Poetic Poetry  
By Brittany Benko
Independently Published, $6.71 
Release Date: November 1, 2020

Poetic Poetry is a collection of poems from the creative mind of author Brittany Benko. These poems center around her life and experiences, covering the gambit from love, loss, motherhood, and life at the beach. Benko’s work features poems with a strict rhyme scheme, incorporating elements of free-verse poetry and formal poetry to create easy images of life at the beach, dreams, and more. The poems are organized in alphabetical order, simplifying the reading process for readers. Benko holds nothing back, sharing her thoughts on everything from finding love, raising her children, being married to a law enforcement officer, and experiencing everything life at the beach has to offer. The writing makes use of rhyming couplets, giving each piece a bouncing, dreamlike feel. With an emphasis on creating straightforward images that are relatable, this book is a great way for those that usually dislike the pomp and circumstance of poetry to get their feet wet in the genre. If you’re looking for your next beach read, this is the perfect book to pick up! 

You Were Made for This: Finding Courage and Intuition for Raising a Child with Autism
By Rebecca Jeffreys 
Empowerment Publishing and Multi-Media, $40.99
Release Date: April 28, 2022

You Were Made for This is an excellent addition to any parenting book collection, especially for mothers of children diagnosed with autism. Jeffreys outlines her experiences with her son, JJ, and her husband as they navigate the trials and tribulations of raising a child with undiagnosed autism. Throughout the novel, Jeffreys combines her real, unfiltered experiences and reminders of giving yourself grace in the face of adversity. Although the book is mainly centered around her experience as a mother of a child with autism, the book also contains nuggets of wisdom for all types of parents. Throughout multiple schools, teachers that were helpful and teachers that weren’t, and administrative red tape that made things more difficult than it needed to be, Jeffreys weaves a tale that shows us the most raw and inspiring parts of motherhood. Her lived experiences breathe on the page, and gives us hope that eventually, the systems that make lives harder for those that perceive the world in a different way will be fixed.