The Resilient Woman: Mastering the 7 Steps to Personal Power

O'Gorman (Dancing Backwards in High Heels) distinguishes her second book on the topic of women and resilience by introducing the concept of "girly thoughts"%E2%80%94essentially a woman's thoughts on her limits and standards as informed by her family, friends, and greater society. While O'Gorman makes some astute observations, her manual's bulky "warming up" section hampers the flow by over-explaining the easily grasped concepts of resilience and girly thoughts. Followed by a robust self-test, the breakdown of resilience styles into paradoxical, stellar, overwhelmed, self-contained, underdeveloped, and balanced is both cohesive and to-the-point. However, it takes nearly half the book to shift into the promised "seven steps to personal power". As with the forerunning text, this section is peppered with brief, yet worthwhile, case studies and journal prompts. These prompts, which could prove beneficial to readers tracking their own progress toward resilience, are often weighed down by unnecessary instructions and commentary. This manual hits its high note in such concise, concrete features as "Walk on the Wildside", which provides specific advice for staying in tune with one's positivity. The originality factor of O'Gorman's self-empowerment guide%E2%80%94an overall pleasant read brimming with common-sense advice%E2%80%94lies primarily in phrasing and framing rather than in content. (Mar.)