Non-Fiction

The Painting and The Piano by John Lipscomb and Adrianne Lugo

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Book Publicity Services  in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

The Painting and The Piano by John Lipscomb and Adrianne Lugo was a hard book to read at times. I say that it was hard to read because of some of the things that the characters went through in this book. I know that this book could be triggering to some people as well because of the topics talked about. With that being said I did enjoy this book and found myself wanting to read it until the end because I wanted to know how it all played out in the end. I liked this book so much because it is a true story and I always find myself loving books that are true stories. There are parts of this book that reminded me of my childhood, so I know also helped me understand what the characters felt at certain points throughout the book. I enjoyed this book even though it was hard at times to read it. I loved that the characters made it through and wrote this book to help other people learn from the things they went through as children. If you love autobiography types books than I know you will love this book just as much as I do. This is one that I am going to be adding to my personal collection of books because I would like to read it again in the future.

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About The Book

The Painting and The Piano, by John Lipscomb and Adrianne Lugo, is an improbable story of survival and love.

Genres: Literary Nonfiction / Romance / Memoir / Addiction and Recovery

Growing up more than a thousand miles apart and worlds away from each other, Johnny and Adrianne seemed to have all that a child could ask for. However, the demons of their respective mothers would tear their young, fragile lives apart.

Eventually, destiny would bring Johnny and Adrianne together, but first they had to endure the painful toll that alcohol, drugs, and a negligent court system would take on them. With parts of Adrianne’s story ripped from national news headlines, their story takes them from the depths of despair and near death, to their first serendipitous introduction and the moment each knew they were finally safe.

Filled with hope, inspiration and humor, The Painting and the Piano is an unforgettable story of pain, loss and the undying human quest for happiness. Told as a tandem narrative, Adrianne and Johnny’s stories are unique, but share parallels that create a taut and emotionally compelling narrative.

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About The Author’s

Johnny and Adrianne reside in South Florida with their Yorkie, Holly.  Both are involved in the AA/Recovery community. Adrianne currently works at a recovery house and Johnny continues speaking, sponsoring and helping others in recovery.

Readers can connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

To learn more, go to http://www.paintingpiano.com/

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Margaret Margaret

Hunting Hope by Nika Maples

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Hunting Hope by Nika Maples was such a great book and one I was glad that I got to review.  When I first saw this book being offered to review, I didn’t sign up for it because I am not always a huge fan of books like this one.  After I got a second email asking to review the book I figured what the hell it won’t hurt me to read it.  In the end, I am so glad that I read the book because it gave me a new way to look at some of the hard things I have dealt with in my life.  This book is a smaller book but right from the first page it made me think and made me want to look at my life differently.  I also liked that this book was an easy read, and the author did a great job of making me understand what she was saying and things like that.  I think this is one book that everyone should read at some point because it can teach everyone something.

Hunting Hope by Nika Maples

About The Book

Hunting Hope: Dig Through the Darkness to Find the Light (April 2016, Worthy Inspired)

Hope is not an accident. Sometimes it has to be hunted, and hunting it takes courage.

Hope hunters know how to excavate hope from hardship. There is dirt underneath their fingernails and sweat on their shirts. They rake through the rubble of an unwanted situation, digging into difficult circumstances because they have come to expect that adversity will produce good. They believe that light always triumphs over darkness. They have learned to walk through winter with their eyes on spring.

Nika Maples became a hope hunter after suffering a massive brainstem stroke that left her quadriplegic in her twenties. Doctors warned that she had as little as 48 hours to live, and—if she lived at all—she would never walk or talk again. There was no hope on the horizon. So Nika started to hunt for it. Today, she not only walks, but she speaks to audiences everywhere about the power of hunting hope when a situation appears hopeless. She says hope remains camouflaged in the daily mundane. If we are not looking for it, we will miss it, though it is right before our eyes.

Whether you or someone you know is going through a situation that feels hopeless, you will find encouragement in Hunting Hope. Whether you are experiencing a medical trauma, a financial hardship, or a relational crisis, you will find empowerment in Hunting Hope. As you read, you will cling to 20 truths about God’s character and practice 5 daily disciplines that will develop your own character in crisis.

You will become a hope hunter.

Maybe it doesn’t matter what causes suffering in our lives as much as it matters what suffering causes in our lives. Maybe we were all meant to be hope hunters.

Nika Maples

About The Author

Nika Maples is the author of Twelve Clean Pages, the memoir of her survival of lupus and a stroke that left her quadriplegic at age 20. After learning to walk and talk again, she became a public school teacher, winning 2007 Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year. She holds an MA in English Education from Columbia University and currently is pursuing an MDIV from The King’s University. When she is not traveling to speak, she lives, writes, and laughs as much as possible in Fort Worth, Texas.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Margaret Margaret

Mukhabarat, Baby! My Life as a Wartime Spy for the CIA by Eric Burkhart

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from iRead in exchange for my honest review.  I received no other compensation.

Mukhabarat, Baby! My Life as a Wartime Spy for the CIA by Eric Burkhart was an amazing book, and I was sad when it came to an end.  I loved that the author included bits of humor and his personality came through while I was reading the book.  I really can’t say enough great things about this book and this author.  I loved all the stories that he told, and I loved getting a little bit of a behind the scenes view of what working for the CIA is like.  I am finding that I love books like this because the stories are true and I love to read true stories.  I spend a good portion of the time that I was reading this book smiling because I love his sense of humor and his style of writing.  I would recommend this book to everyone because it is an amazing story and one that  I think most people would love.

Mukhabarat Baby!

About The Book

This is the story of a young American who would eventually fulfill his dream of becoming a CIA Case Officer, only to have a promising career cut short after having been purposely poisoned by a contact.

Eric Burkhart was raised in Europe in a bilingual household, and accepted a job in Africa right out of college. Upon his return to the United States, he was hired as an Immigration Agent in Laredo, Texas, working Inspections on one of the busiest port-of-entries connecting the United States and Mexico. This experience is detailed in this humorous, occasionally heartbreaking memoir about choosing to be a survivor.

In 2000, Burkhart accepted a position as a Case Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. The book includes details of both the notoriously arduous hiring process and the rigorous training program, including Burkhart’s eventual successful completion of the Espionage Course taught at the famous “Farm”. Burkhart’s first overseas working experience was in war-torn Kosovo, where he was unwittingly poisoned by an unstable intelligence contact. Burkhart would struggle with the repercussions of this episode for the remainder of his career, and eventually be obliged to accept full medical retirement from the CIA.

However, before retiring, Burkhart completed tours in Iraq and Africa. His time spent in the Green Zone almost immediately following the occupation of Baghdad, constitutes the majority of this enlightening book. Burkhart exposes the reader to the human element within the CIA, and we are introduced to a variety of characters, some who will seem familiar, and some who reveal the eccentricities we expect with this kind of occupation.

Follow Burkhart through the battlefields of Iraq, past the Iraqi Insurgency, and to his next assignment in Africa. Burkhart leaves no emotion unexpressed as he details his medical struggles with the horrific damage caused to his body from Toxic Exposure. Wracked by pain, Burkhart reaches the point where he must consider quality of life issues, and has to accept retirement as a necessary decision. Burkhart has a story to tell, and leaves no stone unturned during this turbulent time both in his life, and in our history.

Eric Burkhart

About The Author

Eric Burkhart was born in North Carolina in 1965, and raised in France by his mother while his father was serving in Vietnam. Eric’s parents retired to San Antonio, Texas in 1978, and Eric has considered himself a Texan since that time.

After completing college, Burkhart relocated to South Africa for a job in community planning and design. After returning to the United States in 1994, Eric started a career in federal service by becoming a Federal Agent. In 1999 he moved over to the CIA, which became his passion and focus in life. After being poisoned by while working in Kosovo in 2001, Burkhart was eventually obliged to medically retire, but not before extending his career to include tours in Iraq and Africa. Mukhabarat, Baby! is Burkhart’s first book.

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Ian Leaf’s Fraud, Fraudsters and Scams #IanLeaf

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Ian Leaf’s Fraud, Fraudsters and Scams was an interesting book to read.  I am glad it was a shorter book because I don’t know that I could have gotten through it if it had been longer.   This book walks you through setting up an Instagram account for your business as well as what to post on it and how to use hashtags and think like that.  I haven’t gotten into Instagram for my blog but after reading this book, I think I am going to try and see if it really will help me build a bigger audience.  This book is written in plain English and isn’t something that you wouldn’t understand if you are 100% knowledgeable on Instagram and how it works.  I am going to test out what this book says to do and in a few months, I will come back and let you know how it all worked out for me.

Ian Leaf's Fraud, Fraudsters and Scams #IanLeaf

About The Book

With the world around us changing at a seemingly breakneck pace and technological advancements radically altering the manner in which we communicate and do business with each other, far too many people are falling prey to fraudsters who understand all too well how to take advantage of our rapidly changing world. Ian Leaf’s newest work focuses on addressing this important issue by demonstrating how people can utilize new and innovative social media platforms like Instagram without placing themselves at risk of being scammed in some unforeseen way.

In “Fraud, Fraudsters and Scams – What to Watch for on Instagram,” Ian Leaf uses his professional expertise to demonstrate the safest methodologies available regarding the effective use of Instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms that are becoming increasingly critical communication tools for both personal use and for enhanced brand awareness. Through Leaf’s new book, consumers, brand managers, entrepreneurs and others can continue to experience the many benefits made possible through effective social media use while eliminating any concerns relating to being taken advantage of by those engaged in deceptive behavior and outright acts of fraud.

Leaf’s text begins by sharing similar circumstances he experienced with fraudsters taking advantage of consumers using Amazon’s platform, outlining how his efforts revealed this unscrupulous behavior and ensured that consumers were able to conduct business without the negative influence of scammers going to great lengths to manipulate product reviews for their own financial gain. His success in exposing this fraudulent behavior is not an isolated incident, as Leaf has enjoyed a long professional career in fraud detection and has assisted many consumers in learning how to recognize fraud and how to defend against being victimized.

The book also covers some of the more practical aspects of social media use, as Leaf takes the time to go through the step-by-step processes involved in registering for an Instagram account and setting it up for personal or professional use. The educational components cover both simple and complex issues relating to social media use, from explaining how to effectively employ the use of a hashtag to detailing how to link multiple social media accounts so they are thoroughly protected from the tactics commonly used by scammers and fraudsters. With practical advice, straightforward explanations and rare insight, Ian Leaf’s “Fraud, Fraudsters and Scams – What to Watch for on Instagram” provides valuable information for anyone who wishes to avoid the consequences of being victimized by fraudsters while using various social media platforms.

About The Author

My name is Ian Leaf, founder of Ian Leaf Corporation, which is built to serve those to feel safer in their communities. I am also the starter of Ian Leaf HFC which serves as an individual department within the corporation to stop scam, schemes and fraud. All schemes that have been found out and reviewed here are tagged with Ian Leaf Scam, Ian Leaf Tax and Ian Leaf Tax Fraud. This ruling also goes to shining the spotlight on the cons of these schemes by tagging them with the phrase, “Ian Leaf Fraudster”.

The purpose of this blog is to expose scams and cons with any information we have back home at Ian Leaf Corporation and Ian Leaf HFC in order to keep you and your loved ones safe from the threat fraudsters and schemes pose. Check back regularly as evil never sleeps and new information is published ASAP.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Margaret Margaret