Judging a Book by Its Lover: A Field Guide to the Hearts and Minds of Readers Everywhere by Lauren Leto

ISBN-13: 9780062070142
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication Date: October 2012
Format: Paperback, 288 pgs
Source: Publisher

Calling out all book lovers (occasional readers and non-readers apply as well)! Have you ever came across a literary guide which not only offer you some insight of the wonder and beauty of reading but also an account of the peculiar world of book culture and how we speak condescendingly about the most revered authors and their literary works even if we haven't read them! 

Author Lauren Leto started off this guide on her introduction to books when she was a child and how she was initially overwhelmed by the words and sentences in books to becoming a well-read reader as she is today. In this guide, she shares with us her opinions and observations of the book culture and some of the titles she read in both snarky and sometimes condescending voice. Either way, she has got me hooked to this guide as she covered some topics such as:

1) The Bookshelf of the Vanities

2) That Certain Bookstore Smell (From Self: Oh yes!)

3) Ten Rules for Bookstore Hookups 

4) Rules for Public Reading and Rules of Book Club

5) Petition to Change the Term from "Bookworm" to "Bookcat" (I like this one!)

6) Fan Letters (Don't we all have the desire to write to our favourite authors at some stage?)

7) How to Write Like Any Author (Names like Stieg Larsson, Malcolm Gladwell, Henry Miller,  Cormac McCarthy... just to name a few)

8) What Your Child Will Grow Up to Be if You Read Them... (like The Giving Tree, Green Eggs and Ham, The Velveteen Rabbit, Harold and the Purple Crayon, The Wind in the Willows, etc)

9) Stereotyping People by Favourite Author

10) Strategies to Avoid Discussing the Major Plot Points of Any Novel

11) A Gift Guide by a Bad Gift-Giver

12) How to Succeed in Classifying Fiction Without Really Trying

Though written in a fun and humorous way, Lauren Leto has a deep admiration for every one of the authors whose work she discussed in this guide and she stated that "there is nothing more beautiful than a well-written book, and there is nothing more admirable than the attempt to create something beautiful", which I agree.  

Here are some of my favourite quotes in this guide (pg 267 - 9) which I think will strike a chord for bibliophiles and the like: 

- Reading is a solitary activity. You can be surrounded by a thousand people, but processing the written words in your brain is something only you are going through. ... A good novel presents you with an engaging world that is a reality only for you. 

- A story is unbiased with respect to the reader. It presupposes nothing about the audience. Books don't require that you read them in a certain place, at a certain time, or with certain equipment. Just eyes. Literature connects by transporting people to the same consciousness; a stranger who's read the same book you've read, whose eyes passed over the same words, may be a part of a completely different environment, and even time, but for a while, at least, they shared a world with you. A community is built out of that isolated experience; an author has the power to build worlds and to populate them not only with characters but also with their readers. 

- Good books command study, presenting you with the puzzle of how and why their plot is laid the way it is  laid - without examination the meaning is lost.

- The greatest argument for the oneness of humanity is the recognition that we are all emotional beings, subject to the fantasies of a story. We talk about this event we went through alone because it connects us together. You're nevermore human than when you realize a sentence has the power to push and pull the emotions of millions. 

To end it all, I enjoyed reading Judging a Book by Its Lover as it has inspired me to read some of the titles which I wanted to read but haven't (e.g. Crime and Punishment, The Catcher in the Rye, etc) but most of all, this guide made me smile as I agree with some of the stuff Lauren Leto mentioned and not to mention it also made me laugh over some of her remarks. Humour, anecdotal, reference... this guide has it all and I think this book would make a great gift to anyone who enjoys reading. 

Let's Pretend This Never Happened, AKA Stream of Consciousness I Actually Liked

Ok, I suppose that technically this book is not actually written in purposeful, literary stream of consciousness, but Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir is so full of the rambling thoughts of the author, Jenny Lawson, that it may as well be.  That sentence actually makes that sound like a bad thing, but in fact Lawson's book is a hilarious look at the inner workings of a very intense, interesting mind, and the outer ramifications of those thoughts entering the world through word or deed.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened details Lawson's rather, shall we say, unconventional upbringing in west Texas, her journey to adulthood, and her relationship with her husband over 15 years of their marriage. There's taxidermy, animal attacks (real and perceived), disastrous dinner parties, awkward conversations, vultures, homemade colon cleanses, and a five foot tall metal rooster.  Luckily there are photos to prove some of the more fantastic stories-since frankly no one would probably believe them otherwise.

If you are a fan of Jen Lancaster's books (Bitter is the New Black, My Fair Lazy, etc...), then you will probably love this book.  Lawson had that same brand of snarky, sarcastic humor, which is only not obnoxious because most of the time she turns it against herself.  Her relationship with her husband, Victor, reminded me so much of Jen Lancaster's husband Fletch that I am almost convinced that there is a secret group of men out there who are tasked with marrying women who will need to be talked down off the metaphorical ledge on a daily basis.  Unlike Lancaster, however, Lawson has the most bizarre life history of any real person I can think of.  And she the most hilarious parts of the book come from the fact that she is basically a social cripple-if her stories are to be believed, she is pretty much incapable of having a normal conversation with someone she's just met, or her husband's co-workers, or pretty much anyone in real life.  There are many examples in the book, and most of them seem to involved using the word vagina...a lot!  IN the end, Lawson concludes that it is not the triumphs in life that define us, but those moments we'd just like to pretend never happened.

True Crime With a Personal Twist

As much as I love mysteries, I've never been a huge fan of true crime books.  I think it has something to do with not wanting to contribute to voyeuristic, tabloid culture.  After all, you can hardly turn on the television without seeing a 20/20, 48 Hours, etc...special dissecting in minute, excruciating detail every thrilling part of the crime.  But sometimes a book comes along that intrigues me enough to pick it up.  A Death in Belmont is one of those books.

A Death in Belmont by Sebastian Junger tells the story of The Boston Strangler, but using the context of a black man named Roy Smith, who was convicted of a murder in the suburb of Bemont, MA.  The murder fit the profile of the Strangler murders, but there was enough circumstantial evidence to convince police that TBGDI-"the black guy did it".  Later, when Albert DeSalvo confessed to the killings, he never confessed to the killing that Smith was convicted of.  What made gave it a personal twist was the fact that during the time of the killings, DeSalvo was working on a construction project for Junger's family, and may in fact have left the Junger home to commit the Belmont murder.  All pf the principle players died before the complete story was revealed, and experts differ on whether the Belmont murder was a miscarriage of justice against a black man by a racist justice system, or whether Smith did in fact commit the crime.

A Death in Belmont is well researched, and Junger doles out the facts and his own speculation in a well-paced account.  He goes back and forth recounting the movements of Smith, DeSalvo, the detectives, and his own family from chapter to chapter.  In the end he makes a pretty good case for his theory of the crime.  And, of course, what makes the whole things that much creepier is the idea that while he was an infant, his mother spent her days caring for him in the company of one of the most prolific serial killers of the 20th century.  Junger's writing is compelling, and even though he goes into pretty exhaustive detail I never felt bogged down by facts or overwhelmed by the amount of information.  If true crime is your thing, this book will probably suit you quite well.

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook by Ben Mezrich

ISBN-13: 9780307740984
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication: September 2010
Format: Movie Tie-in, 260 pgs
Source: Personal Library

Frankly speaking, I didn't really take notice of Facebook when it was firstly launched. I mean, I was aware then that people are getting excited about this social networking site; after all it connects people around the world and most importantly, it is free. Out of curiosity, I signed up in June 2007 (Thanks to the new timeline) but I have got to admit I wasn't really active then. It was only last year (or was it the year before?) that I began to check on Facebook more often and I am not ashamed to admit now that I am hooked to it. I love interacting with my friends there, and not to mention making new friends as well either through my blog or through playing games on 'Gardens of Time' and 'Words with Friends', etc.

Although the movie, The Social Network, was released a few years ago, I only get to watch it a few months back as I was very keen to know how Facebook is created and most of all, what kind of challenges did its founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, encounter while creating Facebook.

The book begins with the encounter and friendship between Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg; both who were Harvard undergraduates in 2003. Both of them have the intelligence and while Eduardo is more business minded, Mark, on the other hand, has the insight of anything related to computer science and Information Technology. However they have one thing in common and that is they are both socially awkward.

Being the more outgoing one, Eduardo joins the university's club and hope that this would help him to gain popularity. Mark has a different agenda though, and his thought is to bring social networking to another level by creating an online site. Not deterred by his experience of hacking into the university's computer system and crashing the servers and almost got him expelled, this shows that there is a certain amount of attraction and traffic getting it online.

Aside from learning the founding of Facebook, what made this an entertaining and a compelling read is the journey Mark faced while he built Facebook. First, there is the lawsuit filed by fellow Harvard students, the Winklevoss' twins, who stated that Mark had mislead them into believing he would help them to build a social network within the campus, right down to the differences he and Eduardo faced while building Facebook.

Today, Facebook has millions of members and through the site it helps people to connect and build social network around the world. I may not be the first among all to join Facebook when it was first launched, but I am glad I joined since this not only allows me to catch up with my friends but also giving me the opportunity to know new friends as well.

Haven't I Heard This Somewhere Before?

In Running With Scissors, Augusten Burroughs gave us a hilarious and horrifying look into his early life.  When his parents divorced, Augusten's mother signed over guardianship of him to her psychotic psychiatrist.   Refusing to go to school, he spent his days drinking or getting high with this foster sister, and being preyed upon by a 33 year old pedophile.  It was a story like no other-hopefully because no one else has ever lived through that particular brand of hell.

Dry picks up the story of his life as an award winning copywriter at an ad agency and raging alcoholic. After a particularly disastrous business meeting, his company gives him an ultimatum-go to rehab or lose his job.  He enters rehab determined to treat it as a spa vacation, only to be confronted pretty quickly with the strange world of group therapy and the 12 steps.  He leaves rehab determined to stay sober, but the pressures of real life threaten his fragile sobriety.  And this, this is a story I've heard before.


Granted, Dry is told with Burrough's usual wit.  I admire his ability to laugh at himself, and unlike some recovery memoirs this one is not preachy or sentimental.  But it also doesn't really have anything new to say on the subject of addiction.  He was a drunk, for understandable reasons, but still a drunk.  He nearly ruined his own (and a few other people's) life.  He met some unusual characters in rehab, had difficulty re-entering the "real" (read: sober) world, etc...etc...If you are a fan of Augusten Burroughs, it is probably worth reading just so you can say you've read the "complete set", so to speak, but if you've never read his books before, start with Running with Scissors-much more compelling story.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

I was born in 1970.  So while my life overlaps briefly with the Viet Nam War, I have no real memory of it.  What I do remember is going to downtown Chicago with my granny, and later with my parents, and seeing the faces of the homeless vets that were begging on the streets.  Wild-eyed, or blank-stared, the memories of their faces color everything that I have heard, read, or seen about the war since.  And I have heard, read, and seen a lot.  Stories from the fathers of friends who fought in the war, lessons from school, movies like Full Metal Jacket and Platoon-from these sources I have cobbled together a picture of that hot, wet, chaotic, horrific place and time.

But I am not sure that I have truly felt that I had even the faintest understanding of what it might actually have been like.  Not, that is, until I read Tim O'Brien's stunning book The Things They Carried.  Neither entirely fact nor entirely fiction, O'Brien uses a series of short stories and vignettes to tell the tale of Alpha Company, a group of soldiers based, in part, on the real men that O'Brien served with during the war.  The stories meander from stateside to the jungles of Viet Nam, from childhood to middle age, detailing how each experience prepares or informs or explains the person that Tim was or is or may yet become.

I will admit to having some difficulty at first with the non-linear narrative, and with the fact that I was never sure what was true and what was made-up.  But the genius of this work is that you soon realize that it doesn't matter.  In fact, the way that the book is put together and the inability to tell fact from fiction ends up doing a better job describing what living through that experience was like than any straight forward telling could.  O'Brien and his fellow soldiers lived a reality that most of us will never experience, and can never truly comprehend, where time was skewed, day and night traded places, where extraordinary circumstances became ordinary, and where the ordinary world as most of us know it became a dream that you couldn't let yourself believe in.

My favorite section of the book (if favorite is even the right word) is the story of how O'Brien almost ran away to Canada rather than go to war.  Part of O'Brien's extreme talent is an ability to use words to paint not just a visual but an emotional picture for the reader, and I was able to feel how deeply terrified he was at the prospect of war.  I felt his ambivalence about running away, about choosing the possibility of death over the certainty of shame and embarrassment.  But the thing I found most stunning, and the line I would consider the most "controversial" of the whole piece, is this, "I passed through towns with familiar names, through the pine forests and down to the prairie, and then to Viet Nam, where I was a soldier, and then home again.  I survived, but it's not a happy ending.  I was a coward. I went to war."
Given the hyper-patriotism of the US since 9-11, and our unquestioning assumption that every soldier is brave and heroic,  this simple statement stopped me dead in my tracks.  It felt almost sacrilegious.  Are we allowed to say that not going to war is more courageous than going?  What does that say about us as a society, that we are find ourselves so often in armed conflicts?  Is it bravery and strength, or is it because we don't want to be judged as wanting by the rest of the world?  What would happen if our young men and women, en masse, simply refused to go the next time we try to send them into harm's way?  Would it be courageous or cowardly?  Regardless of where any one of us comes down on that particular idea, what O'Brien's work has done is illustrate for those of us that weren't there that nothing is as simple and straightforward in war as those of us sitting at home watching it on our televisions thinks it is.

Top Ten Tuesday: Must Haves, Just Not Must Reads

This week's Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the blogging team at The Broke and the Bookish, is asking me and my fellow bloggers to bust ourselves out about those books we just had to have, but that have been sittig on our shelves gathering dust ever since.  Well, I can't possibly make a list, because that compulsion has never happened to me!  I am frugal and circumspect in my book buying choices.  I don't ever walk into a bookstore and come out with a few extra impulse buys, like they are so many candy bars at the check out stand!  I never...

OK, who am I kidding?  Of course I have succumbed to the temptation to pick up a book in a whim which then serves as a shelf decoration for some period of time.  Sometimes I even pick up a book that I just can't wait to read, I need it NOW-except apparently I can wait to read it, because there it still sits, on my shelf.  Anyone who loves books-not just stories, but the actual physical thing-has probably got at least a couple of these squirreled away.  Please note that I WILL in fact read this books at some point, but with 350-400 books in my house I have yet to read I'm just not sure when I will read them!  Here's my list of the 10 most wanted (but not read):

1.  Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen and Seth Graham Smith:  I love the irreverence of this idea-to take a beloved work of classic fiction and create a mash-up with something so absurd as a zombie story.  Can't tell you if I actually love the execution of it, because I still haven't read it.

2.  Life Mask, Emma Donoghue:  This is one of several titles that was on the long list for the Orange Prize for Fiction last year.  I vowed to read as many of them as I could by the time the prize was announced in June.  I bought about six of them-I read two.  This wasn't one of them.

3.  The Road, Cormac McCarthy:  What's puzzling about this one is that I bought the book specifically so that I could read it before watching the movie.  I'm still waiting to watch the movie because I haven't read the book.  Seems stupid, no?

4.  Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie:  This book has been sitting on my shelf for at least two years.  I've been telling myself ever since that whole fatwa business that I wanted to read it.  It took 15 hears for me to even buy it.  I kept putting it off last year because it is lengthy and I was trying to reach 100 books.  What's my excuse now?  Yeah, don't really have one...

5.  You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know, Heather Sellers:  First I read about this book on a blog, then I heard and interview with the author on NPR.  It's a fascinating topic-face blindness.  Imagine going through life not being able to recognize faces!  Well, I'll have to keep imagining, because it's still warming the shelf.

6.  Love, Toni Morrison:  I don't just love Toni Morrison-I worship at the alter of her fabulosity.  So why I've had this book on my shelf for literally years and have yet to read the slim volume is a mystery to me.

7.  A Mercy, Toni Morrison:  See above

8.  Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, Susanna Clarke:   This kind of fantasy story set as historical fiction sounded like and intriguing mix to me, so I bought it.  Then it came, and it's HUGE.  Not that I'm intimidated, mind you, but I am inpatient...I'll get to it, maybe this summer, when I can spend more time reading for me and less time reading for class.

9.  The Bookseller of Kabul, Asne Seierstad:  Unlike much of America, I knew well before 9-11 what was happening to women and girls in Afghanistan under the Taliban rule.  That's what originally drew me to this book.  Apparently it didn't draw me enough to actually read it, just enough to purchase it and let it have a place of honor on my to-be-read shelf for years.

10.  Amazing Grace, Jonathan Kozol:  Kozol's book Savage Inequalities complete changed the way I think about equity in public education, so when I saw his book about the effects of living in poverty on America's children I had to have it.  Have it, mind, not read it...

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

Imagine the most embarrassing thing your parents ever made you wear or do.  Now multiply that by 10 and you may have some idea of Rhoda Janzen's childhood.  In her memoir, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, Janzen tells the story of growing up in the Mennonite community in California, and going back to that community at 40 in the wake of a divorce and major health crisis.

Janzen's father was a leader in the Mennonite community, traveling the world and converting non-believers.  Her mother was the backbone of their family.  She was the one that made their lard sandwiches for their school lunches (yes, I said lard), and sewed mismatched strips of fabric at the bottom of their pants when they got too short (you begin to see where the embarrassment comes in).  Rhoda and her sister are very close, and both of them left the community for college.  Their three brothers married nice Mennonite girls and settled down to raise nice Mennonite children. 

Janzen describes her family and her life as an adult with humor, which is good, considering how challenging some of it was.  She was married for 16 years to a man with bi-polar disorder, and like many people in her situation she rationalized away much of his behavior, telling herself that he really loved her underneath all of the cruelty and obsessive behavior.  What she couldn't rationalize away was Bob, the man that her husband met on Gay.com.  Despite having become a non-believer herself, when she goes home to heal after her divorce and a major car accident, she finds herself comforted by how little has changed.

Janzen is an English professor, and you can tell.  Her vocabulary is impressive, though it can be disconcerting to read a story about some rather mundane aspect of life and have to look up a word to understand her point.  Despite my rather frequent trips to websters.com, it was an easy, enjoyable read.

Nice to Meet You, Literary Blog Hop- Charmed, I'm sure!

Welcome, lovers of literature, to my first adventure in Literary Blog Hopping.  I've been remiss in my blogging of late-I blame those pesky little things called working and going to school.  Darn that need to make money anyway!  But I digress...The Literary Book Blog is hosted by the The Blue Bookcase, and is defined as...

How do I know if my blog qualifies as "literary"? Literature has many definitions, but for our purposes your blog qualifies as "literary" if it focuses primarily on texts with aesthetic merit. In other words, texts that show quality not only in narrative but also in the effect of their language and structure. YA literature may fit into this category, but if your blog focuses primarily on non-literary YA, fantasy, romance, paranormal romance, or chick lit, you may prefer to join the blog hop at Crazy-for-books that is open to book blogs of all genres. 

If you're interested in my cogitations about whether I am "literary" enough for this hop, you can find them in my post Does It Matter What We Read?
 

This week's question is:
Is there such a thing as literary non-fiction? If so, how do you define it? Examples?

While I admittedly don't read a ton of non-fiction, I can say with certainty that the answer is yes, there can be literary non-fiction.  If you consider the many definitions of literature, they often contain a reference to the aesthetic or structural nature of the work.  Non-fiction writing can be transcendently beautiful, incredibly heartbreaking, lyrical and gritty-the best non-fiction doesn't just inform you about the chosen topic, but about life and love and pain and joy and sorrow.

There are a few examples I can think of for the subcategory of literary non-fiction.  Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, considered by many to be the first in the true crime genre, comes to mind.  The writing is spare, the mood evocative-sounds literary to me.  There's also Maya Angelou and Alice Walker, both of whom wrote about their lives in a way that transcends mere navel gazing and speaks volumes to larger truths. 

An author not as well known but whose books I believe fit in this category is Rick Bragg.  His memoir of his mother, All Over But the Shoutin', is one of the best non-fiction books I've read (which is a much smaller number than my fiction total).  It is a loving, almost reverent look at his childhood with his mother at the center.  Growing up poor in rural Alabama, Bragg took his experiences and used them as a journalist to bring humanity to stories on issues such as urban poverty.  This line from the book, describing the small town where he grew up, is an excellent example of why he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1996: 

"This is a place where grandmothers hold babies on their laps under the stars and whisper in their ears that the lights in the sky are holes in the floor of heaven. This is a place where the song 'Jesus Loves Me' has rocked generations to sleep, and heaven is not a concept, but a destination."

The Big Ten of Grammar: Identifying and Fixing the Ten Most Frequent Grammatical Errors by William B. Bradshaw

ISBN-13: 9780984235858
Publisher: Synergy Books
Published: September 2010
135 pgs
Source: Publicist
(Advance Reading Copy)


When I was contacted by a publicist if I wanted to review The Big Ten of Grammar by William B. Bradshaw, I jumped at the chance because what better way to improve my writing than to read more about grammar and identify the errors which I might have made over the years?

Even with less than 150 pages, this book covered almost everything from the basic right down to identifying and fixing the most frequent grammatical errors we may have made unknowingly (e.g. How to use "I" or "me"; what's the difference between "who" and "whom", etc). But that is not all, this book also covered punctuation such as how should we use commas; do they go before or after the quotation marks, and many more. I also liked it that there are examples to show us both the incorrect and correct usages of grammar as well as stating some simple rules to remember.

I don't find it at all dry and boring while reading this book and in fact, I quite enjoyed the simple explanations offered by the author and wondered how easy it would be for my learning back during my old school days to have our textbooks written like that. However, it is never too late to learn, especially in these days when we mostly communicate via online more than the traditional letter writing method and very often the words are cut short for the sake of convenience as well as speed and in the long run, this would badly affect our grammar.

All in all, I think everyone would benefit from reading this handbook. Because the size of the book is light and easy to carry around, I can always put it in my handbag and refer to it whenever necessary.

(Many thanks to Amy Currie for sending this book to me for review.)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 Thanks to Sheila at One Person's Journey Through Books for hosting this weekly meme, letting book bloggers share what they've been reading.  I tell you, my reading has become so much more diverse since doing this whole book blogging thing!  Thanks to my fellow book bloggers for the inspiration and book ideas! (And no, you're not seeing double-if you read this post at Second Childhood Reviews, that's because it's same blogger, different blog, and I'm cheating this week!)

Another week gone, another week closer to going back to school.  Ah, well, at least I had a good reading week!



Children's/YA Books Completed This Week:

Escape from Saigon, by Andrea Warren

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan

(Review coming soon on Second Childhood Reviews!)

Adult Fiction Completed This Week:

Another Thing to Fall, by Laura Lippman

Wild Seed, by Octavia Butler

(Review coming soon)

Books I'm Hoping to Get to This Week:

Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli (YA)
10 Things I Hate About Me, by Randa Abdel-Fattah (YA)
Mind of my Mind, by Octavia E. Butler

...and whatever else I decide to pick up off the shelf.  After a month of reading for class, I want to keep my options open!

Have a great week, everyone!

Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss

ISBN-13: 9780671657864
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 1988
221 pgs
Source: Loaned from friend

I rarely read non-fiction. To be exact, I hardly read them unless the subject interest me or someone has highly recommended them to me. I read Many Lives, Many Masters based on the latter and let me say this is one of the most interesting and enlightening reads I read in years. I have to confess while writing this, I am still pondering over the subjects (or the encounters experienced by the author and one of his patients) mentioned because it is such a thought-provoking read and most of all, I am afraid I may not do justice to this book but still I am going to give it my best shot.

Many Lives, Many Masters is the true story of a prominent psychiatrist (who is the author of this book), his young patient, Catherine, and how past-life therapy that will change both of their lives. To begin with, Catherine is plagued by nightmares and anxiety for years but she is reluctant to seek any medical assistance initially. When these troubling issues continue, she decided to seek help through Dr. Weiss. Dr. Weiss had tried out a few therapy sessions with Catherine but did not see any improvement in her, finally he tried the hypnosis therapy and Catherine began to recall her past lives that answers her recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks.

From a medical perspective, Dr. Weiss is both astonished and skeptical by this findings but he keeps an open mind and continues to use this therapy as he keep an eye on Catherine's progress as the sessions go along. As each session goes by, both Dr. Weiss and Catherine have learned something more about Catherine as well as her past lives and how each of her past life has, in one way or another affects her present life. What most astonishing is, Catherine is mentally stable and does not have any hallucination or sleepwalking issues but she is able to recall a few of her past lives providing sharp and accurate details. Now at this point, Dr. Weiss is very intrigued by Catherine's past and the fact how she is able to relate the encounter of her past lives given she is neither an actress nor an imaginative person in nature. But that is not all, at times Catherine is able to send philosophical messages in her subconscious state during the sessions and this has further intrigued the non-spiritual and with a scientific mind Dr. Weiss.

Dr. Weiss later learned that the messages Catherine has conveyed are from the Master Spirits and through those messages, I learned that we are all inter-connected; and that we have a purpose for living and it is through the lessons we learned and to teach others, we all will attain a happy, harmony and a balance life. I also learned that one is always responsible for the deeds he has done, and why our actions matter and will inadvertently affect our present or future lives.

To put it simply, Many Lives, Many Masters allows the readers to think more deeply about their lives and to reinforce the idea that what we are today are the consequences of what we did in our previous lives (that explains why some people are born with certain talents). Well, I wish I could elaborate more about this wonderful book but I won't considering this post is already long enough, instead I shall share with you a few lovely passages from the book:

"Balance and harmony are neglected today, yet they are the foundation of wisdom. Everything is done to excess. People are overweight because they eat excessively. Joggers neglect aspects of themselves and others because they run excessively. People seem excessively mean. They drink too much, smoke too much, carouse too much (or too little), talk too much without content, worry too much. There is too much black-or-white thinking. All or none. This is not the way of nature. ... In nature there is balance. Beasts destroy in small amounts. Ecological systems are not eliminated en masse. Plants are consumed and then grow. The sources of sustenance are dipped into and then replenished. The flower is enjoyed, the fruit eaten, the root preserved.

"Humankind has not learned about balance, let alone practiced it. It is guided by greed and ambition, steered by fear. In this way it will eventually destroy itself. But nature will survive; at least the plants will. ... Happiness is really rooted in simplicity. The tendency to excessiveness in thought and action diminishes happiness. Excesses cloud basic values. Religious people tell us that happiness comes from filling one's heart with love, from faith and hope, from practicing charity and dispensing kindness. They actually are right. Given those attitudes, balance and harmony usually follow. These are collectively a state of being. In these days, they are an altered state of consciousness. It is as if humankind were not in its natural state while on earth. It must reach an altered state in order to fill itself with love and charity and simplicity, to feel purity, to rid itself of its chronic fearfulness. ~ Pg 209-210

"How is it that you say all are equal, yet the obvious contraditions smack us in the face: inequalities in virtues, temperances, finances, rights, abilities and talents, intelligence, mathematical aptitude, ad infinitum?"

The answer was a metaphor. "It is as if a large diamond were to be found inside each person. Picture a diamond a foot long. The diamond has a thousand facets, but the facets are covered with dirt and tar. It is the job of the soul to clean each facet until the surface is brilliant and can reflect a rainbow of colors. Now, some have cleaned many facets and gleam brightly. Others have only managed to clean a few; they do not sparkle so. Yet, underneath the dirt, each person possesses within his or her breast a brilliant diamond with a thousand gleaming facets. The diamond is perfect, not one flaw. The only differences among people are the number of facets cleaned. But each diamond is the same, and each is perfect.

When all the facets are cleaned and shining forth in a spectrum of lights, the diamond returns to the pure energy that it was originally. The lights remain. It is as if the process that goes into making the diamond is reversed, all that pressure released. The pure energy exists in the rainbow of lights, and the lights possess consciousness and knowledge. And all of the diamonds are perfect." ~ Pg 211-212

Weekly Geeks-The Wishlist

I only recently discovered Weekly Geeks, an interactive blogging community with a different blogger challenge each week (hence the name...sorry, I'm mistress of the obvious right now, huh?)

Here's this week's theme (taken directly from their site)

"Is your wishlist as big as your TBR pile? What books are topping your list? Are there any new releases that you are counting down the days for? Share a handful of titles and be sure to share why you want to get your hands on these books! And if another blogger is responsible for that book being on your wishlist, consider sharing a link to their review!"

And here's my list...

The Dark is Rising Sequence-Susan Cooper-I read this series as a child, and loved everything about it.  It's already made my list of favorite young adult books for another meme, and writing that post made me want to read the whole series again.  I'm anxiously waiting on someone, anyone, to post the first book on GoodReads bookswap, but I may have to break down and buy it soon.

The Book Thief-Markus Zusak-Apparently I am the last book lover on the planet to read this book, which sounds so much like something I would love I can only guess that the genre threw me off. I haven't read much young adult fiction in years, but I've started to pick it up again lately.

My Fair Lazy-Jen Lancaster-Jen Lancaster and I should definitely be friends...she is hilarious, fiercely smart, strong, and independent (dare I say, just like me?).  I find myself reading her books and her blog (linked up there) and saying the same damn thing in my head a second before I read that she also said it.  I can even forgive her membership in the republican party (though that was almost a dealbreaker!)  My Fair Lazy is her newest book, and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies-Seth Grahame Smith
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, same author-Again, I am apparently late to the party on these two books.  The premise sounds fascinating, and I can't wait to see how the stories are woven together.  I know that some bloggers have felt that these books are overrated, but really, I'm more interested in the writing challenge than the overall story, if that makes sense.

Hmmmm...shorter list that I expected.  Here's the thing-I don't usually choose what to read based on a list.  I have about 400 books in the house that I haven't read yet, so I generally just pick whatever strikes my fancy at the moment.  GoodReads bookswap is spoiling me, though.  It doesn't feel so much like "Why are you spending money on another book when you have a room full of unread ones at home?" when all you're doing is paying for postage!

Confessions of the Other Mother

What makes a person a mother?  How do women who do not identify with traditional femininity fit into the role of mother?  What is it like watching your partner have a physical closeness with your child that you will neve have?  These are all questions posed (and sometimes answered) by the collection of essays Confessions of the Other Mother: Non-Biological Lesbian Moms Tell All.

I was drawn to this book (despite my previously stated aversion to most non-fiction) because my partner, Amanda, could have contributed to the book.  While our 16 year old daughter came about the old-fashioned way from my first marriage, Amanda and I have been raising her together since she was about eight.  I wanted to get some insight into the kinds of experiences that other women had had with blended families.

Had I been paying more attention to the actual table of contents during my book buying frenzy at the conference where I bought this book, I would have noticed that there is only one essay in the book about step-mothering. But I'm glad that I didn't pay more attention, because I would have missed out on some fascinating stories.  From poignant to frustrating, political to deeply personal, the authors of these essays have shared an experience that not only helps me understand lesbian mothering, but actually gave me insight into straight fathering.  It never occurred to me that women who identify strongly as butch would have trouble not just being called mother, but with identifying with our society's definition of maternal.  Or that there would be jealousy from the non-birth spouse over the closeness of breastfeeding (this was the one that got me thinking about straight fathers).  Or that people were really so insensitive as to ask which mother is the "real" mother.

The one that spoke the most strongly to me was written by one of the women who brought about the lawsuit that led to the Massachusetts gay marriage decision, Hilary Goodrich.  Her partner had to have a C-section while delivering their daughter.  The baby was born in some distress, so she was rushed to the NICU, and Goodrich went with her.  After sitting next to her daughter's bed until the crisis passed, she went back to check on her partner-and was told that she could not "visit" because she was not "family".  She then tried to go back to the NICU, where she was stopped at the door because she was not the "mother".  Imagine not being able to go to the person you love or your child when they are sick or in pain, and the frustration and anger you'd feel.   

There has been a lot of debate in our country over the years about what makes a family.  I think that most of us have gotten our heads around the idea of single parents, blended families, and families with grandparents as the main child-rearers.  Based on the stories in Confessions, we still have some work to do on honoring and valuing the love and care that exists in families led by same-sex parents.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by One Person's Journey Through Books, this weekly meme gives us bloggers a chance to review our reading week and plan for the next one!

Last week I finished Confessions of the Other Mother: Non-Biological Lesbian Moms Speak Out, which is exactly what it sounds like it is-a collection of essays from lesbian moms who did not actually give birth to their children.  Review to come soon!  I also finished The Diamond of Darkhold, which I already reviewed here.
Rounding out the list for last week was Town in a Blueberry Jam, by B.B. Haywood.

This week I'm reading Little Bee by Chris Cleve.  So far I am loving the narrator of Little Bee, an African refugee from Nigeria who comes to England to find the family she met during one horrifying day "when the men came" to her village.  I love the first line:  "Most days I wish I was a British pound coin instead of an African girl."  I got back to class two nights a week instead of one this week, so until school gets out I'm back to one book at a time.  Hope everyone has a great reading week!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This week was a pretty good week for me.  I finished Push, by Sapphire, and City of Ember and People of Sparks, by Jeanne DuPrau.  I've started to have hope that I will actually get back on track for the 100+ Book Challenge that I so enthusiastically signed up for in January.  What is it about that dark, cold month that makes us want to take up new challenges (which we often put down again by February!)

Right now, I'm working on one of the cozy mysteries I won in the spring giveaway at Sharon's Garden of Book Reviews, called Town in the Blueberry Jam, by BB Haywood.  It's a fun, light read for the end of the school year.  I'm also reading the last book in the City of Ember series, The Diamond of Darkhold.  Is it wrong that I hope there are some kids on lunch detention today so I can sit at my desk and read during my lunch duty?

I'm also still making my way through Confessions of the Other Mother: Non-Biological Lesbian Moms Tell All.  I'm really enjoying the essays, but I can only get through a couple before I am ready for something else.  It's not a difficult read at all, but without a narrative holding the whole thing together my very tired, end-of-the-school-year-brain starts to wander after 20 pages or so.  So hopefully I'll finish that up this week as well.

Have a great week everyone!

Top Ten Picks-Books You Have To Read At Least Once

Thanks to Jillian at Random Ramblings for hosting this meme.  This week's topic-books you should read at least once.  I'm going to stick with late 20th-21st century titles-while I appreciate the genius of authors like Austen, Hemingway, and Lewis I'm itching to update the list a little.  I'm noticing a lot of feminist and/or social justice literature on here.  I guess you really can judge a person at least a little by their reading material!

1.  The Handmaid's Tale-Margaret Atwood

    This book is incredibly intellectual while still being accessible.  Atwood takes the idea of women as chattel to its not entirely unbelievable extreme.   A great way for new readers of feminist fiction to get into the genre.  Love everything Atwood ever wrote, but this one inspired me the most.

2.  Stone Butch Blues-Leslie Feinberg
  
      I know that most people have probably never heard of this book or this author,  Leslie Feinberg, but ze is one of the most influential writers in the world of GLBT literature, specifically around issues of gender identity.  The "ze" label is deliberate-Feinberg rejects traditional definitions of gender in favor of a more global perspective on what it means to be human, regardless of the genitalia you happen to have been born with.  In this, per first novel, ze tells the story (mostly autobiographical) of coming up as a young butch lesbian in the 60s, pre-Stonewall.  Great, touching, moving read!

3.  Paradise-Toni Morrison

     I firmly believe that this is her best book, despite the number of people who seem to think that Beloved takes that prize.  I love the way that time is fluid and non-linear in so many of her books, and the juxtaposition of the nuns and the village in this one makes fr fascinating reading.

4.  Stranger in a Strange Land-Robert Heinlein

     This book takes every idea about love and sex and culture and turns it on its head.  Even if you are not a fan of science fiction this one is sure to give you something to think about.

5.  A Thousand Splendid Suns-Khaled Hosseini

     Anyone wanting to understand Afghanistan, and why it shouldn't have taken 9-11 for the US to do something about the Taliban, should read this book.  Heartbreakingly written, intimate and tragic, this book is one of the best I have read-ever.

6.  Savage Inequalities-Jonathan Kozol

     I'm not usually a huge fan of non-fiction, but Jonathan Kozol's work is powerful.  This book is about the inequalities that exist in America's schools, and he examines the racial and socioeconomic politics that leads them to be the way they are.  He makes a strong argument that until we address these inequities we will continue to have generational poverty, racism, and class warfare in our country.

7.  The Time Traveller's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

     This is one of the most moving love stories I have ever read, and one of the best written books I have seen in a long time.  The plot is so complex and ingeniously structured...it's not often that an author can completely surprise me with something new, but Niffenegger did it.


8.  Possessing the Secret of Joy-Alice Walker

     Walker takes a minor character from The Color Purple (arguably another book everyone should read), and creates a story around her that examines what it means to break taboos.  While the main topic of this novel, female genital mutilation, is clearly not the most uplifting subject, the way that the book examines the practice and the main character's decision to undergo the process is powerful and moving.

9.  The Giver-Lois Lowry

This may be a young adult novel, but the there is enough here for the most intellectual adult reader to chew on. Science fiction that doesn't feel like science fiction, with an ending that leaves you wondering (at least, until you read the sequel) 

10.  Prodigal Summer-Barbara Kingsolver

     Beautifully written, this novel explores the idea that humans, rather than being above nature, are in fact undeniably a part of the rhythms and cycles of the world, driven as much by biological forces as rational.  Kingsolver's explorations of the place of body and heart in our lives is full of stunning descriptions of the natural world and tons of emotion.  The book is unashamedly a treatise on treating the natural world with respect and reverence, but the environmentalism never becomes preachy or cliche.