books

All my life I’ve been a reader – I’ll read just about anything, even the most boring non-fiction books that people fall asleep to. For the most part, in my adult life, my reading has been all non-fiction except when I went through a stage of reading Young Adult Fantasy in the early 2000’s when Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight, and other similar series came out.

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At one point I had over nine bookcases filled with books which I’ve got down to two. As much as I’d like to downsize those remaining books, I can’t, I’m not done with them yet. Below, find quick links to my growing list of book topics linking to books that worked for me. Many of the books are oldies, but, in my opinion, are still goodies worth reading.

exercise
happiness
health and aging
parenting
pregnancy
procrastination
self-help

It’s important to remember these books offer recommendations only. For health, finance, legal, or any other advice, consult the appropriate professional such as a medical practictioner, lawyer, and accountant.

exercise

Although I have a Personal Training Certificate, I’m a cardio junkie who’d rather be outside than at the gym. But still, I know I need strength training so prefer to do it at home. The way I see it is in the time I take to get to and back from the gym I could do a home work-out. Using a combination of outdoor exercises, Pilates (I have instructor training for Pilates), and the below work-outs I keep as fit as I can:

>Callanetics by Callan Pinckney, is a work-out I was introduced to in 1991 after telling my co-workers I did the Jane Fonda’s Workout Book by Jane Fonda everyday. They gave me the Callanetics book for my birthday and, at first, the one hour work-out took hours to do since I had to read and figure things out. I’ve been doing the short maintenance work-out faithfully ever since due to lack of time and recommend the video to prevent the learning pains I went through.

It’s a hard work-out made up of small repetitive movements, one reason why I like it better than yoga, I like to move. Callenetics boasts “10 years younger in 10 hours” with pictures showing examples. Let me know if you try this on my social media, I’d love to see your results.

Since I turn 58 years old this year and had some high blood pressure and cholesterol issues my plan is to start the full work-out again. It’s been hard to commit to after decades of mayhem but now life has settled down and I’m ready. Will keep you posted on my progress, and even some pictures.

>Jane Fonda’s Workout Book by Jane Fonda, was the first work-out I ever did and loved it till I was introduced to Callenetics by Callan Pinckney. I still have the book and to mix things up I often add the legs routine to my current exercises. The only reason I don’t do it regularly is because I’m too lazy to re-learn it, so may just get a video and save myself the time.

>Jane Fonda’s Workout Book for Pregnancy, Birth and Recovery by Femmy Delyser. Click link for more information.

happiness

>The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, is published as a self-help book and documentary under the same name about the “law of attraction”. Even though this book was a hit, I found the whole attraction philosophy quite hokey…but I still loved it for several other reasons.

To me, the whole “law of attraction” is very voodooish, if that’s a word. For the most part I’m a logical science driven person and feel the word attraction should actually be “focus”. But then, it may not have been such a hit as people seem to love stuff from the beyond.

Everything about The Secret screams focus which is much more believable and is how I presented the documentary to my daughter. There’s lots of great insight and exercises to help you fulfill your goals and I especially liked the section on feelings. It explains how feelings are a guide to what you want out of life which I mention in my post, fix yourself first to be a great parent, being published in October 2025.

I recommend the documentary over the book because it’s less of a time commitment and is well presented. If you’re like me regarding the whole voodoo attraction stuff, just swap out the word attraction for “focus” and it all makes sense.

health and aging

>Younger Next Year – Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy-Until You’re 80 and Beyond by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, M.D. They have several books but the ones I’ve read are the original, for men, and women versions. These books cover life-changing rules to live longer and are pretty well the same book except for the sections about male and female anatomy. Right from the start you’re pulled in and the hysterics continue throughout.

Although many of the rules may seem like a no-brainer, in our fast-pace western lives we neglect them till it’s too late. I’ve given this book as gifts to many people including my friends when they hit 50, my mother when she hit 70, and my children when they became adults. There is no greater gift than having those around you live a long healthy life to enjoy with you.

parenting

My greatest accomplishment is my children and this was confirmed when my son said I should write a blog on parenting. It didn’t take me long to realize that parenting isn’t a one blog topic but my first one is fix yourself first to be a great parent, being published in October 2025. Children don’t come with a manual but it’s the below books I have to thank for keeping me happy and sane. Check back in for these books.

pregnancy

>What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel (the updated version is by Heidi Murkoff only). If you want to know what’s going on with your body from head to toe from the pregnancy test to delivery, this is the book for you. It gives details on everything you need to know month by month. It’s the only book I needed when I was pregnant and I’m sure I read it a hundred times. This book, along with all the other pieces of information you receive from your medical practictioner(s), is all you’ll need to understand your pregnant body and delivery.

>Jane Fonda’s Workout Book for Pregnancy, Birth and Recovery by Femmy Delyser, was the only work-out I did once I found out I was pregnant and did it for the full nine months. I’d wake up at 5:30 a.m. before going to work to do this. As someone who needs to exercise everyday, I didn’t find this exercise routine too strenuous compared to the my usual routine at the time, Jane Fonda’s Workout Book by Jane Fonda or Callenetics by Callan Pinckney. This was a good thing considering how sick I was throughout my first pregnancy and since I had caesarean sections I didn’t use it for recovery and just eased back into Jane Fonda’s Workout Book by Jane Fonda and Callenetics by Callan Pinckney when I had the okay from my medical doctor.

procrastination

This may seem like an odd topic but I felt it worthwhile adding since this was a problem I had for decades when it came to writing. Seems like a lifetime ago now, procrastinate or persevere? YOU choose! was my first blog post being something I knew too well.

>101 BEST WAYS to Overcome Procrastination NOW! by Lucas McCain, is a checklist book…and I love lists! The lists are brief and easy ways to quickly pull in information. If you’re a person who doesn’t have much time or doesn’t have the patience to read a long non-fiction self-help book then this is for you.

There’s so much I related to, especially regarding making choices, multi-tasking, and not being hard on yourself when you slip off track. Each chapter covers an area in life where procrastination happens then offers insight and/or tips about that area.

It got a little dry by the end which is reflected in other reviews but it’s such a short book this wasn’t too much of an issue. Besides, it’s inexpensive, even free for some people.

>The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Overcoming Procrastination. I’m a huge fan of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide” books. They use well-organized technical writing format introducing learning material, teaching it, then summarizing, giving three opportunities for the content to sink in. “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Overcoming Procrastination” is no different and will not disappoint you being well organized, informative, and entertaining. It covers more than I ever imagined being able to procrastinate about while providing tools to overcome it. It was interesting to see how many things I actually do right…and wrong, including procrastinating reading this book. If you’re stuck, this book has a lot of suggestions to get you on track.

self-help

>The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Steven R. Covey, is a book I use to read every year. This book leads you through a journey from dependence to a world which is much better through our interdependence.

The first task took me a bit to get through. Can you imagine looking at a picture and being told it’s something other than you see. Well that’s what happened to me and it’s not because I’m a more right brain person, it’s because of the deception from having an unwavering perspective. I’ve always aimed to be open-minded but this simple “visual” exercise was proof, things aren’t always as they seem. Even if you don’t read the book, that first exercise is worth doing.

With that basis in mind the other habits build on it. I don’t want to spoil it for you so all I’ll add is this book was a foundation for my parenting skills. It’s what I wanted to raise my children to be.

my favourite books

Reading is a luxury I don’t make much time for these days spending so much time writing, but when I did read, these were the books that worked for me. I’d read them again if I had more time! Let me know what you think of them by sharing your thoughts and comments on my social media.

Cheers,
Vickie Girolami
September 27, 2025

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