From: mwbookrevw@aol.com

Reviewer's Choice

Why is Grandma Naked?: Caring for Your Aging Parent
Ellen Pober Rittberg
www.ellenrittberg.com
Privately Published
9780578828626, $9.99 PB / $2.99 Kindle 113pp

https://www.amazon.com/Why-Grandma-Naked-Caring-Parent/dp/0578828626

https://www.amazon.com/Why-Grandma-Naked-Caring-Parent-ebook/dp/B0918Q2GVK

Synopsis: Directly tackling the serious issue of adult children caring for their aging parents, "Why is Grandma Naked?: Caring for Your Aging Parent" by Ellen Pober Rittberg takes a decidedly humorous but quite practical and insightful self-help
instructional guide and DIY manual.

As a journalist, an attorney, and someone caring for her own elderly mother, Rittberg candidly shares the stresses and satisfactions she has personally encountered while caring for her aging parent. Rittberg's use of humor is reflected in her chapter
headings such as: Be the Alpha Dog; Boundaries? Huh? Your Aging Parent Has None; Your Parent May Develop Sticky Fingers; Jeopardy! (illustrating why elderly parents continue to need their favorite television shows even when they can no longer answer any
of the questions posed to the contestants).

Rittberg also details common scenarios used when caring for her aging mother at home including: toilet training your senior parent on the "rump on the hump" technique when incontinence is an issue; taking away the car keys before reading about a parent
in a newspaper crime blotter; their hobby of digging deep into their nostrils and other recesses; how to stay awake while hearing the nineteenth retelling of childhood stories; dementia delusions; playing matchmaker to hired caregivers; avoiding shopping
trips turning into shoplifting trips; understanding declining parents' sometimes hilarious fantasies and delusions.

Of special note is Rittberg sharing with her readers the life-changing, humbling and deeply rewarding benefits of caring for elderly parents -- and the value of a good belly laugh as a stress reliever.

Critique: With a 'real world' DIY practicality, "Why is Grandma Naked?: Caring for Your Aging Parent" is expertly written and thoroughly 'user friendly' in organization and presentation, making it essential reading for anyone having to care for an aging
parent -- especially when they are having to deal with dementia and other health issues associated with the aging process. While highly and unreservedly recommended for community library collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "
Why is Grandma Naked?: Caring for Your Aging Parent" is also available in a digital book format (9780578847290).

Editorial Note: Ellen Pober Rittberg is an award-winning journalist, a feature writer specializing in parenting children of all ages, as well as grandparenting. Her humorous essays and features about families and social trends have appeared in The New
York Times, Newsday, New York Daily News and other large urban daily newspapers and magazines. She is also the winner of the FOLIO award-Best Public Affairs Show for "The Changing Family," a live cable television show she hosted and produced. An attorney,
she has represented children in court for over thirteen years.

A Journey of Love, Faith, Strength and Determination
Grover Jackson, Mary Fullard, and E. Christine Jackson
Newman Springs Publishing
https://www.newmansprings.com
9781648015755, $36.95, HC, 422pp

https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Love-Faith-Strength-Determination/dp/1648015751

Synopsis: "A Journey of Love, Faith, Strength and Determination" by the collaborative team of Grover Jackson, Mary Fullard, and E. Christine Jackson is a literary work that is both autobiographical and biographical in nature. It recounts the Jackson
family's ancestry to the ninth generation and the lives of fourteen siblings raised in a two-parent household.

"A Journey of Love, Faith, Strength and Determination" also relives the time from a life of farming that never yielded any financial benefits to a move to the North. The move was in pursuit of a better life and the fulfillment of a Mother's dream for her
children. The siblings never dwelled on the thought that they deserved better, just believed they could do better -- and better they did!

Critique: An inherently interesting, informative, and engaging combination of family memories and life experiences, "A Journey of Love, Faith, Strength and Determination" will prove to be a welcome addition to community, college, and university library
American History and American Biography collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "A Journey of Love, Faith, Strength and Determination" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781645317227, $24.95) and in a digital book
format (Kindle, $8.99).

Mindful Fundraising
Sagi Melamed
Gefen Publishing House
c/o Storch
255 Central Ave #B-206, Lawrence, NY 11559
www.gefenpublishing.com
9789652299741, $30.00, PB, 208pp

https://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Fundraising-Sagi-Melamed/dp/965229974X

Synopsis: In an exclusive chapter on fundraising during crisis, "Mindful Fundraising" expertly and informatively deals with all of the major issues faced by organizations around the world as they attempt to fund raise for their particular cause during
the COVID-19 crisis -- and how to prepare for the post-Corona era.

Beginning with the basic question of where do I start? "Mindful Fundraising" provides 'real world practical' answers including: How can I ask others for money? Should I travel to make my pitch? What kind of materials should I distribute? These questions
and many more are addressed in this practical, nuts-and-bolts guide to fundraising by seasoned professional fund raiser Sagi Melamed.

For everyone from novices to CEOs, volunteers and lay leadership, "Mindful Fundraising" is the ultimate insider's DIY guide to raising financial support for any cause and any organization.

Critique: Of particular and special note are the chapters on 'Preparing a fundraising Work Plan'; Publicity and Marketing', and 'Fund Raising During a Crisis'. Simply stated, "Mindful Fundraising" is an absolute 'must' for anyone charged with a fund
raising responsibility and the best $30 investment any organization can make who is in need of help with financing their particular cause, endeavor or project. While an essential, core addition to community organization, community library, corporate and/
or academic library Money/Finance collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of social/political activists, non-profit organizations and charities, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Mindful
Fundraising" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.95).

Editorial Note: Currently residing in Hoshaya, Israel, Sagi Melamed is an internationally in-demand keynote speaker, instructor and writer on mindful fundraising, bringing over 20 years of experience leading international fundraising operations and teams,
and training and instructing executives and lay leadership in the science and art of fundraising.

Dear Bob...
Martha Bolton & Linda Hope
University Press of Mississippi
3825 Ridgewood Road, Jackson, MS 39211
www.upress.state.ms.us
9781496832658, $28.00, HC, 328pp

https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Bob-Hopes-Wartime-Correspondence/dp/1496832655

Synopsis: For five decades, comedian, actor, singer, dancer, and entertainer Bob Hope (May 29, 1903 - July 27, 2003) traveled the world performing before American and Allied troops and putting on morale-boosting USO shows. "Dear Bob...: Bob Hope's
Wartime Correspondence with the G.I.s of World War II" compiled and written by the team of Martha Bolton and Linda Hope, tells the story of Hope's remarkable service to the fighting men and women of World War II who wrote personal letters and postcards,
sent packages and more, back and forth among Hope and the troops and their loved ones back home.

In the pages of "Dear Bob..." we learn of soldiers, nurses, wives, and parents who shared their innermost thoughts, swapped jokes, and commiserated with the "G.I.s' best friend" about war, sacrifice, lonely days, and worrisome, silent nights. The
Entertainer of the Century performed for millions of soldiers in person, in films, and over the radio. Bob visited them in the hospitals and became not just a pal but their link to home.

This unforgettable collection of letters and images (many of which remained in Hope's personal files throughout his life and now reside at the Library of Congress), fully capture a personal side of both writer and recipient in a very special and often-
emotional way. This unique volume heralds the voices of those servicemen and women whom Hope entertained and who, it is clear, delighted and inspired him.

Critique: An absolute 'must read' for the legions of Bob Hope fans, "Dear Bob: Bob Hope's Wartime Correspondence with the G.I.s of World War II" is an inherently fascinating and emotionally moving read. While especially and unreservedly recommended for
community, college, and university library American Biography and American Military History collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Dear Bob: Bob Hope's Wartime Correspondence with the G.I.s of World War II" is also readily
available in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.99).

Editorial Note: Martha Bolton was Bob Hope's first female staff writer, writing for his television specials, personal appearances, and military shows for approximately fifteen years. She is an Emmy nominee, Dove Award nominee, and WGA Award nominee.
Linda Hope became Bob Hope and his wife Dolores Reade's adopted daughter in 1939.

Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops
Shaun Bythell
David R. Godine, Publisher
Fifteen Court Square, Suite 320, Boston, MA 02108-2536
www.godine.com
9781567926927, $18.95, HC, 128pp

https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Kinds-People-Find-Bookshops/dp/1567926924

Synopsis: From behind the counter of his used bookstore, Shaun Bythell catalogs the customers who roam his shop in Wigtown, Scotland. There's the Expert (divided into subspecies from the Bore to the Helpful Person), the Young Family (ranging from the
Exhausted to the Aspirational), Occultists (from Conspiracy Theorist to Craft Woman). Then there's the Loiterer (including the Erotica Browser and the Self-Published Author), the Bearded Pensioner (including the Lyrca Clad), and The Not-So-Silent
Traveller (the Whistler, Sniffer, Hummer, Farter, and Tutter). Two bonus sections include Staff and, finally, the Perfect Customer -- all adding up to one of the funniest book about books any dedicated bibliophile will ever find.

Critique: An inherently riveting, entertaining, and thought-provoking read from cover to cover, "Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops" is deftly written with memorably humorously presented insights that will be of immense interest to bibliophiles,
writers, publishers, and anyone who has ever had (or aspired to having) a bookstore of their own. Simply stated, "Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops" should be a part of every community collection on the subject of bookselling and bookstores.

Editorial Note: A resident of Wigtown, Scotland, Shaun Bythell is the owner of The Bookshop, the largest second-hand bookshop in Scotland. He also is the author of "Confessions of a Bookseller".

Beyond Repair: Living in a Fractured State
Sebastian Matthews
Red Hen Press
P.O. Box 40820 Pasadena, CA 91114
www.redhen.org
9781597094368, $17.95, PB, 152pp

https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Repair-Living-Fractured-State/dp/1597094366

Synopsis: In 2011, the family of Sebastian Matthews was in a major car accident. They were hit head-on by a man in the throes of a heart attack. It took three years to recover from their injuries, and a couple more to deal with the aftereffects of trauma.

When Sebastian finally returned to the world as father and husband, friend and brother, writer and citizen, it became clear that our society was in its own traumatized state -- reeling from the string of police shootings of unarmed African Americans,
stunned by yet one more mass shooting. The people around him were displaying all the signs of PTSD (jumpiness, irritability, numbness) and, concordantly, his own interactions out in daily life were becoming more dysfunctional, at times downright hostile.

Us against Them. Red vs. Blue. Black vs. White. Rich vs. Poor -- he found himself living in a progressive town inside a conservative county in the Mountain South that only made things more volatile. Sebastian decided that if we were all living in a
fractured society no longer recognizable, then it was up to him to re-engage in it. He would enter into encounters with people as conscious as possible of the potential divides and misunderstandings between him and others. He started with my neighborhood
and town, then moved out into the counties around him, and then traveled further out into the country. His goal was to connect, to heal and be healed.

Critique: A deftly crafted, presented in the format of a series of essays, impressively detailed, and inherently engaging memoir, "Beyond Repair: Living in a Fractured State" is a life story for our times and unreservedly recommended for community,
college, and university library Contemporary American Biography collections. A auto biographical account of a life and message that will linger in the mind of the reader long after the book is finished and set back upon the shelf, it should be noted for
personal reading lists that "Beyond Repair: Living in a Fractured State" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.99).

Editorial Note: A poet and writer living in Asheville, North Carolina, Sebastian Matthews teaches part-time at a variety of colleges and universities, including Warren Wilson College, The Great Smokies Writing Program at UNCA and the Low-Residency MFA at
Queens University at Charlotte. He works with Curtis Bauer and the board at Q Ave Press making chapbooks and letterpress broadsides, as well as being part-time at Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center where he recently curated the exhibit From BMC
to NYC: The Tutelary years of Ray Johnson (1943-1967).

Symbols of Patriotism
Laurence L. Cook
Vandamere Press
www.vandamere.com
9780918339843, $19.95, HC, 160pp

https://www.amazon.com/Symbols-Patriotism-Laurence-L-Cook/dp/0918339847


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