The Coffee Bean by Jon Gordon and Damon West

The Coffee Bean by Jon Gordon and Damon West is an uplifting little book written to light a fire in those people seeking positive change in their lives.
The book deals with one boy's story and how a fable about a carrot, an egg and a coffee bean are placed in boiling water and how the result changes his outlook for life. His end result shows us how to approach our own lives and make them better. Needless to say, based on the title, the coffee bean approach is the way to go.
Earlier when I said this is a little book, that was no exaggeration. Small in stature and page count, The Coffee Bean is about a 15 to 30 minute read depending on how much of a speed reader you are. There are also a lot of illustrations that help in moving you along through the tale.
If you read Amazon, and other reviews, don't let the negative ones steer you away from this book. Some people feel The Coffee Bean is too light of a read and doesn't address the subject in enough seriousness and detail.  To me, that is why the book works. A simple fable that can be read by all ages, can then be applied to the lives of all ages of people. How you make the story work for you is the magic of it. The beauty of it is the tale is not technical, but easy to grasp and live by.
A lot of Jon Gordon fans were also mad this book cost $17 dollars and went by so fast. Now it is priced around $7, but don't forget, you can check it out free from your Pella Public Library. See what The Coffee Bean can do for you.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

This was one of my favorite books that I read in 2019.  Gottlieb is a therapist who decides to go to therapy herself after her boyfriend breaks up with her (when she was expecting a proposal).  She chooses Wendell, a cardigan wearing older man whose therapy techniques are sometimes unconventional.

     While Gottlieb is sharing her therapy journey with us, she also shares stories about some of her patients: the newlywed diagnosed with terminal cancer, a seemingly self absorbed TV producer, a single woman threatening suicide on her birthday, and a young woman who is attracted to the wrong men again and again.  Lori begins to realize that the problems that she can see in her patients are the same ones that Wendell sees in her, although she didn’t see them in herself. 

     The general insights she shares about therapy and therapists are interesting, and I came to care about the patients she was describing.  And I was reminded that you don’t know what “that abrasive person” is going through.  Yes, maybe that’s just their personality, but maybe they are deeply hurting.  Like I said, one of my favorite books last year.   5 Stars! 

Guts by Raina Telgemeier

This middle grade graphic novel delves into the authors true-life issues with anxiety.  Waking up with an upset stomach doesn't seem strange when Raina's mom has one as well.  But Raina soon discovers that the ebb and flow of school drama might be the cause of her constant stomach troubles.  She finds herself constantly worrying about making and losing friends, keeping up with school work and the terrible possibility of throwing up at school!  Telgemeier is honest and inspirational as she sheds light on dealing with anxiety, finding meaningful coping mechanisms and removing the stigma of therapy.  Guts will appeal to middle grade readers who enjoy the graphic novel format and can identify with the challenges of dealing with anxiety.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

I'm a big fan of film noir, and one of my favorites is The Big Sleep. The Humphrey Bogart/Lauren Bacall film has everything you would want from a 1940-50s detective movie. When I saw that the library got in a new copy of the original book, I had to dive in and read the origins of the movie. Some of the differences were a bit eye-opening, proving that many times the book and the movie tend to tell two different stories.
Raymond Chandler published The Big Sleep in 1939, introducing the world to the reoccurring character of private detective Philip Marlowe. Marlowe wisecracks his way through the book with all of the slang of 1939, some of which is not as smooth in today's PC world as it was in the pre-war days. There are some harsh attitudes toward women and homosexuals voiced through the comments of Marlowe. In addition, the book also works its way through the dark alleys of pornography production and distribution.
If you are looking for the smoldering love story that Bogart and Bacall brought to their movie portrayals, you are not going to find that in Chandler's original The Big Sleep. Instead of one problem rich sister as seen in the movie, both sisters are on the rotten side in the book, and Marlowe falls for neither one of them. With love being out of the picture in the book, the plot varies several time as you read through the written work when comparing it to the movie. The book is far more dark and cynical.
Chandler is a master of description, giving detailed information on both the characters and story locations. In that sense The Big Sleep is a very entertaining read. It is also fun to compare the book to the movie. The work is dated at bit, but if you can put yourself into a 1939 state of mind, the pages fly by.

I Miss You When I Blink: Essays by Mary Laura Philpott

Having a good career, spouse, house and kids, Philpott, a type A achiever, found herself lost in the pressures of modern adulthood. Drawing from her own life experiences, the author recalls her successes and challenges in this memoir-in-essays on midlife conundrums. She finally embraces change and accepts her real and flawed self. It is an honest and funny read.

Courting Morrow Little by Laura Frantz

     The story begins with a little girl of five experiencing the death of her mother and little sister, and the disappearance of her older brother at the hands of the Shawnee. She is left with her preacher father. He does send her East for a couple of years to help in her aunt's seamstress shop.
     When she returns to the cabin she shares with her father, she is a beautiful young woman. Now she finds that her pa is in failing health, and every man around wants to court her. Unfortunately not many of the men are very appealing  to Morrow. She is fearful and worried much of the time because of the unrest between the settlers, the soldiers, and the Indians. There is a particular young half-breed that she keeps crossing paths with. Can she let go of her past and forgive those who have wronged her? Will she choose to marry someone, just to stop other unwanted advances and so her pa can see her settled?
     Morrow faces much turmoil and really doesn't know what the future holds for her. The telling is in the rest of the story when you find out the choices she makes, and the adventures that await her.

The Soloist: A Lost Dream, An Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music by Steve Lopez

A newspaper columnist and a homeless man meet on Los Angeles' Skid Row. The journalist, Steve Lopez, is struck by the man's beautiful playing on an old 2 stringed violin.  When Lopez finds out this man, Nathaniel Ayers, attended Julliard he is shocked. Why would this extremely talented man be homeless lugging around his belongings?  A friendship develops between the two men and  Lopez attempts to get this man off the street.  Mental illness has gripped Nathaniel and he can be very hard to deal with, sometimes kind and gentle, sometimes in a rage. The stories the reporter writes in the Los Angeles Times bring awareness to the issue of homelessness. Slow successes do occur in helping this brilliant musician but disappointments are frequent.  This book is a biography and a movie has been made.  Both the book and movie are engaging, showing compassion and friendship which affect the two men positively.