Title: Mink Eyes Available in both paperback and Kindle formats Author: Max McBride Reviewed for the NABBW by: Anne L. Holmes The time is the mid-80’s. October 1986, to be precise. As the book opens, we meet Peter O’Keefe – described to the reader as being taller than 6 feet, and a physically scarred and emotionally battered, divorced, Vietnam vet – and his daughter Kelly. It’s just after 5 A.M., as O’Keefe, who lives in the lower level apartment of a Victorian house, in a regentrifying neighborhood, wakes up, climbs out of bed, dresses and begins his usual,... Read More

Title: The Bankruptcy Alternative: Close Your Business Your Way, Without Bankruptcy. Save Time, Save Money, Save Your Sanity! Available from Amazon in hardcover, paperback and Kindle formats Author: Bruce Bowler Reviewed for the NABBW by: Anne L. Holmes This is the fascinating – and almost incredible – personal story of Bruce Bowler, a serial entrepreneur who, faced to the fact that his business must close, decides to do a self-managed liquidation instead of filing for bankruptcy. It’s a story full of uncertainty and angst, but equally brimming with hope and resilience. Bowler... Read More

Title: All Hands On Pet! Your How-To Guide on Home Physical Therapy Methods for Pets Available in both paperback and Kindle formats Author: Susan E. Davis, PT Reviewed for the NABBW by: Anne L. Holmes Author Susan E. Davis is a licensed physical therapist with over 40 years’ clinical experience. Perhaps uniquely, she has transitioned her professional practice from humans to animals. Since 2008, Davis has owned and operated Joycare Onsite, LLC, providing Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation services exclusively to multiple animal species. Her work may be performed in the pet’s home,... Read More

Friends of the Wigwam: A Civil War Story John William Huelskamp Reviewed for the NABBW by Anne L. Holmes Given that I live in Galena, Illinois, one of the main settings of this book and the home of nine Civil War generals, and I also have a fondness for history, I was delighted to be invited to read a copy of “Friends of the Wigwam” a meticulously researched Civil War-era historical novel.  With the exception of scenes that take place in Chicago and on Civil War battlefields including Vicksburg, Shiloh and Missionary Ridge, the majority of the story takes place in northwestern Illinois.... Read More

I’ve recently read three excellent books – one a novel – by two NABBW members, both dealing with the topic of widowhood. Life as a widow is not a scenario I’ve ever given much thought to, despite being advised, many decades ago in a collegiate gerontology course, that since women tend to live about five years longer than men, if we don’t want to end up widowed  it’s best to marry a younger man.  (In my defense, I was already married by that time, so couldn’t act on this sage advice.) More recent statistics, provided by WISER, the Women’s Institute... Read More

By  Anne L. Holmes, APR NABBW’s “Boomer in Chief” Recently, Rick Montgomery, a reporter for the Kansas City Star called me, in my role as the Boomer in Chief of the National Association of Baby Boomer Women, for an interview. He was seeking my point of view on a generational demographic tidbit he had picked up recently: the fact that sometime this year, the Baby Boomer generation will no longer be country’s largest. Due to our kids’ aging into adulthood, we’ll be losing our famed demographic “pig in the python” position to a younger generation, the... Read More

Reluctantly Related: Secrets To Getting Along With Your Mother-in-Law or Daughter-in-Law Kindle edition Barnes & Noble Nook edition Author:  Deanna Brann, Ph.D. http://www.drdeannabrann.com/ Reviewed for the NABBW by:  Anne Holmes Dr. Brann, a licensed clinical psychotherapist, begins this book by telling of her own experience with her daughter-in-law, sharing an example of a family thanksgiving get-together that became a disaster  because both she and her daughter-in-law interpreted events from their own perspectives. To make the situation totally clear, she tells us both sides of the... Read More