Book Review - The Queen's Council #2 Feather and Flame

About the Book

In Mulan Feather and Flame the war is over. Now a renowned hero, Mulan spends her days in her home village, training a militia of female warriors. The peace is a welcome one, and she knows it must be protected.

When Shang arrives with an invitation to the Imperial City, Mulan’s relatively peaceful life is upended once more. The aging emperor decrees that Mulan will be his heir to the throne. Such unimagined power and responsibility terrifies her, but who can say no to the Emperor?

As Mulan ascends into the halls of power, it becomes clear that not everyone is on her side. Her ministers undermine her, and the Huns sense a weakness in the throne. When hints of treachery appear even amongst those she considers friends, Mulan has no idea whom she can trust.

But the Queen’s Council helps Mulan uncover her true destiny. With renewed strength and the wisdom of those that came before her, Mulan will own her power, save her country, and prove once again that, crown or helmet, she was always meant to lead. This fierce reimagining of the girl who became a warrior blends fairy-tale lore and real history with a Disney twist.

My Take on the Book
This was a fun new way to look at Mulan and the power she holds in empowering other women and working with them to fight. Beyond this though, she has to look to take over as Empress of China and deal with all that this means. She has to manage political power and people that are not in favor of her role and figure out who she can trust, which is not an easy task. Overall, this was an amazing story and for anyone that loves Mulan, you will also love this book! Highly recommend to all!

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Book Review - Are We Lost Yet?

About the Book
Get ready to meet new friends in Book 4 of the beautifully illustrated escapades of Wallace the Brave. Readers will be delighted with tales of friendship, discovery, and adventure.

Are We There Yet is Book 4 in the wonderfully imaginative Wallace The Brave series and it introduces an expanded and more diverse cast, including the dynamic, fan-favorite Rose, who gives Wallace a run for his money in kickball competitions, aquatic explorations, and other adventures. Together with Rose, Spud, Amelia, and the rest of their friends, Wallace enjoys a lifestyle of mischief, exploration, (and yes, school) that will thrill middle-grade readers while reminding their parents of the carefree, nostalgic appeal of Calvin & Hobbes and other classic comics.

My Take on the Book
I have been a fan of the Wallace the Brave books in the past and this one is no different! I love the characters and the adventures that they have together. As you read this, you will definitely connect well with the characters (as I know I did) and you will get lost in the imagery and story! Get ready to fall in love with this book!

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Book Review - From Conflict to Courage: How to Stop Avoiding and Start Leading

About the Book
Unresolved conflict is workplace kryptonite. Learn how to develop the mindset and skills to defuse disagreements, overcome division, and turn conflict into an opportunity for growth.

Unresolved workplace conflict wastes time, increases stress, and negatively affects business outcomes. But conflict isn’t the problem, mismanagement is.

Leaders unintentionally mismanage conflict when they fall into patterns of what Marlene Chism calls “the Three As:” aggression, avoidance, and appeasing. “These coping mechanisms are ways human beings avoid the emotions that come with conflict, but in the end it’s all avoidance,” says Chism. In this book she shows how to fearlessly deal with conflict head-on by expanding your conflict capacity.

Conflict capacity is a combination of three elements. The foundation is the Inner Game—the leader’s self-awareness, values, discernment, and emotional integrity. The Outer Game is the skills, tools, and communication techniques built on that foundation. Finally, there’s Culture—the visible and invisible structures around you that can encourage or discourage conflict.

Chism offers exercises, examples, and expert guidance on developing all three elements. Leaders will discover techniques to increase leadership clarity, identify obstacles, and reduce resistance. They’ll develop powerful skills for dealing with high-conflict people and for initiating, engaging in, and staying with difficult conversations.

Readers will learn that when they see conflict as a teacher, courageously face it, and continually work on transforming themselves, they can get the resolution they are seeking. They can change minds.

Find out more about From Conflict to Courage How to Stop Avoiding and Start Leading on Amazon

My Take on the Book
It is so important to know how to manage conflict as a leader so you can get the best results possible for your own business. This book has a ton of tools and practical tips that will help all readers to be even better at their jobs. While I can say that I have had these conversations in the past, I can also say that they are not the easiest to have and through reading this book I definitely have gained more confidence in how to have these conversations and have a blueprint ready for the future as these conversations have to happen. I highly recommend this book to all!

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Book Review - Team Emotional Intelligence 2.0: The Four Essential Skills of High Performing Teams

About the Book
As organizations shift to depend more on team-based structures, the pressure to develop high-performing teams is more critical than ever. In the modern work environment, teams are expected to embrace change, navigate complexity, and collaborate well under pressure ―all while delivering exceptional results and forming productive relationships.

While it is crucial to have talented, bright people within a team, there is a dynamic that is even more essential to overall team effectiveness. This dynamic is “Team Emotional Intelligence” (Team EQ). While most people are familiar with emotional intelligence (EQ) when it comes to individuals, the power of how EQ relates to the entire team has not been well-understood until now.

Insights from the latest research on team emotional intelligence and TalentSmartEQ’s research trends from working with over 200 teams (with 2000+ team members) combine to bring EQ know-how to the team level. Team Emotional Intelligence 2.0 delivers practical strategies and showcases how an emotionally intelligent team is far more than the sum of its parts. This book focuses on the four key skill areas of Team EQ: Team Emotion Awareness, Team Emotion Management, Internal Team Relationships, and External Team Relationships, and it delivers 53 strategies and a step-by-step process for increasing team EQ skills so team leaders and anyone who’s a member of a team can achieve peak performance and reach their goals.

Dr. Greaves, Evan Watkins, and their contributing team of experts begin with a life and death story of team failure that illustrates how emotions can drive team decisions and lead to disaster. They share a proven approach to helping teams understand Team EQ skills, build these skills into strengths, and use them to sustain positive momentum and achieve peak performance. Strategies for remote and hybrid teams working virtually offer targeted approaches to bonding, communicating, tough conversations, and decision making as modern workplaces transform. Like she did with the best-selling Emotional Intelligence 2.0 (at 2 million copies sold and counting), Dr. Greaves and her team take complex concepts and translate them into easy-to-understand skills that can be used immediately and developed further over time. As organizations increasingly rely on getting work done through teams, the understanding and development of team EQ skills is more relevant and impactful than ever.

My Take on the Book
This book is definitely something I wish that I had early on in my career. There have been times in my career when I was told I needed more EQ and I did not know what that meant. This book lays that out for everyone in an easy to digest manner. If you are a manager and work with a team you need this book to get you moving in the right direction so you can get the most out of your team and create a powerful culture and environment for all! The book is practical and loaded with so much that you can add into your daily routine. Highly recommend!

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Book Review - The Last Mapmaker

About the Book

From Christina Soontornvat, the visionary and versatile author of two 2021 Newbery Honor Books comes The Last Mapmaker, a high-seas adventure set in a Thai-inspired fantasy world.

In a fantasy adventure every bit as compelling and confident in its world building as her Newbery Honor Book A Wish in the Dark, Christina Soontornvat explores a young woman’s struggle to unburden herself of the past and chart her own destiny in a world of secrets. As assistant to Mangkon’s most celebrated mapmaker, twelve-year-old Sai plays the part of a well-bred young lady with a glittering future. In reality, her father is a conman—and in a kingdom where the status of one’s ancestors dictates their social position, the truth could ruin her. Sai seizes the chance to join an expedition to chart the southern seas, but she isn’t the only one aboard with secrets. When Sai learns that the ship might be heading for the fabled Sunderlands—a land of dragons, dangers, and riches beyond imagining—she must weigh the cost of her dreams. Vivid, suspenseful, and thought-provoking, this tale of identity and integrity is as beautiful and intricate as the maps of old.


My Take on the Book
This is a book that does a great job at talking about harder topics like colonization and discovery while bringing together a diverse set of characters that really allow you to get immersed in an exciting tale that also has a lot of heart. 

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Book Review - It's a Sign!

About the Book
One, Two, Kat, and Four are starting a club, and every member is good at something! Except naming clubs.

If only there were some kind of sign about what their club should be called!

Check out It's a Sign on Amazon!

My Take on the Book
This was another great book by Mo Willems. You get all of your favorite characters in another fun book for kids of all ages!

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Book Review - Sanctuary: Kip Tiernan and Rosie's Place, the Nation's First Shelter for Women

About the Book

Before Kip Tiernan came along, the US had no shelters for women. In Sanctuary - Kip Tiernan and Rosie's Place the Nation's First Shelter for Women, here is the inspirational story of a singular woman and what her vision and compassion have brought to life.

“Justice is not three hots and a cot. Justice is having your own key.”—Kip Tiernan

When Kip Tiernan was growing up during the Great Depression, she’d help her granny feed the men who came to their door asking for help. As Kip grew older, and as she continued to serve food to hungry people, she noticed something peculiar: huddled at the back of serving lines were women dressed as men. At the time, it was believed that there were no women experiencing homelessness. And yet Kip would see women sleeping on park benches and searching for food in trash cans. Kip decided to open the first shelter for women—a shelter with no questions asked, no required chores, just good meals and warm beds. With persistence, Kip took on the city of Boston in her quest to open Rosie's Place, our nation's first shelter for women.

Christine McDonnell, a former educator at Rosie’s Place, and illustrator Victoria Tentler-Krylov bring warmth to Kip Tiernan's story of humanity and tenacity, showing readers how one person's dream can make a huge difference, and small acts of kindness can lead to great things.


My Take on the Book
This is an amazing story about an amazing woman who created a sanctuary for homeless women as well as the Greater Boston Food Bank. This was an amazing story and an amazing woman that stood up for so many for so many years and made the world around her that much better.

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Book Review - Linked: Conquer LinkedIn. Get Your Dream Job. Own Your Future

About the Book

In Linked Conquer LinkedIn. Get Your Dream Job. Own Your Future, you get the LinkedIn insider's guide to how the new job search really works—and how to make it work for you.

No one disputes that LinkedIn is the world's biggest job market. So it's about time that someone with the inside scoop explained how to make the most of it. Here, from two LinkedIn experts and former employees, is the definitive guide that demystifies the massive site and gives every reader—from the newly minted college graduate to the midlife career-changer—the most important strategies to win the modern job search game.

Clear, lively, and decidedly practical, Linked shows how to burnish your personal brand so recruiters come to you. Tap the power of the network effect and turn anyone into an invaluable referral. Think like employers and focus your profile to get noticed, get considered, and get hired. And game both the search algorithm and Applicant Tracking Systems used by nearly every employer in every economic sector.

The result: not just a great job, but the future of your dreams.


My Take on the Book
This is an amazing book that really explores the power of LinkedIn and how this technology can help you to truly expand your job search and your overall career. As someone that has used LinkedIn for years, this book really showed me how much I didn't know about the power of the tool. As someone that works with many young adults I found this to be an amazing resource that I know I will continue to draw from to teach others too! 

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Book Review - Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea

About the Book

For fans of Rebecca Stead and Ali Benjamin comes the poignant yet hopeful novel, Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea, which is about grief from Ashley Herring Blake, the award-winning author of Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World—now in paperback!

Hazel Bly used to have the perfect family. But when a kayaking trip goes horribly wrong, Mum is suddenly gone forever and Hazel is left with a jagged scar on her face. After Mum's death, Hazel, her other mother, Mama, and her little sister Peach needed a fresh start. So for the last two years, the Bly girls have lived all over the country. They travel from town to town, never settling anywhere for more than a few months or so.

But when the family comes to the town of Rose Harbor, Maine, a small fog-draped beach town full of roses and rocks, Hazel senses a wildness to it that feels like magic. And when Mama runs into an old childhood friend Claire, suddenly Hazel's tight-knit world is infiltrated. To make it worse, she has a daughter Hazel's age, Lemon, who can't stop rambling on and on about the Rose Maid, a local myth a hundred and fifty years old about how a local girl was so heartbroken she turned into a mermaid.

Soon, Hazel finds herself just as obsessed with the Rose Maid as Lemon is—because what if magic were real? What if grief really could change you so much, you weren't even yourself anymore? What if instead you emerged from the darkness stronger than before?


My Take on the Book
This is a great book from an author that really allows you to feel the emotions of the characters as you hold on for the wild ride that is this book. The book is a heartfelt story that really looks at grief and how someone can come back from grief to a full life. You are drawn into this story from beginning to end and you will walk with Hazel along the way with every instance that happens. Get ready to experience a myriad of emotions with the main character in this powerful book!

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Book Review - Kids Fight Climate Change

About the Book

Kids can help save planet Earth and in Kids Fight Climate Change readers are presented with positive, climate-focused missions that they can accomplish themselves, all from best-selling author and eco-warrior Martin Dorey.

Our planet is in trouble! But with the help of this book, every kid can be a superhero making a difference. Sixty engaging missions guide readers through making carbon-saving changes in all aspects of their lives, from gardening to gadgets—even a DIY water-saving device for their toilet tank! Aided by lively illustrations, the author weaves crucial climate statistics and helpful resources with stories of positive change already happening, such as the resurgence of the Eurasian beaver due to conservation efforts. Along the way, readers meet other superheroes, both animal and human, who are changing the world too. With advice about speaking up and inspiring others to join in, veteran environmentalist Martin Dorey infuses optimism and encouragement into this essential guide to saving Earth, two minutes at a time.


My Take on the Book
This is a great book that let's kids take control of the environment with activities and missions that they can do themselves. The book is fun and actionable with things that kids can do right away that will make a difference for our planet. This was a very fun book that will definitely help in getting kids invested in the future of our planet! 

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DVD Review - Adventure Time: Distant Lands

About the DVD

Oh My Glob! Get ready embark on a magical journey through the Land of Ooo and beyond when Warner Bros. Home Entertainment brings the Emmy-nominated Max Original, Adventure Time: Distant Lands to Blu-ray and DVD on March 8, 2022.

Binge all four specials from the limited series and explore the unseen corners of their world with characters both familiar and brand-new. Adventure Time: Distant Lands is priced to own on Blu-ray for $19.98 SRP ($24.98 in Canada) and on DVD for $14.98 SRP ($19.98 in Canada).

Based on the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning animated series, Adventure Time, created by Pendleton Ward and executive produced by Adam Muto, Adventure Time is a critically acclaimed series that garnered numerous accolades over its 10 season run on Cartoon Network. Originally airing on HBO Max, Adventure Time: Distant Lands is among the streamer’s most popular original animated series/specials. Adventure Time: Distant Lands is produced by Cartoon Network Studios.

With Blu-ray’s unsurpassed picture and sound, Adventure Time: Distant Lands Blu-ray release will include 1080p Full HD Video with DTS-HD Master Audio for English 5.1. Featuring all 4 episodes in high definition.

My Take on the DVD

I loved the original show so I could not wait to watch this as well. Not only do you get great chracters, but great stories too. This set is definitely worth the time and by the end you will be asking for more (I know I was). The Blu-ray was so much fun and I was laughing so much throughout the entire time. If you are a fan of Adventure Time already or if this is your first time, take the time to check this out for yourself, you will not regret it!!

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