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Book Zone, Toronto, ON (2026)

12/24/2025

There are moments when a book does not just arrive in your hands, it meets you right where life has been quietly asking hard questions. That was the case with Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are. Listening to the audiobook felt less like consuming content and more like sitting across from someone who understands the ache of loving deeply and the courage it takes to choose yourself without becoming bitter. Lysa TerKeurst’s voice carried both tenderness and firmness, and with Jim Cress adding thoughtful clarity, the message landed gently but stayed firmly in my heart.

1. Boundaries are not punishments, they are acts of love: One of the strongest truths that stayed with me is that boundaries are not designed to control others or to push people away. From Lysa’s perspective, boundaries are honest expressions of what is healthy and sustainable. She explains that when boundaries are missing, resentment grows quietly, and love becomes performative rather than sincere. Hearing this made me realize that saying no, stepping back, or redefining access is sometimes the most loving thing you can do, because it preserves honesty and prevents silent bitterness from taking root.

2. Ending relationships does not mean you failed: The book carefully untangles the guilt many of us carry when relationships end. Lysa reminds us that not every goodbye is a sign of failure, some are signs of growth and obedience to truth. Through her narration, you can feel the emotional wrestling behind this lesson, the grief, the prayers, the tears. She reframes goodbyes as necessary conclusions when connection consistently costs you your peace, your values, or your sense of self. This perspective helped me release the idea that endurance alone defines love.

3. Distance can be a form of wisdom, not disobedience: One lesson that landed softly but firmly is that creating space does not make you unloving or unchristian. Lysa speaks about how distance can sometimes be the only way clarity, healing, and safety can exist. Listening to her explain this with such compassion made it clear that wisdom often requires stepping back, especially when proximity keeps reopening wounds. Distance, in this sense, becomes a tool for discernment rather than rejection.

4. You can love someone without giving them full access to you: This truth felt particularly freeing. The book explains that love does not require unlimited access to your emotions, time, or vulnerabilities. Lysa shares that it is possible to care deeply while still protecting the parts of you that are not safe in certain hands. Through her voice, this lesson felt like permission to redefine love as something that includes discernment, not just sacrifice. It helped me understand that boundaries do not cancel compassion, they guide it.

5. Healing begins when you stop negotiating your worth: Another powerful lesson from the book is the danger of over explaining yourself to people who benefit from your silence or confusion. Lysa speaks about how constantly justifying your boundaries often means you are still seeking validation from the very place that wounded you. As I listened, it became clear that healing starts when you accept that your worth does not need approval, explanations, or applause. Choosing yourself is not selfish, it is responsible.

6. God is present in both the boundary and the goodbye: Perhaps the most comforting lesson is the reassurance that God is not only present in reconciliation, but also in separation when it is necessary. Lysa weaves faith into every chapter, reminding listeners that God cares deeply about our hearts, our safety, and our growth. The audiobook delivery made this especially tender, as her voice reflected both trust and surrender. This lesson reframed goodbyes for me, not as moments of abandonment, but as sacred transitions where God continues to lead, heal, and restore.

Book/Audiobook: https://amzn.to/493QaFP

You can access the audiobook when you register on the Audible platform using the l!nk above.

12/22/2025

"Forgiving What You Can't Forget: Discover How to Move On, Make Peace with Painful Memories, and Create a Life That’s Beautiful Again" by Lysa TerKeurst is a heartfelt exploration of the themes of forgiveness, healing, and emotional resilience. Drawing from her personal experiences and biblical teachings, TerKeurst provides guidance on how to navigate the complex journey of forgiveness, particularly when faced with deep hurt and betrayal. Here are ten key lessons and insights from the book:

1. Understanding Forgiveness: TerKeurst emphasizes that forgiveness is not about condoning or excusing the behavior of others. Instead, it is a deliberate choice to release the emotional burden of anger and resentment to achieve personal peace and healing.

2. The Importance of Processing Pain: The author highlights the necessity of acknowledging and processing pain rather than suppressing it. She encourages readers to confront their feelings, allowing themselves to grieve and understand the impact of their experiences.

3. Forgiveness is a Journey: TerKeurst explains that forgiveness is not a one-time event but an ongoing journey. It may require multiple steps and can involve setbacks, but committing to the process is essential for emotional healing.

4. Setting Boundaries: The book discusses the importance of setting healthy boundaries in relationships, especially with those who have caused pain. TerKeurst asserts that boundaries are not barriers to forgiveness but rather safeguards for emotional well-being.

5. The Role of Empathy: TerKeurst encourages readers to cultivate empathy towards those who have hurt them. By trying to understand the motives and struggles of others, individuals can gain perspective that may help in the forgiveness process.

6. Reframing Painful Memories: The author emphasizes the power of reframing how we view painful memories. Instead of allowing these memories to define us, she encourages readers to see them as part of their growth and resilience.

7. The Impact of Unforgiveness: TerKeurst discusses the detrimental effects of holding onto unforgiveness, including emotional and physical health issues. She underscores that releasing grudges can lead to greater well-being and freedom.

8. Finding Strength in Faith: The book integrates spiritual teachings, emphasizing the importance of faith in the forgiveness process. TerKeurst encourages readers to seek support from their faith and to trust in a higher power during times of struggle.

9. Self-Forgiveness: TerKeurst emphasizes that forgiving oneself is as vital as forgiving others. She encourages readers to let go of guilt and self-blame, recognizing that everyone makes mistakes and deserves grace.

10. Creating a New Narrative: Finally, the author encourages readers to take control of their stories and create a new narrative based on resilience and healing. By focusing on the future and the lessons learned from past hurts, individuals can build a more fulfilling and joyful life.

"Forgiving What You Can't Forget" by Lysa TerKeurst offers profound insights into the complexities of forgiveness and emotional healing. Through her personal journey and relatable wisdom, the author provides a roadmap for readers seeking to navigate their pain, set boundaries, and ultimately find peace. The book serves as a reminder that forgiveness is a powerful tool for reclaiming one’s life and moving forward with hope and strength.

Book/Audio: https://amzn.to/4s6pkWe

Don't miss out on the opportunity to get the captivating AUDIO BOOK for only $0.99! Simply click on the link above and begin your unforgettable listening experience right away.

12/12/2025

We're living in divided times. Pick any topic; politics, religion, workplace dynamics, and you'll find people dug into opposing trenches. When faced with opposition, most of us do one of three things: avoid the conflict, fight to win, or try to steamroll the other side. Adam Kahane's Collaborating with the Enemy suggests there's another way, even if it sounds counterintuitive: actually working with the people who drive you crazy.

Kahane doesn't sugarcoat what collaboration means. He's not talking about working with people you already like or who share your values. Real collaboration, as he defines it, means working with people who make you uncomfortable—people whose views you find wrong, frustrating, or even dangerous.
The book isn't about feeling good. It's about getting things done when the usual approaches have failed. Here's what makes it valuable:

Here Are Five Powerful Insights From The Book

1. Let go of control
We usually enter collaborations wanting to win, prove we're right, or at least protect our interests. But effective collaboration requires something different: showing up ready to be changed by the experience. The best solutions don't come from one side defeating the other—they emerge when no one is fully in charge and new possibilities can surface.

2. Discomfort isn't a bug, it's a feature
Tension, awkward silences, heated arguments—these aren't signs something's going wrong. They're signs something's actually happening. Kahane argues we should stop running from friction and start recognizing it as evidence of real engagement. Growth rarely feels comfortable while it's happening.

3. Start before you're ready
Most people want trust established before they'll collaborate. They want shared goals, common ground, mutual respect. Kahane flips this: collaboration doesn't require trust—it builds trust. Waiting until everything feels safe means never starting. Trust develops through the messy process of actually doing things together.

4. Choose the right tool for the job
Collaboration isn't always the answer. Kahane identifies four approaches: giving orders, applying pressure, going with the flow, or collaborating. Sometimes you need top-down direction. Sometimes you need to adapt. But when power is fragmented and problems are complex, collaboration becomes necessary—not because it's nice, but because nothing else will work.

5. Progress beats perfection
Collaboration won't make conflicts disappear. People will still disagree, tensions will remain, and doubts will persist. The goal isn't to achieve perfect harmony—it's to make forward movement possible. The real value is creating outcomes that no single group could achieve alone.

Through examples from boardrooms to war zones, Kahane shows how the people who frustrate us most might hold pieces of the puzzle we're missing. Collaboration isn't about liking each other or even agreeing. It's about being willing to stand side by side and push forward anyway.

In our polarized world, the people who'll make a difference are those willing to work with their supposed enemies. That's where real change happens. Collaborating with the Enemy isn't just theory—it's a practical manual for building something new when the old ways have stopped working.

BOOK: https://amzn.to/48Qfcbm

Enjoy the audiobook with a membership trial using the same link.

12/12/2025

The world is loud. Not just in sound, but in expectation. Most days, it feels like we’re all being nudged—sometimes pushed—toward bigger personalities, bolder expressions, and constant visibility. Quiet by Susan Cain enters this noise like a calm breath, offering a simple but revolutionary reminder: introversion is not a flaw to fix but a strength to understand.

Cain explores how society came to glorify the “Extrovert Ideal,” a cultural script that equates confidence with charisma and success with loudness. Through research, stories, and psychology, she shows what gets lost when the quieter half of the population is overlooked. Reading the book felt like discovering a language for things many of us have felt but never been able to articulate.

What stands out is how Cain reframes introversion. Not as shyness. Not as social anxiety. But as a preference for depth over noise—deep thinking, deep relationships, deep creativity. She explains why introverts thrive in solitude, how they process stimulation differently, and why their calm presence is often what brings balance to families, workplaces, and communities.

The book also offers gentle, practical insights: how introverts can navigate group dynamics without pretending to be someone they’re not, how parents and partners can better understand the introverts they love, and why embracing one’s temperament leads to more authentic confidence than forced extroversion ever could.

Quiet ultimately invites you to rethink what power looks like. Not the loudest voice in the room, but the one that listens closely. Not the person who speaks the most, but the one who says what actually matters. And not constant performance, but the courage to be fully yourself—even if the world expects someone louder.

If you’ve ever felt “too quiet,” “too reserved,” or “too inward,” this book doesn’t just reassure you—it hands you a mirror and says: Look, this is your strength.

BOOK: https://amzn.to/3MD5At6

Enjoy the Audiobook for Free when you register to Audible Membership using the same link above.

12/11/2025

I recently read What to Do When I’m Gone by Suzy Hopkins and Hallie Bateman, and it struck me so deeply — because this book isn’t about death. It’s about life. About love. About the way someone you care for can leave your world, but still stay in it, in the small, ordinary, extraordinary ways.

The book is written as letters from a mother to her daughter — tender, funny, messy, heartbreakingly honest letters that teach Hallie how to live when Suzy is gone. And I realized as I read it: it’s not just a daughter’s guide. It’s anyone’s guide. Anyone who has loved, lost, or wants to know how to keep living even when life feels unbearable.

Here’s some of the wisdom that hit me hardest:

Make yourself soup. Not just any soup, but the kind that warms you from the inside out. Feed yourself, nurture yourself, care for yourself. When the world feels cold, small acts of love toward yourself become lifelines.

Laugh, even when it hurts. Grief doesn’t have to be all tears. Humor is messy, tender, absurd — a lifeline that keeps your heart beating.

Cry. Cry hard. Let the sadness move through you instead of lodging itself in your chest. Sometimes, a good cry is the only way to honor the love you’re carrying.

Travel. Step into the unknown. See the world. Experience life fully, because love wants you to taste everything it has to offer, even when it scares you.

Fall in love again. Wildly, messily, fully. Don’t let the absence of someone you miss make your heart small. The capacity to love doesn’t disappear; it grows, even through grief.

Keep traditions. Light candles, bake cookies, remember rituals that connect you to the people you’ve lost. They are anchors, reminders that love survives absence.

Write letters. Even if no one reads them. Speak to the ones you miss. Speak to yourself. Speak to the world. Words are bridges that can carry love across time, across spaces, even when voices are silent.

Reading this book felt like sitting across from my own mother, holding her hands, listening to her say:
"You’re going to be okay. Not all at once, but okay enough to make soup. Okay enough to laugh again. Okay enough to love, messily and fully."

And that’s what this book, at its heart, is really about: moving through life with love as your compass, even when it hurts. Carrying those who are gone, not as a burden, but as light. Letting grief and joy coexist, letting tears and laughter sit together at the same table.

It reminded me that love doesn’t die. It changes shape. It whispers from memory, courage, ordinary moments, and the little rituals that make life feel like home.

So, if you’re reading this, take the advice: make the soup. Laugh through the tears. Cry when you need to. Travel. Fall in love again. Keep the traditions alive. Write the letters you wish you could send.

Love is alive, even in absence. And that’s how we survive. That’s how we honor the ones we’ve lost. That’s how we keep living — messy, imperfect, funny, heartbreakingly beautiful.

BOOK: https://amzn.to/44IZ5LN

12/11/2025

For years, I was a sprawling, open field. I believed love meant having no fences—that being a "good" friend, daughter, and partner meant saying "yes" to every need, absorbing every crisis, and being endlessly available. But a field with no boundaries gets trampled. My energy was depleted, my resentment grew like weeds, and the "best of who I was" was getting lost under the foot traffic of other people's demands. I was loving others, but I was losing myself.

The breaking point came when a chronically draining friend asked for yet another massive favor, and I heard myself say "yes" with a familiar, sinking feeling in my gut. That night, I stumbled upon Lysa TerKeurst's Good Boundaries and Goodbyes. Given the raw honesty of her previous work on forgiveness, I knew this wouldn't be a polite self-help book. It was a necessary intervention. This book isn't about building walls to keep people out. It's about building a garden fence, something that clearly defines what you are responsible for tending, and what you are not, so the beautiful things within can actually grow.

TerKeurst writes from a place of hard-won wisdom, having navigated profound personal betrayal. She reframes boundaries not as a rejection of others, but as a necessary definition of the self.

1. Boundaries Define "Me," Not Attack "You." The core shift is understanding that a boundary is a statement about your limit, not an indictment of the other person. It's not "You are too demanding." It's "I do not have the capacity to meet this demand." This removes the blame and centers your agency. For my draining friend, I finally said, "I love you, and I want to support you, but I cannot take on solving this problem for you. I am here to listen." The fence wasn't to shut her out, but to protect my own emotional soil from being over-farmed.

2. The Difference Between a "Hard No" and a "Holy No." A "hard no" can come from a place of resentment and frustration. A "holy no" comes from a place of sacred self-stewardship. It's the no you say because you are protecting the peace, purpose, and people God has entrusted specifically to you. Learning to discern between the two was crucial. Saying "no" to a volunteer role I didn't have passion for wasn't selfish; it was a "holy no" that freed me to say a full-hearted "yes" to my family.

3. Goodbye is Sometimes the Most Loving Boundary. This is the book's toughest, most truthful chapter. TerKeurst argues that some relationships are not just difficult; they are destructive. When someone consistently disrespects, devalues, or endangers you, love sometimes looks like goodbye. This goodbye isn't about hatred; it's about honoring the sacredness of your own life when the other person refuses to. It’s the final fence post, marking where their harmful behavior can no longer cross. This gave me the theological and emotional permission to release a toxic relationship without guilt, understanding that I was not abandoning them, but finally choosing myself.

4. You Can Grieve What You Release. Setting a boundary, especially a final one, involves loss. You grieve the hope of what the relationship could have been. TerKeurst gives you space to honor that grief without backtracking on the boundary. This validation was a balm. I could miss the good times with my friend while still holding firm to the fence that her constant crises could not breach. The grief proved the love was real; the boundary proved my self-respect was real, too.

Good Boundaries and Goodbyes is a courageous, compassionate, and clinically insightful guide to one of life's hardest skills: loving people without letting them destroy you.

It didn't make me hard-hearted; it made me whole-hearted. My open field is now a tended garden. Some people are welcome inside the gate to sit and enjoy the beauty. Others can see the beauty from outside, but their chaos cannot trample it. This book is for the chronic people-pleaser, the emotionally exhausted caregiver, and anyone who feels guilty for wanting to protect their own soul. It is the ultimate guide to loving others well by first loving what God has entrusted to you: yourself.

AUDIOBOOK: https://amzn.to/3MRCKoS

You can also get the book and Kindle by using the same link.

12/11/2025

I didn’t open this book in search of advice—I opened it out of exhaustion. It happened on a quiet Sunday morning when I found myself replaying yet another conversation where I said “yes” even though every part of me meant “no.” The moment I began reading Karen Ehman’s words, it felt as though someone had finally put language to a form of invisible tiredness I had been carrying for years: the heaviness of always trying to be the “good one.”

Ehman writes with the friendly honesty of someone who has lived the struggle of chronic people-pleasing and knows both its sweetness and its poison. She talks about faith, boundaries, identity, guilt, and the uncomfortable process of learning to disappoint people without feeling like a bad person. Her tone is compassionate but firm—the kind of friend who’ll hug you and hand you a backbone at the same time.

10 rich lessons and insights that shaped my reading experience.

1. People-pleasing often begins as kindness—but mutates into self-erasure.
Ehman traces how the desire to be helpful or agreeable quietly grows into a compulsive need for approval. What starts as generosity becomes a habit of swallowing your opinions, burying your needs, and existing as the version of yourself others prefer. Her message is blunt but freeing: kindness that costs your identity isn’t kindness—it’s sacrifice without purpose.

2. Saying “yes” out of guilt is not the same as saying “yes” out of love.
One of the most painful realizations in the book is that guilt-driven yeses often create resentment, stress, and emotional distance. Ehman argues that genuine love requires truthfulness. Agreeing to things you don’t want to do not only drains you but creates false intimacy. Integrity sometimes means declining so you can show up wholeheartedly when you do say yes.

3. Boundaries are not walls; they are guardrails that protect your soul.
Ehman explains that people-pleasers often fear boundaries because they associate them with selfishness. The book reframes boundaries as an act of stewardship—protecting your time, energy, and emotional health so you can give from a full heart rather than from depletion. Boundaries aren’t rejection; they’re clarity.

4. Approval-seeking is a form of emotional slavery that leaves you dependent on others’ reactions.
This insight hit hard. When your worth is tied to how others respond, you lose autonomy. Ehman describes how constantly monitoring others for validation creates a life of anxiety and second-guessing. Breaking free involves anchoring your identity in something stable—your values, your faith, your truth—not in people’s shifting expectations.

5. Not every emergency belongs to you—and rescuing others can rob them of growth.
Ehman brings forward the uncomfortable truth that over-helping can stunt the development of others. By constantly stepping in, people-pleasers shield loved ones from consequences, responsibility, and maturity. Learning to let people face their own challenges is not abandonment—it’s respect for their capacity to grow.

6. Your “no” might disappoint someone, but it will not destroy them.
One of the emotional barriers to boundary-setting is the fear of letting people down. Ehman gently reminds readers that disappointment is a normal part of adult relationships. People will survive your no. And often, their reaction reveals more about their expectations than your character.

7. You cannot pour from an empty soul—and burnout is a spiritual warning signal.
The book links emotional burnout to spiritual depletion. Ehman encourages readers to take rest seriously, to step back from constant doing, and to reconnect with stillness. When your life becomes a cycle of pleasing others, you lose the emotional margins necessary for joy, creativity, and meaningful relationships.

8. Overcommitting is often rooted in the fear of being misunderstood or judged.
Ehman explores the psychology behind overextending yourself—not wanting to appear lazy, selfish, or unreliable. This fear leads to saying yes before thinking, volunteering for everything, and carrying responsibilities that don’t belong to you. The cure is learning to tolerate discomfort: letting people think what they will.

9. Healthy relationships require truth—not performance.
People-pleasers often “perform” the version of themselves that keeps peace, prevents conflict, or earns admiration. Ehman argues that real intimacy cannot exist where authenticity is absent. Being honest about your needs, limits, and desires creates deeper connection than constant compliance ever could.

10. Freedom comes when your life aligns with your values, not with others’ expectations.
The heart of the book is this: living to please others ultimately pulls you away from your purpose. Ehman encourages readers to define what truly matters, then shape their decisions around those priorities. A life lived from the inside out—driven by conviction instead of compliance—is a life of emotional clarity and peace.

Reading When Making Others Happy Is Making You Miserable felt like someone gently placing my shoulders back into alignment. Ehman doesn’t shame the reader; she frees them. She teaches that love is not the same as people-pleasing, that boundaries are not betrayal, and that peace begins when you choose yourself without apology.

BOOK: https://amzn.to/3XQSIlB

You can ENJOY the AUDIOBOOK for FREE (When you register for Audible Membership Trial) using the same link above.

12/08/2025

Think about the best boss or colleague you’ve ever had. Chances are, they made you feel seen and valued. Now think about the worst. They probably made you feel like a cog in a machine, where your effort vanished into a void without a whisper of thanks.

Why does one environment energize us and another drain our soul? The answer, argue Gary Chapman and Paul White, isn’t just about salary or titles. It’s about appreciation—and, critically, how that appreciation is communicated.

This book takes the revolutionary concept from Chapman’s The 5 Love Languages and expertly translates it for the 9-to-5 world. Its core premise is powerful and simple: We all have a primary “language” in which we most deeply feel valued and appreciated. If you express appreciation in a language your colleague doesn’t understand, it’s like praising them in French when they only speak Mandarin. Your good intentions get lost in translation.

Here are the five languages you need to know to build a thriving, human-centered workplace:

1. Words of Affirmation
For these people, hearing is believing. A specific, sincere verbal compliment or written note means the world. It’s not about a generic “good job” in a team email. It’s, “Sarah, the way you calmed that angry client on the Monday morning call was masterful. You saved that account.” Public praise, private thanks, and acknowledging character—not just results—fill their tank.

2. Quality Time
For this person, attention is affection. Their language is undistracted focus. This means giving them your full attention in a one-on-one meeting, taking them to coffee to genuinely check in, or simply stopping by their desk to ask for their opinion and then listening. In a remote world, it could be a focused video call with no multitasking. It says, “You are important enough for me to stop everything else.”

3. Acts of Service
Actions speak louder than words. For this colleague, the most powerful way to say “I appreciate you” is to lighten their load. It’s rolling up your sleeves and helping them meet a crushing deadline, offering to handle a tedious part of a project, or fixing a recurring tech issue that’s been slowing them down. The key is to help in the way they want help, not how you think they need it.

4. Tangible Gifts
For some, a thoughtful gift is a tangible symbol of appreciation. This isn’t about dollar value; it’s about thoughtfulness. It’s remembering they love a specific kind of coffee and bringing them a bag, giving a book by an author they admire, or a gift card to their favorite lunch spot. The gift says, “I was thinking about you, and I know what you like.”

5. Physical Touch (Appropriately, in the Workplace!)
This is the most nuanced language in a professional setting. It’s not about anything intimate or unwelcome. It’s about appropriate, cultural-norm physical connections that convey support: a firm handshake, a celebratory high-five after a big win, or a pat on the shoulder during a tough time. It’s a language of human connection that must be used with the highest degree of respect and awareness.

The Secret Sauce: You Have to Speak Their Language.
The book’s power is in its actionable diagnosis. You might feel like you’re showering your team with appreciation by giving them gift cards (Tangible Gifts), but if your star employee’s primary language is Quality Time, they’ll still feel invisible and undervalued. The magic happens when you discover your colleagues’ languages—through observation, conversation, or the book’s included assessment—and then make the effort to communicate in their dialect.

In essence, The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace is a master key to unlocking human potential at work. It moves beyond the fruit basket and the annual bonus to the heart of what makes people feel motivated, loyal, and engaged. It’s a practical guide to transforming your team from a group of individuals doing jobs into a cohesive community where people feel genuinely valued for who they are and what they do. It turns the simple act of saying “thank you” into a strategic leadership superpower.

BOOK: https://amzn.to/4oCeOmD

Happy Reading!!!

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