Classics. Modesto, CA: Jordan Press.
My mom got this I think for a quarter at a garage sale. The book in its vilification of rock music, reminded me of "The Ascent of Herman Being" which I was assigned for my music appreciation class in college. Then I saw both the Herman Being book and
this book are by the same author. He used a new term to me, "art music." Despite the small flaw, the book was very engaging.
Dyer, Wayne
2006: Being in Balance: 9 Principles for Creating Habits to Match Your Desires. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, Inc.
For Wayne Dyer, this is a pretty short book. Many of his books are of a substantial length. The book design is unique and it appealing not just to the eyes but also to the touch. Much of this is in line with Dyer's other writings, though in some places, he
expresses opposite opinions (for example elsewhere he talked about how foolish it is to care about what others think and here he says we do care what others think). I admire Wayne Dyer and I think he is one of the wiser people out there. I try to have a critical
mind and I wonder what in here is wisdom and what is off the mark.
Evangelista, Anita
1995:How to Develop a Low Cost Food-Storage System. Port Townsend, WA: Breakout Publications.
I don't foresee myself preserving food for storage in the foreseeable future, but the book is interesting nevertheless. Also, I wouldn't want to preserve much because I know preservation destroys nutrition.
Field, Christine
2002:Help for the Harried Homeschooler: A Practical Guide to Balancing Your Child's Education With the Rest of Your Life. Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press.
The book has a slight evangelical Christian overtone, but it's not so bad that a person interested in homeschooling could not overlook it. Although it is sexist, it is not as bad as the other similar book I reviewed her. On page 47, the author even recommends
that we "accept our children as they are." Since this book looked useful, I ordered a copy of it, which I gave to this family I want to homeschool.
Hawkins, David, M.D., Ph.D.
2006:Transcending the Levels of Consciousness: The
Stairway to Enlightenment. West Sedona, AZ: Veritas
Publishing.
Part of this could be considered wacky (his whole idea of muscles contracting or expanding as a way of telling whether something is good or not), which could turn off readers. That would be very unfortunate, because even if his major premise is foolish (it does sound a little strange to me, but I tried his "kinesiology" test, and oddly it seemed to work), he makes some very profound spiritual points. I am fascinated by the way he operationalized and quantified "levels of consciousness", and even if it's false, it's still fascinating. Why would "reason" be deemed higher and more powerful than "Acceptance"? "Acceptance" as he defines it is suppose to be a high spiritual trait since the east says we should give up attachments and that state involves just that. A person based on reason may or may not give up attachments. There's lots of interesting charts in
here and make the usually not so concrete realm of spirituality, concrete. I dug the detailed explanations of each state of consciousness. The concluding chapters lost me though, and I struggled a little to get through them. On page 378, Hawkins says if you have problems with his test, then you should do the "Thymic Thump" which involved pounding your chest and making laughing noises. That part there makes his whole kinesiology idea sound nutso. But again, just ignore the goofy parts, and accept the great spiritual insights.
Hawkins, David, M.D., Ph.D.
2002:Power Vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of
Human Behavior. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, Inc.
I am really impressed with spirituality books that are methodological and concrete with their use of typologies. Hawkins even makes states of consciousness into quantifiable numbers which he says are based on logarhythms.
On page 71, he says "self improvement becomes a way of life". Some people do indeed feel that way and they keep improving because improving is natural for them.
On page 108, he claims that Puritanism may lead to sadomachism since pleasure and discomfort are associated. It makes sense to me.
He praises Wal-Mart claiming that since it's successful, it must be good. That makes me gag. It makes me gag when motivational writers praise Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart does not have higher spiritual qualities in my book. Hawkins needs to realize that sometimes if
not most of the time rotten people and companies succeed.
On page 206 he says spiritually evolved people "have more friends than they can count" so do obnoxious and rotten people. Lots of rotten people have many friends. This statement of his is hogwash.
He even blames the poor for their plight (look at page 252 for example). Sometimes motivational speaking and writing can be just like social Darwinism. Mumia Abu
Jamal condemned this attitude in one of his commentaries, saying, "Today, being poor is not so much socioeconomic status as it is a defect of the spirit." It looks like Hawkins is
arguing that poor people deserve their plight and rich people are great.
The main theme of the book is that you can tell how good or bad something is using "Kinesiology" or as he puts it "testing whether something makes you strong or
weak." Supposedly, you can tell how spiritually good something is based on whether when it is mentioned a person's arm can resist your pressure. It sounds far
fetched to me. He talks about doing lots of research on this, but I did not see any data from the research. Why is that left out?
Whether kinesiology is a spiritual tool or not, I think his big points are great ones. He argues that like the title suggests, we should aim for "power", which he defines as informal persuasive influence instead of "force" which he considers to be formal, rigid,
coercion. He also is wise to make us think really hard about what influences us in what ways.
Increasingly, these days, I am seeing myself turn away from negative influences (such as bad food), because I have evolved past that. I think it's a great question to ask whether something will "make us strong or weak".
I think I needed to have read this book and it may do me much good in my upcoming spiritual struggles.
Holt, John (updated by Patrick Farenga)
2003: Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book of
Homeschooling. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publications.
Homeschooling is beautiful and Holt's vision is great. I was impressed that paraprofessionals were mentioned, because I was once one of those in the public schools, until I saw how evil the school system is. I had read much of the ideas expressed here
elsewhere, but it's still nice to get. I sometimes really wish I had my own to teach!
Howard, Louise: illustrated by Chris Riddell
1996:Buddhism for Sheep. New York, NY: St. Martin's
Press.
Interesentingly enough the name of the illustrator came before the author's name. The illustrator's name was also bigger. This book I read in a few minutes waiting for a bus. Although I don't necessarily agree with all its advice, there is some wisdom here.
Jones, Louis
2005:I Need a J-O-B!: The Ex Offender's Job Search
Manual.
Fortunately, I have no criminal record, though most nearly all of us deserve a criminal record. Even so, for a number of reasons, I have had a very difficult time finding employment, so I can relate to what ex offender's must go through. I applaud ex offenders who want to turn their lives around. This book is written with compassion. Even if you are not an ex offender, there is some good advice in here that could apply to your job search. The author even says something that I have held yet few understand: the author said one may not want to make a hobby into a job because it can take the joy and satisfaction out of it. Right on.
Koon, Jeff and Andy Powell: illustrated by Ward Schumaker. <
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2002:You May Not Tie an Alligator to a Fire Hydrant:
101 Real Dumb Laws. New York, NY: The Free Press.
I have longed enjoyed "dumb laws" books, so this was something light yet interesting to read. This book exceeds the other books, as it provides the verbatim text of most of the laws discussed in the book. That really aids in authenticity, plus we can see the
wording for ourselves, so we can tell if the authors would be exaggerating something.
Landau, Elaine
2004:Schizophrenia. United States of America:
Franklin Watts.
This book was written for an audience of children, but nevertheless, the material was written in such a way, that people of any age could learn from it without feeling talked down to. It succeeded at making me feel empathy for schizophrenic people. I might want to help them if it were not for my misgivings with the medical establishment. On page 55, the author quotes from someone who recommends forcing drugs down people's throats. That is terrible. Drugs are bad enough when recommended, they are horrendous when forced upon people. At least, the book did describe other ways to deal with schizophrenia.
Luther, Martin
1957: 1517:Luther's Ninety Five Theses. Philadelphia, PA:
Fortress Press.
I just had to read one of the most influential writings in human history. Also since I wrote a book called "95 Theses Against the School System", I figured it would be good to read the original 95 Theses. It wasn't what I expected. I was afraid it was going to be really long and perhaps hard to read. In fact, it was really short and many theses are only
a sentence in length. My theses were generally a few paragraphs in length. Luther inspired me so it was good to read his book after I posted my 95 Theses. Even though this is an evangelical work, I found it overall to be very powerful and liberating.
Mapes, Diane
2006:How to Date in a Post-Dating World. Seattle,
WA: Sasquatch Books.
The book is informative with wonderful anecdotes and also has a great sense of humor. It only took me a couple of days to read; it was that good.
McNally, David
1990:Even Eagles Need a Push: Learning to Soar In a Changing World. Eden Prairie, MN: Transform Press.
I am really getting to read the great inspirational works of our day. I have long been aware of this work, but it was not until now that I finally read it.
I love how he praises "commitment" and "determination". Like many others, he suggests that ambition is more important than talent. I too think ambition is more noble than raw talent. However, I wonder if ambition is really just another talent, because it is easy for some people to work hard just as it is easy for some people to be good at athletics.
Neuharth, Dan, Ph.D.
1998:If You Had Controlling Parents: How to Make
Peace with your Past and Take Your Place in the World.
New York, NY: Cliff Street Book.
The book gives some good advice and offers good thinking about this topic. Although I have seen similar material, this was presented in a way to make the material center focused.
147 Kids Who Know: Compiled by J.S. Salt
1997:Always Kiss Me a Good Night: Instructions On
Raising the Perfect Parent. New York, NY: Three
Rivers Press.
It's one of those real short books that you can finish in a jiffy. It's also good to boot.
Rapp, Burt
1986:Undercover Work: A Complete Handbook. Port
Townsend, WA: Loompanics Unlimited.
Although the book was interesting, a lot of it was basic knowledge and common sense. The anecdotes added something as did a few tidbits of new information.
Rommel, Bart
1990:Execution: Tools and Techniques. Port
Townsend, WA: Loompanics Unlimited.
The book mentioned Dr. Kevorkian. I guess I did not realize he has been doing his work for so long. Besides the pro death penalty tone, the book was a quick interesting read.
Shackleford, Luanne and Susan White.
1988:A Survivor's Guide to Homeschooling. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
I was looking for a practical homeschooling book that I could recommend to a family I desperately want to convince to homeschool. This book is indeed practical. Unfortunately, it's way too fundamentalist suggesting that women belong in the home. Not many women believe that these days, so this book could turn people off. Some readers before me noted that this book "advocates spanking" and that is another problem
with this book. Despite these two flaws, the book was fine, and although it may not convince more progressive people to homeschool, it could be convincing for fundamentalist types.
Starchild, Adam
1994:Everyman's Guide to Tax Havens. USA: Eden
Press.
The binding was low cost which was a surprise from an established publisher like Eden Press, but it actually may have added some charm to it. Plus 8 1/2 by 11 inches paper enabled the print to be large, plus it was double spaced which made it easier to read.
This book contains a lot of geographical information about some lesser known countries so that is a boost. He even talked about new countries which rocked. I am very glad the Minneapolis Central Library stocks this fine item. It's short, but it rocks.
Urbana, Ian
2005:Life's Little Annoyances: True Tales of People
Who Just Can't Take It Anymore. New York, NY: Henry
Holt and Company, LLC.
Probably not so spiritual, but good for some light entertaining reading when you need it. I was intrigued about how these people mentioned on page 53 created parodies of motivational slogans, because I like them believe that motivational writing and speaking is often out of touch with reality. I also really related to the section on job hunting since I have had an insane time in the job market.
Vaswani, J. P.
1991: Why Do Good People Suffer? Pune, India: Gita Publishing House.
All the way rewarding. The typeface is friendly, the text is spiritual and down to earth* and the explanations for karma seem pretty sound.
Audio
Allan, Gary
2005:Tough All Over. Nashville, TN: MCA Nashville.
Most of the songs I didn't care for much. I did like the song "Life Ain't Always Beautiful", which seemed to make some good statements about life.
Auchincloss, Louis: read by J. Paul Boehmer.
2000:Woodrow Wilson. Newport Beach, Inc: Books on
Tape, Inc.
This narrator is one of the best narrators I have ever heard; his voice is so clean and distinguished. Plus the information was very interesting as well.
Author Unknown
1994:Goof Proof Grammar: Speak and Write with Perfect Confidence. Mount Laurel, NJ: Learn Incorporated.
Actually the presentation was super well done. It was entertaining, plus the format enabled you to learn a little too, though a lot of I had already known. This is a good way to teach grammar.
Baer, Robert: read by Robertson Dean.
2003:Sleeping With the Devil: How Washington Sold
Our Soul for Saudi Crude. USA: Books on Tape, Inc.
The author has about the right amount of cynicism: cynical enough, but not so cynical, he's alienating. Every now and then, he inserts barbs and very plain language, which is a nice touch on his overall message. He's willing to stick his neck out to tell what he believes to be the truth, and that I admire a lot. I have done the same about the school system, so I feel like a kindred spirit. He talks about resigning from the CIA, and I would love to find out more details about the circumstances of that.
Blanchard, Ken and Steve Gottry: read by Brian
Corrigan.
2003:The On Time, On Target Manager: How a "Last
Minute Manager" Conquered Procrastination (unabridged).
USA: HarperCollins Publisher.
&nbs
p; This work surpasses the other two One Minute Manager books I have read. Although those books were quality, they were not quite as deep as other leadership books
I have read. This one on the other hand is very deep. I was surprised and impressed. It talks a lot about a "servant heart" which is awesome because servant leadership is beautiful. Although I am not prone to procrastinate, this work inspired me by reaffirming
values I embraced to some extent or another. It expressed these principles in a slightly new way and the story was a great one. The narrator did an excellent job. I dug his impressions of the character, especially how he made a squeaky voice for our beloved protagonist, Bob.
Dressed to Kill
2000:Waco: Playing With Fire. England: BMG.
I found this in a dollar store. Since I am very interested in the Waco ordeal, I thought could be an excellent cd. I was hoping it would be something like Carl Klang or Johnny Philko. It was an utter disappointment. All the tracks consisted of muffled recordings of David Koresh here and there, with some background music making up the bulk of it. I don't get the point. I'm not sure whether the creators of this were sympathetic to the plight of the Davidians or not. I would guess they think something was wrong with Koresh. It was a burden to listen to.
Earley, Pete: read by Edward Holland
1998:Confessions of a Spy: The Real Story of Aldrich
Ames. Ashland, OR: Blackstone Audiobooks.
Even though Aldrich Ames was a big time spy, I was not familiar with him before this, so I learned a lot. I guess I find spy stories thrilling as I loved this work and the audio book "The Spy Next Door" about Bob Hanssen. There may very well be more audio books