The Girl Who Did Not Like Her Name By Chloe JonPaul Reviewed for the NABBW by Anne Holmes How many of us lived through a time when we didn’t like our names? I know I did. And so did many people I know, including my daughter, for whom we thought we had selected a lovely appellation: “Jennifer Zoe.”   She, too, didn’t care for her name, and throughout her grade school years she kept modifying it: Jennifer, Jenny, Jen… We teased her that the only thing left was to call herself “Je,” or simply “J.” Author Chloe JonPaul knows all about these naming woes, having spent 35 years teaching... Read More

Pirate’s Plunder: An Adele Bonny Adventure (Book 1) Kindle Edition Author:  Wendy Wilkinson Reviewed by:  Anne Holmes for the NABBW This is a fun book which chronicles the story of bounty hunter Adele Bonny, fictional niece, to the infamous real-life pirate, Anne Bonny. Though it’s been thirteen generations since Anne Bonny and her fellow pirates prowled the seas looking for tall ships to plunder, this book tells of how infamous Pirate Anne Bonny and her current-day niece Adele transcend time and team up in order to solve modern day pirate retrieval cases throughout the Caribbean. Author... Read More

Self and Soul: On Creating a Meaningful Life Kindle edition Barnes & Noble Nook edition Author:  Lorraine Ash, M.A., foreword by Joseph Dispenza http://www.LorraineAsh.com Reviewed for the NABBW by:  Anne Holmes  This is a brief but powerful  memoir, whose goal  is to speak directly to anyone who has experienced any sort of personal tragedy, life changing event  or trauma which has left them reeling, trying desperately to make sense of their lives and the world.   As memoirs do, Ash begins by sharing her story: The wrenching trauma of how she and her husband lost their only child,... Read More

Blind Curves: One Woman’s Unusual Journey to Reinvent Herself and Answer: What Now? Kindle edition Barnes & Noble Nook edition Author:  Linda Crill http://lindacrill.com/ Reviewed for NABBW by:  Anne Holmes Vroom! Linda Crill is a former Fortune 100 corporate executive, who successfully transitioned into careers as a consultant/trainer and speaker, and eventually started a company with her husband. This book tells the story of how she added biker (yes, as in Harleys) to her resume at age 57 as the result of a moment of rebellion.   What could cause such a major shift in her life’s... Read More

Grandmother Power: A Global Phenomenon Kindle Edition Author:  Paola Gianturco Reviewed by:  Anne Holmes for the NABBW This is a wonderful book full of dazzling and powerful photos!  But it is more than a “coffeetable book.” Grandmother Power is a potent collection of  beautifully-written, sensitive stories — accompanied by stunningly fine images. It will make you weep; make you dance, even humble you.  With this book author Paola Gianturco shows readers the intimate side of what she has dubbed “grandmother power.” In it, she identifies a new, international activist... Read More

Fierce with Age: Chasing God and Squirrels in Brooklyn Kindle Edition Author:  Carol Orsborn Reviewed by:  Anne Holmes for the NABBW In her latest book, a memoir titled “Fierce with Age: Chasing God and Squirrels in Brooklyn,” Carol Orsborn records the ups and downs of a tumultuous year she spent facing, busting and ultimately triumphing over the stereotypes of aging.  The year begins with a cross-country move: Orsborn’s husband Dan lands a year-long project in New York City that is too good to pass up. So they reluctantly leave the comfort of their Los Angeles Canyon home for a Brooklyn... Read More

The Crone Club (Volume 1) Kindle Edition Author:  S.V. Peddle Reviewed by:  Anne Holmes for the NABBW The Crone Club is about a group of reunited school friends who, having reached their sixties, vow to face new challenges, achieve old dreams and just generally band together to get as much fun as possible out of their current stage of life. The novel begins with the women having gathered together for a school reunion, and chance to catch up on each other’s lives.  We quickly meet them and just as quickly relate to similar character types we knew when we were in school.  In this story, their... Read More

Confessions of an Instinctively Mutinous Baby Boomer and Her Parable of the Tomato Plant Kindle Edition Author:  Marsha Roberts Reviewed by:  Anne Holmes for the NABBW  This book may have the most intriguing title of any other book I’ve read in the past year.  Which, along with the entertaining photos on the cover, is a good thing.  Both serve to stop the casual browser in a book store, get them to say, “Whaaaat?” And then the book grabs your full attention. Marsha Roberts is an entertaining storyteller, and this book is packed with entertaining “short stories” – parables as she... Read More

Ruby’s World: My Journey with the Zulu Author: Karen Baldwin http://www.changehealgrow.me/rubys-world/ Reviewed By: Anne Holmes for the NABBW This is a true story – a memoir that reads like a suspense novel. Author Karen Baldwin, it tells her story of how at 52, after surviving a heart attack and breast cancer, she decided to abandon her career in civil engineering in favor of a spiritual calling. She became a hospital chaplain, and then followed a dream and a spiritual calling to become the first white teacher in a rural Zulu elementary school. She arrives in South Africa alone, her bags... Read More

Sullie Saves the Seas Author: Goffinet McLaren http://www.sullietheseagull.com Reviewed By: Anne Holmes for the NABBW This wonderful children\’s book introduces the world to Sullie the Seagull, Author McLaren\’s newly hatched “spokesbird” for clean oceans. This is a parable told by Sullie, an old seagull. Sullie\’s tale begins on Turtle Beach, the morning after Memorial Day, and provides a lesson about the dangers of trash in our oceans. Sullie\’s information is correct: All the experts say the solution to our trash-choked oceans begins at home, since most... Read More