Zethra Rezanu: The Hollow Throne by The Architect
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fast paced science fiction novels are one of my preferred genres to get lost in a different world of fantasy and extra-terrestrial experiences. These stories enable the reader to create our own worlds and live vicariously through the characters featured in the book. So I was naturally drawn to the Book One of the Zethra Rezanu Saga, titled Zethra Rezanu: The Hollow Throne by The Architect. This relatively short 89-page novel is written in an easy-to-read language which captures the reader’s attention from the beginning. Short enough to finish in one session the novel takes one on an interesting journey through different worlds, mythology, and a liberal dose of fantasy.
The book starts off with the reader getting teleported to a different galaxy ruled by Queen Vaelrith, where alien species walked. The character description of the Queen is vivid and conjures the image of royalty. “She stood on a terrace of shaped starlight, her robes woven from nebulae and mirrored silk, each thread singing a different age. Her face was carved with impossible symmetry, beauty refined until it became inhuman. Her golden eyes did not blink. Her hair did not stir in the false wind,” writes The Architect enumerating the regality of the ruling class in the alternate galaxy.
The overall premise of the story is to reiterate the fact that empires often are forgotten due to the persuasive nature of enemy propaganda rather than their military might. Much like how many of the ancient civilizations on this planet have now been forgotten due to systematic narrative setting and propaganda. The book depicts the struggle for truth and survival of several characters Master Aikedu, Hymedall, and the fierce Zarkeeth.
I enjoyed the writing style and vivid descriptions of memory, battles, character building, and action sequences. This story also puts into full display that it is possible to rewrite history and make the actual truth questionable. I don’t want to present more of the story here and spoil the enjoyment of reading this novel. The Hollow Throne is definitely worth reading, and a must for those fans of science fiction and space age storytelling, and adventure spanning different galaxies.

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Engaging, Fun, Challenging, and Memorable Puzzle Book

Classic Baby Boomer TV Shows – The 50’s – 90’s! Crossword Puzzle Book for Adults and Seniors by Marty Goodrich. 131pp

As far back as I can remember I have been a huge fan of word games including but not limited to crossword puzzles, word search, jumble, scrabble, etc. When I was in high school the crossword was the first section I read in the daily newspaper. Solving crosswords helped me improve my vocabulary, learn new phrases, and become more aware of current affairs.

I recently came across the Crossword Puzzle Book for Adults and Seniors by Marty Goodrich and decided to dive back into word games like before. This 131-page volume features over 50 crossword puzzles all based on popular television shows like I love Lucy, Leave it to the Beaver, The Twilight Zone, Law and Order, The brady bunch, Dynasty, Baywatch, Seinfeld, and many more. Divided into decades, the book features a small introduction about the time period followed by puzzles based on the most iconic TV shows of that era. “Our goal is to celebrate the iconic shows and entertainers who left a lasting impact, allowing you to relieve cherished memories and perhaps discover new favorites along the way,” writes Goodrich introducing the volume.

The last section of the book features solutions to each of the crosswords. There is also a link to reach for bonus sections of the book. Overall this book is an excellent way to pass time, improve language skills, and I’d say ideal for a long flight journey or for a lazy afternoon by the beach.

Tale of Losing and Finding Love

Mending a Broken Heart by Michelle Wilson; 162pp.

There are thousands of romance novels that feature the stories of young lovers and their intense feelings of attachment, and anticipation, even as they navigate the world from adolescence into adulthood. The challenges they face as they vigorously attempt to balance blooming careers, intensifying love, while fighting distractions of the world. Mending a Broken Heart by Michelle Wilson is one such story featuring the main characters, Isabelle and James, college students of medicine and literature respectively.

The book starts off with a passionate interlude between the two at a bar where each is celebrating the culmination of college assignments. Their connection is instantaneous and chemistry passionate leading to Isabelle dreaming about a long loving future with James. Unfortunately, James suddenly decides to drop out of university and go home with no explanation, leaving Isabelle heartbroken and shocked.

Devastated Isabelle recedes into studies for some time and ventures back into dating on the urging of her best friend Millie, only to encounter disappointment. She then decides to rebuild her life and focuses on her education and builds a strong career as a doctor.

Fate has other plans and Isabelle encounters James once again, as a patient in the hospital. Old feelings resurface and after several deep conversations, and months of slow traditional dates James pops the question.

This book has several loose ends and plot interruptions, and typesetting is amateurish at best. I wish the author paid more attention to closing the loose ends before completing the book and also use a professional company to design and layout the book properly. The book is easy to read and not much substance to worry about missing pages, so totally ok to read over a week. 

Building Healthy Relationships and Self-understanding

 Anxious Attachment Workbook – 5-in-1 – The complete system for healing, recovery and secure attachment; by Gerald Confienza; Dreamstorm Publications, 300pp

Building, maintaining, and thriving in a relationship takes a lot of hard work, not in terms of physical labor but in terms of mental, emotional, and psychological tasks. I recently read this book Anxious Attachment Workbook by Gerald Confienza in which the author explains the concept of anxious attachment and how to overcome it to build strong, sustaining, and secure relationships. Anxious attachment is the feeling of constant insecurity and fear of abandonment. Like when one is starting a new relationship and is always eager to hear from their mate immediately and gets anxious if there is a delay in messaging/ response.

Often times we blame ourselves for failures/ problems in relationships and this ends up with us questioning our intrinsic worth, among others. But when one is trained to identify these patterns of behavior and modify them it is possible to build healthy relationships. The Anxious Attachment Workbook is a guide to do exactly that. Divided into five sub-books this compilation starts off with an introductory book about anxious attachment that helps readers understand, identify triggers, breaking negative patterns, and move to the path of secure attachment.

The other books titled Healing from Childhood Trauma and its role in anxious attachment; Cultivating secure attachment and healthy relationships; anxiety in relationships – managing emotional triggers; and finally a section on Breaking free from emotional dependency will guide readers through the complexities of attachments and how to build healthy secure relationships. Indeed this book is a must read for those with unresolved childhood problems, those getting married, those in relationships, and those looking for one too.

Guide to Happy and Fulfilling Relationship for adults with Autism and/or ADHD

You, Me, & AuDHD – Relationship Tools for Adults with Autism and ADHD by Lili Castille; Montego Books LLC; 348pp.

Modern world is tough for individuals with no psychological challenges. Add a mix of autism spectrum or attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, life can be extremely difficult and often depressing. Most people tend to avoid and/ or even express phobia about being around neurodivergent individuals. Parents with children who experience these conditions are often overprotective or at times frustrated with the way the world interacts with them.

There are simply not enough teaching-learning activities happening in schools to make people aware of how to interact with neurodivergent individuals. This often leads to people with autism/ ADHD being misunderstood and often excluded from mainstream society. I am glad I came across the book You, Me, & AuDHD – Relationship Tools for Adults with Autism and ADHD by Dr. Lili Castille, a distinguished neurodiverse psychologist specializing in adult relationships with Autism and ADHD. In her long career in counselling and human development she has developed several innovative strategies to enhance communication and relationships across cultures.

This book comes as a breath of fresh air into a world of ignorance about these conditions. The book is aimed at improving emotional communication and fostering social skills by participating in engaging activities. The author’s professed take away for the reader is for the volume to be a guide to building a fulfilling and harmonious partnership with an autistic and/or ADHD partner. Starting with an introduction about Autism and ADHD Castille dives deep into neurodiversity in relationships. “Neurodiversity isn’t just a set of diagnoses – it’s a way of experiencing, feeling, and connecting with the world,” declares Castille in the very first chapter.

Misconceptions about people with autism and/ or ADHD and love are effortlessly clarified for the reader in an easy-to-read conversational style of writing. The entire volume is liberally peppered with real life examples of couples grappling with ADHD/ Autism grappling with relationship issues and overcoming them to live a comfortable, happy, and harmonious life. A very important resource in this book is several solo and couple exercises. These exercises guide the reader to understand and analyze the value they bring to a relationship so needs can be communicated with confidence, clarity, and empathy.

Several common problems/ challenges faced by neurodivergent couples are analyzed and addressed across the 32 chapters in this book. Each chapter addresses a specific topic of building, nurturing, and strengthening relationships of neurodivergent individuals/ couples. Communication styles, rage, meltdowns, intimacy, physical connection, change navigation, growth, and several other important topics are discussed in depth. The book concludes with a reference section to help those interested in enhancing knowledge reach the original sources of knowledge.

Inspirational Stories from Real Life Icons

Interesting Stories for Curious Kids – Fascinating Tales of Real-Life Heroes, Remarkable Events, and Historical Wonder to Ignite a Passion for History and Lifelong Learning by Finn Manning; 91 pp

Modern day media is full of reports of disturbance, crime, pop culture, natural disasters, climate change, etc. One would get an idea that everything is gloom and doom and people are just being entitled, ungrateful, selfish, and hastening the demise of the world as we know it. There are few and far between positive stories about people who have overcome great odds to succeed, help, inspire entire populations, and set examples for everyone else to emulate.

In this kind of scenario Finn Manning presents a new inspirational volume titled Interesting Stories for Curious Kids, a compilation of inspirational stories of real-life heroes, incidents in the past that have changed the course of history, people who have changed the world with their simple determination, goodness, and character. “Throughout history, incredible people and cultures have risen who stood out as inspiring. Their stories are carried on to everyone with a curious mind to listen to the tales of their glory,” writes Manning introducing the tone of the rest of the volume.

The book is choc-a-block with 91 pages of brief, interesting, and engaging stories that seamlessly combine historical personalities, and events with current scenario to drive home the lessons that will shape people’s lives. It is obvious the author aimed this book at kids as evidenced by the title, I think everyone can benefit from this book. Children, adolescents, and adults can get inspired from the stories about people who overcame great odds to change the world.

The compact 91-page volume starts off with a chapter on courageous explorers who ventured out of the comfort of their homes and explored the deep oceans, distant lands, and mapped the world. Today with a GPS, fast transportation, and global positioning systems one can go anywhere across the world, but a few centuries ago it was almost impossible. A chapter on innovators and dreamers follows in which people like Nikola Tesla, Thomas Alva Edison, Marie Curie, and many other scientists are profiled and their life journeys explained.

Each personality is introduced in a fun, relatable manner, even children will find this interesting. Young readers learn important history lessons in a fun, exciting, story telling format. The entire book is written in a very accessible tone, which shows a certain amount of respect to the reader. The book stimulates young minds to wonder, ask questions, and dig deeper, be it about science, historical events, or about people. The variety of topics this book covers is something that no text book can do. Encyclopedias would cover them but then they are usually verbose and voluminous. I would recommend this book for every family with children over 8, schools, libraries and any place where people with a curious mind are often present.

Good Resource for Parents

Raising Mentally Strong and Securely Attached Kids: The 5-Part Parenting Blueprint to Raise Resilient, Socially Successful, and Emotionally Intelligent Children by Vivian Whitmore; 176pp 

Today’s parents are facing an information overload about raising children. There are numerous online and offline resources that claim to teach the right method to raise children to be smart and successful. It is hard to discern which of these sources of information is right. In this situation it is always best to rely on sources that draw from science, psychology, and technology. 

Vivian Whitmore’s Raising Mentally Strong and Securely Attached Kids is a new age 5-part book that gives hope to parents struggling to raise their children to be mentally strong, socially successful, emotionally intelligent, and resilient children. The book is full of valuable information for parents with children of all ages. With its treasure of exercises and activities the book breaks down complex parenting concepts into simple easy to follow steps. 

Divided into five easy to read sections, each dealing with attachment, secure attachment, emotional intelligence, recognizing problems, and social success, the book is a solid primer for parents, teachers, and even grandparents or anyone who deals with children in a preceptor role. 

 The first section details attachment and distinguishes between secure and insecure attachment and the long impacts thereof. The second section builds on the first by detailing foundations of secure attachment, and leads into building resilience as a skill, emotional intelligence for improved connections and how to parent mindfully and recognize generational patterns. I particularly liked the fifth and last section which deals with social success. In today’s world this is vital to lead a fulfilled life. This section provides guidance on strategies to help children overcome social challenges, teaching them empathy and gratitude, and communication skills – all important for real-world success. The only feature of the book I am not particularly impressed is the layout and typography. The book looks like a scholarly publication aimed at academics rather than something aimed at young and middle adults. The book is text heavy with several bulleted lists with absolutely no relief in the form of graphs, pictures, and/ or illustrations. This content is valuable but presentation needs to be improved to get the message across more effectively.