The Available Parent

The Available Parent: Radical Optimism for Raising Teens and Tweens by John Duffy is the latest parenting book and was pretty similar to the rest. The same comment applies: you need to keep re-reading this book to really retain the knowledge in it. It's also one of those books where the title says it all and is the thing to retain if anything. The rest is detail and too generalised to be of much specific help. 5/10

Why Won't My Teenager Talk to Me?

Why Won't My Teenager Talk to Me? by John Coleman is the first Parenting book that I manage to complete after a couple of false starts. My daughter is 12, so she's not quite there yet. The book is a very broad subject, it's difficult to take on board a lot of it, and I doubt many people will keep this by their bedside for when they have a problem to consult. In reality what I got from it was to listen and understand more. 5/10

Dead Simple

After months spent in non-fiction I returned to the fiction shelves for a book of short stories called Dead Simple. This crime selection was quite strong and of the 8 stories 5 were good, 2 were average and only 1 was bad. 7/10

Past the 100 mark

I passed the 100 mark with Medical Detectives: The Lives & Cases of Britain's Forensic Five by Robin Odell a book about forensic pathologists. This was about the "Big 5" British men who occupied the limelight up to about the 1970s when everything started to change once computers were introduced. It's a fairly rambling book which launches from case to case with no clear divide. Interesting enough. 5/10

Coping with dyspraxia by Daniel Goldberg is useful but mainly aimed at younger kids, and not a lot of use for 12-year-olds!

Dr Rosemary Leonard

Dr Rosemary Leonard used to be on TV and she has written a few books about her experiences as a GP. This book Doctor's Notes is the second in the series, and although I haven't read the first (every book I choose has to be by an unread author according to my own rules), I imagine this contains very much the second best set of tales. The book is very untechnical and much more on the human side, rather than portraying patients with complicated illnesses. Nearly every "illness" in this book is something silly the patient has done. There are one or two good stories, but a few duller ones. It's easy to read but nothing special. 6/10

How to Help Your Autistic Spectrum Child

I didn't find How to Help Your Autistic Spectrum Child of much use, partly because my daughter was not diagnosed until she was 12. Most of these books are aimed at parents of much younger children. There were a few bits for older kids, at least the good news seems to be that with helps autistic children in the main live normal (ish) adult lives.

My Secret Life Inside Scientology

Book 95, Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology by Jenna Miscavige Hill was a real eye-opener. I have  been interested in Scientology for many years after reading the Bare Faced Messiah book by Russell Miller. I thought that was hilarious at the time and that LRH was a brilliant con man.

This book reveals the human cost of his scam, and the fact that it is still going on after his death. Jenna grew up inside Scientology so it's all she knew, just like people living inside places like North Korea she was brainwashed. In the end she managed to escape but the attempts to control her were appalling. It's certainly a very interesting book. Rating: 8/10

Beyond Belief concludes Mind, Body and Spirit. It's now time for Health and Well Being.