LOVE

Getting the Love You Want Before counselor Harville Hendrix, Ph.D. teaches you how to improve your relationship, he asks you to think about why you were attracted to your partner in the first place. The answer, he explains, is that you were looking for a mate who possesses the same basic qualities as your parents. Why? Because people subconsciously seek relationships with those who will exorcise their childhood pain. Unfortunately, most people tend to reopen ??? as opposed to healing ??? these wounds in their adult liaisons, leading to the ???power struggle??? that ensues in many relationships. Hendrix and his wife, Dr. Helen Lakelly Hunt, say that the way out of this destructive cycle is to practice the tenants of ???Imago Relationship Therapy,??? which they created. Their therapeutic approach includes making a true, lifelong commitment, treating each other in a loving manner, learning how to communicate constructively and eliminating negativity from your relationship. You may well find some benefits in the Imago approach even if you don???t fully buy Hendrix???s basic parent-seeking premise. The authors have trained some 2,000 therapists to use this approach, although Part III offers solid exercises you can do yourself. If you are seeking a relationship self-help book that discusses how to avoid getting hurt, how to deepen your communication and how to build a long-term connection, getAbstract recommends this bestseller.

Love It, Don't Leave It Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans have written a useful book for employees who are tempted by greener pastures. The authors caution that those who pursue a glittering opportunity often wind up in a golden mess. Thus, it makes sense to at least try to improve your job before seeking another one that, ultimately, may be even worse. The book???s format offers one item of advice for each letter of the alphabet. At times, the formula wears a bit thin (X for "X-ers and Other Generations"), but the advice itself is sound. It primarily consists of encouraging you to decide what you want and go get it. getAbstract.com recommends this book to currently employed malcontents (you know who you are!) and to those who need help mustering the nerve to discuss job satisfaction with their employers. Perhaps the best piece of advice is to only approach your supervisors for a favor when you understand their WIIFT: "What???s In It For Them."

What Clients Love This is a pleasant contemporary book on selling and branding in a marketplace where the average consumer is deluged with 3,200 advertising messages a day. In a format that makes for an excellent read while traveling, the book consists of short, colorful 300 to 1,000 word treatments of various topics, such as selling, branding and customer service. At times, author Harry Beckwith???s approach seems episodic. It???s not always clear what one section has to do with another. However, he nicely avoids business-speak jargon, and spatters the book with accessible pop culture examples, including motion pictures, clever ads and other common points of reference. The book???s shortcoming resides more in the area of substance and depth of thinking. Each brief essay ends with a catchy one-sentence aphorism such as: "Comfort clients and you will keep them" or "Edit your message until everyone understands it." The author has invested a great deal of time devising colorful ways to tell you things that, upon further reflection, you probably already know. Yet, getAbstract finds that the short-bite, snappy presentation makes the book interesting. If you???re too busy to keep up on the latest trends in marketing and sales, reading this is an excellent way to make sure you???re current.

Developing Employees Who Love to Learn Linda Honold describes a system for helping everyone in your company learn to become more creative, responsive, efficient and team-oriented. She describes various techniques, including methods for developing an interest in learning and self-knowledge. Her book covers individual learning tools, mentoring, coaching, group learning and peer learning. She pays particular attention to learning styles, drawing on the system set out by the Myers-Briggs personality test. Honold???s book speaks primarily to corporate managers who are trying to create serendipitous learning systems. Some may find the book dry and overly concerned with the details of systematizing supposedly informal learning, but getAbstract recommends it to HR practitioners and to knowledge management professionals who will find it productive. They will gain a lot from this theoretical ??? and practical ??? look at how people in companies actually learn.

Stop Spoiling That Man Every fulfilling and satisfying relationship requires a bit of give and take. However, if you are responsible for all of the giving and he is enjoying all of the taking, you???re guilty of spoiling your man. Spoiling is not the same as nurturing or loving. Instead, it places his needs above your needs. The spoiled man is happy to let you make all of the decisions, do all of the work and bear the responsibility for maintaining all aspects of your relationship. This unhealthy imbalance will eventually leave you feeling unsettled, unsatisfied and unloved. If your mate has taken up permanent residence on the couch in front of the TV with a snack and a beer (that you gave him), getAbstract suggests that it???s time you read this book. Here, you???ll learn how to recognize the ways in which he manipulates and controls you. You???ll also find strategies to launch an ???unspoiling??? campaign. Although some of the maneuvers recommended by husband and wife authors John B. Arden and Victoria Arden seem a bit devious, they might just be what your spouse needs to be a mature man, not a pouting prince.

Love 'Em or Lose 'Em Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans have written a clever, candid, thorough guidebook for managers who would like to keep good people in their employ. With no filler, and plenty of insightful stories, this well-organized book is divided into 26 chapters - each one named for a strategy that begins with a sequential letter of the alphabet. Illustrated with color graphics that carry the eye to sidebars and other informative tidbits, the book offers advice ranging from professional to personal. It makes plenty of sense. getabstract.com recommends this book to anyone who manages or supervises employees, and for employees themselves.

It's a Breakup Not a Breakdown If you tend to endure a breakup holed up in your room in comfy PJs, then getAbstract recommends that you place this survival guide next to your chick flick DVDs, high-priced chocolates and box of tissues. This girl-power book by Lisa Steadman, nicknamed ???The Relationship Journalist,??? reads like a long ???You go, girl!??? exclamation. Steadman explains that you can use the ???big breakup??? experience to become more fabulous than before you met Mr. Wrong. All it takes is a little fortitude and a lot of self-focused behavior. If you want to indulge in a cryfest, a new pair of boots or a bit of spoiling by mom, Steadman says, ???Do it!??? The goal, however, is to emerge from your breakup with a better understanding of what you need and want and how to make it happen. Use your breakup as a vehicle to learn about yourself and embrace your single status as an opportunity to make valuable changes. One gentle caution: Steadman???s basic intent is to offer a good laugh, some female bonding and a warm hug, not a serious, therapeutic method of overcoming a trauma.

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus The best advice resonates deep inside you, causing you to think ???of course, I knew that.??? As you read this classic by relationship guru John Gray, you???ll find yourself smiling, nodding your head in agreement, and marveling at the simplicity and truth of his advice. Groundbreaking when first published, this manual details the differences between how men and women process emotions, handle stress, and communicate needs and feelings. It also explains how they want their partner to love them. Gray points out how men and women often overlook these essential differences when dealing with each other in relationships. getAbstract predicts that once you read Gray???s guide, you???ll understand why people often refer to it as ???the book,??? and why it has helped millions of couples everywhere.

Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life We don???t know if feng shui will straighten out your life, but it sure does clean up a room. If you???re curious about the interior design style/life philosophy that???s sweeping the U.S., Karen Rauch Carter???s book is the perfect place to start. She explains the ins and outs of the ch???i, gaus and bagaus that can completely transform your job, your bank account, your relationships and your happiness, according to the feng shui doctrine. The book is written in a casual, unpretentious style that helps to offset some of the grand notions of the concept. getAbstract.com recommends this book to anyone curious about the theory that is remaking kitchens across Hollywood.