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Books to inspire personal change

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Are you ready to make a fresh start in the new year? We’ve lined up a bevy of guidebooks to help you launch 2011 with a renewed sense of purpose and effective new strategies for dealing with life’s challenges. Choose the approach that best suits your lifestyle and take those first steps toward a new and improved you.

LESS IS MORE

Dave Bruno was a success: booming business, loving family, nice home and solid Christian faith. He owned lots of stuff, which led to wanting more stuff, leading to a blog called Stuck in Stuff, where he complained about consumerism but continued to buy—wait for it—more stuff. Finally, all that stuff started to take its toll, and in a quest to examine his consumption more closely, Bruno decided to pare back to just 100 personal items for one year. He chronicles that journey in his inspirational new memoir, The 100 Thing Challenge.

Bruno’s book is often funny, as when he finds a pair of cleats he will never use again but had kept “in case I started to age in reverse.” One-liners like those sometimes steal focus from the project, which is only described in detail halfway through the book. By that time, our attention has been diverted down so many side paths it’s hard to remember what we came for. Thankfully, a detailed appendix will assist readers inspired to try the 100 Thing Challenge themselves, as many apparently have.

After reading about Bruno’s experience—which he says helped him to regain his soul—you’ll never look at the contents of your junk drawer the same way again. And don’t feel too conflicted about buying the book: Bruno counts his whole “library” as one item, a form of cheating any avid reader would wholeheartedly endorse.

—Heather Seggel

CHANGING THE STATUS QUO

Guides to sustainable living bend the shelves at bookstores these days, but David Wann takes sustainability farther than most. In The New Normal, he maps out a future without dependency on fossil fuels, cheap goods or processed food. Because we are all faced with a warming world, he offers steps to deeply transform our resource-dependent routines to self-reliant, more fulfilling lives that are easier on our planet.

Changes in population, technology and available resources have outdistanced our cultural ideals, says Wann. For our “new normal,” we should ditch old status symbols, such as huge McMansions in the suburbs, and instead value actions that build local communities, such as bike-friendly thoroughfares, energy-efficient housing and shorter food and energy supply lines. Wann describes how meeting our needs locally will make life not only sustainable but more meaningful, through closer ties with our family and neighbors.

The New Normal provides both the vision and the actions needed to change the status quo. It is an excellent resource for people who want specific information on creating a sustainable culture where they live—and beyond.

—Marianne Peters

FROM ANXIOUS TO PEACEABLE

Dr. Henry Emmons’ new book, The Chemistry of Calm, offers natural solutions to overcoming anxiety, maintaining that there is an alternative to panic attacks and Prozac. Emmons, a psychiatrist, laid the groundwork for a holistic path to wellness with his last book, The Chemistry of Joy. In this follow-up, Emmons outlines what he calls the Resilience Training Program.

Meditation, diet, exercise and supplements comprise the program. What Emmons lays out is a very doable regimen for readers that begins with self-care and acceptance. Although many other self-help books center on fixing the problem(s), Emmons takes the position that individuals are innately healthy and simply need to refocus.

The shift from anxious to peaceable takes seven steps. Emmons walks readers through each in The Chemistry of Calm, from how to choose better food options at the grocery store, to using dietary supplements linked to brain health, to integrating a routine of meditative exercises.

For Emmons, “Mindfulness” is the key to corralling the thoughts and emotions that ratchet up our anxiety, and The Chemistry of Calm is an in-depth how-to guide that can benefit us all.

—Lizza Connor Bowen

A NEW PERSPECTIVE FOR FINDING PEACE

Fifteen years after the phenomenal success of Simple Abundance, which spent a year at number one on the New York Times bestseller list, author Sarah Ban Breathnach admits, “All the money’s gone.” Her new book, Peace and Plenty, explains how she hit bottom and offers an approach perfectly timed for the new year: “a fresh start for all of us: living well, spending less, and appreciating more.”

Ban Breathnach’s writing is therapy on a page as she copes with her monumental losses: multiple homes, nine assistants, extravagant purchases (Isaac Newton’s prayer chapel in England, Marilyn Monroe’s furs) and a thieving husband. In dealing with the aftermath, she uncovers the emotionally volatile relationship women have with money.

Instead of writing another dry investing how-to, Ban Breathnach gives women a guide to finding spiritual and emotional peace after financial loss. Anyone who has suffered financial catastrophe—losing a home to foreclosure, losing a job to the recession, losing it all in a messy divorce—will find reassurance and compassion. With gentle advice, Peace and Plenty helps readers face their guilt about past money mistakes and move forward.

Ban Breathnach brings her Victorian sensibilities to plain-Jane finance; her budget includes a Christmas Club, her cash system creates a pin money stash. Readers rediscover the “thrill of thrift” by cleaning out purses and closets for a fresh start, and pampering themselves with poetry and early bedtime routines.

Ban Breathnach, who popularized the Gratitude Journal, now recommends several more tools for inexpensive self-reflection. The Journal of Well-Spent Moments, the Contentment Chest and the Comfort Companion all focus on finding the positive without spending much money.

Advice and anecdotes from famous women who’ve dealt with their own reversals of fortune are included throughout, but Ban Breathnach is at her best when sharing the deeply personal stories of her own financial foibles. And perhaps her greatest lesson came from the treachery of her English husband: Protect yourself first, she advises.

Sharing tears, laughter and many cups of tea with Ban Breathnach, readers will come away with a new perspective for finding peace.

—Stephanie Gerber

FOLLOWING THE GOLDEN RULE

Everybody knows the world lacks compassion, yet it’s something we deeply desire. To care about others, we must set aside our own egos, which is hard. Toward this end, self-described religious historian Karen Armstrong has written Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life, calculated to mirror other 12-step programs and help us “dethrone ourselves from the centre of our worlds.”

Armstrong is the 2008 TED Prize winner and creator of The Charter for Compassion, crafted in 2009 by prominent religious leaders of many faiths and the general public. She believes that all religions are saying the same things, albeit in different ways, and that we must restore compassion to the heart of our religious practices. Considering that her narrative draws from the myths and precepts of many disparate faiths, including Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism, her prose is clear and her concepts surprisingly easy to follow; it’s a warm and, yes, compassionate book. Yet she is still able to convey a sense of urgency: We are hardwired for compassion as well as cruelty, and it’s time to take the high road.

Armstrong’s genius is her ability to distill an impressive amount of information into just over 200 pages, making complex concepts easy to understand. In the end, living compassionately means following the Golden Rule: Always treat others as you yourself would want to be treated. With Armstrong as a guide, we can learn to do just that.

—Linda Leaming

YOUR PERSONAL MONEY TRAINER

If getting your family’s financial house in order seems like an overwhelming task, then Ellie Kay’s The 60-Minute Money Workout is for you. Every topic is broken down into chunks that make paying down debt, planning for retirement and even college planning doable in just one hour a week. From warm up to cool down, Kay acts as your money trainer as you discover your money personality and get on the same page with your partner.

Kay is called America’s Family Financial Expert for good reason. She brings real wisdom from supporting seven children on an annual income of just $55,000. The Kay family pays cash for cars, has no college loans and even paid off $40,000 in debt.

Her head-of-household experience shines in chapters like “Cha Ching Guide to Paying Less” and “Travel and Fun Guide Workout.” She shares loads of family-friendly ways to shop smarter for groceries, clothes and gas, saving time and money that can then be spent on more meaningful family vacations. She addresses other common family money matters with “workouts” for situations from launching a home-based business to determining children’s allowances.

Kay admits to being born thrifty, but she balances it by giving generously. Her 10/10/80 spending budget allocates 10 percent to giving and 10 percent to savings. That’s a hefty chunk for someone overwhelmed with credit card debt. But her Giving Guide Workout challenges you to strengthen your generosity muscle by doing more to share your time, resources and money, promising that you’ll feel and live better. And if you don’t have a dollar to spare, she includes 25 gifts that don’t cost a cent.

—Stephanie Gerber

Before you can start using your brain most effectively, you must understand it. This is the thinking behind Your Creative Brain, which contains the most up-to-date research-based exercises and rules to help you deliver your creative potential. For those who consider themselves “uncreative types” or are too attached to tried-and-true concepts, Your Creative Brain acts as an interactive guide to determine your weaker points and put them to work.

According to Harvard psychologist and researcher Shelley Carson, creativity is not an attribute reserved only for crafty types or inventors. Carson is the first researcher to frame creativity as a set of neurological functions, and Your Creative Brain lets you discover her findings for yourself.

Carson’s research explains the seven “brainsets” of the mind and how you can use those brainsets to increase creativity, productivity and innovation. Quizzes and exercises help you understand how your brain works, determine where your creative comfort zone lies and pinpoint the areas in your creative process which need some beefing up.

From Rorschach tests to association exercises, Your Creative Brain doesn’t simply teach you how to be more creative—it actually starts the process for you.

—Cat D. Acree

THE GIFT OF GRATITUDE

When John Kralik was a boy, his grandfather gave him a silver dollar, along with the promise of another if Kralik would send a thank you note. He wrote the letter and got the second dollar, but Kralik didn’t get the lesson behind it until midlife.
Overwhelmed one New Year’s Day by a series of personal and professional setbacks, he decided to focus on gratitude by sending one thank you note per day for a year, to anyone and everyone: his children, clients of his law firm, an on-and-off girlfriend, even his regular barista at Starbucks. And things did change in Kralik’s life; his work life and home life both improved, he reconnected with old friends and boosted his health and self-esteem, and his focus shifted from the problems in his life to the things that were going right, and deserving of recognition and thanks.

For a small story predicated on a seemingly minor activity, 365 Thank Yous is told with impressive humility, heart and soul. It’s touching when the Starbucks worker explains his reluctance to open Kralik’s note, anticipating another complaint from an entitled three-dollar-latte drinker, only to be pleasantly surprised by the gift of simple appreciation.

Readers will forgive Kralik for taking 15 months to write all 365 notes, and thank him for sharing the fruits of the project in this sweet and uplifting book.

—Heather Seggel

 

 

Are you ready to make a fresh start in the new year? We’ve lined up a bevy of guidebooks to help you launch 2011 with a renewed sense of purpose and effective new strategies for dealing with life’s challenges. Choose the approach that best suits your lifestyle and take those first steps toward a new […]
Religion & Spirituality

Review

Review by bookpagedev

YE OLDE CURIOSITY SHOPPE Color me enlightened Editor’s note: Each month we see lots of books. Some of the curious arrivals are featured in this space.

The Tibetan Art Coloring Book: A Joyful Path to Right Brain Enlightenment (Abrams, $14.95, 0810929074) is not, as you might surmise from the title, your average coloring book. No, you won’t find the Little Mermaid or Barney here. What you will find instead are line drawings of Sakyamuni Buddha and The Green Tara (Goddess of Motherly Compassion, in case you didn’t know). J. Jamyang Sing, a master of thangka painting, the traditional art of Tibet, here brings us, in a decidedly Western form, 12 thangka drawings to contemplate and color. He also includes an introduction in which he explains the ancient principles of Tibetan thangka art and the meanings of the symbols and deities that appear within the book. Real thangka paintings are painted with pigments made from semi- precious stones, plants, and other natural substances, but if you don’t have any of those on hand, color pencils will work, too. All you need do then, as Singe suggests, is Allow your natural creative instincts to guide you.

YE OLDE CURIOSITY SHOPPE Color me enlightened Editor’s note: Each month we see lots of books. Some of the curious arrivals are featured in this space. The Tibetan Art Coloring Book: A Joyful Path to Right Brain Enlightenment (Abrams, $14.95, 0810929074) is not, as you might surmise from the title, your average coloring book. No, […]
Religion & Spirituality

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Awakening to the Sacred is further proof that Eastern thought continues to influence a certain kind of American mind one formed by Western religious values, but not content with the usual Western answers to key questions of meaning.

In the 19th century similar aspects of Indian thought influenced Emerson and Thoreau, as they attempted to deepen their spiritual lives. With this book Indian thought has gone through a Tibetan filter and returned again to New England (where the author lives) and to American mainstream spiritual seekers: readers of all faiths who seek a deeper spiritual life, who, like Emerson and Thoreau, are looking for answers to life’s big questions.

Author of the best-selling Awakening the Buddha Within, Lama Surya Das started as a Jewish American seeking spiritual growth. He spent several years in India training as a Tibetan Buddhist monk and also trained in Japan as a Zen monk. Das’s purpose in this book is to help the reader see if some aspects of Tibetan Buddhism might encourage spiritual growth. Because different people have diverse spiritual needs and dissimilar backgrounds, Das provides an exceptionally wide range of behaviors and practices from which to choose.

All the practices are based on a simple perspective: enlightenment is about the daily experience of reality, not some otherworldly experience. For example, Das quotes the great Zen master Dogen about the value of meditation: Don’t doubt its possibilities because of the simplicity of its method. If you can’t find the truth right where you are, where else do you think you’ll find it? For the mainstream spiritual seeker, this book has achieved its purpose to provide specific advice for the beginning steps on the path to awakening. Provided they practice the exercises, readers using this book can develop a deeper spirituality in daily life. As the Buddha said: Try it and see that is the best approach.

Douglas J. Durham has practiced Theravada Buddhism since 1992.

Awakening to the Sacred is further proof that Eastern thought continues to influence a certain kind of American mind one formed by Western religious values, but not content with the usual Western answers to key questions of meaning. In the 19th century similar aspects of Indian thought influenced Emerson and Thoreau, as they attempted to […]
Religion & Spirituality

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Christianity and Buddhism at first glance appear as distant and as opposite one another as east and west. Both religious paths host incredible numbers of worshipers of their respective faiths. However, both seem to know little about each other. Author and spiritual figure Thich Nhat Hanh discusses the unique relationship that Christians and Buddhists share. In fact, he refers to Jesus and Buddha as allegorical brothers walking side by side, not in front of or behind the other.

Explaining the essential concepts of Christianity to a Buddhist, or Buddhism to a Christian, is not easy. In a manner of speaking, it’s like trying to separate the wave from the water; both are important to the existence of the other. Metaphorical comparisons work well for Thich Nhat Hanh. It’s apparent from the introduction onward that his goal is not to bury his readers in theological jargon. The single most comprehensive comparison he makes between Christianity and Buddhism is an analogy about oranges and mangoes. To paraphrase, Christianity is not a kind of Buddhism or the reverse. A mango cannot be an orange. However, both mango and orange are fruits. People can perceive and celebrate the differences of each. And no two oranges or two mangoes are the same. It is such analogies that encourage the reader to think of the affinities and the differences between the two.

Going Home is Thich Nhat Hanh’s latest title of more than two dozen books covering diverse aspects of Buddhism, Christianity, meditation, and spirituality in general. Whether you are a Christian, a Buddhist, or a member of another denomination, Going Home transcends any one religion and is a tome worth reading and returning to.

Christianity and Buddhism at first glance appear as distant and as opposite one another as east and west. Both religious paths host incredible numbers of worshipers of their respective faiths. However, both seem to know little about each other. Author and spiritual figure Thich Nhat Hanh discusses the unique relationship that Christians and Buddhists share. […]
Religion & Spirituality

Inspirational portraits of faith and renewal

Feature by Howard Shirley

As Easter approaches, churches and believers around the world place a special emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah—events that are the cornerstones of modern Christianity. As reading selections for the season, we’ve chosen five new books that offer messages of faith, resilience and hope and expand on the promise of Easter.

FILLING A VOID

Pete Wilson’s Empty Promises: The Truth About You, Your Desires, and the Lies You’re Believing examines the many things we chase in the quest for fulfillment. Some are obvious—wealth, success, appearance—but others are surprising, including religious practices like trying to pray more or do good works. Wilson’s point is that even though we try many solutions for the emptiness we feel, if God isn’t at the heart of our journey, we will find only empty promises. As in his previous book, Plan B, the Nashville pastor writes in a conversational style that’s easily accessible, while still offering moments of great challenge, like a tap on the soul to say, “This is you, pal.” If you’ve been chasing after “the next thing” that will finally make your life worthwhile, I highly recommend Empty Promises—you might discover you’ve bought into a few dead ends yourself.

SPIRITUAL POWER

Also calling us to re-evaluate our lives and our religion is Jim Cymbala’s Spirit Rising: Tapping into the Power of the Holy Spirit. The pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle, Cymbala believes that the true power of faith is found not in prayer and worship songs, but comes only from the gift of the Holy Spirit. Cymbala acknowledges that many Christians today hear the term “the Holy Spirit” and picture emotional church services dominated by bizarre behavior. As a result, they become cautious and withdrawn from what the Spirit really is—the presence of God as a guide and comfort. Using examples from the teachings of Christ and the writings of Paul, Peter and more, Cymbala reveals how fundamental the Holy Spirit is to Christian faith. He also shares effective accounts from friends and members of his own church who have experienced the Holy Spirit’s power to transform lives. Spirit Rising is a thought-provoking call to Christians to set aside “to-do list” religion and seek the power of God as a real and active presence in every moment.

A PRESIDENT’S DEVOTIONAL

During his time in office, President Jimmy Carter displayed a candor about his Christian faith that until then was remarkably rare in a modern president. Others had kept their faith largely private, but Carter spoke readily about both his faith and his personal failings as he strove to live by it. Through the Year With Jimmy Carter: 366 Daily Meditations from the 39th President is a reflection of that life of faith, offered as a guide for other believers. Drawn from Sunday school lessons Carter taught throughout his life (a ministry he followed even while president), each daily devotion offers the insight of a man trying to connect with God and understand his place in the world, not as a leader or politician, but as a child of God and a follower of Christ. The passages are brief—a Bible verse, Carter’s personal thoughts on the passage and a closing prayer—but the thoughts are often rich and surprising. Neither politics nor history nor memoir is the point here; this excellent devotional is all about looking at life and faith and learning how to live them together.

LOST AT SEA

The Fourth Fisherman, by Joe Kissack, is a story about men lost at sea—one lost in the sea of worldly success and excess, and the others lost in the actual vast waters of the Pacific Ocean. The story begins in 2005 as three day-laborers gather to act as hands for a small fishing boat captain in the remote Mexican village of San Blas. Their fishing trip goes awry when an unexpected storm and their captain’s misjudgment set them adrift in the powerful currents of the Pacific. As the fishermen struggle to survive exhaustion, dehydration and lack of food, Kissack contrasts their story with his life as a driven television executive headed for his own personal storm. The stark hardships the fishermen face and Kissack’s life crumbling under the weight of his material success serve as effective counterpoints. The fishermen, who have never had anything, find a faith that sustains them against unbelievable odds, while Kissack, who has everything, must almost lose it all in order to come to the realization that what he really needs is Christ. In the end, Kissack suggests, all of us are lost at sea, and the only thing we can do is place our faith in the One who can bring us safely home.

FROM GRIEF TO HOPE

The worst fate most parents can imagine is to live through the loss of a child—especially a child lost to murder. This is the tragedy that has weighed on John Ramsey for more than 15 years. The murder of his daughter JonBenét was a media sensation, sparking a frenzy that saw accusations raised against John, his wife Patsy and even JonBenét’s nine-year-old brother. For Ramsey, it felt as if he had entered the life of Job, going from successful business owner and happy family man to a shattered father hounded by paparazzi and cynical policemen. The Other Side of Suffering is Ramsey’s story of his struggle, compounded by the death of Patsy from cancer and the loss of all he thought he was.

One might expect such a story to be bitter, with railings against a heartless media and incompetent investigators, not to mention JonBenét’s killer (whose identity remains unknown). The Other Side of Suffering, however, is instead a beautiful and soul-wrenching account of a man’s struggle to find God’s grace in the midst of tragedy and injustice. Ramsey’s growing faith through mounting grief and disappointments is moving, stirring the heart with both the pain he has felt and the love he has experienced. Amid crushing sorrow, Ramsey finds uplifting peace; through sadness and loss, he learns the real promise of God’s joy. As he puts it himself, he has survived to reach “the other side of suffering” and discover hope again. And in the end, isn’t that the very heart of Easter?

As Easter approaches, churches and believers around the world place a special emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah—events that are the cornerstones of modern Christianity. As reading selections for the season, we’ve chosen five new books that offer messages of faith, resilience and hope and expand on the promise of Easter. […]
Religion & Spirituality

Spiritual reading material

Feature by Kelly Blewett

Whether interested in religious history or prayer, heaven or the Holy Land, readers will find in these four books a wealth of information and personal stories to enrich their own spiritual journeys.

Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers is a book for just about anyone who has felt compelled, at one point or another, to raise her eyes to the heavens and murmur some words to a Higher Power. Never one to get caught up in religious specifics, Anne Lamott offers a variety of hilarious titles by which her friends have referred to God, such as “Howard,” “Mother” and “H.P.” She celebrates the divine, and poetically explains why we frail humans are in such desperate need of it. Of the three essential prayers, help seems to be the one closest to Lamott’s heart. Fans of her previous books such as Bird by Bird will again enjoy candid conversation from a writer who feels like a friend.

While Lamott’s book may be characterized as a book about faith for doubters, Heaven Changes Everything by Todd and Sonja Burpo is a book about faith for believers—and a follow-up to the best-selling Heaven Is for Real, which related the story of their four-year-old son’s visit to heaven. Here the Burpos share more about Colton’s miraculous experience and what it’s been like for their family since making it public. Organized into 40 short, devotional-style readings that open with a quote from Colton and close with an action point, it is sure to please readers eager for the next chapter in the Burpos’ story.

In What Would Jesus Read?, Joe Amaral takes readers through the Scripture in the way Jesus might have read it: in short portions that combine a selection from the Torah (the first five books of the Christian Bible) and the prophets (a number of Old Testament books). Each week, Amaral assigns a portion of the Bible and offers daily insights on the reading. These insights are very brief, conversational and theologically non-denominational. As a Christian who lives in Israel and guides tour groups through the Holy Land, Amaral is in a unique position to help American readers understand the perspective of the Middle East and the traditions of the ancient Jewish world.

For readers interested in learning more about the world of Jesus, In the Footsteps of Jesus is another good place to begin. Published by National Geographic, this full-color and visually impressive book offers a more scholarly perspective on the world Jesus walked through and how we experience it today. The scope of the book—which combines political history, anthropological context, biography and an exploration of the contemporary Holy Land—is truly ambitious. Illustrations include photographs of artifacts, paintings, pull-out quotations and richly detailed maps. This worthy book could be read alongside the Gospels or could stand alone as a historical work.

Whether interested in religious history or prayer, heaven or the Holy Land, readers will find in these four books a wealth of information and personal stories to enrich their own spiritual journeys. Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers is a book for just about anyone who has felt compelled, at one point or another, […]
NonfictionReligion & SpiritualityMemoirCrafts, Hobbies & Home

Cultivating a mindful new year

Feature by Heather Seggel

As we greet the new year, many of us are not where we’d like to be in life. Whether that means personal relationships that could be improved or bad habits that need to be broken, progress begins when we lace up our shoes and take the first step. A handful of new books each have a different subject in mind, but share a common endorsement of mindfulness as the key to a happier, healthier life.

FRIENDS FOR LIFE

Bette Midler’s signature song used to be “You’ve Gotta Have Friends,” back before she got all wind-beneath-my-wings-y. Carlin Flora’s Friendfluence: The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are seconds that emotion, noting the enormous health benefits of friendship along with the idea that our friends shape our personality and choices even more than families do. Flora, formerly the features editor for Psychology Today, discovers that one unexpected benefit of friendship is that it allows us to be altruistic and care about others. This may be why the kids who make friends most easily are those who can quickly change gears and empathize with a wide variety of personality types. (It also helps if their names are easy to pronounce.) If you’ve been thinking of starting a book club with your BFFs, here’s your first assignment.

COMPASSION IN ACTION

A professional relationship with a religious leader led to a great friendship for Victor Chan. He traveled with the Dalai Lama for many years, recording talks and meetings with everyone from sick children to two men on either side of the long-standing “troubles” in Northern Ireland. In The Wisdom of Compassion, Chan recounts a variety of these encounters as they relate to “Overcoming Adversity,” “Educating the Heart” and “Compassion in Action.” We get a good sense of what Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader experiences on a typical day, and his personality, which can be fiery but is more often full of effusive giggling, comes through nicely. Chan inserts himself into the narrative more than is warranted, but the overall message of the book is uplifting and inspiring: If we generate compassion within ourselves, then extend it to all people (not just the ones we like most), we hold the potential to alleviate much of the world’s suffering.

BOOST YOUR BRAINPOWER

If you think attention and mindfulness are just for the spiritually inclined, you may be shortchanging your own intelligence. Sandra Bond Chapman’s Make Your Brain Smarter leads with the advice to stop multitasking and utilize what she calls the “brainpower of none,” emptying the mind to allow your thoughts to sort and settle. From there, focusing on just one thing intently or working only on your top two priorities lead to increased productivity and a healthier brain. While it’s disappointing to learn that crosswords and sudoku do less for brain health than previously thought, Chapman’s program encourages thinking broadly and creatively to stimulate the frontal lobe. Considering that she created a program designed to sharpen the minds of Navy SEALs in the same way their elite training hones their bodies, you may want to toss the crosswords and give this a try.

FOCUS ON SUCCESS

The new year is when we often resolve to take up better fitness habits and put down some of our vices; after all, if you can stick with it for three weeks it locks in, right? Actually, no, says PsyBlog creator Jeremy Dean. In Making Habits, Breaking Habits he argues that one of the keys to changing a habit is—don’t say you weren’t warned—mindfulness. Despite the slew of books raving about the power of intention as the key to personal success, research finds that intention creates false expectations and leads more often to disappointment than to thin thighs or an Aston Martin. Instead, the practice of mindfulness helps us act on our intentions consciously, which reinforces new habits and makes it easier to break old ones despite the social cues that can trigger them. Thinking both abstractly and analytically can also develop the mind’s capacity and flexibility. Begin with the mind, then get on the treadmill, and you’re well on your way to self-improvement.

A PATH THROUGH THE DARK

Sometimes the urge to care for ourselves is slow in coming. When Katrina Kenison’s second son left home, she was confronted with an overwhelming sense of loss. It wasn’t just the empty nest or uncertainties of middle age, but also the shifting terrain of her marriage and the long shadow cast by the death of a friend that weighted her days. Magical Journey: An Apprenticeship in Contentment follows Kenison for a year in which she gently plumbs her intuition to find new purpose and resilience in the face of sorrow. When her life seems most empty, she realizes, “I do at least know this: . . . I can either run away from my loneliness, or I can practice tolerating myself as I am.” Yoga proves central to her healing, and its focus on mindfulness helps even the darkest places to reveal their beauty.

DOWN TO THE ROOTS

Garden blogger (and Kenison’s writing partner) Margaret Roach pulls together the scientific and spiritual in The Backyard Parables: A Meditation on Gardening, but it doesn’t feel like work when you’re out getting your hands dirty. A year spent in her garden includes a glimpse of her “new spiritual practice—a moving meditation aimed specifically at dandelions, a ritual that brings me into touch with my own powerlessness, and also my own power.” By turns wise and witty, the book is also jam-packed with practical tips for gardeners, from the basics of succession sowing to winning a showdown with chipmunks. Roach, former editorial director for Martha Stewart, followed a passion, cultivated it devoutly and turned it into a career. She doesn’t need to discuss the how-to of mindfulness; her life is the best example of the way love and attention will make things bloom.

As we greet the new year, many of us are not where we’d like to be in life. Whether that means personal relationships that could be improved or bad habits that need to be broken, progress begins when we lace up our shoes and take the first step. A handful of new books each have […]
Religion & Spirituality

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Review by Douglas J. Durham There is an old German saying: What is the use of running, if you are not on the right way? Circling the Sacred Mountain, like Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, has this question as its theme. The two books are similar in many ways a small group is on a journey, there is a description of the journey itself, and there are serious talks interspersed. The millions who responded strongly to Zen upon the publication of Pirsig’s book will remember that Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance caused them to address two questions: What journey am I on? and, Is it the right one? In Circling the Sacred Mountain, Thurman and Wise are on the journey to Mount Kailas, both in the physical and metaphorical sense. Thurman, whose daughter Uma is a well-known movie star, is a professor of Tibetan Buddhist studies at Columbia University. A close friend of the Dalai Lama and a highly visible Tibetan Buddhist scholar, Thurman provides the serious talks. Tad Wise, author of the novel Tesla, was a student of Thurman’s in the 1970s and, like Thurman, is a native of Woodstock, New York. Wise provides the description of the physical journey, lasting 25 days going from Nepal to Tibet and back to Nepal. He also provides his own responses to Thurman’s talks.

Located in remote Tibet, Kailas represents for each man the long-sought-after goal of profound personal transformation. As in Pirsig’s book, the physical journey is away from the familiar habits and responses of home and provides the setting for the metaphorical journey. Its objective is to achieve the dissolution of the ego and achieve freedom from socially conditioned and personally constructed bonds. The serious talks all deal with aspects of dissolving the ego and achieving such freedom.

This book differs from Zen in that the serious talks in Pirsig’s book were based on a combination of Zen Buddhism and classical Greek thought and were delivered in a relatively accessible fashion. The serious talks in Circling the Sacred Mountain are based on a Tibetan Buddhist text, The Blade Wheel. They are, in parts, not something that most people are used to reading. Substantial portions, however, are accessible and might possibly help you find your own Mount Kailas.

Douglas Durham has practiced under a Theravada Buddhist monk for seven years.

Review by Douglas J. Durham There is an old German saying: What is the use of running, if you are not on the right way? Circling the Sacred Mountain, like Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, has this question as its theme. The two books are similar in many ways a small […]
NonfictionReligion & SpiritualityMemoir

Transformative accounts of faith and redemption

Feature by Kelly Blewett

For five writers from varied points on the Christian spectrum, God transforms dramatic circumstances into spiritual gain. From moving across the country to facing death itself, these authors amply illustrate that resurrection stories—far from being a thing of the past—are happening all around us.

LIFE-CHANGING SURGERY

For Steve Sjogren, author of Heaven’s Lessons: Ten Things I Learned About God When I Died, a near-death experience in 2000 led to an unexpected destination in his faith. Sjogren’s story is a humbling one. While pastoring a megachurch in Cincinnati, he went in for a standard hospital surgery that went horribly wrong. On the operating table, God told him that from now on he would “walk with a limp.” Following the surgery, Sjogren lost his position at the church, faced severely diminished health and was forced to re-examine some of the fundamental things he believed about God. He’s divided this book into 10 resulting lessons. “Though my experience with God in my near death experience was life changing, what followed it was depressing to me,” he writes. “If there is an option for a fast route, it seems I still always end up being placed on the l-o-n-g way forward.” This book offers readers the opportunity to benefit from Sjogren’s journey and to see how God turned a tragedy into a transformation. Sjogren, ever the pastor, is quick to provide applications of the book’s lessons to the reader’s life.

A PARENT’S STRUGGLE

In Beautiful Nate, Dennis Mansfield explores how his son’s drug addiction forced him to confront unwelcome truths about evangelicalism. Even though Mansfield tried to raise his son “by the book,” relying on experts like James Dobson, his boy still repeatedly rebelled and ultimately—in his 20s—died after an adverse drug reaction. Mansfield, a former Focus on the Family employee and lobbyist, loves Reagan, rhetoric and his family. His passions come through clearly, as does his pain. As Nate faced prison and life beyond, his father describes a softer side of their relationship: impromptu visits, staying up all night to watch movies and (most movingly) writing a novel the pair jointly penned during Nate’s incarceration. To his father, Nate was a follower of Jesus Christ forever torn by competing desires. While Beautiful Nate is certainly a sad story, Mansfield is consistently grateful for his son and the lessons learned about faith, parenting and life. He writes, “My hope is that you found [this] to be a poignant account of the realization that . . . things often turn out very wrong—and yet can turn out eternally right.” This is a good book for parents of faith who want to heal imperfect circumstances through the mercy of a perfect God.

NEW DIRECTIONS

In Landmarks: Turning Points on Your Journey Toward God, author Bill Delvaux describes a series of unexplainable choices that yielded satisfying results. He left a ministry position for teaching, and left his teaching position to write and speak about faith. A thoughtful writer, Delvaux was asked by a colleague to explain how his spiritual journey developed through these counterintuitive decisions. Delvaux responds that though he never knew he was going in the right direction, his Heavenly Father provided certain “landmarks” along the way. For frequent readers of evangelical nonfiction, the landmarks may seem unsurprising—giving up idols, addressing old wounds, seeking sexual purity. Yet Delvaux’s way of addressing these topics gives this slim book both gravity and purpose. When discussing idols, for instance, Delvaux shares his own former insistence that the details of his life be in order, right down to his junk mail. He realized that grasping toward perfection was ultimately idolatrous. As he reveals his own story, readers are gently guided to consider their own. A movie fan, Delvaux situates many of his lessons within the context of popular films. A small book that leaves a big impression, Landmarks tells how one man was transformed by embracing the principles he’d been teaching his whole life.

HEALING JOURNEY

For spiritual seeker and standout writer Beverly Donofrio (author of the memoir Riding in Cars With Boys) the pursuit of faith led to life in a small Mexican town replete with margaritas at sunset, yoga and plenty of time for writing. Yet Donofrio, a Catholic, felt herself drifting from God. Committed to rededicating herself, she planned an ambitious tour of monasteries around the country. Then a man broke into her apartment and raped her at knifepoint. In her new book, Astonished: A Story of Evil, Blessings, Grace, and Solace, Donofrio ponders the significance of the timing. What does the rape reveal about God? How do trials figure into God’s plan for our lives? What does it mean to heal and grow? Donofrio spends much of the next year completing her monastery tour and offering tentative answers to these questions and more. A nontraditional thinker who accepts parts of the “Jesus myth” and rejects other parts, Donofrio’s journey around the country and into her inner life is compelling material beautifully written. Perpetually humble, searching, honest and wry, Donofrio is a fine companion for a spiritual journey.

THINGS UNSEEN

Jack Perkins, best known as a longtime reporter for NBC News, left a successful journalism career to move to a remote island in Maine. In Finding Moosewood, Finding God, Perkins traces the spiritual lessons he learned, recounts favorite stories from his journalism days and offers a wholly appealing personal glimpse into his family life. In the wilds of Maine—reading the journals of Thoreau and following his spiritual impulses—Perkins’ personal journey with God truly begins. By rejecting the consumerist culture of Los Angeles, Perkins and his wife Mary Jo find what seems to be an incomparable happiness in island living and creative pursuits. Both read voraciously and explore their new home with enthusiasm. By embracing the blessings of God—in a sunset, in the view of the water at night, in spotting a passing lobster boat—the couple begins to appreciate His divine character. This fresh and invigorating story will help the reader appreciate her own life and, better yet, feel that anything is possible.

While these books vary in points of view, trials faced and solutions suggested, they share a common belief that God is in the midst of our circumstances. This divine God who resurrects new life from death is, they agree, more real than the world before our eyes. As Perkins writes in one of his poems: “Henceforth this is my plan: / Believe much more in what I can’t see, / Much less in what I can.”

For five writers from varied points on the Christian spectrum, God transforms dramatic circumstances into spiritual gain. From moving across the country to facing death itself, these authors amply illustrate that resurrection stories—far from being a thing of the past—are happening all around us. LIFE-CHANGING SURGERY For Steve Sjogren, author of Heaven’s Lessons: Ten Things […]
Religion & Spirituality

Review

Review by bookpagedev

You’ve shopped and shopped for the perfect birthday present for Aunt Agnes, but to no avail. You need help, my friend, and you’ve come to the right place. What birthday gift is always in season, never spoils, and is just the right size? Books, of course! If you are in need of a birthday gift for Aunt Agnes, or anyone else, read on. Living in an age where information is readily available at your fingertips, old habits like letter-writing have been elevated to art form status. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has taken letters written to America’s most political pets and compiled them in Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets (all ages). In addition to the wonderful letters (many reproduced in the original handwriting), Mrs. Clinton provides background information on her two pets and parenting advice. Funny photographs, mostly of Socks and Buddy making themselves at home in the White House, make this book enjoyable to read and just look at the pictures. Is Aunt Agnes (or someone else) turning 50? Then Fifty on Fifty: Wisdom, Inspiration, and Reflections on Women’s Lives Well Lived (Warner, $30, 0446523690) is just the ticket. Journalist Bonnie Miller Rubin interviews 50 women who are either approaching or have passed their half-century birthday. The interviewees are varied (Gloria Allred, Nell Carter, Erica Jong, and Diane Von Furstenberg, to name a few), and Rubin provides a biographical sketch for each. Some found success at an early age, others much later, and others aren’t convinced they are there yet. A good choice for anyone who is taking a life inventory.

Your birthday-er is a golfer, and you don’t know a nine iron from a fire iron? Don’t despair any golf lover would enjoy The Greatest Biggest Golf Book (Andrews McMeel, $9.95, 0836269373). Measuring in at only 1.82 x 5.97 x 4.02 inches, it’s packed with facts, statistics, tips, and even famous lies about this time-honored game. How far did Alan Shepard’s golf balls travel when he played on the moon? Who wore a suit of armor when he played? A must-have for any golf addict.

What if you don’t know Aunt Agnes very well, but well enough to send her a birthday gift? The solution: a book about birthdays. The Power of Birthdays, Stars, and Numbers: The Complete Personology Reference Guide isn’t a big book of horoscopes; it offers all sorts of information about astrology, fixed stars, numerology, and specific profiles for every birthday of the year. Be sure to peek at Aunt Agnes’s birthdate for insight into next year’s gift; it’s never too early, you know.

Our Oregon-based reviewer and outdoors expert Wes Breazeale suggests To the Summit (Black Dog ∧ Leventhal, $39.98, 1579120415) for the outdoorsperson in your life. He writes the following: To the Summit is both a magnificent look at 50 of the world’s most intriguing mountains and a fascinating exploration of the history of each mountain and the sport of climbing. With six sections representing each continent (Australia and Antarctica are combined), each chapter looks at an individual mountain and often includes profiles of famous climbers. Scattered throughout the book are anecdotal tales from people who have climbed the mountains, brief examinations of climbing gear and techniques, and bits of history from the world of mountain climbing. To the Summit would be an obvious favorite for anyone interested in climbing, but would also make a beautiful gift for any outdoor enthusiast, photography lover, or travel buff.

You’ve shopped and shopped for the perfect birthday present for Aunt Agnes, but to no avail. You need help, my friend, and you’ve come to the right place. What birthday gift is always in season, never spoils, and is just the right size? Books, of course! If you are in need of a birthday gift […]
Religion & Spirituality

Review

Review by bookpagedev

For more than 30 years, author-illustrator Flavia Weedn has touched the hearts of millions with her books, greeting cards, and posters. Now, she has published a series of beautifully illustrated guided journals. These unique and colorful books are designed to take the reader/writer on a journey of self-discovery while offering wisdom and inspiration. Heaven and Earth: A Journal of Dreams and Awakenings encourages the recording of dreams and offers guidance for focusing journal entries. Heart and Soul: A Personal Tale of Love and Romance (Cedco, $19.95, 0768320461) celebrates the personal love story each woman has to tell, while Passages: A Woman’s Personal Journey offers an opportunity to reflect and recall a woman’s own thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

For more than 30 years, author-illustrator Flavia Weedn has touched the hearts of millions with her books, greeting cards, and posters. Now, she has published a series of beautifully illustrated guided journals. These unique and colorful books are designed to take the reader/writer on a journey of self-discovery while offering wisdom and inspiration. Heaven and […]
Religion & Spirituality

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Kenneth C. Davis, the creator of the best-selling Don’t Know Much About series, tackles the best-selling book of all time: the Bible. In Don’t Know Much About the Bible the world’s most owned, least understood book is approached with Davis’s trademark question/answer format and witty, learned insights. Correctly assuming most of us exist in embarrassed silence when it comes to what the Bible does and doesn’t say, Davis pits the Old and New Testaments against historical events and brings to vivid life what we were supposed to have learned in Sunday school, but didn’t.

Kenneth C. Davis, the creator of the best-selling Don’t Know Much About series, tackles the best-selling book of all time: the Bible. In Don’t Know Much About the Bible the world’s most owned, least understood book is approached with Davis’s trademark question/answer format and witty, learned insights. Correctly assuming most of us exist in embarrassed […]
Religion & Spirituality

Companions for spiritual journeys

Feature by Kelly Blewett

Whether written by an iconic Southern author in 1947 or compiled from emails written by a young pastor to the president in 2010, these gift books explore the enduring themes of spirituality and faith, reminding us that contemplating the divine can confirm our very humanity.

Spiritual thinking has been with us from the beginning, as The Religions Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained reminds readers in its opening sentences. While it may be difficult to come up with a definition for the concept of religion, “cave paintings and elaborate burial customs of our distant ancestors and the continuing quest for a spiritual goal in life” indicate its timelessness. This book offers a remarkable overview of major world religions through recorded time. Though the introduction acknowledges the difficulty of covering such an unwieldy topic, the subsequent pages are easily comprehensible, and even feel nearly comprehensive. Organized chronologically, the book opens with prehistory, moves through the ancient and classical beliefs (devoting the longest sections to Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam), and closes with a selection of modern religions (such as Mormonism and Scientology). The material is both dense and broad, yet the book’s reader-friendly layout and clever graphics invite lingering. An impressive board of contributors (mostly academics) shaped this content. The result is a book at once egalitarian and open-minded, ideal for a visually oriented student of religion or anyone interested in scrambling up the mountainside of human spirituality and taking in the panoramic views.

GRACE AND ART

We move from the lushly panoramic to the intensely personal with Flannery O’Connor’s A Prayer Journal. Penned by the Southern Gothic legend when she was just 22 years old and a student at the University of Iowa, these pages reveal O’Connor at the very beginning of her professional writing career. She prays to get something published, to understand God better and to be free of an ever-present concern that she is simply mediocre. Anyone interested in creative writing or literature will be thoroughly charmed by lines like this: “I am too lazy to despair. Please don’t visit me with it Lord, I would be so miserable.” Though O’Connor is delightfully glib, she worries about some of the big questions of faith and finds few answers. The journal illustrates her complexity of feeling. She criticizes certain sentences because they sound “too literary” and strikes out others altogether. A facsimile of the original diary in O’Connor’s own hand lets readers in on her process and makes the book feel very intimate. The volume is quite short, but that isn’t a drawback. The material that is here is well worth reading. I especially loved the last lines, written in September of 1947: “Today I have proved myself a glutton—for Scotch oatmeal cookies and erotic thought. There is nothing left to say of me.”

AN ECLECTIC REIMAGINING

During a 2011 retreat in Utah, a group of Jewish artists and writers found themselves hotly discussing Abraham’s binding of Isaac. Several admitted, though, that it had been a long time since they had really read a biblical text. Dialogue ensued and, luckily for us, so did Unscrolled: 54 Writers and Artists Wrestle with the Torah, edited by Roger Bennett. After the Torah was divided into 54 sections—which reflects the annual reading pattern of many synagogues—each contributor created his or her own Dvar Torah (“word of the Torah”) for an individual slice. Their creations range from short stories to poems, from personal essays to imaginary recipes for “bloody guilt offerings.” There’s even a drawing detailing how the Tabernacle could fit in modern-day Manhattan. (Spoiler alert: It would have to be tilted on its side.) I especially like when contributors cleverly juxtapose the Torah and their response, as in Aimee Bender’s piece on the Tower of Babel. She celebrates how language defines individuality rather than lamenting the loss of shared consciousness. Brief biblical summaries preceding each Dvar Torah feel contemporary and edgy, and unify the collection. In short, these artists and writers can certainly now say that they’ve read—yes, even wrestled—with a biblical text recently, and readers can be counted among the lucky beneficiaries.

DAILY DOSE OF INSPIRATION

The President’s Devotional began as correspondence between a White House staffer and President Obama, and has since become a public daily devotional. Obama appointed author Joshua DuBois to be the executive director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnership in 2008. Since then, DuBois has emailed Obama a spiritual reflection every morning. The book pulls content from the best of these, providing readers one for every day of the year. DuBois opens each month with a personal essay. Some of these tell heartrending stories about our nation’s leader, as in DuBois’ account of Obama’s interaction with families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shootings. Other essays are more personal, as when the president encouraged DuBois to propose to the nice girl he’d been dating (he did). The devotions themselves are a diverse bunch. Some feature national heroes like Jackie Robinson and Johnny Cash, while others take inspiration from theological texts. The reader cannot help but wonder what was going on in the nation when certain devotions were emailed—like the one that extols the value of having a well-prepared army. Whatever the initial context, faith-filled fans of the president will want to add The President’s Devotional to their nightstands.

Whether written by an iconic Southern author in 1947 or compiled from emails written by a young pastor to the president in 2010, these gift books explore the enduring themes of spirituality and faith, reminding us that contemplating the divine can confirm our very humanity. Spiritual thinking has been with us from the beginning, as […]

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