The New Book Review

This blog, #TheNewBookReview, is "new" because it eschews #bookbigotry. It lets readers, reviewers, authors, and publishers expand the exposure of their favorite reviews, FREE. Info for submissions is in the "Send Me Your Fav Book Review" circle icon in the right column below. Find resources to help your career using the mini search engine below. #TheNewBookReview is a multi-award-winning blog including a MastersInEnglish.org recommendation.

Friday, December 12, 2025

Everyone Should Read: CHANGE THE WORLD ONE BOOK AT A TIME:


TITLE OF YOUR BOOK:

Change the World One Book at a Time: Make a Positive and Meaningful Difference with Your Words 


NAME OF AUTHOR OF BOOK: 

Nina Amir

 

THE REVIEW:

For writers who wish to make a real difference, this comprehensive guide is a must-read. As author Amir acknowledges in the first chapter of this book, attempting to become an author of change can feel hugely daunting—but 'someone needs your book.' In Change the World One Book at a Time, she leads (and cheerleads) you through every step of the journey—from clarifying your message for yourself to putting it on the page in a way that will most effectively reach an audience—making what might otherwise feel like an overwhelming challenge accessible for all."

Brooke Warner, author of Write on, Sisters! and publisher of She Writes Press


ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK IS BEING REVIEWED: 

Nina Amir, the Inspiration to Creation Coach, is an 19X Amazon bestselling hybrid author. She supports writers on the journey to successful authorship as an Author Coach, nonfiction developmental editor, Transformational Coach, and Certified High Performance Coach (CHPC®)—the only one working with writers. 

    Nina is also a long time San Francisco Writers Conference volunteer and presenter. She now coordinates the Personal Growth for Writers track and the Writing for Change Summit. Nina’s most recent book, Change the World One Book at a Time: Make a Positive and Meaningful Difference with Your Words, will be published on January 6, 2026 by Books that Save Lives. (It is now available for pre-order, and those who purchase prior to January 6 receive two valuable bonuses—a “Clarify Your Purpose” journal and a course about authoring change. Order here.

    Previously, she wrote three traditionally published books for aspiring authors—How to Blog a BookThe Author Training Manual, and Creative Visualization for Writers. Additionally, she has self-published a host of books and ebooks, including the Write Nonfiction NOW! series of guides. She has had 19 books on the Amazon Top 100 List and as many as six books on the Authorship bestseller list at the same time. 

    Nina is an award-winning journalist and blogger, as well as a successful nonfiction developmental editor. Some of her editing clients have sold 300,000+ copies of their books, landed deals with major publishing houses and created thriving businesses around their books.

    To further support writers, Nina created the Nonfiction Writers’ University, where members access a huge archive of resources, such as courses, ebooks, and interviews with writing and publishing experts, and receive monthly group Author Coaching. Additionally, she created the Write Nonfiction in November Challenge and Author of Change Transformational Programs. 

    Nina also founded the Inspired Creator Community, which provides group transformational (spiritual and personal growth) coaching around the topic of creating what matters. Many writers join this program to support their efforts to become authors.


AUTHOR'S FAVORITE LINKS: 

Visit www.ninaamir.com

And read her blog at ninaamir.com/blog   


Read her writing-related blogs at writenonfictionnow.com  and howtoblogabook.com as well.

 

Follow her on social media sites!

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/InspirationToCreation

X/Twitter https://twitter.com/NinaAmir

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninaamir

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/inspirationtocreationcoach/

YouTube   https://www.youtube.com/ninaamir 

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/ninaamir/ 

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@inspiredcreator?lang=en

Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/ninaamir.bsky.social


ASSURANCE TO SATISFY COPYRIGHT LAW: 

√ Yes, I have received permission from the reviewer to reprint their review in its entirety. 


REVIEWER’S BYLINE: Brooke Warner, author of Write on, Sisters! and publisher of She Writes Press


MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER: 


Brooke Warner is a passionate champion of writers and authors and her life’s work is supporting people to get published. She is profoundly grateful to have landed in this career at the tender age of 22. Brooke has worked across many segments of the publishing industry, and because of her background, she is publishing agnostic. She supports writers to get published—traditionally and independently (hybrid or self-publishing).    
Brooke started her publishing career in 2000, and worked for traditional publishers for 13 years. In 2012, she left her job as Executive Editor of Seal Press to co-found She Writes Press with Kamy Wicoff, founder of SheWrites.com. She tells the story of why I left traditional publishing in my TEDx talk: “Green-Light Revolution.”   Brooke invites you to join her weekly via her podcast, Memoir Nation (formerly Write-minded: Weekly Inspiration for Writers), which you can find wherever you listen to your podcasts, and also on her Substack, “Writerly Things,” where Brooke posts weekly dispatches about publishing and memoir. Brooke is currently the Board Chair of the Bay Area Book Festival. She is the past Board Chair of the Independent Book Publishers Association, an organization that’s near and dear to her heart. In 2024, she was awarded the Publishing Professionals Network’s Distinguished Service Award
    Brooke brings a wide range of disciplines and interests to coaching, including the Ennegram and the Diamond Approach®. She is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) with theCoaches Training Institute (CTI), a leading program in coaching that’s accredited by the International Coach Federation.
    Brooke earned her B.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University, and her M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from San Francisco State University.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER:

Brooke has published several books, including Green Light Your Book, The Magic of Memoir, and Write On, Sisters! Find all her books here: brookewarner.com/books/

AUTHOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS :

nina@ninaamir.com

X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/NinaAmir



Conversation opened. 2 messages. 2 messages unread.

Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Yay! Discount for Writers’s Seasonal Gifts That Keep Giving to Carolyn’s...


...subscribers and visitors.  It’s a reprint from WinningWriters’ newsletters, but my peeps can use it, too! You need the code GOFRUGAL when you go directly to Modern History Press’s website that includes my HowToDoItFrugally Series. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on your choice...or, actually, all of the books where the discount appears for you.  They’re make great gifts for your author friends for the holidays, thank you gifts for industry peeps who have supported you, or--best still--a treat for yourself.  

You might (SHOULD!) also subscribe to Adam Cohen’ and Jendi Reiter’s WinningWriters newsletters including the ones full of contests you can trust. It has been around for years vetting the best of contests using their stringent set of qualifications. It’s yours to avoid all those naysayers that contests are scams. The good ones allow you to set your book apart from the dozen (zillions?) of similar titles out there. Pay special attention to their own #NorthStreetBookPrize and several individual contests that cost nothing to enter but pay winners considerable awards. Every one including their own must meet their stringent expectations.




More About #TheNewBookReview Blog

  The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the submission guidelines at http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews or to the guideline tab at the top of the home page of this blog. Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's #AuthorsHelpingAuthors service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in the right column of this blog home page (a silver and gold badge and threee silver-gray circles beneath it. 
         Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author and veteran educator, she also contributes reviews and posts on other topics related to books. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. 
       Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing HowToDoItFrugally http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews. Pre-format the post editor for each new post. Cancel Save Post published

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

REVIEW OF: DESIGN FOR YOUR MIND: LEARN HOW TO RENOVATE YOUR HOME TO RECHARGE YOUR LIFE




Design For Your Mind: 

ITLE OF YOUR BOOK: Design For Your Mind: How a Family Caregiver and Mental Health Therapist Renovated Her Home to Recharge Her Life – and Didn’t Break the Bank

TITLE OF YOUR BOOK DESIGN FOR YOUR MIND: HOW A FAMILY CAREGIVER AND MENTAL HEALTH THERAPIST RENOVATED HER HOME TO RECHARGE HER LIFE – AND DIDN’T BREAK THE BANK


AUTHOR OF BOOK's NAME Annie Guest


AUTHOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS annieguestdesign@gmail.com


AUTHOR'S FAVORITE LINKS: https://www.annieguestdesignforyourmind.com/


ASSURANCE TO SATISFY COPYRIGHT LAW: 

 X I am the reviewer and give TNBR permission to print this review.


REVIEWER’S BYLINE: Abigail Adams


ITHE REVIEW:


  Design For Your Mind is an inspiring tale of how someone can cope with the loss of their parents and sorting out the possessions that they have left behind. In the case of Annie Guest, the author of this book, she inherited her parents’ house and renovated it to be a suitable home for its new occupant—which was Annie herself. The book tells not only how she did this, but how she was able to rediscover herself in the process.

As a mental health therapist, Annie understands how the environment in which we live can affect our mental health. She shows how it is possible to retain the precious family memories which we acquire as we grow up in our family home, and then put our own contemporary stamp on the home to make it habitable for ourselves—and how to do all of this in a cost-effective way!

Design For Your Mind is in part a practical manual on interior design, and Annie lays out the process in a clear and easy manner. The book systematically goes through each room in her house and outlines what methods she applied to renovate these rooms. Readers will find these methods readily applicable to their own homes.

Annie has given her own name to the type of design she describes in Design For Your Mind: “Benessent Design.” Annie explains that the term “Benessent” comes from the Latin phrase for well-being, bene essere. What she means by Benessent Design is the design of rooms and furnishings that can meet “the emotional and intellectual needs of real people, so they have what they need to thrive as whole human beings.” For Annie, the “four pillars” of an enriched environment are good nutrition, high-quality sleep, regular aerobic exercise, and social support.

Annie takes us step-by-step through her quest to renovate her parents’ home and make it her own. Her methods and explanations are easy-to-follow, meaning you do not need to be a qualified interior decorator or a certified mental health therapist in order to get to grips with Design For Your Mind. Her Benessent Design theory provides the framework for why all of the steps she took were taken, and the “before” and “after” pictures give a clear visual illustration of what steps she is discussing throughout.

As well as her underlying theory and her practical steps, Annie makes the book personal with a great store of heartwarming family anecdotes. This helps to make Annie’s book very relatable, as many of us will be able to identify with the sort of tales she has to tell, or recognize ourselves within them. It ties in nicely with her theme of blending old memories and traditions with new innovations that help to make a home truly your own.

The blend of sound theory, practical steps, and personal anecdotes all help to make Design For Your Mind a terrific, practical book from which we can learn a lot about interior design, and about ourselves. Very highly recommended.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER: 
I’m Abigail, and I’m a big book lover who is interested in all genres.

REVIEWER'S TWITTER MONIKER: @AAdams22700

ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK IS BEING REVIEWED: Annie Guest had a varied career in book publishing, advertising, and law, before she took another jump to work as a mental health therapist and publish her first book. In DESIGN FOR YOUR MIND, Annie combines her passion for people and their potential with her love for interior design and her appreciation for the design choices that support mental health.


AUTHOR  IMAGES: 


Design For Your Mind: How a Family Caregiver and Mental Health Therapist Renovated Her Home to Recharge Her Life - and Didn't Break the Bank


Cover of Design For Your Mind by Annie Guest



Profile Photo of Annie Guest, author of Design For Your Mind



AUTHOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS annieguestdesign@gmail.com


AUTHOR'S FAVORITE LINKS: https://www.annieguestdesignforyourmind.com/


ADD THIS ASSURANCE TO SATISFY COPYRIGHT LAW: 

 I am the reviewer and give TNBR permission to print this review.


REVIEWER’S BYLINE: Abigail Adams


INCLUDE THE THE REVIEW ITSELF, of course!


Design For Your Mind is an inspiring tale of how someone can cope with the loss of their parents and sorting out the possessions that they have left behind. In the case of Annie Guest, the author of this book, she inherited her parents’ house and renovated it to be a suitable home for its new occupant—which was Annie herself. The book tells not only how she did this, but how she was able to rediscover herself in the process.

As a mental health therapist, Annie understands how the environment in which we live can affect our mental health. She shows how it is possible to retain the precious family memories which we acquire as we grow up in our family home, and then put our own contemporary stamp on the home to make it habitable for ourselves—and how to do all of this in a cost-effective way!

Design For Your Mind is in part a practical manual on interior design, and Annie lays out the process in a clear and easy manner. The book systematically goes through each room in her house and outlines what methods she applied to renovate these rooms. Readers will find these methods readily applicable to their own homes.

Annie has given her own name to the type of design she describes in Design For Your Mind: “Benessent Design.” Annie explains that the term “Benessent” comes from the Latin phrase for well-being, bene essere. What she means by Benessent Design is the design of rooms and furnishings that can meet “the emotional and intellectual needs of real people, so they have what they need to thrive as whole human beings.” For Annie, the “four pillars” of an enriched environment are good nutrition, high-quality sleep, regular aerobic exercise, and social support.

Annie takes us step-by-step through her quest to renovate her parents’ home and make it her own. Her methods and explanations are easy-to-follow, meaning you do not need to be a qualified interior decorator or a certified mental health therapist in order to get to grips with Design For Your Mind. Her Benessent Design theory provides the framework for why all of the steps she took were taken, and the “before” and “after” pictures give a clear visual illustration of what steps she is discussing throughout.

As well as her underlying theory and her practical steps, Annie makes the book personal with a great store of heartwarming family anecdotes. This helps to make Annie’s book very relatable, as many of us will be able to identify with the sort of tales she has to tell, or recognize ourselves within them. It ties in nicely with her theme of blending old memories and traditions with new innovations that help to make a home truly your own.

The blend of sound theory, practical steps, and personal anecdotes all help to make Design For Your Mind a terrific, practical book from which we can learn a lot about interior design, and about ourselves. Very highly recommended.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER: I’m Abigail, and I’m a big book lover who is interested in all genres.
REVIEWER'S TWITTER MONIKER: @AAdams22700

ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK IS BEING REVIEWED: Annie Guest had a varied career in book publishing, advertising, and law, before she took another jump to work as a mental health therapist and publish her first book. In DESIGN FOR YOUR MIND, Annie combines her passion for people and their potential with her love for interior design and her appreciation for the design choices that support mental health.


AUTHORProfile Photo of Annie Guest, author of Design For Your Mind

Monday, October 27, 2025

More About #TheNewBookReview Blog The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the submission guidelines at http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews or to the guideline tab at the top of the home page of this blog. Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's #AuthorsHelpingAuthors service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in the right column of this blog home page (a silver and gold badge and threee silver-gray circles beneath it. Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author and veteran educator, she also contributes reviews and posts on other topics related to books. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing HowToDoItFrugally http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews. Pre-format the post editor for each new post. Cancel Save Post published

Monday, September 15, 2025

REVIEW OF DANCING WITH RED FLAGS, AN INCREDIBLE MEMOIR

TITLE OF YOUR BOOK: DANCING WITH RED FLAGS


AUTHOR OF BOOK's NAME: Anna Rajmon


AUTHOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS annarajmon@gmail.com


AUTHOR'S FAVORITE LINKS: https://www.annarajmon.com/


ADD THIS ASSURANCE TO SATISFY COPYRIGHT LAW: 

 X I am the reviewer and give TNBR permission to print this review.


REVIEWER’S BYLINE: Abigail Adams


THE REVIEW:


Anna Rajmon, author of the incredible memoir Elis: Irish Call Girl, has delivered an interesting self-help book in Dancing with Red Flags.

This book is a guide intended to help women understand the manipulative behaviors that define toxic relationships, in the hope that they will not get trapped in them. Rajmon shares her own experiences and insights in recognizing red flags in dating, and has studied the psychology behind those red flags. She is really good at explaining psychological ideas in a way that makes sense to people who do not have a psychology background.

The notion of “women’s intuition” is often referred to in everyday life, but Rajmon demonstrates that it is a very important tool in detecting red flags. Sometimes, we “know” that there is something not right with how someone behaves, but we do not have the words or ideas to properly explain to ourselves what it is that is wrong. That is our intuition in action—and Rajmon says it is the voice we should listen to most closely. She also notes that it is the voice we are most likely to ignore, and she insists that we cannot afford to do this if we want to be happy.

Anna Rajmon has brought to Dancing with Red Flags the same style of sarcastic humor, lovely drawings, and great writing that made Elis such a good book. She can describe awful behaviors like the silent treatment, love bombing, and ghosting in a way that will make you laugh as much as it will make you think. Her examples and her drawings all make her points very clearly, so that you never feel like you are reading up for a college course with some dry textbook—it’s written in a way that makes you feel as if Rajmon is having a friendly and funny conversation with you directly.

While Dancing with Red Flags is primarily meant for women, there is no reason men cannot learn from it too. Unfortunately, there are also toxic women who use some of the cruel and controlling tactics which Rajmon outlines here. No matter who we are, it would certainly benefit us all to learn what these tactics are so that we can recognize abusers for what they are before it is too late. Not just for relationships that we are directly in, either—it helps if you can spot when a friend or a family member is involved in a toxic relationship, too. It could be the first step toward doing something about that situation.

Overall, I found Dancing with Red Flags to be a very eye-opening book that unveils the nature of toxic relationships and can help us to “stop giving your best self to the worst people” as Rajmon puts it. The lessons her book teaches are ones thtat will be beneficial to us all, and especially to the women it is intended for. Very highly recommended.

This review was originally published at Story Circle Book Reviews. The link to the original review is https://www.storycircle.org/book_review/dancing-with-red-flags/.

This review was originally published on Goodreads, and the link to the original review can be found here.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER: I’m Abigail, and I’m a big book lover who is interested in all genres.
REVIEWER'S TWITTER MONIKER: @AAdams22700

ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK IS BEING REVIEWED: Mandy Stadtmiller is an author and columnist for New York magazine, former editor-at-large of xoJane, "Girl Talk" columnist for Penthouse and host of the comedy podcast "News Whore." She is also known for her dating column in the New York Post, called "About Last Night."

She is on Twitter/X at @annarajmon


__________________________________________________________________________


More About #TheNewBookReview Blog The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read and love. Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the submission guidelines at http://bit.ly/ThePlacetoRecycleBookReviews or to the guideline tab at the top of the home page of this blog. Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's #AuthorsHelpingAuthors service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in the right column of this blog home page (a silver and gold badge and threee silver-gray circles beneath it. Carolyn Wilhelm is our IT expert, an award-winning author and veteran educator, she also contributes reviews and posts on other topics related to books. Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.