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LifestylesHealth & Fitness

Resolving to slim down

Review by bookpagedev

Your New Year’s resolutions are set: You’re ready to lose those extra pounds, but you need help. The luxury of a personal trainer would be great, but Christmas shopping has temporarily busted the bank. Don’t despair: Matt Roberts, personal trainer to the likes of Sandra Bullock and Sting, is ready to lend a hand. Matt Roberts’ Fat Loss Plan promises a leaner, fitter body in eight weeks, offering a day-by-day personalized diet and exercise program in an easy-to-follow workbook format. Roberts’ program is accessible; you don’t need any fancy gym equipment, stylish exercise togs or exotic food items to get started.

This practical, positive approach begins with an initial fitness assessment and goal-setting session. Roberts introduces the workout regimen, a gradually paced, balanced method of cardio-aerobic activity, resistance training and stretching. Then, it’s on to what and how to eat. The author advocates an “80 percent/20 percent” eating strategy: The majority of foods you eat should be healthy; the rest can be foods that are your favorites. “Food,” says Roberts, “should be a joyful experience, and not the enemy. The perfect diet should let us savor food without ever leaving us feeling guilty.” The diet plan favors an abundance of low glycemic (low carbohydrate), more alkaline foods for daily intake, highlighting fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Recipes for each day’s meals are included, though for additional, more varied menu planning there are comprehensive food lists, ranked from low-to-high carbohydrate content.

Roberts does a fine job of establishing his supportive, cohesive presence throughout the book with motivational chats and tips (each chapter opens with a pep talk). You’ll feel like he’s right there with you, applauding as you successfully reach your fitness goals. Alison Hood is a freelance writer based in San Rafael, California.

Your New Year's resolutions are set: You're ready to lose those extra pounds, but you need help. The luxury of a personal trainer would be great, but Christmas shopping has temporarily busted the bank. Don't despair: Matt Roberts, personal trainer to the likes of Sandra…
NonfictionFictionReligion & SpiritualityLifestylesHorror

Scaring up creepy concepts

Review by Hunter Foreman

Halloween is right around the corner. The neighbors have carved their pumpkins (including the chic miniature pumpkins which are more avant garde these days), your kids swear their friends already have costumes and the check-out lanes at the grocery store are clogged with bags of candy. Are you really going to be this ordinary? Please, there are alternatives. Consult these new books for inspiration on innovative ways to celebrate a hair-raising, high-spirited Halloween.

Witch Crafting

Let's face it witches have gotten a raw deal in history. From the Salem trials to Oz's Wicked Witch of the West, witches are portrayed as scary, ugly and evil. Author Phyllis Curott, a Wiccan high priestess, certainly doesn't fit that stereotype. A svelte blonde and former civil liberties lawyer, Curott told the story of her own journey toward accepting Wicca in the 1998 memoir Book of Shadows. Her latest effort, Witch Crafting: A Spiritual Guide to Making Magic, is a practical guide to the whys and hows of making Wiccan magic. With Curott's advice, you can find your own inner goddess just in time for Halloween.

How To Communicate with Spirits

Ever felt like touching the other side ? Then this is your book. In How to Communicate with Spirits, certified medium Elizabeth Owens gathers advice from noted experts on how to contact the spirits of those who have passed on. But beware: the spirits you contact may be naughty rather than nice. While positive spirits can help you out of difficult situations (like getting a seat on a crowded airplane), a negative spirit can be a household menace, stealing items from your kitchen or sending you into fits of depression. Shocking.

Coast to Coast Ghosts

Bored by the same old ghost stories around the campfire? Leslie Rule has solved your dilemma by traveling the country to collect eerie tales of our nation's most haunted places. Guaranteed to send a chill down your spine, Coast to Coast Ghosts: True Stories of Hauntings Across Americadescribes haunted houses, schools, hotels, bridges, forts and, of course, cemeteries. The author, who is the daughter of true-crime writer Ann Rule, includes plenty of photographs for those who need cold, hard evidence that there are goblins and ghouls among us.

Ghost Dogs of the South

Reading scary stories can haunt your bedtime hours with nightmares. And after reading Ghost Dogs of the South, your nightmares will be full of slobber and paws. In these mysterious tales compiled by folklorists Randy Russell and Janet Barnett, dead dogs from Dixie return in ghostly form, while in even stranger cases, humans who die come back as ghost dogs. Think again before you buy that cheaper bag of dog food at the market.

Origami Monsters

If you're interested in the Japanese art of paper folding, why waste your time on a delicate swan or butterfly when you can create such origami ogres as Frankenstein's monster or a snapping goblin? Far less messy than carving a pumpkin, Steve and Megumi Biddle's Origami Monsters should keep the little demons at your house occupied for hours. The book includes well-illustrated instructions and paper for creating several seasonably appropriate creatures.

Handmade Halloween

If your house is the least spooky on the block, don't despair. You can become the Martha Stewart of Halloween decorating by implementing a few practical suggestions from Handmade Halloween: Ideas for a Happy, Haunted Celebration. Tissue paper ghosts will hang from your windows, a front-door scarecrow will grace your entrance and skeleton luminarias will light the way for trick-or-treaters arriving at your stylishly haunted house. Author Zazel Loven also includes cute costume ideas suitable for frantic moms who have never mastered the sewing machine.

Halloween is right around the corner. The neighbors have carved their pumpkins (including the chic miniature pumpkins which are more avant garde these days), your kids swear their friends already have costumes and the check-out lanes at the grocery store are clogged with bags of…

LifestylesHealth & Fitness

Weighty advice for women

Review by bookpagedev

Thank goodness we’ve ditched the notion that only men can benefit from weight training. In recent years, health specialists have proven that pumping iron can help women burn fat, tone their bodies and build bone mass without becoming muscle-bound mini-Schwarzeneggers.

Personal trainer Brad Schoenfeld gives women a clear and comprehensive guide for working with weights in Sculpting Her Body Perfect. The first edition of the book, released in 1999, became a top-selling fitness title, and the newly released second edition improves on the original with the addition of 30 new exercises that can be done at home, rather than in a gym.

Schoenfeld, who also wrote the memorably titled Look Great Naked, provides a bodysculpting routine for each of the major muscle groups and includes a brief anatomy lesson at the start of each section. Every exercise is described in detail and illustrated with photos of top fitness models. From the one-armed dumbbell row to the hanging knee raise, there are plenty of options here for whipping even sadly sagging bodies into toned, shaped and sculpted perfection. And for those who need inspiration to get started or maintain a workout routine, Schoenfeld includes personal profiles of fitness competitors, who share tips on training and nutrition. If your number one New Year’s resolution is to get in shape, Sculpting Her Body Perfect offers a roadmap for reaching your goal.

Thank goodness we've ditched the notion that only men can benefit from weight training. In recent years, health specialists have proven that pumping iron can help women burn fat, tone their bodies and build bone mass without becoming muscle-bound mini-Schwarzeneggers.

Personal trainer Brad…
LifestylesHealth & Fitness

Wellness strategies for women

Review by bookpagedev

Knowledge is power especially when beginning any new fitness regimen. All the self-evaluation tools you’ll need are at your fingertips in Prevention’s Ultimate Guide to Women’s Health and Wellness by Elizabeth Crow and the Editors of Prevention Health Books for Women. This desk reference stresses the importance of informed consumer choice when selecting health care providers and treatment. The guide is also a thorough compendium of female wellness strategies, profiling the latest developments in Western medicine, alternative and natural healing, and nutrition.

The book begins with a primer on the female body, and the body’s specific health needs as it ages. This information, offered in clear, concise terminology, helps women build effective health action plans by providing wellness “checklists” that assess physical and emotional well-being. Each chapter includes at-a-glance health tips and techniques, prevention and treatment advice from certified health practitioners, and positive stories from women who have successfully dealt with personal health challenges. Sections on female reproduction and sexuality, major health threats facing women and a guide to common ailments complete the book and suggest medical treatments, preventative health lifestyle strategies, nutritional counseling and home remedies.

Overall, the book seeks a balance between traditional and alternative health perspectives, but the Western medical delivery system is subtly preferred; for example, the chapter on menopause discusses hormone replacement therapy to the virtual exclusion of alternative solutions. This is, though, a fine resource for women who want an overview of current health delivery options so that they may act, in tandem with their doctor, to take charge of their health. Alison Hood is a freelance writer based in San Rafael, California.

Knowledge is power especially when beginning any new fitness regimen. All the self-evaluation tools you'll need are at your fingertips in Prevention's Ultimate Guide to Women's Health and Wellness by Elizabeth Crow and the Editors of Prevention Health Books for Women. This desk reference stresses…
Lifestyles

Exploring the color spectrum

Review by bookpagedev

When British journalist Victoria Finlay began her research into the history of color, she didn’t expect to unearth stories of corruption, poisoning, killing and politics. But that’s precisely what she found.

It turns out that colors ochre, black, brown, white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, hues used on everything from canvas to cloth are not as easy to come by as they might seem. The glossy shades that modern-day artists casually squeeze from tubes have been a source of heartache and controversy, even death, for centuries.

In Color: A Natural History of the Palette, Finlay explores the physical makeup of colors, as well as the social and political meanings that different hues have come to represent. For her research, Finlay spent years traveling through mountains, deserts, caves and villages in countries such as Afghanistan, Indonesia, China and Australia to piece together a thorough history of each color’s origins and development. The result is quite an accomplishment: a 448-page volume about color that reads like an adventure novel. Inspired by the human quest for color, this is a book full of stories and anecdotes, histories and escapades mostly in art, but also in fashion and interior design, music, porcelain and even, in one example, pillar boxes. Many revelations in Finlay’s “paintbox journeys” are fascinating. Take, for example, the fact that carmine one of the reddest dyes the natural world has produced is made from the blood of cochineal beetles harvested on plantations in Chile. The additive is used today in cosmetics, soft drinks, paint and many other products. Finlay also tells how steaming piles of manure were used by the Dutch to make lead for white paint during Rembrandt’s time, and how Egyptian corpses were a key ingredient in a brown pigment called mommia, or “mummy.” (One 19th-century artist is said to have given his tubes of brown paint a proper burial when he found out.) Written with a sense of humor and wonder, Finlay’s first book is a captivating journey that entertains as much as it teaches. Rebecca Denton is a freelance writer and reporter in Nashville.

When British journalist Victoria Finlay began her research into the history of color, she didn't expect to unearth stories of corruption, poisoning, killing and politics. But that's precisely what she found.

It turns out that colors ochre, black, brown, white, red, orange, yellow,…
Lifestyles

A collection of good yarns on knitting

Review by bookpagedev

I’m the one you see at soccer practices, knitting. I knit anywhere I can get away with it: carpool lines, piano lessons, doctors’ offices, oil change shops. People ask me, “With two small boys, how can you find time to knit?” I say, “How can I not?” I am not alone, it seems. This most traditional of handcrafts is on an upswing, with many young knitters picking up the needles. You don’t have to be a grandmother to knit, that’s for sure. But sometimes you do need to be creative in carving out bits of time for it.

The editors of KnitLit: Sweaters and Their Stories . . . and Other Writing About Knitting have created a marvelous book for anyone who shares this obsession. Linda Roghaar and Molly Boyd are smart they have kept the stories here short, because they know that no knitter will be able to read more than a few before having to go knit some rows in a wild burst of inspiration.

This is the rare book on knitting that captures the many voices of that singular world. I have all sorts of books on techniques and patterns, and I have lovely books such as The Joy of Knitting and The Knitting Sutra, which reflect the authors’ unique points of view. But KnitLit is a great big knitting circle, with women from all over the country telling their knitting stories. The themes are familiar: knitting as a practical craft, as an art, as a way to calm one’s thoughts, as a link to earlier generations. Knitting, too, is meditative, and Dan Odegard writes a tender essay about his young daughter’s knitting, something he feels is downright spiritual.

Some of the stories will make you cry, while others are hilarious. Anne McKee decides in a sentimental moment to spin an English sheepdog’s fur for a friend’s sweater, and all goes well until the rain comes. “Wet dog” has new meaning when you’re wearing it.

I have a friend who can knit and read at the same time, which is the ultimate economy of time. I’m guessing that she’s reading this while starting another of the caps that she makes for each of her second-grade students. And I’m thinking that, like any yarn-crazed knitter, she will enjoy KnitLit. Ann Shayne is the former editor of BookPage.

I'm the one you see at soccer practices, knitting. I knit anywhere I can get away with it: carpool lines, piano lessons, doctors' offices, oil change shops. People ask me, "With two small boys, how can you find time to knit?" I say, "How can…
LifestylesHealth & Fitness

Tackling a weighty problem

Review by bookpagedev

Beginning with this book’s subtitle “How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World” you get the idea that the author, journalist Greg Critser, isn’t going to pull any punches. And he doesn’t. Readers looking for an easy solution to the nation’s weight problem or their own won’t find it here. As Critser explains it, a convergence of circumstances, none particularly ominous in itself, brought us to where we are today. A relaxation of trade barriers in the 1970s, combined with simultaneous advances in food-processing technologies, gave us cheap sweeteners and cooking fats. These enabled fast-food and snack-food purveyors to increase portion sizes without substantially increasing their costs, an irresistible incentive for us to overeat. Also during this period, tax-cutting movements reduced school budgets. This factor led to the dropping or cutting back of physical education classes and the introduction of high-fat fast foods into the schools. At the same time, more women were joining the work force, which meant that they had less time to prepare food at home and monitor the family diet. Even as our individual and collective weight problems grew, Critser says, opportunists made money and reputations by convincing us that there were swift and painless ways to handle the consequences of our gluttony. Some diet theories held that we could eat more and still lose pounds. Special interest groups protested that too much attention to weight would drive young girls to anorexia and cause overweight people to form poor self-images. But there is more here than history and harangue. Having explained why Americans have become fat, Critser then details what this costs in terms of such diseases as diabetes and cancer. He also explores the roles that culture and class play in this national epidemic. Although breezily written, Fat Land is a profoundly disturbing book. The forces that drive Americans to overeat are so strong and entrenched that when we reach Critser’s final chapter, “What Can Be Done,” it seems like a straw in the wind.

Beginning with this book's subtitle "How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World" you get the idea that the author, journalist Greg Critser, isn't going to pull any punches. And he doesn't. Readers looking for an easy solution to the nation's weight problem…
Self-HelpLifestyles

The flame of change

Review by bookpagedev

Books to light your path to personal growth Is your life like a three-dollar bottle of champagne gone flat? Would you like to expand your sense of personal choice and freedom? Are you unhappy? Unmotivated? Unfulfilled? Do you have a hidden dream that you’ve hidden so well, you can’t remember where you put it, let along find the chutzpah to chase after it? If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, a little getting to know thyself and doing something with your newfound knowledge may be in order. Whether you need a few simple ingredients for a spicier life, or some in-depth analysis, we’ve identified a few of the best in new personal-growth books to guide you on your way and help ignite that internal flame of change.

Maybe your life needs no more than a little spark to rekindle your sense of adventure. Chucking your job and backpacking in the Himalayas isn’t the only way to rediscover the joy and wonder of daily existence. A New Adventure Every Day: 541 Ways to Live With Pizzazz (Sourcebooks, $12.95, 384 pages, ISBN 1570719462) by David Silberkleit is chock-full of ideas to jump-start your joie de vivre. With 540 ideas to choose from, under categories ranging from home life to relationships to the office, you’re bound to find a personal ice-breaker in its pages to fit almost any situation, temperament or degree of daring. If No. 503 (“Dance with a tree in the wind”) is too outlandish for you or your neighbors (should they be watching), there are more conservative exercises like No. 408 (“Explore a debt-free lifestyle. Strive to pay off everything so that money loses its hold over you”).

On the other hand, maybe happiness and success haven’t eluded you at all. In fact, maybe you have a great, lucrative career and are deliriously giddy with fame and fortune. And yet. And yet. Something’s missing. You know what the rest of the world can’t see. You aren’t being something you know you were meant to be. (Hello, Nashville! Is that a song lyric?) If you’re searching for something more, read Po Bronson’s, What Should I Do With My Life? (Random House, $24.95, 400 pages, ISBN 0375507493). Bronson makes a great case for turning your back on the almighty buck and following your star. In fact, he talks about the bad side of success, the temptations of money and an idea so scandalous it could rock the world. But here it is: “Productivity explodes when people love what they do.” Hey, he said it, not me.

The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success (Thomas Nelson, $19.99, 224 pages, ISBN 0785264280) by Andy Andrews is an unpretentious little work of fiction that picks up where the Capra heart- warmer It’s A Wonderful Life leaves off. Like George Bailey, Andrews’ modern-day protagonist, David Ponder, is at a crisis point in his life. Bailey, (c’mon, you know, James Stewart in the Christmas classic) miraculously gets a chance to see what the world would be like without him in it, discovering that his life is not only a precious gift to him, but to countless others as well. Ponder gets a different gift he gets to travel through time, gathering the wisdom of such notable figures as Abraham Lincoln and Anne Frank but his catharsis comes in discovering the power of a single, heartfelt decision. “There is a thin thread,” one of his messengers proclaims, “that weaves only from you to hundreds of thousands of lives. Your example, your actions, and yes, even one decision can literally change the world.” That’s a lot of pressure! But like Ponder, by the end of this inspirational tale, having learned the “Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success,” you will be better equipped to make choices with kindness, confidence and wisdom. This is a wonderful book to put into the hands of some promising young man or woman struggling with the inevitable incongruities, ambiguities and loneliness of modern day life.

From the best-selling author of the Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff series, comes What About the BIG Stuff? (Hyperion, $19.95, 294 pages, ISBN 0786868848), in which Richard Carlson addresses how to handle major life dilemmas like an impending divorce or the loss of a loved one without totally coming apart at the seams. Carlson contends that human beings have essentially two modes or mind-sets, and that one of them is “healthy” and one “reactive.” “In our healthiest state of mind,” he writes, “we dance’ with life. We’re patient, wise, thoughtful and kind. We make good, sound decisions.” But we have a flip side. In our reactive mode “we are less patient . . . we struggle and churn. . . . We are frustrated and hard on ourselves and others. Our problem solving skills are limited.” The good news here is that knowing we have the capacity for both states of mind, we can begin to nurture one and let go of the other. “By acknowledging the existence of a healthy state of mind you can learn to trust it,” Carlson assures us, “and access it, more often.” Not that doing so is an easy task. As psychologist Gary Buffone points out in The Myth of Tomorrow: Seven Essential Keys for Living the Life You Want Today (McGraw-Hill, $16.95, 288 pages, ISBN 0071389172), “Unlike physical aging, spiritual and emotional maturity do not develop automatically; they exist only as a possibility. They must be intentionally and consistently pursued via commitment, effort, and struggle.” Using the experiences of patients who have faced life-threatening situations, Buffone offers guidance on how to break out of a “holding pattern” and start reinventing your life today. “Spirituality,” he explains, “is about developing the ability to see the sacred in our daily lives and opening the door to a life filled with passion and depth.” Finally, The Art of Serenity: The Path to a Joyful Life in the Best and Worst of Times offers a more literary and philosophical slant, an “intellectual bridge” as it were, to get from wanting to knowing a life of passion and depth. Chapter titles alone (“The Love of Others,” “The Love of Work,” “The Love of Belonging”) if simply read and contemplated upon, might lead to higher thought. But the book is full of philosophical and spiritual quotations. “No seed ever sees the flower.” Zen saying. Wow. Think about that. Not that a book alone can teach you how to put into practice and live a life full of meaning, purpose and depth. That is something each of us must struggle and churn out for ourselves. But these books can help to ignite the flame. Linda Stankard makes her New Year’s resolutions at her home in upstate New York.

Books to light your path to personal growth Is your life like a three-dollar bottle of champagne gone flat? Would you like to expand your sense of personal choice and freedom? Are you unhappy? Unmotivated? Unfulfilled? Do you have a hidden dream that you've hidden…
Self-HelpLifestyles

The flame of change

Review by bookpagedev

Books to light your path to personal growth Is your life like a three-dollar bottle of champagne gone flat? Would you like to expand your sense of personal choice and freedom? Are you unhappy? Unmotivated? Unfulfilled? Do you have a hidden dream that you’ve hidden so well, you can’t remember where you put it, let along find the chutzpah to chase after it? If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, a little getting to know thyself and doing something with your newfound knowledge may be in order. Whether you need a few simple ingredients for a spicier life, or some in-depth analysis, we’ve identified a few of the best in new personal-growth books to guide you on your way and help ignite that internal flame of change.

Maybe your life needs no more than a little spark to rekindle your sense of adventure. Chucking your job and backpacking in the Himalayas isn’t the only way to rediscover the joy and wonder of daily existence. A New Adventure Every Day: 541 Ways to Live With Pizzazz (Sourcebooks, $12.95, 384 pages, ISBN 1570719462) by David Silberkleit is chock-full of ideas to jump-start your joie de vivre. With 540 ideas to choose from, under categories ranging from home life to relationships to the office, you’re bound to find a personal ice-breaker in its pages to fit almost any situation, temperament or degree of daring. If No. 503 (“Dance with a tree in the wind”) is too outlandish for you or your neighbors (should they be watching), there are more conservative exercises like No. 408 (“Explore a debt-free lifestyle. Strive to pay off everything so that money loses its hold over you”).

On the other hand, maybe happiness and success haven’t eluded you at all. In fact, maybe you have a great, lucrative career and are deliriously giddy with fame and fortune. And yet. And yet. Something’s missing. You know what the rest of the world can’t see. You aren’t being something you know you were meant to be. (Hello, Nashville! Is that a song lyric?) If you’re searching for something more, read Po Bronson’s, What Should I Do With My Life? (Random House, $24.95, 400 pages, ISBN 0375507493). Bronson makes a great case for turning your back on the almighty buck and following your star. In fact, he talks about the bad side of success, the temptations of money and an idea so scandalous it could rock the world. But here it is: “Productivity explodes when people love what they do.” Hey, he said it, not me.

The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success (Thomas Nelson, $19.99, 224 pages, ISBN 0785264280) by Andy Andrews is an unpretentious little work of fiction that picks up where the Capra heart- warmer It’s A Wonderful Life leaves off. Like George Bailey, Andrews’ modern-day protagonist, David Ponder, is at a crisis point in his life. Bailey, (c’mon, you know, James Stewart in the Christmas classic) miraculously gets a chance to see what the world would be like without him in it, discovering that his life is not only a precious gift to him, but to countless others as well. Ponder gets a different gift he gets to travel through time, gathering the wisdom of such notable figures as Abraham Lincoln and Anne Frank but his catharsis comes in discovering the power of a single, heartfelt decision. “There is a thin thread,” one of his messengers proclaims, “that weaves only from you to hundreds of thousands of lives. Your example, your actions, and yes, even one decision can literally change the world.” That’s a lot of pressure! But like Ponder, by the end of this inspirational tale, having learned the “Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success,” you will be better equipped to make choices with kindness, confidence and wisdom. This is a wonderful book to put into the hands of some promising young man or woman struggling with the inevitable incongruities, ambiguities and loneliness of modern day life.

From the best-selling author of the Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff series, comes What About the BIG Stuff? (Hyperion, $19.95, 294 pages, ISBN 0786868848), in which Richard Carlson addresses how to handle major life dilemmas like an impending divorce or the loss of a loved one without totally coming apart at the seams. Carlson contends that human beings have essentially two modes or mind-sets, and that one of them is “healthy” and one “reactive.” “In our healthiest state of mind,” he writes, “we dance’ with life. We’re patient, wise, thoughtful and kind. We make good, sound decisions.” But we have a flip side. In our reactive mode “we are less patient . . . we struggle and churn. . . . We are frustrated and hard on ourselves and others. Our problem solving skills are limited.” The good news here is that knowing we have the capacity for both states of mind, we can begin to nurture one and let go of the other. “By acknowledging the existence of a healthy state of mind you can learn to trust it,” Carlson assures us, “and access it, more often.” Not that doing so is an easy task. As psychologist Gary Buffone points out in The Myth of Tomorrow: Seven Essential Keys for Living the Life You Want Today, “Unlike physical aging, spiritual and emotional maturity do not develop automatically; they exist only as a possibility. They must be intentionally and consistently pursued via commitment, effort, and struggle.” Using the experiences of patients who have faced life-threatening situations, Buffone offers guidance on how to break out of a “holding pattern” and start reinventing your life today. “Spirituality,” he explains, “is about developing the ability to see the sacred in our daily lives and opening the door to a life filled with passion and depth.” Finally, The Art of Serenity: The Path to a Joyful Life in the Best and Worst of Times, by T. Byram Karusu, M.D., (Simon ∧ Schuster, $24, 256 pages, ISBN 0743228316) offers a more literary and philosophical slant, an “intellectual bridge” as it were, to get from wanting to knowing a life of passion and depth. Chapter titles alone (“The Love of Others,” “The Love of Work,” “The Love of Belonging”) if simply read and contemplated upon, might lead to higher thought. But the book is full of philosophical and spiritual quotations. “No seed ever sees the flower.” Zen saying. Wow. Think about that. Not that a book alone can teach you how to put into practice and live a life full of meaning, purpose and depth. That is something each of us must struggle and churn out for ourselves. But these books can help to ignite the flame. Linda Stankard makes her New Year’s resolutions at her home in upstate New York.

Books to light your path to personal growth Is your life like a three-dollar bottle of champagne gone flat? Would you like to expand your sense of personal choice and freedom? Are you unhappy? Unmotivated? Unfulfilled? Do you have a hidden dream that you've hidden…
Self-HelpLifestyles

The flame of change

Review by bookpagedev

Books to light your path to personal growth Is your life like a three-dollar bottle of champagne gone flat? Would you like to expand your sense of personal choice and freedom? Are you unhappy? Unmotivated? Unfulfilled? Do you have a hidden dream that you’ve hidden so well, you can’t remember where you put it, let along find the chutzpah to chase after it? If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, a little getting to know thyself and doing something with your newfound knowledge may be in order. Whether you need a few simple ingredients for a spicier life, or some in-depth analysis, we’ve identified a few of the best in new personal-growth books to guide you on your way and help ignite that internal flame of change.

Maybe your life needs no more than a little spark to rekindle your sense of adventure. Chucking your job and backpacking in the Himalayas isn’t the only way to rediscover the joy and wonder of daily existence. A New Adventure Every Day: 541 Ways to Live With Pizzazz (Sourcebooks, $12.95, 384 pages, ISBN 1570719462) by David Silberkleit is chock-full of ideas to jump-start your joie de vivre. With 540 ideas to choose from, under categories ranging from home life to relationships to the office, you’re bound to find a personal ice-breaker in its pages to fit almost any situation, temperament or degree of daring. If No. 503 (“Dance with a tree in the wind”) is too outlandish for you or your neighbors (should they be watching), there are more conservative exercises like No. 408 (“Explore a debt-free lifestyle. Strive to pay off everything so that money loses its hold over you”).

On the other hand, maybe happiness and success haven’t eluded you at all. In fact, maybe you have a great, lucrative career and are deliriously giddy with fame and fortune. And yet. And yet. Something’s missing. You know what the rest of the world can’t see. You aren’t being something you know you were meant to be. (Hello, Nashville! Is that a song lyric?) If you’re searching for something more, read Po Bronson’s, What Should I Do With My Life? (Random House, $24.95, 400 pages, ISBN 0375507493). Bronson makes a great case for turning your back on the almighty buck and following your star. In fact, he talks about the bad side of success, the temptations of money and an idea so scandalous it could rock the world. But here it is: “Productivity explodes when people love what they do.” Hey, he said it, not me.

The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success (Thomas Nelson, $19.99, 224 pages, ISBN 0785264280) by Andy Andrews is an unpretentious little work of fiction that picks up where the Capra heart- warmer It’s A Wonderful Life leaves off. Like George Bailey, Andrews’ modern-day protagonist, David Ponder, is at a crisis point in his life. Bailey, (c’mon, you know, James Stewart in the Christmas classic) miraculously gets a chance to see what the world would be like without him in it, discovering that his life is not only a precious gift to him, but to countless others as well. Ponder gets a different gift he gets to travel through time, gathering the wisdom of such notable figures as Abraham Lincoln and Anne Frank but his catharsis comes in discovering the power of a single, heartfelt decision. “There is a thin thread,” one of his messengers proclaims, “that weaves only from you to hundreds of thousands of lives. Your example, your actions, and yes, even one decision can literally change the world.” That’s a lot of pressure! But like Ponder, by the end of this inspirational tale, having learned the “Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success,” you will be better equipped to make choices with kindness, confidence and wisdom. This is a wonderful book to put into the hands of some promising young man or woman struggling with the inevitable incongruities, ambiguities and loneliness of modern day life.

From the best-selling author of the Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff series, comes What About the BIG Stuff?, in which Richard Carlson addresses how to handle major life dilemmas like an impending divorce or the loss of a loved one without totally coming apart at the seams. Carlson contends that human beings have essentially two modes or mind-sets, and that one of them is “healthy” and one “reactive.” “In our healthiest state of mind,” he writes, “we dance’ with life. We’re patient, wise, thoughtful and kind. We make good, sound decisions.” But we have a flip side. In our reactive mode “we are less patient . . . we struggle and churn. . . . We are frustrated and hard on ourselves and others. Our problem solving skills are limited.” The good news here is that knowing we have the capacity for both states of mind, we can begin to nurture one and let go of the other. “By acknowledging the existence of a healthy state of mind you can learn to trust it,” Carlson assures us, “and access it, more often.” Not that doing so is an easy task. As psychologist Gary Buffone points out in The Myth of Tomorrow: Seven Essential Keys for Living the Life You Want Today (McGraw-Hill, $16.95, 288 pages, ISBN 0071389172), “Unlike physical aging, spiritual and emotional maturity do not develop automatically; they exist only as a possibility. They must be intentionally and consistently pursued via commitment, effort, and struggle.” Using the experiences of patients who have faced life-threatening situations, Buffone offers guidance on how to break out of a “holding pattern” and start reinventing your life today. “Spirituality,” he explains, “is about developing the ability to see the sacred in our daily lives and opening the door to a life filled with passion and depth.” Finally, The Art of Serenity: The Path to a Joyful Life in the Best and Worst of Times, by T. Byram Karusu, M.D., (Simon ∧ Schuster, $24, 256 pages, ISBN 0743228316) offers a more literary and philosophical slant, an “intellectual bridge” as it were, to get from wanting to knowing a life of passion and depth. Chapter titles alone (“The Love of Others,” “The Love of Work,” “The Love of Belonging”) if simply read and contemplated upon, might lead to higher thought. But the book is full of philosophical and spiritual quotations. “No seed ever sees the flower.” Zen saying. Wow. Think about that. Not that a book alone can teach you how to put into practice and live a life full of meaning, purpose and depth. That is something each of us must struggle and churn out for ourselves. But these books can help to ignite the flame. Linda Stankard makes her New Year’s resolutions at her home in upstate New York.

Books to light your path to personal growth Is your life like a three-dollar bottle of champagne gone flat? Would you like to expand your sense of personal choice and freedom? Are you unhappy? Unmotivated? Unfulfilled? Do you have a hidden dream that you've hidden…
Self-HelpLifestyles

The flame of change

Review by bookpagedev

Books to light your path to personal growth Is your life like a three-dollar bottle of champagne gone flat? Would you like to expand your sense of personal choice and freedom? Are you unhappy? Unmotivated? Unfulfilled? Do you have a hidden dream that you’ve hidden so well, you can’t remember where you put it, let along find the chutzpah to chase after it? If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, a little getting to know thyself and doing something with your newfound knowledge may be in order. Whether you need a few simple ingredients for a spicier life, or some in-depth analysis, we’ve identified a few of the best in new personal-growth books to guide you on your way and help ignite that internal flame of change.

Maybe your life needs no more than a little spark to rekindle your sense of adventure. Chucking your job and backpacking in the Himalayas isn’t the only way to rediscover the joy and wonder of daily existence. A New Adventure Every Day: 541 Ways to Live With Pizzazz (Sourcebooks, $12.95, 384 pages, ISBN 1570719462) by David Silberkleit is chock-full of ideas to jump-start your joie de vivre. With 540 ideas to choose from, under categories ranging from home life to relationships to the office, you’re bound to find a personal ice-breaker in its pages to fit almost any situation, temperament or degree of daring. If No. 503 (“Dance with a tree in the wind”) is too outlandish for you or your neighbors (should they be watching), there are more conservative exercises like No. 408 (“Explore a debt-free lifestyle. Strive to pay off everything so that money loses its hold over you”).

On the other hand, maybe happiness and success haven’t eluded you at all. In fact, maybe you have a great, lucrative career and are deliriously giddy with fame and fortune. And yet. And yet. Something’s missing. You know what the rest of the world can’t see. You aren’t being something you know you were meant to be. (Hello, Nashville! Is that a song lyric?) If you’re searching for something more, read Po Bronson’s, What Should I Do With My Life? (Random House, $24.95, 400 pages, ISBN 0375507493). Bronson makes a great case for turning your back on the almighty buck and following your star. In fact, he talks about the bad side of success, the temptations of money and an idea so scandalous it could rock the world. But here it is: “Productivity explodes when people love what they do.” Hey, he said it, not me.

The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success by Andy Andrews is an unpretentious little work of fiction that picks up where the Capra heart- warmer It’s A Wonderful Life leaves off. Like George Bailey, Andrews’ modern-day protagonist, David Ponder, is at a crisis point in his life. Bailey, (c’mon, you know, James Stewart in the Christmas classic) miraculously gets a chance to see what the world would be like without him in it, discovering that his life is not only a precious gift to him, but to countless others as well. Ponder gets a different gift he gets to travel through time, gathering the wisdom of such notable figures as Abraham Lincoln and Anne Frank but his catharsis comes in discovering the power of a single, heartfelt decision. “There is a thin thread,” one of his messengers proclaims, “that weaves only from you to hundreds of thousands of lives. Your example, your actions, and yes, even one decision can literally change the world.” That’s a lot of pressure! But like Ponder, by the end of this inspirational tale, having learned the “Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success,” you will be better equipped to make choices with kindness, confidence and wisdom. This is a wonderful book to put into the hands of some promising young man or woman struggling with the inevitable incongruities, ambiguities and loneliness of modern day life.

From the best-selling author of the Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff series, comes What About the BIG Stuff? (Hyperion, $19.95, 294 pages, ISBN 0786868848), in which Richard Carlson addresses how to handle major life dilemmas like an impending divorce or the loss of a loved one without totally coming apart at the seams. Carlson contends that human beings have essentially two modes or mind-sets, and that one of them is “healthy” and one “reactive.” “In our healthiest state of mind,” he writes, “we Ôdance’ with life. We’re patient, wise, thoughtful and kind. We make good, sound decisions.” But we have a flip side. In our reactive mode “we are less patient . . . we struggle and churn. . . . We are frustrated and hard on ourselves and others. Our problem solving skills are limited.” The good news here is that knowing we have the capacity for both states of mind, we can begin to nurture one and let go of the other. “By acknowledging the existence of a healthy state of mind you can learn to trust it,” Carlson assures us, “and access it, more often.” Not that doing so is an easy task. As psychologist Gary Buffone points out in The Myth of Tomorrow: Seven Essential Keys for Living the Life You Want Today (McGraw-Hill, $16.95, 288 pages, ISBN 0071389172), “Unlike physical aging, spiritual and emotional maturity do not develop automatically; they exist only as a possibility. They must be intentionally and consistently pursued via commitment, effort, and struggle.” Using the experiences of patients who have faced life-threatening situations, Buffone offers guidance on how to break out of a “holding pattern” and start reinventing your life today. “Spirituality,” he explains, “is about developing the ability to see the sacred in our daily lives and opening the door to a life filled with passion and depth.” Finally, The Art of Serenity: The Path to a Joyful Life in the Best and Worst of Times, by T. Byram Karusu, M.D., (Simon &and Schuster, $24, 256 pages, ISBN 0743228316) offers a more literary and philosophical slant, an “intellectual bridge” as it were, to get from wanting to knowing a life of passion and depth. Chapter titles alone (“The Love of Others,” “The Love of Work,” “The Love of Belonging”) if simply read and contemplated upon, might lead to higher thought. But the book is full of philosophical and spiritual quotations. “No seed ever sees the flower.” Zen saying. Wow. Think about that. Not that a book alone can teach you how to put into practice and live a life full of meaning, purpose and depth. That is something each of us must struggle and churn out for ourselves. But these books can help to ignite the flame. Linda Stankard makes her New Year’s resolutions at her home in upstate New York.

Books to light your path to personal growth Is your life like a three-dollar bottle of champagne gone flat? Would you like to expand your sense of personal choice and freedom? Are you unhappy? Unmotivated? Unfulfilled? Do you have a hidden dream that you've hidden…
Self-HelpLifestyles

The flame of change

Review by bookpagedev

Books to light your path to personal growth Is your life like a three-dollar bottle of champagne gone flat? Would you like to expand your sense of personal choice and freedom? Are you unhappy? Unmotivated? Unfulfilled? Do you have a hidden dream that you’ve hidden so well, you can’t remember where you put it, let along find the chutzpah to chase after it? If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, a little getting to know thyself and doing something with your newfound knowledge may be in order. Whether you need a few simple ingredients for a spicier life, or some in-depth analysis, we’ve identified a few of the best in new personal-growth books to guide you on your way and help ignite that internal flame of change.

Maybe your life needs no more than a little spark to rekindle your sense of adventure. Chucking your job and backpacking in the Himalayas isn’t the only way to rediscover the joy and wonder of daily existence. A New Adventure Every Day: 541 Ways to Live With Pizzazz (Sourcebooks, $12.95, 384 pages, ISBN 1570719462) by David Silberkleit is chock-full of ideas to jump-start your joie de vivre. With 540 ideas to choose from, under categories ranging from home life to relationships to the office, you’re bound to find a personal ice-breaker in its pages to fit almost any situation, temperament or degree of daring. If No. 503 (“Dance with a tree in the wind”) is too outlandish for you or your neighbors (should they be watching), there are more conservative exercises like No. 408 (“Explore a debt-free lifestyle. Strive to pay off everything so that money loses its hold over you”).

On the other hand, maybe happiness and success haven’t eluded you at all. In fact, maybe you have a great, lucrative career and are deliriously giddy with fame and fortune. And yet. And yet. Something’s missing. You know what the rest of the world can’t see. You aren’t being something you know you were meant to be. (Hello, Nashville! Is that a song lyric?) If you’re searching for something more, read Po Bronson’s, What Should I Do With My Life?. Bronson makes a great case for turning your back on the almighty buck and following your star. In fact, he talks about the bad side of success, the temptations of money and an idea so scandalous it could rock the world. But here it is: “Productivity explodes when people love what they do.” Hey, he said it, not me.

The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success (Thomas Nelson, $19.99, 224 pages, ISBN 0785264280) by Andy Andrews is an unpretentious little work of fiction that picks up where the Capra heart- warmer It’s A Wonderful Life leaves off. Like George Bailey, Andrews’ modern-day protagonist, David Ponder, is at a crisis point in his life. Bailey, (c’mon, you know, James Stewart in the Christmas classic) miraculously gets a chance to see what the world would be like without him in it, discovering that his life is not only a precious gift to him, but to countless others as well. Ponder gets a different gift he gets to travel through time, gathering the wisdom of such notable figures as Abraham Lincoln and Anne Frank but his catharsis comes in discovering the power of a single, heartfelt decision. “There is a thin thread,” one of his messengers proclaims, “that weaves only from you to hundreds of thousands of lives. Your example, your actions, and yes, even one decision can literally change the world.” That’s a lot of pressure! But like Ponder, by the end of this inspirational tale, having learned the “Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success,” you will be better equipped to make choices with kindness, confidence and wisdom. This is a wonderful book to put into the hands of some promising young man or woman struggling with the inevitable incongruities, ambiguities and loneliness of modern day life.

From the best-selling author of the Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff series, comes What About the BIG Stuff? (Hyperion, $19.95, 294 pages, ISBN 0786868848), in which Richard Carlson addresses how to handle major life dilemmas like an impending divorce or the loss of a loved one without totally coming apart at the seams. Carlson contends that human beings have essentially two modes or mind-sets, and that one of them is “healthy” and one “reactive.” “In our healthiest state of mind,” he writes, “we dance’ with life. We’re patient, wise, thoughtful and kind. We make good, sound decisions.” But we have a flip side. In our reactive mode “we are less patient . . . we struggle and churn. . . . We are frustrated and hard on ourselves and others. Our problem solving skills are limited.” The good news here is that knowing we have the capacity for both states of mind, we can begin to nurture one and let go of the other. “By acknowledging the existence of a healthy state of mind you can learn to trust it,” Carlson assures us, “and access it, more often.” Not that doing so is an easy task. As psychologist Gary Buffone points out in The Myth of Tomorrow: Seven Essential Keys for Living the Life You Want Today (McGraw-Hill, $16.95, 288 pages, ISBN 0071389172), “Unlike physical aging, spiritual and emotional maturity do not develop automatically; they exist only as a possibility. They must be intentionally and consistently pursued via commitment, effort, and struggle.” Using the experiences of patients who have faced life-threatening situations, Buffone offers guidance on how to break out of a “holding pattern” and start reinventing your life today. “Spirituality,” he explains, “is about developing the ability to see the sacred in our daily lives and opening the door to a life filled with passion and depth.” Finally, The Art of Serenity: The Path to a Joyful Life in the Best and Worst of Times, by T. Byram Karusu, M.D., (Simon ∧ Schuster, $24, 256 pages, ISBN 0743228316) offers a more literary and philosophical slant, an “intellectual bridge” as it were, to get from wanting to knowing a life of passion and depth. Chapter titles alone (“The Love of Others,” “The Love of Work,” “The Love of Belonging”) if simply read and contemplated upon, might lead to higher thought. But the book is full of philosophical and spiritual quotations. “No seed ever sees the flower.” Zen saying. Wow. Think about that. Not that a book alone can teach you how to put into practice and live a life full of meaning, purpose and depth. That is something each of us must struggle and churn out for ourselves. But these books can help to ignite the flame. Linda Stankard makes her New Year’s resolutions at her home in upstate New York.

Books to light your path to personal growth Is your life like a three-dollar bottle of champagne gone flat? Would you like to expand your sense of personal choice and freedom? Are you unhappy? Unmotivated? Unfulfilled? Do you have a hidden dream that you've hidden…
Self-HelpLifestyles

The flame of change

Review by bookpagedev

Books to light your path to personal growth Is your life like a three-dollar bottle of champagne gone flat? Would you like to expand your sense of personal choice and freedom? Are you unhappy? Unmotivated? Unfulfilled? Do you have a hidden dream that you’ve hidden so well, you can’t remember where you put it, let along find the chutzpah to chase after it? If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, a little getting to know thyself and doing something with your newfound knowledge may be in order. Whether you need a few simple ingredients for a spicier life, or some in-depth analysis, we’ve identified a few of the best in new personal-growth books to guide you on your way and help ignite that internal flame of change.

Maybe your life needs no more than a little spark to rekindle your sense of adventure. Chucking your job and backpacking in the Himalayas isn’t the only way to rediscover the joy and wonder of daily existence. A New Adventure Every Day: 541 Ways to Live With Pizzazz by David Silberkleit is chock-full of ideas to jump-start your joie de vivre. With 540 ideas to choose from, under categories ranging from home life to relationships to the office, you’re bound to find a personal ice-breaker in its pages to fit almost any situation, temperament or degree of daring. If No. 503 (“Dance with a tree in the wind”) is too outlandish for you or your neighbors (should they be watching), there are more conservative exercises like No. 408 (“Explore a debt-free lifestyle. Strive to pay off everything so that money loses its hold over you”).

On the other hand, maybe happiness and success haven’t eluded you at all. In fact, maybe you have a great, lucrative career and are deliriously giddy with fame and fortune. And yet. And yet. Something’s missing. You know what the rest of the world can’t see. You aren’t being something you know you were meant to be. (Hello, Nashville! Is that a song lyric?) If you’re searching for something more, read Po Bronson’s, What Should I Do With My Life? (Random House, $24.95, 400 pages, ISBN 0375507493). Bronson makes a great case for turning your back on the almighty buck and following your star. In fact, he talks about the bad side of success, the temptations of money and an idea so scandalous it could rock the world. But here it is: “Productivity explodes when people love what they do.” Hey, he said it, not me.

The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success (Thomas Nelson, $19.99, 224 pages, ISBN 0785264280) by Andy Andrews is an unpretentious little work of fiction that picks up where the Capra heart- warmer It’s A Wonderful Life leaves off. Like George Bailey, Andrews’ modern-day protagonist, David Ponder, is at a crisis point in his life. Bailey, (c’mon, you know, James Stewart in the Christmas classic) miraculously gets a chance to see what the world would be like without him in it, discovering that his life is not only a precious gift to him, but to countless others as well. Ponder gets a different gift he gets to travel through time, gathering the wisdom of such notable figures as Abraham Lincoln and Anne Frank but his catharsis comes in discovering the power of a single, heartfelt decision. “There is a thin thread,” one of his messengers proclaims, “that weaves only from you to hundreds of thousands of lives. Your example, your actions, and yes, even one decision can literally change the world.” That’s a lot of pressure! But like Ponder, by the end of this inspirational tale, having learned the “Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success,” you will be better equipped to make choices with kindness, confidence and wisdom. This is a wonderful book to put into the hands of some promising young man or woman struggling with the inevitable incongruities, ambiguities and loneliness of modern day life.

From the best-selling author of the Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff series, comes What About the BIG Stuff? (Hyperion, $19.95, 294 pages, ISBN 0786868848), in which Richard Carlson addresses how to handle major life dilemmas like an impending divorce or the loss of a loved one without totally coming apart at the seams. Carlson contends that human beings have essentially two modes or mind-sets, and that one of them is “healthy” and one “reactive.” “In our healthiest state of mind,” he writes, “we Ôdance’ with life. We’re patient, wise, thoughtful and kind. We make good, sound decisions.” But we have a flip side. In our reactive mode “we are less patient . . . we struggle and churn. . . . We are frustrated and hard on ourselves and others. Our problem solving skills are limited.” The good news here is that knowing we have the capacity for both states of mind, we can begin to nurture one and let go of the other. “By acknowledging the existence of a healthy state of mind you can learn to trust it,” Carlson assures us, “and access it, more often.” Not that doing so is an easy task. As psychologist Gary Buffone points out in The Myth of Tomorrow: Seven Essential Keys for Living the Life You Want Today (McGraw-Hill, $16.95, 288 pages, ISBN 0071389172), “Unlike physical aging, spiritual and emotional maturity do not develop automatically; they exist only as a possibility. They must be intentionally and consistently pursued via commitment, effort, and struggle.” Using the experiences of patients who have faced life-threatening situations, Buffone offers guidance on how to break out of a “holding pattern” and start reinventing your life today. “Spirituality,” he explains, “is about developing the ability to see the sacred in our daily lives and opening the door to a life filled with passion and depth.” Finally, The Art of Serenity: The Path to a Joyful Life in the Best and Worst of Times, by T. Byram Karusu, M.D., (Simon &and Schuster, $24, 256 pages, ISBN 0743228316) offers a more literary and philosophical slant, an “intellectual bridge” as it were, to get from wanting to knowing a life of passion and depth. Chapter titles alone (“The Love of Others,” “The Love of Work,” “The Love of Belonging”) if simply read and contemplated upon, might lead to higher thought. But the book is full of philosophical and spiritual quotations. “No seed ever sees the flower.” Zen saying. Wow. Think about that. Not that a book alone can teach you how to put into practice and live a life full of meaning, purpose and depth. That is something each of us must struggle and churn out for ourselves. But these books can help to ignite the flame. Linda Stankard makes her New Year’s resolutions at her home in upstate New York.

Books to light your path to personal growth Is your life like a three-dollar bottle of champagne gone flat? Would you like to expand your sense of personal choice and freedom? Are you unhappy? Unmotivated? Unfulfilled? Do you have a hidden dream that you've hidden…

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