10 Good Choices That Empower Black Women's Lives

In the follow-up to her successful first book, 10 Bad Choices That Ruin Black Women's Lives, Dr. Cornish offers black women the fundamental wisdom and gentle nudges they need to come into their own and achieve a life ""balanced among God, health, money, and love."" More than just uplifting women, she aims to empower them, showing how to realize the practical benefits of a spiritual life through anecdotes that women have shared in her seminars and in letters seeking advice. ""Psychologically free"" women, she emphasizes, are those with the ability to make good choices. Cornish's message of self-respect is not only about loving one's own unique beauty (both inside and out), but also about acknowledging bad choices, and then allowing oneself to ""let go and move onward and upward."" She encourages women to look for ""better love"" by ""set[ting] the tone at the outset of all relationships"" and to look for men who will ""enrich"" their lives, look out for their best interests and who will accept--and love--them for who they are. In another chapter, Cornish debunks the myth that ""money is the root of all evil,"" claiming that, by believing so, many women fail to experience their full financial potential. While some of the economic advice (Don't ""spend a dime when you only have a nickel"") is common sense and perhaps too basic for more mature women, older readers will derive as much benefit as younger ones from Cornish's six excuses for bad career choices and how to change them. An author who clearly understands her audience, Cornish provides warm, sister-to-sister explanations that are personal yet universal, and will help steer women toward better lives with a firm and loving hand. Agent, Barbara Lowenstein. (Nov.)