Category: Blog

Marjan’s Fasting Firepower has valid points and facts but is definitely a personal opinion piece. Marjan does not usually use primary research to back up his points on the benefits of fasting, but the news media’s interpretation of the research often leads to sensationalization of the results. Scriptural quotes were sometimes taken out of context, and the fasting experts quoted have been marginalized by the science world, not just medical/health scientists. This book was independently published. Thus, has significant formatting issues (at least in the OBC Reader).

Marjan is right that fasting, not only related to nutrition, can significantly impact a person’s emotional, physical, and spiritual health. As a registered nurse, I believe all healthcare clinicians need more training on using food as medicine. I am concerned about how Marjan seems to dismiss the knowledge of registered dieticians and others formally trained in nutrition for individuals with limited scientific training to critique research adequately. At this point, I am quite skeptical of how fasting and eating organic and unprocessed foods can treat or prevent mental illness. Before I can support such claims by Marjan, I will need to see more definitive research.

Not all individuals can follow a fasting routine like Marjan. Those who are impoverished in the inner-city cannot escape air pollution, have limited land to raise their own food, and often can only afford the highly processed and preserved food in the grocery store. Middle-class individuals in suburbia may not have the time or even enough land to raise their own food and often do not make enough money to buy organic foods. Marjan warns individuals with health concerns to work with knowledgeable healthcare clinicians before starting a fasting routine. I embrace this, yet finding such a clinician can be difficulty for most individuals.

I read this book as a free download on the Online Book Club (OBC) Reader application. This application was quite new when I downloaded it, so between the learning curve, the format of quotes within this book, and possible technical glitches, I found this book hard to navigate. It was hard to highlight specific words, especially near quotes and at the beginning of each chapter. If I wanted to make a note and then change the color of the highlighting, I found this impossible. I only found out when reading another book how to delete bookmarks.

Marjan’s Fasting Firepower is a personal, political, and editorial work. The information in it needs to be critically reviewed and communicated by the scientific community, not the testimonial that this book really is. I am actually more interested in Marjan’s other book 600 Devils: From Refugee to Redemption, a life impacted by smuggling, cannabis, psychedelics, conmen, cops, and assorted holy men. This is an area where Marjan is actually an expert; he is only an individual with experience in fasting.

I found it difficult to tell if Tony Selimi’s book The Unfakeable Code fits in a bookstore or library’s nonfiction, self-help, or marketing section. The book starts out with over 15 pages of praise for the book and Tony’s coaching work. The meat of the book, from the Introduction to the second-to-last page about the fifth principle, is only 156 pages.  More than 30 additional pages follow. In other words, about 20% of the book markets Selimi’s books and coaching services.

Selimi uses his formal computer programming education to initially explain that a person can rewrite the code for their brain, or how they think about their life, yet limits how much he uses this analogy when discussing the five principles a person should use to change their perspective on one or more areas of their life. The five principles reflect sound psychological principles, and words like masks, facades, and personas are more commonly used than computer terminology.

The Unfakeable Code provides sound psychological advice in the areas of cognitive behavioral therapy and emotion regulation. No one disputes that thinking more objectively or positively about a situation will often lead to more positive actions being taken, yet Selimi is not a psychologist, therapist, or neurologist. Thankfully, he does mention that it is okay to use such professionals, yet includes coaches who, at least in the United States, don’t require formal training or certification to demonstrate competence. Selimi is certified in coaching, but how does that compare to individuals with at least master’s degrees and government-issued licenses in these other professions?

As a registered nurse who has worked in neurology and studied psychology, I really enjoyed this book, found the principles practical, and the activities thought-provoking. Yet, I don’t think Selimi was the best person to write this book. Yes, he has anecdotal evidence that these five principles work. He talks about the science and psychological theories that support these principles but barely touches on how their work aligns with the five principles he discusses.

Finally, I cannot give this book the five out of five stars it deserves, as novum publishing bills itself as being a publisher for first-time authors yet lacks the extra support a first-time author would need. I often had to reread sentences to understand what the author was trying to communicate and found “façade” to be a distracting way of spelling facade. The Unfakeable Code is Selimi’s 2^nd full book, along with writing a section in Fit-For-Purpose Leadership #3. I guess popular publishing companies saw The Unfakeable Code as a marketing piece, not a nonfiction or self-help book.

First Survivor is a labor of love and advocacy by author Mark Unger, educating the public not only on being advocates for their loved ones but also seeking out and participating in clinical trials. Unger’s writing pulled at my heartstrings as I rode the roller coaster of emotions of each member of the family, from the bravery of Louis, the anxiety of parents, and the mixed emotions of Harry. I really appreciate that he also incorporated how patient and kind the physicians and nurses were in answering questions and suggesting ways to keep Louis comfortable.  

Having been a nurse of adults with cancer at a major teaching a research hospital, I got to see and feel these feelings with families. Unger does a great job blending the family member’s memories and journal entries from in the heat of the cancer battle to help readers also feel the complex emotions and absorb the overwhelming amount of information, in what can seem like a foreign language. Clinicians can forget to adequately explain these terms to overwhelmed families, but through Unger’s questions and seeking answers, he was not able to only better understand the care his son was receiving but also has now educated other families that it is okay to ask questions and seek more information.

I cannot tell if First Survivor is a self-published book or not, but the use of a medical editor may have caught the minor errors as a registered nurse with oncology experience identified in the book. (I read this via the Kindle application.) Minor errors such as the occasionally misspelled medication and some alignment issues in areas such as the table of contents and changing the size of the table on the history of survival between the two pages it is on occurred but did not take away from the strength of the story. I am grateful that Unger decided to include a glossary to help those in the general public learn some of the medical jargon used in cancer care. Yet, I found the additional section called Medical Background redundant, even though it did include some terms not included in the glossary and did go into much further detail for those who might be interested.

As a nurse who has worked with adult cancer clients and is now transitioning into the role of nurse scientist, I really appreciate the effort that was put into First Survivor. I am giving this book 4 out of 5 stars, related to the minor errors above, recognizing Unger’s privilege of being in a high position within the family company allowed him time and financial means to research and advocate for his son’s health and write this book. This is a privilege few have, and I am grateful he used that privilege to break down barriers in healthcare to allow for more family and clinician collaboration and communication. I know many patients of various ages and disease processes are living better lives because of including the patient and family as part of the healthcare team.