Laughrun, Bette James and Nelson, Kathie. I Want What She’s Got: the Secrets of Creating and Outrageous Life.

With foreword by Brian Klemmer. PCG Legacy. 2011. c127p. illus. bibliog.. ISBN 978-0-826665-8-6. $14.95.

Are you burned- out? Perhaps you feel as if you are living your life in a perpetual holding pattern, your life does not matter, and/or you are waiting to die and have stopped living? Have you settled for less than your dreams or ideal life? Bette Laughrun, a co- author of this book, experienced many of these feelings and thoughts in response to certain situations in which she found herself while mothering five children, being married, enduring various family crises, experiencing a divorce, and pursuing her personal and professional dreams and aspirations. In this self-help publication, Laughrun, founder of a leadership development group that educates faith communities and organizations on how to live healthy lives of contribution, meaning, and purpose (ThePeopleBuilders.com) and manager of a successful nutritional cleansing business, with her daughter Nelson, founder of Connect-works (www.KathieNelson.com), attempt to help readers recharge, re-fire, and revive. They ask women to seek answers to seven crucial questions that will help them create “outrageous” lives, in which they seize their unique potentials and achieve personal and professional growth and success (p. 9). These questions and their answers relate to a woman’s purpose, gift mix, relationships, contribution, self-care, vision, and spirituality. In nine, revealing and inspirational chapters, Laughrun with Nelson describe how they have answered these questions in terms of their own lives and they set forth what they have learned. They also provide readers with additional clarifying questions to answer. The final chapter includes Nelson’s Outrageous Life Assessment as well as an Outrageous Life Design Tool that involves rating aspects of your life, envisioning your own outrageous life, and closing the gap between your perceived and ideal lives. Of interest to women and some general readers, this guide, which includes a list of resources and references its website, is recommended for public library collections. On a personal note, I do not find that the title and subtitle of this book aptly represent its content. The subtitle may indicate this publication’s subject matter to a better extent. However, the word “outrageous” may carry many negative connotations in readers' minds and may not be the best choice. Review copy. Availability: Amazon

Barash, Susan Shapiro. Toxic Friends: the Antidote for Women Stuck in Complicated Friendships.

St. Martin’s Press. 2009. c.288p. photogs. bibliog.. ISBN 978-0-312-38639-9. $24.99.

In this noteworthy study drawing upon popular culture and extensive personal interviews with 200 women of various backgrounds and ages as well as with experts in the fields of psychology and counseling, Barash (Professor, Critical Thinking/Gender Studies, Marymount Manhattan College, 1992- ; M.A., Writing, New York University; B.A., Writing, Sarah Lawrence College; bestselling author of Tripping the Prom Queen; author of eleven books including this one; www.susanshapirobarash.com), a nationally-recognized gender expert, explores the ten types of female friends—the Leader, the Doormat, the Sacrificer, the Misery Lover, the User, the Frenemy, the Trophy Friend, the Mirroring Friend, the Sharer, and the Authentic Friend. She helps women recognize and understand them as well as develop means for assessing them and moving forward with problematic female relationships. Barash accomplishes the aforementioned tasks, by dividing her book into three parts based upon a continuum of types of female friends: female friends that are tolerable, intolerable, and worth keeping. According to the author, most women may be able to tolerate Leaders, Doormats, Sacrificers, and Misery Lovers, while they may decide to ditch Users, Frenemies, and Trophy Friends. Women may keep Mirroring Friends, Sharers, and Authentic Friends. Covering each type of woman friend in a separate chapter, while noting how the types may overlap, Barash sets forth the characteristics of each, first hand accounts of the natures of the type of friend, examples drawn from newspapers, books, and movies, current research, the pros and cons of staying in the type of friendship, and more. Including the questionnaire she administered to her interviewees as well as its percentage results by answer, Barash further references her work with a bibliography. Nicely- presented and sufficiently- well documented, even though it lacks footnotes, an index, and some “characters” are composites, this in-depth exploration of female friendships and useful, self-help guide will interest women readers, students, scholars, and others. Accessible, easy- to- read, with a reader’s guide at the end of the book, and scholarly, it belongs in large, public and undergraduate, academic library book collections. Highly recommended. Review copy. Availability: Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com

Dezsi, Tina and Bandola, Lia. The Power of Women United: Confidence Born of Strength and Wisdom.

The Ultimate Publishing House (TUPH). 2009. 223p. illus. ISBN 978-0-9819398-1-0. $34.97.

Did you know that (according to Catalyst research and advisory group) women comprise 46% of the North American workforce, but they occupy only 6% of the highest-paying positions in the largest 500 companies? While there may be many explanations for this phenomenon, the causes ultimately may be rooted in the fact that many women face unique challenges in their professional and personal lives that involve balancing their many professional and personal responsibilities within environments that were created by and developed for men. Here Dezsi and Bandola, business founders of the Canadian women’s networking organization The Power of Women Exchange (POWE; http://www.powe.ca), compile inspirational, self-help essays written by twenty, successful, entrepreneurial women as well as themselves who forged their own paths. Working in many different business fields including bookkeeping, business training, communications, consulting, direct sales, event planning, health industries, information technology, legal services, marketing, personal coaching, and real estate investing, contributors share their unique stories as well as impart advice to readers. In their concise and nicely written contributions, they cover diverse topics of interest to women, not limited to adopting positive body language, building powerful relationships, capitalizing upon one’s value, developing confidence, discovering one’s true self and passion, dressing for success, earning respect, embracing change, finding mentors and role models, following one’s dreams, juggling work and family lives, moving beyond one’s comfort zone, networking, overcoming fear, public speaking, utilizing technology in the pursuit of success, and more. Each chapter is ended by a one-page biography about its author and a black-and-white photograph of her. Contributors’ biographies include references to their authors’ businesses and websites. Intended as a “reference guide” for women as well as “a source of motivation and encouragement,” this book provides a lot of practical information, many tools, and valuable advice. It is highly recommended for women entrepreneurs as well as for others. A worthwhile purchase for many public libraries in the United States and Canada—C. A. Lajos