MSI Press Blog

  Today's shared blog post comes from Franki Bagdade, author of the award-winning book,  I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Them . This week, Franki shares the second most popular post of 2025: Things I Say as a Therapist about Anxiety . For more posts by and about Franki, click  HERE . Book Description: Selected as Independent Authors' Network Book of the Year as the Outstanding Parenting Book and winner of the Literary Titan Gold Award, I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Them, is the ultimate survival guide for parents living through one of the strangest times in history. This " how to guide" will support you even if you are exhausted and burnt out in improving your child(ren)'s behavior. Written by an expert with 20 years of experience in behavioral observation in the classroom, in overnight camp, and more. Franki's storyteller cadence helps the book to read as if it's a casual conversation and pep talk between two parents over coffee....

  I don’t have a Russian inhalator. Wish I did; when I was working in Siberia years ago, those things would cure my bronchitis nearly instantly, always within three days of daily visits to the infirmary at the pansionat, where phlegm was loosened with a front and back heating pad, following by 15 minutes of ingalatsiya evkaliptom with a hand-held vaporizer for mouth inhalation not available in the USA. But I do have access to hot showers, a heating pads -- and a bottle of eucalyptus oil and a pair of hands that remember Siberia. When the airways clog and the breath turns ragged, I rub a drop of eucalyptus oil into my palm, cup it near my mouth, and inhale—gently, through parted lips. No nose. No force. Just vapor and memory. And I moderate the amount by the distance between my hand and my mouth. This is my portable apothecary : Eucalyptus for breath : Diluted, never raw. A forest in my fist. Chamomile for calm : Dabbed on temples, it hushes the nervous system. Frankincense for...

  Today's Publisher's Pride is  One Family Indivisible  by Steven Greenebaum, which reached #96 among Amazon top sellers in Christian ecumenism and #267 in Jewish biographies. Book Description: Throughout history we have divided ourselves into groupings of "us" and "them".  One Family: Indivisible  engagingly  invites the reader into the deeply spiritual and lifelong journey of the author to find a way to acknowledge our differences without dividing and subdividing ourselves into competing tribes. It is a journey of mountain tops and deep valleys, but it leads to the inclusivity and mutual respect possible with Interfaith. This is a book for seekers of all races, ethnicities, and spiritual paths who search for that elusive goal of a community of love and inclusion that also respects our diversity. AWARDS Eric Hoffer Award Category Finalist, American Book Fest Best Books Award Finalist (religion) Keywords: interfaith, spiritual journey, common humanity, reli...

    Today's publisher's pride is not a book we published, since it is not among the lines we publish and is targeted to an academic audience that we do not service in particular (coincidentally, yes, but not by plan or purpose). However, a couple of MSI Press authors appear among the editors, so, in support, we assist in promoting the book as an affiliate book. (See information about our  affiliate program .) And the book is? The recently released tome,  Open Architecture Curricular Design  (Corin, Leaver, and Campbell, eds.), published by Georgetown University Press. Currently, #94 in foreign language education books, it started out at #1 when it was released in July and has appeared in the Amazon top 100 list on multiple occasions. book description A guide to a textbook-free approach to world languages curriculums that will improve learning outcomes Open architecture curricular design (OACD) is a textbook-free curricular design framework for teaching and learn...

  We’ve all been there: stuck at Level 3. You know enough to get by, to communicate, to understand—but you’re not flawless. And that’s exactly where many learners stall. Why? Because they start chasing perfection. But here’s the truth: perfection is a trap. Why Not Seek Perfection? It slows you down. If you’re constantly correcting yourself mid-sentence, you lose the rhythm of communication. Fluency thrives on flow, not on flawless grammar. It kills confidence. Every time you hesitate for fear of making a mistake, you reinforce the idea that you’re not “good enough.” Confidence grows when you keep talking, even imperfectly. It blocks connection. People don’t bond over textbook-perfect sentences. They bond over stories, humor, shared struggles, and the messy, human way we actually speak. It ignores reality. Native speakers make mistakes all the time. They restart sentences, mix up tenses, and stumble over words. Why should learners hold themselves to a higher standard? It...