more about yourself and apply that to whatever you do.  Being yourself is the best thing you have to offer anything or anyone and  you should not have to change yourself to make things better.  Maybe improve your skills or learn more or experience more but never change yourself.  Now, this may have been a misread statement by me, but that is just the impression I got from this story and that point really stuck to me throughout reading this book.

Also, this book was very predictable.  I would have loved to have seen a bit more surprising twists and turns but everything I had already anticipated and I was just watching the events play out.  Honestly, if I had read this book 10 years ago when I was a lot younger than I am now I think I would have loved this book more than I have now.

This was a fun read but I had quite a few problems with the story.

Book Review / Madman Walking by L.F. Robertson

Appellate lawyer Janet Moodie is called in to work on a post-conviction investigation on a sordid murder-for-hire case. The client is uncooperative, likely schizophrenic, although he's never let a psychiatrist near him long enough to get a diagnosis. 

Convicted of arranging the shooting of a drug dealer, under orders from the Aryan Brotherhood, Howard Henley is not an easy case, and even on death row he doesn't seem to understand the severity of his situation. It is up to Janet to discover just what was done and by whom, and to determine whether to risk putting her client on trial again...





Published:     15th May 2018
Publisher:  Titan Books
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 2, Janet Moodie
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

MY REVIEW

After reading and thoroughly enjoying this author's first book in this series (Two Lost Boys), I was really excited about digging into this book.  Yes, this is book 2 in a series but I will say that I don't think there is a need to read these in order if you wanted to pick this book up independently and not pick up the first book first.

In this story, we follow Janet Moodie who is a lawyer who after the death of her husband retreats to a 'cabin in the wilderness'  but doesn't cut off all life on the outside world as she continues to work as a lawyer and take on clients.  She then receives a call from an old lawyer friend who wants her to be the second lawyer in a case that he has picked up.  At first, this looks like a guy who is on death row and deserves to be but as we follow Janet and her fellow lawyer investigate this things are not what they seem.  Obviously, there is a lot that I could say but won't because of spoilers but what I will say was that this story was full of twists and turns and I had plenty of suspects going through the story.   For me, the best part of this story was finding out more about the legal system and processes when someone is on death row.

If I had to be picky, I would have loved to have had a bit more surprise and twists and turns that were out of the blue but that doesn't mean that I didn't really enjoy this story as much as I did.  I can't wait to pick up the next book in this series, or the next book from this author...