Gigi's Guide to Self Help Books

A few years ago my life took a wrong turn into a hideously horrible and dramatic series of events. My downfall started with the sudden, extremely nasty demise of my marriage to a controlling narcissistic asshole, and it just got worse from there. It was like I was living in a really pathetic Lifetime Movie and could not break free. And like many of my favorite Lifetime Movie heroines I totally flipped out for several months. I like to refer to this time in my life as my “mental vacation” because I was on another planet in my head and did many stupid things, not the least of which was spending tons of money on worthless crap. And I charged most of this shit, so I am probably still paying for it and will be for years. As I donated much of it to Goodwill, I can only hope that somebody special is enjoying my never used crock pot or thigh-master.

However, I ended up hanging on to most of the vast collection of self-help books and those adorably illustrated “girl guides to life” that I purchased during my vacation. I have a lot of trouble getting rid of books, as I AM a professional librarian, thank you very much. And I have to say, I found many of them really helpful. Strangely enough I didn’t even really have to read them or follow their advice. My attention span and follow through were virtually non-existent at that time. But I surrounded myself with them…had them piled around me in my bed, on my floor, in my car, at work, etc. In one of my many moments of sheer panic throughout the day, and particularly late late at night, I would flip one open to a random page and be momentarily comforted by the quick fix of kind reassurance and advice. Well, for the most part…sometimes the chosen book would just make me feel more wretched. I would have saved time, anguish, embarrassment and most importantly money if I’d known exactly the self help book to pick for whatever quick emotional fix I was seeking. So in order to serve my fellow basket cases, or those who just need a lift once in a while, I will provide a review of 15 very special volumes in the self-help/life skills genre. I have come up with what I believe are invaluable criteria to judge whether the book will calm your mental demons or rile them up and make you even more of a freaked out loon. Oh yeah….I don’t own ALL of these. Really, I don’t….

DISCLAIMER: The women of gorgeousandsassy.com do not recommend the use of self help books to deal with life issues as an alernative to using psychotherapy, strong (prescribed) medication or BOTH.  If you are feeling heinous, get your ass to a shrink!!! Trust us, it's worth it. Now, on with the reviews. - Gigi 8.26.02