Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead: The Frank Meeink Story as Told to Jody M. Roy, Ph.D. Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book changed me. I have always wondered, "How can people be so hateful?" Nobody is born a racist. Frank spells it out in absolute honesty how to build an army of haters. Page 151 reads, "I didn't need to bother recruiting racists. All I did was befriend kids who were pissed off about being picked on day in and day out. I trusted them to pay me back with loyalty. I trusted that I could turn their humiliation into hate. All I had to do was redirect their rage until it came thundering back as racism." If you get nothing else out of this book, it is the need to be compassionate. Kids aren't the only ones picked on day in and day out. I am grateful to this author for being so brutally honest about his past and present. Frank Meeinks doesn't wrap this book up with a nice bow at the end...he is still working towards making his life better...one day at a time. And I'm absolutely a better person because of his journey.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead: The Frank Meeink Story as Told to Jody M. Roy, Ph.D.

Click here for more information about Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead: The Frank Meeink Story as Told to Jody M. Roy, Ph.D.

Read More...

Drinking Closer to Home: A Novel (P.S.) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I was at once appalled and in love with this quirky family!
Anna, Portia and Emery are summoned back home when their mother, Louise, has a massive heart attack. During Louise's time in the hospital recovering, the three children reminisce about their childhood, their odd parents, Buzzy and Louise, their even odder extended family and where the road has taken them.
"It has only been recently that Anna forgave her mother for a litany of crimes Anna had been carrying in her stomach like a knotted squid."
As soon as I started reading Drinking Closer to Home, it felt so much like a memoir, I had to look at the copyright page just to make sure that it said "fiction" at the front. At the end of the book, the author interviews her own family, on whom the characters are based. What happens in between is pure magic.
Oh, how I cringed! Oh, how I laughed! Oh, how I felt compelled to turn the pages!
The very things that might make another family miserable are the very things that make this family work. The prolific swearing, the filthy house, and the unabashed drug use made me want to read the pages with my eyes half closed while learning about this crazy family. The humor, the brutal honesty, and the love made me want to want to be a part of it.
There were several scenes in the book that made me laugh out loud. There was one part in the book where we flashback to 1976 and the kids were visiting their grandparents Otto and Billie.
"Emory was hovering nearby, hiding himself from Otto, who had publicly called him Sissy Boy at least three times in the last hour. Emery thought that if only his grandfather could see the singing and dancing extravaganza of the Corny Kids Variety Show, he'd never call Emery a sissy again."
Emery was my favorite character in the book. He was embarrassed by his family, but didn't like being on the outside of things either. His struggle with his identity both in and out of his family moved me deeply.
All of the characters in this book were, in a word, colorful!
If you enjoyed The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, you will fall head over heels backward in love drunk with Drinking Closer to Home by Jessica Anya Blau.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Drinking Closer to Home: A Novel (P.S.)

Click here for more information about Drinking Closer to Home: A Novel (P.S.)

Read More...

We All Fall Down: Living with Addiction Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I read Tweak after reading Beautiful Boy, by Nic's father, twice. I am the mother of an addict. When I saw Nic had written another book, I instantly read the reviews and kindled it immediately, honestly not expecting to be as moved by it as I was by Tweak. That is not the case. Nic, thank you for writing this book, it was amazing.
It may sound odd to call a book about the tortures of someones life amazing, but, this book is. Nic lets us see every twisted, terrible downward spiral by being honest with how he feels and what he thinks, no matter how dirty it sounds. His braveness is unbelievable, letting us see the worst of him. Then, we also get a glimpse of the greatness in him and the hope that lies within. And that hope gives me hope, for him, for my son, for every addict out there.
Nic DOES NOT whine about 12 step programs nor does he bash them. He simply doesn't think they are his way. They may work for most, but perhaps not for him, or they are not the be all end all. He does participate in treatment that is not 12 step based, although he said he goes to a meeting once in a while. Since when does one thing make sense for ALL, every single person? That thinking is so off track. There is always a percentage of people that the common cure does not work for. All Nic is saying is that 12 step isn't for him, let's not crucify him for it. If he had cancer, maybe chemo would work for most, but maybe not for him, are we gonna fry him for that? I applaud how he figured out what he is comfortable with, and stayed true to himself. He doesn't say don't do treatment, he says find the treatment that feels right to you.
This book is just as good as Tweak, and I sincerely hope Nic keeps writing, because I, for one, will be buying his next one.
Be well Nic and thank you, thank you, thank you.


Click Here to see more reviews about: We All Fall Down: Living with Addiction

Click here for more information about We All Fall Down: Living with Addiction

Read More...

Facing Love Addiction: Giving Yourself the Power to Change the Way You Love Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I found this book well written and comprehensive, but what was the most moving to me was the way in which it touched the most painful and sad and hidden part of my relationships. Not only does it talk about me and why I do this, but it clearly talks about my partner(s) and what they seek in this valiant but destructive and Quixotic dance we do. I did not need my highlighter, as my tears did the highlighting on each and every page.Strangely, the more I read into the book the more soothed I felt in that I understood, finally, that I am not alone, that I needn't be alone and that there is a way out from this. If you suffer in relationships in the dramatic push-pull way, if the relationships you have are frought with complicated manipulations, if you want a way out...please read this book. Best of luck. Tim

Click Here to see more reviews about: Facing Love Addiction: Giving Yourself the Power to Change the Way You Love

The author of the bestselling Facing Codependence unravels the intricate dynamics of toxic love relationships and shows us how to let go of toxic love. In this revised and updated edition of Facing Love Addiction, internationally recognised dependence and addiction authority Pia Mellody clearly outlines the debilitating ′toxic′ patterns played out by love addicts and the unresponsive love avoidants to whom they are painfully and repeatedly drawn.

Click here for more information about Facing Love Addiction: Giving Yourself the Power to Change the Way You Love

Read More...