Running on Empty No More: Transform Your Relationships With Your Partner, Your Parents, and Your Children Book Review

When dealing with a problem, the first step is to name it. The second step is to do the work to resolve problem. Comparatively speaking, step is one is considerably easier than step two. But if we are put the issue in the rear view mirror, there is only one option: we have to face our demons.

The 2017 book, Running on Empty No More: Transform Your Relationships With Your Partner, Your Parents and Your Children, by Dr. Jonice Webb, is the follow up to her 2012 book, Running on Empty. Extending the methods and conversations in the first book, Dr. Webb explores how those suffering from CEN (Childhood Emotional Neglect) can work through their issues with three distinct and important people in our lives: our spouses/romantic partners, our parents, and our children.

Getting to the heart of CEN, Dr. Webb is able to walk the reader through the difficult process of being up front about what is holding them back. She is also encourages them to be open with their loved ones about their feelings and begin the process of healing.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

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Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields Book Review

The perception of women is that we are caregivers and nurturers. The want or need to kill another person is not in our nature.

Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields, by Wendy Lower, was published in 2014. In the book, Lower puts the spotlight on a group of women who were responsible for the murder of Jews and other minority groups looked upon as “subhuman”. Some of those profiled worked in clerical positions, others took profound glee in being able to say that they had a direct hand in the killings.

I have to admit that I had trouble reading the book. Not because it is poorly written, but because of the subject matter. It is chilling to think that these women had blood on their hands, but went home to their families and children as if they had ordinary jobs. The reason the Nazis were able to stay in power and do what they did because of ordinary people who supported them. It is a lesson that is as profound today as it was in the 1940’s.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

The Art of Inventing Hope: Intimate Conversations with Elie Wiesel Book Review

There is something about a shared life experience. Instead of small talking and playing the “getting to know you” game, there is an immediate understanding and shorthand between those who share said experiences.

In 2019, journalist Howard Reich published his memoir about his friendship with the late Holocaust survivor and writer Elie Wiesel. It is entitled The Art of Inventing Hope: Intimate Conversations with Elie Wiesel. Reich, whose parents both survived the Holocaust, sat down with Wiesel for what was supposed to be a standard interview. Instead of it being a one-and-done experience, Reich and Wiesel became friends and were in frequent contact with each other during the latter’s last four years of life.

This book is excellent. Though Reich and Wiesel have an innate grasp of each other, it is not so exclusive the reader cannot feel like they are part of the conversation. What I liked about the memoir is that one does not have to be a 2G or 3G (the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors) to understand that trauma can be transferred to younger generations. What is important is that the story is told and spoken of in such a manner that shows that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Do I recommend it? Yes.