My Copy: 9781683506737 (image from goodreads.com)

Well, a few months ago I read the prequel book to this one, Running on Empty, which deals with Childhood Emotional Neglect and recognizing the signs and such. That one was pretty in depth and geared more toward the personal and self-improvement.

Running on Empty No More goes beyond that initial book to discuss what’s pretty self-explanatory: using what you’ve learned about CEN to improve your relationships with others. There’s not much I can say about this book that I didn’t already say about it’s predecessor, except that there’s not as many case studies or anecdotes in this one as there were before, but the ones that are on these pages tend to cover all the topics discussed and are more in depth as a result.

The book’s title sums up the point pretty well, and about halfway through are some questions and exercises if you know you have an issue with CEN or are maybe trying to help someone that could be trying to get over it themselves. They’re not too distracting or are long sections, either, just kinda nestled into the areas they pertain to.

I thought it was a good glimpse into some of those relationships you might have had or known about, ones where perhaps one person is really happy with their partner, but there’s just something “off” that is hard to explain.

This is definitely not a book for everyone, but can give some pretty good insights into CEN and how it affects a person, and how they can deal with the relationships around them that need improving on. Worth a shot.