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Be Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
How Not to Fuck Up Your Kids offers twelve practical “cheat codes” to help parents strengthen relationships with their children while examining how their own childhood experiences shape the way they parent. How did your experience as a therapist shape the advice you wanted to give parents and caregivers?
Before I was a therapist, I was a client myself. That’s how I shape my delivery of information as a clinician and as an author. I try my best to be aware of how best to convey information to others that is accurate and conscious of the intersectionality of their identities. I feel that therapists and clinicians can become so used to speaking with other professionals that the crux of information can be lost when speaking to someone without that level of insight or education. It my opinion, I think it is beneficial, when able, to reflect on your position in a relationship. All adults were once kids, professionals were once students, and the knowledge we have gathered over the years was not always ours.
How can adults recognize when they’re reacting to something from their own past rather than simply responding to what’s happening with their child, and what does breaking an unhealthy generational pattern actually look like in everyday family life?
I wish there was a quick and simple answer to give, but it takes time and practice. Someone has to be willing to be comfortable with being uncomfortable for a time. It may not feel good to realize that as a caregiver, you are reacting to your own past rather than what is happening in front of you. The truth is that it may happen and the kiddo in your life may not understand. Which is why I included child cheats like “say. you’re. fucking. sorry” and “ask for help”. Those two cheats, as an example, are so very important in breaking generational traumas and patterns. By being able to take accountability with genuine compassion for the injured party and a plan of action to improve can do wonders for repairing a relationship at any age.
Why is a parent’s ability to regulate their own emotions so important when helping a child manage theirs, and what can parents do when they recognize that they’re too angry or overwhelmed to handle a situation constructively?
Parents and caregivers are a child’s first teacher. For much of their developmental years, a child looks to their caregivers for how to navigate the world at large and their internal world. Emotions can feel large and unwieldy as an adult with a better handle on language and autonomy. However, a small human may feel entirely overwhelmed and lack the ability to accurately convey what they are experiencing and why. No one can learn while they are highly dysregulated. Similarly, when someone is drowning, that is not the time to teach them to swim.
What would you say to a parent who reads this book and realizes they’ve already made some of the mistakes you describe?
I would tell them that’s good! Not the mistakes bit, but the fact that they realized it and want to make changes. That’s one of the hardest bits and I hope they are proud of themselves. I would let them know that there are plenty of people who have made mistakes mentioned in the book and that’s in part why I wrote it. I would remind them they aren’t alone and there is a community ready and willing to help!
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Inside the book, I share some of my personal experiences that fostered growth in my own process. Let’s face it: you never outgrow your inner child, and they need some love from the adult version of you! That’s why this book is also full of helpful information that you can use to process any lingering wounds from your own childhood while you pave the way for a brighter future for your kiddo at the same time. I have hand-selected the latest science in both child psychology and neuroscience to ground the material in real-life situations with advice that actually works. With plenty of field notes from my years in the helping profession, it is appropriate for children and their parents to grow alongside each other for helpful, down-to-earth tips.
Love Conquers All
Stephen Vincent’s Love Conquers All is a personal memoir about his marriage to Guadalupe, a Mexican doctor whose warmth, determination, and love of dancing fill these pages. Their story begins with a connection between South Carolina and Guadalajara, and Vincent brings an infectious sense of wonder to the experience of falling in love across languages and cultures. An English-Spanish dictionary becomes an essential companion, and family members have plenty to say about the developing romance. There’s humor in the awkwardness of communication and tenderness in the attention the couple pays to each other. From the beginning, the book invites you into a marriage shaped by affection, Christian faith, and a willingness to build a life together through whatever comes their way.
One of the book’s pleasures is how clearly Vincent’s personality comes through. He tells stories with the enthusiasm of someone sitting across the table, remembering one detail and then reaching for another. His Southern expressions, playful asides, and open delight in his wife give the writing an intimate, spoken quality. The storytelling sometimes circles back to familiar declarations of love, and its pace follows the associations of memory. That repetition also makes his priorities unmistakable: he wants you to understand how much this woman means to him. Guadalupe emerges through her dancing, her medical knowledge, her devotion to family, and her work helping people in the Hispanic community. Those details give her a presence beyond the couple’s romance. You can see why Vincent takes such pride in her generosity and drive.
The accounts of illness and caregiving give the memoir its strongest emotional weight. Vincent pays close attention to the practical demands of care: appointments, supplies, unfamiliar equipment, interrupted sleep, and the effort of learning what another person needs. These passages make the marriage vows feel specific and lived. He also shares the fear, frustration, and exhaustion that accompany the work, which gives his expressions of commitment substance. Christian belief runs through the whole book, with Scripture appearing frequently as a source of reassurance, guidance, and reflection. Readers who turn to faith during difficult seasons will find much that speaks their language here. The most affecting moments connect that faith to an ordinary action, showing how a conviction becomes a decision to stay close, listen carefully, or take on another responsibility.
The photographs, Guadalupe’s handwritten words, and contributions from the couple’s daughters deepen the sense that you’re being welcomed into a family’s own record of its life. They let other voices join Vincent’s and give the book the personal texture of a keepsake shared with readers. Its appeal rests in that closeness, along with its direct account of what sustained attention to a spouse can involve. For readers drawn to Christian memoirs, cross-cultural relationships, or the daily realities of caregiving, there’s plenty here to consider and carry into their own lives. Vincent’s affection is expressed so freely that it encourages you to think about how you show yours, and how often you make it visible. In Love Conquers All, a marriage vow becomes a thousand daily acts of courage and care.
Pages: 210 | ASIN : B0G7R9JQW7
How Not to F*ck Up Your Kids
Amira Bundy’s How Not to Fuck Up Your Kids is a parenting guide built around the everyday work of listening, managing emotions, and repairing relationships. Bundy draws on her experience as a therapist to organize that work into twelve “cheat codes,” followed by a bonus chapter on hope. Her central idea is straightforward: children need adults who take their feelings seriously, explain expectations clearly, and accept responsibility for their own behavior. The subtitle gives the book another layer, inviting parents to consider how their childhood experiences influence the way they respond to their kids. There’s plenty of swearing, humor, and encouragement, all delivered in a voice that feels distinctly personal.
The book is most engaging when Bundy shows what these ideas look like in an actual interaction. In one memorable story, a child named Holly, whose behavior includes intense outbursts and aggression, begins practicing calming skills through an evening ritual of sharing tea with Bundy. The details give the advice weight: connection develops through patience, curiosity, and repeated opportunities to try again. Another story follows a teenager attempting to teach Bundy chess. When he admits he’s exhausted by the effort, she accepts his boundary with laughter and reassurance. These scenes make the book’s emphasis on mutual respect easy to understand. Its practical suggestions are equally concrete, including getting down to a child’s eye level, allowing time to answer a question, and returning to a difficult conversation after everyone has had a chance to settle.
Bundy’s voice supplies much of the book’s energy. She’s candid about her own difficult childhood, her frustrations, and the moments when she needs help regulating herself. Those disclosures make her emphasis on accountability feel earned, particularly in the chapter on apologies, where she connects saying sorry with taking specific steps to change a behavior. The writing is expansive, and the chapters frequently return to the same ideas about communication, patience, and emotional safety. Some personal tangents stretch points that are already clear, so the pace can feel uneven. Still, the short chapter summaries make it easy to revisit a particular concern, and the research references offer avenues for further reading. The closing therapist checklists add practical value, covering everything from professional fit and respectful treatment to scheduling, payment, and questions caregivers can bring to a consultation.
I recommend this book to parents and caregivers who feel caught in repeated arguments and want to build more trust with the children in their lives. It may be especially meaningful for adults who grew up with harsh discipline, emotional dismissal, or caregivers who struggled to apologize. Bundy gives those readers room to acknowledge what hurt while asking them to take responsibility for what happens next. Parents of school-age children and teenagers will recognize many of the situations she describes, from shifting interests to secrecy, boundary testing, and increasing independence. Readers who enjoy frequent profanity and a direct, sometimes challenging conversational style will connect most readily with her approach. What stayed with me was her attention to the small exchanges that shape a relationship: listening to an excited story, honoring a limit, admitting a mistake, and showing up again with a little more care.
Pages: 339 | ISBN: 979-8-218-63888-7
Pizza Dog Annie’s Guide to Wellness
Pizza Dog Annie’s Guide to Wellness, by Alex Charns, is a warm, candid blend of memoir, humor, and practical guidance. Narrated by Annie, a German shepherd and husky mix, the book follows Charns’s recovery after hospitalization for major depression with psychotic features. Annie’s lively perspective makes difficult subjects approachable while establishing the bond between dog and owner as the book’s emotional center. Her declaration, “I rescued Alex and the whole family,” neatly captures the reversal on which the narrative is built.
Across twenty-six compact chapters, Charns presents wellness as a collection of mutually reinforcing habits. Walking, medication, talk therapy, meditation, sleep, faith, friendship, reading, volunteer work, political participation, and gratitude all contribute to a balanced life. The book’s structure reflects this philosophy, moving briskly among personal memories, observations, photographs, and Annie’s comic complaints. Her demands for walks, games of fetch, and generous portions of dog treats give the narrative an appealing rhythm and keep its advice grounded in daily experience.
The book gains depth from Charns’s account of intergenerational trauma. His mother’s childhood in Nazi-occupied Poland, her later struggles with post-traumatic stress, and his own early encounters with Holocaust history illuminate the fears that shaped his family. Charns writes with particular honesty about psychosis, suicidal thoughts, sleep deprivation, and the stigma surrounding psychiatric hospitalization. The chapters on treatment and family support are direct and humane, presenting recovery as sustained work supported by professional care, meaningful routines, and personal relationships.
Annie’s humor gives the book its distinctive personality, but its strongest quality is the sincerity beneath the jokes. Charns’s affection for his dog becomes a way of expressing gratitude for the people, practices, and communities that helped restore his health. When Annie defines canine devotion by saying, “That is the power of the dog. Love. Love. And more love,” the line also summarizes the book’s central conviction. Concise, intimate, and encouraging, Pizza Dog Annie’s Guide to Wellness offers an accessible portrait of recovery rooted in companionship, purposeful activity, and care.
Pages: 78 | ASIN : B0H699ML1N
Reawaken: Finding Hope, Purpose, and Joy Through Life’s Unexpected Journey
Reawaken is Richard E. Poulin III’s account of how his family’s adventurous, carefully planned life changed after his daughter, Rylae-Ann, developed unexplained medical episodes. Poulin begins with his and his wife Judy’s multicultural childhoods, teaching careers, and years of travel before moving into the book’s central story: their search for the cause of Rylae-Ann’s symptoms. That search leads to a diagnosis of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency, an extraordinarily rare genetic disorder, and eventually to an experimental gene therapy trial in Taiwan. The result is part family memoir, part medical odyssey, and part caregiver field guide.
Poulin writes with an open, personable voice that suits the story well. He’s candid about fear, denial, exhaustion, financial pressure, and even the envy he felt while watching other families celebrate milestones that seemed unreachable for his daughter. His humor keeps those admissions from becoming overwhelming, whether he’s describing airport mishaps, hospital bureaucracy, or therapy sessions conducted over Rylae-Ann’s enthusiastic protests. Judy emerges as the family’s steady engine, while relatives, caregivers, educators, clinicians, and researchers gradually form the wider “Team Rylae.” That attention to collective effort gives the memoir much of its warmth.
The book is especially affecting when it concentrates on small, observable changes. Rylae-Ann sitting independently, selecting a picture in a familiar book, throwing a fork, speaking her first words, and taking a few unsteady steps carry more emotional force than broad statements about perseverance. Poulin’s background as an educator also gives the later chapters practical substance. His discussions of scaffolding, play, sleep, communication supports, and the family’s caregiver lifestyle framework show how therapy became part of ordinary routines. Brief sidebars on medicine, science, history, travel, and culture add context, though their frequency and the repetition of a few motivational ideas occasionally slow the story’s momentum.
I recommend Reawaken to parents and caregivers of children with rare diseases, disabilities, or developmental delays. They’ll recognize the difficult decisions, relentless research, improvised routines, and strange mix of grief and celebration that can shape caregiving. Educators, therapists, healthcare professionals, and rare-disease advocates will also find a useful reminder that families bring vital knowledge to clinical and educational partnerships. Above all, this is a hopeful account of a child gaining access to movement, language, learning, and a fuller life, and of a family turning that experience into advocacy for others.
Pages: 291 | ASIN : B0HB2NQP28
Decoding Genius: The Unexpected Lessons of After-School Chess Club
Decoding Genius is an engaging exploration of chess as a training ground for memory, strategy, resilience, preparation, and self-belief. Dan Shapiro approaches the game as both a curious newcomer and a devoted father, using his son Harry’s experience in after-school chess club as the doorway into a much larger story. The book moves with the shape of a chess match, from opening to middle game to endgame, while introducing readers to the history, personalities, and intellectual habits that have made chess compelling for more than a thousand years.
Shapiro has a gift for making big ideas feel personal and easy to grasp. His portraits of figures such as Miguel Najdorf, the Polgár sisters, Garry Kasparov, and Adriaan de Groot bring chess genius down from the clouds and show the practice, pattern recognition, discipline, and emotional control behind extraordinary performance. He also reaches beyond the chessboard, drawing memorable connections to music, engineering, boxing, aviation, magic, and artificial intelligence. These stories give the book its momentum and make its lessons useful even for readers who’ve never played a serious game.
The heart of the book is the relationship between Shapiro and Harry. What begins as a father trying to understand and support his twice-exceptional child becomes a warm account of shared discovery, growth, and changing roles. Shapiro writes candidly about his own struggles as a beginner, the fatigue and frustration of tournaments, and the strange joy of watching a child become better than his parent. Harry’s voice, especially near the end, gives the book humor, clarity, and emotional weight. His belief that improvement comes from practice, determination, and patience captures the book’s central idea without making it sound like a lecture.
Decoding Genius is ultimately a thoughtful invitation to see chess as more than a pastime. It presents the game as an accessible laboratory for learning how to think, prepare, recover, focus, and act with greater agency. Parents will find plenty to consider here, but the book’s appeal reaches anyone interested in how ability grows and how excellence is built one deliberate move at a time. Decoding Genius turns the chessboard into a map of human potential, showing that brilliance isn’t a mystery to admire but a practice we can begin.
Pages: 138 | ASIN : B0H46YFYN9
JAD: A Poem
JAD: A Poem, by James Richard Hansen, is a slim, intensely devotional book-length poem arranged around seven relational roles: Father, Mother, Brother, Child, Teacher, Lover, and Friend. The collection reads like one long act of gratitude toward a beloved figure, moving through scenes of protection, memory, spiritual rescue, childhood wonder, romantic recognition, and friendship. Its emotional center is love as shelter: the father tucking a child beneath a “canopy of lavender lace,” the mother pulling her from the path of a reckless car, the friend guiding the speaker out of self-made shadows, and the recurring rose imagery that turns vulnerability into something luminous and defended.
Hansen’s best moments have a clear, almost prayerlike stillness, especially when he writes about the daughter as “living poetry” or imagines connection as “liquid light.” Those images could feel sentimental in another context, but here they feel sincere because the speaker returns to them with such emotional consistency. The book isn’t interested in irony or restraint. It’s open-hearted, sometimes almost startlingly so, and I respected that. There’s a rare earnestness in the way it treats love as a sacred obligation rather than a mood.
At times, the spiritual language leans on familiar phrases about God, light, dreams, and the Self. Still, the repetition begins to create its own atmosphere. The poems keep circling the same questions: How do we protect someone without possessing them? How do we survive pain without letting it harden us? How does love become both refuge and instruction? I was especially drawn to the later “Friend” section, where the walk through the forest deepens into a confrontation with fatigue, escape, and renewal. The speaker’s movement toward the farewell-to-spring flower feels quiet and earned.
I felt that JAD is less a conventional poetry collection than a sustained private offering, intimate, reverent, and emotionally unguarded. Its strength lies in its faith in tenderness, in the belief that human bonds can become a kind of spiritual architecture strong enough to shelter a damaged life. I’d recommend it to readers who appreciate devotional poetry, reflective love poems, and work that values sincerity over polish, especially those drawn to writing about family, healing, faith, and the redemptive force of deep companionship.
Pages: 64 | ISBN : 978-1418493332
The Fragility of Nature
The Falcon and the Songbird follows a girl coming of age in Texas whose private world is overtaken by the aftermath of Kennedy’s assassination, racial injustice, land greed, and the fight to protect a fragile natural habitat. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I was fifteen and going to school in a small Texas town the day JFK was assassinated. It was the most devastating, shocking, unthinkable thing that had ever happened to me. Like April, I grew up loving nature and animals. At the time, I was not very sensitive to the fragility of nature, and I was also rather indifferent about racial injustice. It was only gradually, and later in life, that these subjects became important to me.
April feels both innocent and perceptive. How did you develop her voice?
I wanted to capture how a girl sees things and people around her as she is growing up. I started writing this novel several decades ago (!) and so I was able to put down my own feelings and memories.
How did you approach writing about the social and political tensions of the early 1960s?
Surprisingly, many people born after around 1970 are unaware, or even ignorant of the social and political upheavals of the 60’s. I wanted to weave this into the story in a way that people could relate to.
What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?
I am too busy at present getting this book “out there” to be thinking about my next book.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
A rare bird nests exclusively in the Texas Hill Country, and Clay, a sensitive young biologist, is determined to save it from extinction. He gets assistance from April, who finds herself increasingly drawn to him, even though she has long determined that she will never end up like the other adult women around her.
