When a Reviewer Gets Reviewed

It’s a daunting experience when a reviewer waits on another reviewer to review their work. It is! As a book reviewer, I’m all too aware of the stringent standards by which any reviewer holds to when they’re reading a text and gathering their thoughts on how to present their opinion to the world. When we read a book, we’re mentally weighing its strengths and weaknesses on every page. Deciding if the author has been successful or not in delivering what their title and sub-title promise. Reviewing truly is a bringing together of many diverse elements, summing them up, and then making a public declaration of a book’s merit. Knowing all that, having had our new book reviewed by my peers (and having had it well-received) means the world to me.

Burdens Do a Body Good: Meeting Life’s Challenges with Strength (and Soul) Michele Howe and Christopher A. Foetisch. Hendrickson, $14.99 paper (144p) ISBN 978-1-59856-433-1

Howe and Foetisch offer a unique blend of inspiration and practicality in their first book collaboration. Howe, a women’s lifestyle writer (Still Going It Alone) and PW reviewer, provides the inspirational flavor as she taps into the many personal and situational life challenges women face. Foetisch, an orthopedic surgeon, adds the “weight-bearing exercises”—health tips and practices—to heighten each chapter’s healing potential. Paired are such subjects as regret and the impact of stress on surgery recovery; parental behavior and handling disrespect; aging and good life habits. Occasionally a disconnect occurs between topic and accompanying exercise (hopelessness and rotator cuff tears, for example), but there are nuggets of truth throughout. Readers will find themselves in at least one of the 30 life challenges and “discover new ways of dealing with old problems.” (May) Publishers Weekly

“Women are constantly being challenged in every area of their lives. In Burdens Do a Body Good, Howe and Foetisch pair inspirational stories with practical women’s health recommendations. At the end of each chapter, the “Takeaway Action Thought” gives a quick overview of the information shared on each of the 30 different topics. This book is designed for a female audience interested in an intellectual approach to everyday challenges, but the information contained is as easily adaptable for men as their female counterparts. Whether you’re dealing with parenting, retirement, care-giving, or stress, each chapter will supply supportive, Christian-based ideas for not only surviving but growing through tough times.”
—Retailers and Resources

What Moms Who are MDs Have to Say About Parenting

Can you think of a better combination to pose medical questions to than a group of women who are both moms and MDs? When I first met Jennifer Reich, I was impressed with her warmth and depth of character. This first impression piqued my interest in her new book project, “MommyMDGuides for Pregnancy and Birth.” Reich gathers the best these female physicians have to offer and has compiled their experiences and insights into this comprehensive resource. For more information, check out MommyMDGuides links below.

Jennifer Bright Reich
Cofounder and Editorial Director, Momosa Publishing LLC
The Mommy MD Guides
MommyMDGuides@yahoo.com

Tips That Doctors Who Are Mothers Use for Their Own Families
Mommy MD Guide-Recommended (and Mom-Invented) Products
Simple Solutions by Moms
Breaking Pregnancy and Parenting News
Two blogs (Family Feeding Dynamics on healthy eating and PosiBlog on positive parenting)

Burdens Do a Body Good Press Release

HENDRICKSON PUBLISHERS

AVAILABLE MAY 2010
For Immediate Release — Contact: Kathy Russ
800-358-3111 or kruss@hendrickson.com
Visit our website at http://www.hendrickson.com

Hendrickson Publishers is pleased to announce the release of Burdens Do a Body Good: Meeting Life’s Challenges with Strength (and Soul) by Michele Howe and Christopher A. Foetisch, M.D.
Being a woman in today’s world means wrestling—physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally—with lots of weighty struggles. Lifestyle mentor Michele Howe and orthopedic surgeon Christopher Foetisch offer a well-rounded “training manual” filled with inspirational insight and practical advice for handling life’s toughest battles with inner and outer strength. Thematic chapters begin with Howe’s trademark real-life vignettes and essays on personal and situational topics: loss, sorrow, aging, job displacement, divorce, parenting issues, financial setbacks, illness, and more.

Women will identify with the experiences of other women, and how each found and developed the emotional and spiritual strength to meet the challenges she faced. Foetisch then provides practical weight-bearing “exercises” for body and soul health, and information on staying strong and well, no matter your age or circumstances. Valuable take-away action thoughts, meaningful quotations, and concluding Scripture verses complete the “workout.”

Women will be delighted and surprised at the recommendations, choices, and options available to them. They’ll discover new ways of dealing with old problems and develop the multifaceted fitness they need to fearlessly face all of life’s challenges.

Praise for Michele Howe and Dr. Christopher Foetisch

“As a surgeon, I’m a bottom-liner. I want practical, not ethereal, but at the same time, as a Christian, I want sound Biblical advice, not feel-good pop psychology. Now you know why I like this book! Get out your highlighter; you’re going to want to go back to your favorite sections over and over when you find yourself up against life’s burdens.” –Harry Kraus, MD, Best-selling author of Domesticated Jesus

Burdens Do a Body Good is fabulously written! This book is a paradigm shifter, possessing the power to lift women’s perspective above the common pitfalls of physical, emotional, and mental setbacks while providing expert solutions and doable actions for a more healthy and productive life! Read and change your perspective on how to overcome the challenges of fear, depression, failure, and relational difficulties! –Anna McCoy, author and founder of Woman, Act Now

Michele writes in a style that is woman to woman, it feels so personal, and yet at the same time draws her reader in to a larger community of women where she tackles challenges we all face. In reading this book I felt understood, supported, empowered by knowledge, inspired by practical advice and spiritual insight, and held graciously accountable to be changed by what I was learning. –Sarah Zacharias Davis, author of “The Friends We Keep”

Burdens Do A Body Good is such an intriguing title for a terrific read! Packed with insight, perspective and clear-cut strategies, Michele and Dr. Foetisch’s book is a roadmap to navigate through the twists and turns life offers, good and bad; for not only surviving, but thriving.” –Marie Bailey, Author, Talk Show Host & CEO

This unique blend of Michele Howe’s compassionate reflections on difficult circumstances and Dr. Foetisch’s practical advice on dealing with stress, illness, and injury will help many Christian women cope with setbacks. Whether you’re facing situational life challenges such as divorce or job loss, or more systemic difficulties such as disappointment and doubt, this inspirational guide demonstrates both spiritual and medical ways to keep putting one foot in front of the other. –Jana Riess, author of What Would Buffy Do? and American Pilgrimage

About the Authors: The authors first met when MICHELE HOWE walked into the office of DR. CHRISTOPHER FOETISCH as a patient with a shoulder injury. Five years and four surgeries later, this book is the result of their doctor-patient relationship and the writing collaboration they developed to provide fresh awareness to women’s health issues nationwide. It brings together Michele’s experience as an author of books that help women live with strength and grace (including Going It Alone and Still Going It Alone and Prayers to Nourish a Woman’s Heart) with Dr. Foetisch’s experience as an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine and writes on women’s health issues.

Burdens Do a Body Good: Meeting Life’s Challenges with Strength (and Soul)By Michele Howe and Christopher A. Foetisch, M.D.
Hendrickson Publishers/May 2010
ISBN: 978-1-5985-6433-4/152 pages/softcover/$14.95
http://www.hendrickson.com