Indie Screening: January 2023

In this month’s BookLife themed roundup of titles, we’re ushering in 2023 with independent self-help and growth-focused books. Want to see your book featured? Check out the Indie Spotlight calendar at booklife.com/indiespotlight.

Financial and professional advice

From Financial Crash to Prosperity: The Breakthrough Formula

Larry Faulkner and Michelle Balls

ASIN B09MYVXLPW

Author’s statement: “From financial disaster to prosperity uses a psychological approach to overcome persistent money problems. Just like ordinary emotional issues, money is connected to your past and the perspective that history has given you. Much of the impetus for this book came from me [Larry’s] working in prisons teaching inmates how to rebuild their financial lives after release. While this is an extreme example, it’s made clear how our past – and the perspective it gives us – so often thwarts our best financial intentions.”

The Innovator’s Handbook: A Short Guide to Unleashing Your Creative Thinking

Hussein Almosawi

ISBN 978-1-73785-080-9

Author’s statement: “I started writing this book as a collection of my insights after having the opportunity to work with some of the most innovative companies in the world. I started by sharing my ideas in lectures I gave at design and innovation conferences, as well as workshops and classes I taught at various universities. Seeing how engaged the audience was, I decided to bring all these thoughts together in one place, while also referencing personal and industry stories.”

The Promotion Difference: The Real Reasons You’re Not Advancing Your Career and What You Can Do About It

Laura Darrell

ASIN B0BQ5996N2

Author’s statement: “I have spent my entire career leading people and teams and investing in their personal and professional development to help them advance their careers. This book captures the best of these professional development experiences, aims to help others understand why they are not progressing in their careers, and provides concrete development advice and tools to help them overcome these gaps.”

Self-actualization and self-help

The Answer: How to Get the Best Answers to Your Life’s Biggest Questions

Jane Lee

ISBN 978-1-77819-310-1

Author’s statement: “The answer will help you tune into the ever-present inner wisdom and intuition we all have as a means of determining the best answers to all of your life’s critical questions. At age 38, while undergoing infertility treatment, I was unexpectedly diagnosed with colon cancer. I was also offered my “dream job” on the same day. At that moment, I felt like the universe was asking me, “Which will you choose, your health or your career?” Although I didn’t know it at the time, this was the beginning of my writing journey The answer.”

Best practices: Fostering trust and building relationships

Bianca Clarke

ASIN B0BNGR7NVL

Author’s statement: “After I graduated college, I was in the company of very experienced professionals who assumed I knew things like proper dining etiquette or how to use soft skills. I found myself taking crash courses to prepare myself and save myself the embarrassment. These “life” crash courses were helpful for the moment, but I found that when I dedicated enough time to fully understand and train myself for these moments, my confidence built. I was motivated to write an inspirational book for pre-teens, teens, and young adults because of my personal experience navigating professional spaces as I developed my career.”

Luck of the 10th degree

T. Calvin Ward

ISBN 978-1-977254-01-6

Author’s statement: “I wanted to develop a book about happiness that everyone would find useful. There are no banal ideas or abstract concepts here. Thousands of hours of research and interviews have gone into the pages of Luck of the 10th degree.”

Relationships and self-care

Paths Abound: Beyond Either/Or Thinking to Making Lasting Same-Sex Relationships

Carl W. Beckstrand

ISBN 978-1-951599-18-8

Author’s statement: “Regardless of marital status or sexual orientation, every person has legitimate needs for love and true union, including with those of their own sex. There are more types of relationships, deeper than we know. True love is not wanting, but wanting the best for someone. When real needs are met, generous feelings can replace discouragement, isolation, even infidelity. I wrote this book to share what I’ve learned about establishing lasting, deep same-sex relationships.”

Personal Boundaries for Highly Sensitive People: A Simple Practice for Self-Care in Times of Conflict

Grace Kerina

ASIN B0BQZMCMC6

Author’s statement: “This handy guide offers a system for developing personal boundary skills so that they surface as a lifeline in times of need. For years, I worked to overcome the feeling that I could either be myself or interact with people, but not both at the same time. When friends and clients started complimenting my boundaries and asking me for help with their own, I took a closer look at the process I had developed organically. The result is the system proposed in this book.”

Slow down and ease: Relieve stress and tension

Bob Van Oosterhout

ISBN 978-0-9707781-1-6

Author’s statement: “I was a highly stressed type A person in my early 20s. As a psychologist, I realized that I had to come together to help other people. A former professor with whom I had a 20-year relationship constantly challenged me to discern the basic, core principles of what was effective in my work. I was asked to develop a stress management course for the nursing program at the college where I worked and taught the class for 38 years. As I wrote Slow down and ease upI have tried to use clear, simple terms to describe the main components of what has always been useful not only to me, but also to the clients, students and seminar participants I have had the honor of serving over the past 50 years.’

memoirs

Burnout Diaries: How Work Stress Almost Killed Me

Gianna Donovan

ISBN 978-1-73757-651-8

Author’s statement: “I wrote this book to show how we survive the hard times and dark periods brought about by work. It goes much deeper into my life than I ever planned. I was ashamed that readers would see my despair, my hidden fear that I was falling apart, and the doubts I had about whether I would ever survive the experience. After 15 years of reflection, earning a master’s degree in counseling psychology, and realizing that my story could help someone else, I was ready to share my personal, painful journey.”

Construction tales, vol. I: A Woman’s Journey to Becoming an Electrician

Leslie M. Jasper

ASIN B00FBJ9GVE

Author’s statement: “Put on your work boots and put on your hard hat. Let me take you on a dusty journey to see what it’s like to work in the construction industry. The work is hard, the environment is unforgiving, and the job site can be extremely hot or cold. Over 29 years ago, I stepped into a male-dominated work environment. Despite the lack of a warm hug, I made my way into this world to learn the trade. This book encourages women and minorities to overcome any doubts and pursue exactly what they want in life.”

The Struggle: 10 Years Later

Brian Storm

ASIN B0BGSRNDMX

Author’s statement: “As a recovering addict and alcoholic, I’ve learned that helping others is what helps me stay clean and sober. So I wrote this story to try to help other addicts and alcoholics. But I wanted to take it a step further and write it in a way that could help non-addicts understand why addicts behave the way they do.”

A fabrication

Sacred parrot

Angel A.

ISBN 978-0-9876222-5-9

Author’s statement: “This novel is the product of decades of research on the subject of personal growth or awakening explored through science and spirituality. The two are often portrayed as being in conflict. Sacred parrot unites the disciplines in a harmonious vision for the emerging Age of Aquarius.

Lulu the Beaver

Bethany Gano

ISBN 978-1-73614-726-9

Author’s statement: “Lulu is trying to be a typical beaver, but her dream of being an artist has come true!” Despite the encouragement of her friends, Lulu’s struggle with fear and self-doubt has led her to a pattern of destroying her artwork—until an unexpected encounter changes Lulu and the forest forever. The truth is, Lulu is me. I’ve been creating art and design for over 20 years, but never shared it publicly before I started Lulu’s crowdfunding (Kickstarter) campaign. Lulu’s story helps children rethink their thinking – that it matters who they are and what they have to share. A lot.”