Read it Roundup is here again

We are officially hitting the final weeks of the 2009/2010 school year. It’s time to start rounding up some really good books to get your summer started.

The three books I’m going to share with you today were actually included in the Ultimate Mother’s Day Giveaway. Each of them are ones that I thoroughly enjoyed and could totally see myself recommending to others. I look at it this way…whether your graduating from college or fresh out of high school; totally happy with everything or in the midst of some catastrophic event in life. You are going to find inspiration in the books below…and when your done lifting your spirits and planning your future endeavors; you can sit and read about a novel of suspense worth the time to sit and read.

I can totally relate to this book even though I’ve been out of college for some time now. It was inspirational and was so dead on to how I’ve felt for so long. The anxieties of having a degree that you can’t use is somewhat devastating, but this book has opened my eyes to a window of opportunities. Ones I hadn’t considered before.

Every page turned made sense to me. I was in shock. I was impressed. I was inspired. I was ready to get out there and do something right away.

If you are looking for a gift for that soon to be grad- may I suggest this book? It is well worth the read and definitely an insightful book of sorts. I love it!

Higher Education; On life, Landing a Job, and Everything Else They didn’t teach you in College

by Kenneth Jedding

ISBN: 978-1-60529-676-0

ARP: $19.99 US/ $23.99 CAN

Genre: Reference/ Career

Synopsis:

According to a recent survey by the Michigan State University Collegiate Employment Research Institute; the 2009 college graduates, with newly minted bachelor’s degrees, had 40 percent fewer job prospects. Opportunities for those graduating in 2010 are predicted to continue to decrease. The number of graduate school students getting hired is expected to decline by 11 percent. The bright spots – MBAs prospects will increase by 11 percent and PH.D.s by an astonishing 20 percent.

What is a recent college graduate to make of all this? the questions keep piling up. Was an education a waste of time and money? Can anyone just starting out get a job in this economy without more years of post-graduate school? And what about other lifestyles changes…

About the Author:

Kenneth Jedding holds a bachelor’s degree in French language and literature, a Master of Social Work and a Master of Education. He has also been a banker, a teacher and a mentor through various programs in New York City and abroad. For 10 years, he has lectured as a career counselor and life coach at colleges and universities across America.

You can find Kenneth Jedding on Twitter www.twitter.com/kenjedding or visit Kenneth’s official website: www.higheredgradbook.com

Overall. I found this book to be very beneficial; not only to future and recent graduates of college but also to those just getting through high school and are fresh out of school…and to those that have gained their degrees sometime back and have yet to figure out what to do with them. It is a very detailed guide to helping people of all ages, face challenges with a more confident attitude. It gives you a sense of “personal power” and happiness afterwards. I know that’s the impact I received and I think that you will too.

This next book is another “recommended” book. Happy is for people of all ages. People that just don’t feel like they’re “happy” or are positive about how their life has turned out. Each and every page, again, was speaking to me. 

HAPPY; Simple Steps to get the most out of life

by Ian K. Smith, M.D.

ISBN: 978-0-312-60635-0

ARP: $23.99 US/ $28.99 CAN

Genre: Self help

Synopsis:

Happiness isn’t the too-brief rush that comes from getting something you’ve wanted; it’s the lasting great feeling that comes from becoming someone you want to be—and someone other’s want to be with, too. In Happy, Ian Smith reveals the sometimes surprising secrets of enduring happiness. You don’t have to overhaul your life to change its tone: Simple steps you can start today will put you on the path to your own personal high-water mark of positive feelings. Dr. Ian has inspired millions to lose weight. In counseling dieters, Smith learned that although achieving hard-fought and worthy goals can help make a person happy, even these real accomplishments aren’t what make happiness stick.

About the Author:

Ian K. smith, M.D., is the #1 bestselling author of The 4 Day Diet, the Fat Smash Diet, and Extreme Fat Smash Diet. He is the medical/diet expert and host of VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club. In 2008, Smith created the 50 Million Pound Challenge, a free national weight-loss initiative. He has written for a variety of publications, including time, Newsweek and the New York Daily News. You can read more about Ian K. Smith by visiting www.happysimplesmiles.com

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I have enjoyed reading this book. I have a few pages bookmarked so that I can come back to it when I need to remind myself of certain actions and feelings to take (motivational references mainly). I personally walked away from this book feeling happy. Not because it was a “quick fixer” but because I felt like I was that much more at peace with myself. I felt more optimistic about what the future holds for me and definitely felt compelled to look at life in a whole new light. It is, above all, a book that can definitely inspire change. This book is filled with instructions; along with steps and exercise plans to help you reach the level of happiness you deserve.

The final book is one that will definitely capture your thoughts, imagination and attention. Without being a spoiler (I don’t want to do that); this book will leave you wanting more. I haven’t read the previous two books leading up to The Hypnotist, yet, so I hope I didn’t ruin it for myself. I’ll let you know once I read those.

The Hypnotist

by M.J. Rose

ISBN: 13:978-0-7783-2675-5

ARP: $24.95 US/ $27.95 CAN

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis:

Haunted by the murder of his lover- a beautiful young painter- glass keeps his dark memories at bay by focusing on his work with the FBI’s Art Crime Team. Currently investigating a crazed art collector destroying priceless masterpieces, glass becomes involved in a bizarre hostage negotiation that takes him undercover at the Phoenix Foundation. Under hypnosis he travels back and forth to past lives in ancient Greece and nineteenth-century Persia, while the case takes him to New York, Paris and the movie capital of the world. These combined journeys will shatter his understanding of reality, force him to question his sanity and lead him into the center of an intricate plan to break into the Metropolitan Museum of Art and steal Hypnos, the 1,500-year-old sculpture of the Greek god of sleep, said to hold a secret that many would literally kill to uncover.

About the Author:

Other books by M.J. Rose include The Venus fix, Lying in Bed, The Delilah Complex, The Halo Effect, Sheet Music, Flesh Tones, In Fidelity and Lip Service. She is also the co-author with Dough Clegg of Buzz Your Book. Rose is a founding board member of International Thriller Writers and founder of the first marketing company for authors: www.AuthorBuzz.com. She runs the popular blog “Buzz, Balls & Hype” and has been profiled in Time, Forbes, The New York Times, Business 2.0, The Jim Lehrer NewsHour and features on her have appeared in dozens of magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and abroad, including USA today, Stern, L’Official, Poets and Writers and Publisher’s Weekly. For more information on M.J. Rose; please visit www.reincarnationist.org and www.MJRose.com

Now, I haven’t seen Past Life (the new television series based on M.J. Rose’s Reincarnationist novels on FOX broadcasting), but, after reading this book and feeling anxious about reading the other two; I can only imagine how great the television series will be for me. As is, The Hypnotist was 72 hypnotic chapters of thrilling dangers and romance. I totally recommend it- but don’t think about reading it, like I did, without first reading the first two in its series.

In closing; I loved and will happily recommend these books again and again. Each one of them gave me something to look forward too.. I’d like to also add; if you know someone who’s graduating soon, someone who needs help finding true happiness in their lives or even someone that’s looking for a thrilling romance novel- any one of these books would be perfect.

Disclosure: Each book was provided to me through Meryl L. Media Relations, Inc. for the purpose of my review. The thoughts and opinions within this post are my own, unless stated otherwise. Thank you.