Chocolate for a Woman's Courage: 77 Stories That Honor Your Strength and Wisdom
With these two works, publishers continue to milk the desire for  feel-good books. Acting more as a compiler than a writer,  Allenbaugh serves up more bland, warm-and-fuzzy anecdotes   la  the successful "Chocolate" series (Chocolate for a Teen's Heart;  Chocolate for a Mother's Heart). Women ranging from housewives  to business professionals contributed 77 brief and sentimental  stories that illustrate pluckiness in the face of adversity.  "The Tattooed Stranger," for example, explores prejudice and how  to overcome it. Carlson's book will rev the engines of  self-helpers without kicking them into drive. Like many of his  previous titles (Don't Sweat the Small Stuff), his latest is  observational and general, with generic wisdoms that quickly  become repetitive. Entries wax on a range of topics, including  divorce, stress, and the grieving process. Carlson misses more  than he hits, although good points sometimes emerge, e.g., in  "Dedicate Yourself to Mindfullness," he exhibits  uncharacteristic clarity in advising readers to experience  thoughts and emotions peacefully. Of little practical use, this  is more a pep talk than a means to an end. Read it in  conjunction with more focused titles like T.D. Jakes's frankly  Christian Woman Thou Art Loosed: Healing the Wounds of the Past.  As with entries in the popular "Small Miracles," "Taste Berries  for Teens," and "Chicken Soup" series, these books contain so  much recycled material that libraries would be better off  purchasing them only on demand. There are also serviceable  single volumes like Barry and Joyce Vissell's Meant To Be:  Miraculous Stories To Inspire a Lifetime of Love or Anna  Quindlen's A Short Guide to a Happy Life.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.