Guten Thanksgivenen…nen… er… okay, so I don’t speak German and I live in Canada. But it IS Oktoberfest, so that’s my excuse! Hah!

And now that you’re quite sure all the pumpkin pie has gone to my head (I’d rather it go there than anywhere else, if you know what I’m saying, ladies), I’ll get to the point.

The point is… it’s time for the September Blog Tour!!! Whoo-hoo!!!

Yes, I know it’s October. But the books arrived a little late, so we had some extra time to read them & get our reviews up, so let’s just pretend it’s still September and that I’m not on a ridiculous sugar high, m’kay?

Here we go!

Have a New You by Friday 

by Dr. Kevin Leman

Self-Help/Inspirational

Release Date: September 2010

Back Cover Copy:

You can change your life–in just 5 days!

How many times have you tried to change your own habits, only to find that changing yourself is even harder than trying to change someone else?

Now, what the bestselling Have a New Kid by Friday has done for families and Have a New Husband by Friday has done for couples,Have a New You by Friday will do for you. With his signature wit and commonsense psychology, Dr. Kevin Leman walks you through your own personal five-day action plan. You will come to

• Accept the truth about yourself
• Boost your confidence by identifying the lies you’re telling yourself . . . and putting them to rest for good
• Change your life by concentrating on becoming who you really want to be

I’ll admit it: I love Dr. Leman’s books. I’ve read nearly all his books about birth order, marriage, sex, and childhood memories. I’ve read his book on women who struggle with perfectionism, and I have his book dedicated to First Borns sitting next to me just begging to be read.

So, I come to this book with a bit of a bias. I love Dr. Leman’s easygoing writing style, his funny anecdotes, his sense of humor (self-deprecation is something I can definitely appreciate)… I think in some ways, Dr. Leman reminds me of my Dad. That might sound weird, but my Dad is pretty great (*waves* Hi Dad! I don’t know if you read my blog…) so I think that’s a good thing. Also, they’re both Last Borns, so that’s probably where I’m seeing some similarities in personality.

Anyway, parental reflections aside, if you’ve never read anything by Dr. Leman and you like self-help books that challenge you, here’s a great place to start. (Okay, one more plug, he also has tons of resources for parents, so if you have kids I highly recommend his books.)

This book is designed to force you to think and challenge yourself: What is it about your life that you want to change? Why haven’t your attempts at change worked before? What can you do differently, and what are the lies you’ve been telling yourself that have stopped you from changing in the past?

We all know that changing ourselves is much harder than changing others… we’re our own worst critics, and we all have these little “truths” we’ve carried around for our whole lives, whether we know it or not. Dr. Leman looks at these lies we tell ourselves, and challenges us to change our thought patterns. He looks at things like:

• Birth Order
• Love Languages
• Childhood Memories
• Your Real Personality

Now, here’s the thing – because I’ve read all of Dr. Leman’s books on birth order and childhood memories before (and Gary Chapman’s Love Languages book, which Leman references), this book in particular didn’t contain anything new for me. It was a bit of a re-treading in familiar territory, so I didn’t find it all that exciting or helpful.

However, if you’ve never read his stuff before, this is a great synthesis of the material he’s known for. If you’re looking for real change in your life that lasts, Dr. Leman’s methods are an excellent place to start!

About the Author: Dr. Kevin Leman is an internationally known psychologist, radio and television personality, and speaker who has taught and entertained audiences worldwide with his wit and commonsense psychology. He has made house calls for hundreds of radio and television programs, including The View,Today, Oprah, CBS’s The Early Show, CNN’sAmerican Morning, and LIFE Today with James Robison. He has also served as a contributing family psychologist to Good Morning America.

A bestselling and award-winning author, Dr. Leman has written more than 30 books about marriage and family issues, including The Birth Order Book, Sheet Music, Making Children Mind without Losing Yours, and Have a New Kid by Friday. He is coauthor, with his son Kevin Leman II, of a series of illustrated children’s books for each child in the family. He is also featured on 6 video series on marriage, parenting, blended families, and single parenting.

Dr. Leman and his wife, Sande, live in Tucson, Arizona. They have 5 children and 2 grandchildren.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.