Ever wonder what would happen if you followed the self-help regimens prescribed daily on TV, and in magazines, talks, and books? Jennifer Niesslein's amusing Practically Perfect in Every Way: My Misadventures Through the World of Self-Help -- and Back will be out in paperback on May 6th »more»

"Skin in the Game" is about fixing the broken health care system in the United States and the first thing I noticed about the book was the praised it was receiving from people like Mark Hurd of Hewlett-Packard, one of America's top CEOs and biggest employers. »more»

LifeTwo contributor David Houle has just released his debut book, "The Shift Age"--his term for the period we are just entering as we leave the "information age." In the book, Houle explains the forces and dynamics that are reshaping our world. Houle believes that the fast pace of change that we have experienced with the onset of digital technologies will continue unabated. In fact we may one day soon look back at today and think of this as a relative simple time when mobile media players and GPS technologies were still considered somewhat new and novel. »more»

Over the past few years, happiness research has attracted the interest of experts from many fields, the most interesting of which might be the statisticians/economists. Arthur Brooks, a top scholar of economics and public policy, tackles the question of "what makes us happy" in his new book "Gross National Happiness" by using reams of data and in the process comes up with some surprising and interesting conclusions. Among them: »more»

It is hard to imagine advice as timely as this, "Don’t count on home equity as your sole source of retirement income." Sentences like this led to me changing my mind about reviewing "Cash-Rich Retirement" by Jim Schlagheck. »more»

"Increase Your Financial IQ" is Robert Kiyosaki's latest personal financial book. In case you haven't heard of Kiyosaki or his Rich Dad series, he has authored 18 motivational/finance books and other material that have reportedly sold a combined 26 million copies. »more»

Every person and every family has amazing stories that can move us, motivate us, guide us, and tell us who we are. As the author Christina Baldwin notes, "events become real when we organize experience into narrative." The practice of telling stories has been around as long as civilization has itself. Some consider it to be the foundation of being human. »more»

It was almost two years ago when we first learned of Sheila Key and Peggy Spencer's writing project about making the most of the second half of your life. Based on what we heard from them we were expecting a great gift book for the 12,500 people who are celebrating (or perhaps dreading) their 50th birthday every day. In fact it is a great gift book, but it is much, much more. »more»

The topic "Happiness" is of critical importance for people in middle age and thus a focus of LifeTwo. If you are not proactive about being happy then you run the risk of one day hitting a wall and being angry at everyone and everything in the world that you deem is blocking your joy. »more»

Life is too short to spend in an unsatisfying job. However by middle age, career transitions are risky and expensive. The last thing you want to do is to go through a gut wrenching experience moving into a new career only to find that it wasn't what you expected. But how do you know what a new career will be like before you actually do it? »more»

The day I received the review copy of "Fast Profits in Hard Times" the Dow lost over 200 points. "Hard times" is certainly an apt description of our current economic state so it was with more than cursory interest that I cracked open the book. By the time I finished it a few days later the Dow had given away another 500 points--hard times indeed. »more»

I'm a habitual Self Help reader. Whenever I have a crisis, big or small, I turn to gurus who have written books. I love Gary Zukav for his words about aligning your intention with your choices as a way of achieving authentic living. and I love Deepak Chopra for giving us the substance of mysterious things like death and the secrets of life. »more»

Next month "We Are the New Radicals" will be published. It's a new book by Julia Moulden that chronicles the trend of baby boomers that reinvent and recommit themselves to improve the world. The book combines stories of people who've done it with "how to" tips for others who want to join in and drive change. »more»

Economists look at the world in terms of incentives and disincentives. Telling people to do one thing while providing them incentives to do something else will almost always fail. Welfare programs are the classic example of this quandary. Obesity in America is a multi-billion dollar issue that impacts all facets of the economy so it is not surprising that economists have been studying it. Furthermore, since economics is the study of decision making, they are well positioned to help shed light on the root causes of the epidemic. »more»

Amy Sherman is a licensed mental health counselor, a blogger, and the author of "Distress-Free Aging: a Boomer's Guide to Creating a Fulfilled and Purposeful Life." "Distress-Free Aging" is a new eBook that promises "simple strategies [to] turn your life around."

As the name implies, the book is aimed at members of the baby boomer generation who are tackling retirement like no generation has ever done before. »more»