GET CREATIVE: TURN ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF YOUR BRAIN

GET CREATIVE: TURN ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF YOUR BRAIN by cartoonist Doug MacGregor is a fun workbook of creative exercises for the right side of the brain.

As a technical writer, my brain's left side is often fully engaged while the right side is asleep. Fine for the day job, but it becomes problematic once I take off the technical writer hat and sit down to work on a novel. The big, blank page screams out for words, but the cursor blinks and blinks and blinks in stunning silence.

Doug MacGregor recently spoke at a local writer's meeting and I was intrigued by the sample exercises he led us through during the presentation. A few weeks after the meeting I bought the book and the creative exercises have helped wake up my right brain and fill my big, blank pages with words.

This book is for anyone who needs to wake up the right brain and get creative; or, for anyone who just wants to have some creative fun.

A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity

A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity is the autobiography of Bill O'Reilly, executive producer and anchor of The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel. The author points out in the introduction that he parted from the traditional memoir method to focus on those experiences that shaped his belief system. This lets the reader know up front that the book is not the typical examination of one's life laid out neatly in chronological order. Instead, the book is divided into topical chapters laced with pertinent stories about his experiences.

Since I'm a fan of the television show, I enjoyed reading those stories while learning how the events influenced his belief system. It was also interesting to read about events that happened in previous decades from his perspective. Some things I agreed with and some I did not. Did it dramatically improve my life as claimed in the introduction's title? No. Did it cause me think about the events that shaped my own belief system? Yes.

Fans of The O'Reilly Factor will enjoy the book. Critics will not.

Sister Betty! God's Calling You, Again!

Sister Betty! God's Calling You, Again! by Pat G'Orge-Walker is a book of comedic short stories. The stories celebrate the gospel heritage and faith of African Americans using humorous sketches of  life inside some of the black church traditions. Although the stories focus on a black church, the book is for anyone in need of laughter therapy. The back cover sums it up best when it states that each of the stories "serves up lessons about love and life, with a big helping of humor."

The main character is Sister Betty from the Ain't Nobody Else Right But Us - All Others Goin' to Hell Church. Other characters include The Reverend Knott Enuff Money (pastor), Bishop Was Nevercalled (overseer), Deacon Laid Handz (head deacon), Mother Pray Onn (head mother), Brother This Mythang (choir director), Sister Carrie Onn (church blabbermouth), Sister Ima Hellraiser (head of confusion), and Ma Cile (church matriarch and butt whipper). With names like these you know you're in for a wild ride with unforgettable characters.

A final word of caution. These stories cause extreme laughter while imparting an uplifted message about God's Word.