📚🛍️ "Bookstore Blues" (8 Pillars of Wellness Stories for Women Book #1)(2021) 🛍️ 📚 - Book Review

 

 

MY REVIEW 

 

Series: 8 Pillars of Wellness Stories for Women (Book #1)
Paperback: 75 pages
Publisher: Independently Published (January 13, 2021) 
Language: English
ISBN-13: 979-8594128569
⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information

“Emma takes a part-time job at a bookstore after a long time at home with the kids. She faces new challenges and old demons as she comes to grips with life as a working mom. Will the support of her husband and her new boss Bianca be enough to see her through?”

 

Thank you in advance to the author, L.B. Laci, for providing a complimentary review copy. A positive review was not required or requested, all words are my own.

When I was given a chance to review this, I was looking forward to a great little fiction book. And, the author said it was a “short” read. So, to be honest, I was look for a 150-200 page NOVEL to arrive. As soon as I got the book, I was a bit shocked. It was the size of a small “devotional” or something similar. It definitely wasn’t a novel.

 

According to the details on Amazon this book has a total of 75 pages (they’re not numbered so I cannot verify this). The “story” part about Emma is roughly about 48 pages long, so not even a “novella” length book.

 

As this is a short book, this review isn’t going to be too long or in-depth.

 

In short, this is fiction meets self-help. And, the covers certainly seem to reinforce it. Front represents self-help, back blurb reads as fiction. The inside of the book mentions fiction. I didn’t know what this book was trying to do or where it was going, but I decided to read it anyway.

 

And, it is exactly as I said – it begins as a fiction story and heads into the self-help area, particularly for anxiety.

 

The last 17 pages (of the “story”) are self-help lessons that are connected to bible lessons and/or passages. This is the first book in the series. Each book further details Emma and her family’s journey. I don’t know if they have the same “help” pages at the end though. So, if readers want to see Emma and Ryan’s continued journey – they have to get the other books.

 

This book is more to highlight mindfulness in stressful situations.

 

There are really only a few main characters: Emma, a mom and someone venturing back into the work sector. She ends up working at a bookstore and has some issues her first day on the job that leads into her “panic attacks”.

 

Bianca – Emma’s boss; and sort of friend

 

Ryan – Emma’s husband

 

There is only minor background and definitely no real character development. There are other characters mentioned and discussed, almost as if we see them, but they do not make physical appearances in the book adding to some confusion.

 

This is told SOLELY from Emma’s POV. Everyone around her is super supportive and has only good things to offer, which in reality, is a rarity. Some people tend to get frustrated with those who have anxiety, especially when it does impact those around them. In addition, the reader has no way to really see the other sides of the story.

 

To be honest, if that was Emma’s first day on the job – she shouldn’t have been left at the register by herself. When I first worked at a pizza place, I was relegated to the back folding boxes or “training” on the computer in how to make a pizza as well as how to take orders. I didn’t get on the register or the counter until about a month after I started. And, I had rigorous training. So, it is definitely great that Bianca came to Emma’s rescue, but Emma shouldn’t have been in that position to begin with.

 

It is clear Emma has issues from how she felt after the encounter with the angry customer, the thoughts in her head at bedtime, how afraid of just about everything she is – and, rather than a drink of wine at dinner or a night out with the boss, Emma needed some counseling.

 

Ryan is good to remind her to not say too much to her boss, though that backfires as well. And, after an incident in the store, Emma lets the reader know about her issue and that it has ALWAYS been there.

 

It even manifested on the day of the interview when she had her husband drive her to the interview – “she’d persuaded Ryan to drive her there as she didn’t want to get all hot and bothered on the bus or have to worry about parking the car”. Where was this bookstore there were issues parking? I’ll admit, I cannot parallel park and avoid it, but where I live there are other areas to park and I do that without issues.

 

Instead of waiting to see a doctor, she should’ve gone to see one then. It was clear she was having a SEVERE panic attack and needed some intervention beyond the techniques or suggestions in this book. And, it even leads to what becomes an uncomfortable moment when she recalls a miscarriage. This is definitely not healthy behavior at all.

 

Bianca steps up because of her brother’s issues and I was thrilled someone was offering to help Emma and to listen to her. Given their dynamics – boss/employee, Bianca should’ve only referred Emma and not tried to counsel her. It is clear Emma wants to talk to Ryan about things as well.

 

The ending is far too short, and it is clear that Emma and her husband do need to talk things out between them, but they are in need of counseling given what they’ve been through with the loss of a child.

 

And, since it impacts her daily life causing her to miss out – that is a RED FLAG. I sincerely hope if that were me (or my mother who does have issues with anxiety) someone would step up a LOT sooner. When one cannot function when symptoms are at their worst – work, drive, sleep – they need serious intervention.

 

One example of Emma missing out is when she flat out refuses to get on a plane for a vacation – “Emma had told Bianca that she’d refused to go to Disneyland in Florida, since she didn’t want to get on a plane”.

 

Two problems with that – one, she is letting her anxiety impact her life as well as her family’s life. That isn’t good at all.

 

Second was the glaring mistake of the theme parks and locations.

 

For those who do not know or are unfamiliar, Disneyland (1955-1998) is the Anaheim, CA and is now called Disneyland Park (as of 1999; 20 years ago). If Emma was referring to the Florida park that is Walt Disney World (1971) in Orlando, FL.

 

While this could be viewed as a slight typo, attention to details are everything. Some Disney fans are VERY territorial when it comes to their theme parks. And, after all, Walt Disney World might be closer and be a shorter plane ride than Disneyland.

 

In addition, as we don’t know where Emma and Ryan are living – this was not disclosed in the story portion – why not simply drive to Walt Disney World if it was close? Why not drive to California and visit Disneyland instead?

 

Given how this book is presented – I probably wouldn’t read the rest of the books in the series. It just isn’t my type of read since it steers more to “self-help” than fiction.

 

Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t a bad book at all; it just isn’t a GREAT book either. The author has a great idea to show real-life examples or use fictional stories to explain and point out the various issues that hold us back from our potential, and how to cope with them along with the events that derail us.

 

The problem with this book is that there just isn’t “enough” of either to go around.

 

I feel that it could’ve been written with a lengthier story (such as 150-200 pages) and use the “lessons” as discussion questions after the story, rather than breaking it up into 8-9 small books that only tell a snippet at a time. Perhaps a total of three books as there seems to be material, and at the end – have relevant discussion questions. This form works well with a lot of books, particularly those published by Revell and Bethany House.

 

This “story” has the potential for being a good read. And, perhaps with expanded character background, a good plot (even sub-plot), character growth and development, and the discussion questions – it could be a GREAT read.

 

This is definitely more for people who want to easily wade into self-help without diving in head-first.

 

 

 

 RATING:

 

3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads

 

Bookbub – Not Listed 

 

3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)

 

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

L.B. Laci was born in Montana and grew up in Idaho. She and her husband have been together over 40+ years and currently have three children as well as three grandchildren. After her children were in school she went back to college to become an elementary school teacher. She eventually taught grades 6-12 as well as special education over her 32-year tenure.  

 

Now retired, she is working on her own stories. She loves reading historical novels, camping in her and her husband’s old RV (everything still works), playing the piano, and spending time with family.

 

 

She can be found on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lorislaci