Book Review: The Conscious Parent

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Another Dalai Lama book!  So this co-author on this one is Shefali Tsabary, who also wrote The Awakened Family which is a New York Times Best Seller and was a book endorsed by Oprah.  “Parents . . . you will be wowed and awed by [Dr. Shefali].” —Oprah Winfrey  The Conscious Parent won the Nautilus award in 2011.  I would recommend this book to any parent.  I found it very helpful and trying to slow down and remember that my kids are going to remember things that I don’t think are a big deal.  Every time I lose it my kids will remember that and it will go into the idea of who I am in their eyes.  I highlighted substantially in this book.  Here are some lines I think are worth sharing:

perfection is an ideal of the foolish.

when we are in the grip of anger, we are anything but in control. We are prisoners of ego.

“It’s okay to be bored. There’s nothing wrong with feeling bored. Keep being bored.”

On weekends, my daughter is allowed an hour of television or an hour on the computer.

Not that they will blindly follow your dictates, but that they will seek your counsel

[to our children] I learn how to be a better person from you.

truly hearing what they are saying, without feeling we have to fix, correct, or lecture.

The smallest, “I don’t know, but let’s find out together,” has the power to evoke the most profound of life qualities.

we often don’t take the time or exercise the patience required to get at the why,

For a young child, times to nap and go to bed are aspects of the main rules and as such are non-negotiable.

If the parent is resolute, the child will quickly pick up that there is no argument around this issue.

The traditional dynamic of parent-versus-child would yield to the realization that our children are often wiser than us and able to advance us spiritually just as effectively as we can advance them.

I know that’s a lot but, I thought every one of them was worth sharing.  The highest praise I can give a book is buying extra copies to give other people.  This is a book that I can defiantly think of buying extra copies for friends and family.

Book Review: Secrets of the Chest

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This is a tough review.  I really like the story in the jacket sleeve of this.  Actually, that was sent to me from the publisher and I liked it so much I requested a copy of the book.  When it came I was excited to start it, but as I read I lost interest in the story.  IT started out okay, but it kept going on subjects it needed to just move on with.  This is another book that it took me a very long time to get through.  I kept putting it down to read something else.  However, since I hate leaving a book unfinished, I picked it up when I could.  5 months passed and I finally had it done.  I gave it 2 stars.  I think this book had potential, but it didn’t execute.  What makes this review tough is I asked for this book and I don’t want to give it a poor review, but I have.  I’m the only reviewer of this book on good reads and the poor thing has a 2-star rating.  I hope others will review this book, but I can recommend it.

Book Review: Last Full Measure

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I like Star Trek.  You could even call me a Treky.  I really liked the Enterprise tv show.  I have watched it on Netflix from start to finish in addition to seeing it live when the show was still airing.  I can watch those episodes over and over.  When the show was pulled I was bummed.  The world without a Star Trek series currently on air makes me sad.  I hope it someday makes its way back on the air.  In the meantime, there are always books!  I started reading the Star Trek Enterprise series back in 2013.  The books feel real comfortable to me.  Probably because I have watched all the series from the original to Enterprise.  I have not read a book in the series that I hated.  I’ve read some that I particularly care for, but I wouldn’t call it a waste of time.

The Last Full Measure follows along the story from the original episode when the show was still on.  Therefore, I like this one a little less because I already know the story.  Having said that I still enjoyed my time reading this book in the series.  If you are reading the series and don’t want to read the books that are also an episode you can skip this one.  If like me, you enjoy all the Star Trek you can get, this book is a good addition to the ongoing series.  I’m looking forward to the next book.

Book Review: The Lathe of Heaven

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Ursula K. Le Giun is the woman!  She is an amazing weaver of science fiction stories.  She will completely immerse you in her stories and make you believe the unbelievable.  I love her work.  I recently finished the first Earthsea book and I can’t wait to read the rest.  This book takes you on an incredible journey asking the question what if what you dream came true?  At first, if you are like me, you think awesome, all my wishes coming true.  Alas, we forget our nightmares.  Also, who is to say how your dreams will be interpreted?  This is just a fascinating read.  Highly recommended.

Book Review: Grendel

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This is a delightful book!  Great prose and a very original idea.  One of my favorite books is Beowulf.  This is a twist on that story.  John Gardner asks us what if Beowulf was told from the monster’s point of view.  I don’t want to say much more and ruin this read for you.  I really enjoyed this fantastic story and would highly recommend for anyone who is a fan of the original Beowulf.  I was delighted to find this book.  It’s a short read and you won’t be disappointed.  Give it a shot.

Book Review: The Bad Beginning

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This is the first in a series of books that follow some “unfortunate” children along with their sad story.  It was written by Lemony Snicket which is the pen name for Daniel Handler.  The books are very popular and well read with young readers.  So much so that even though there was a movie release in 2004 for these books there is another slated for 2017.  For my part, it was not a bad book, but a little too juvenile for me.  I think my 8 years old might like them, but they are very sad.  So, I have not yet recommended them to her.  There are other more inspiring stories for that age set.

Book Review: The Red Badge of Courage

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This is one of those books that you get to and your like “Why haven’t I read this before”.  I should have probably read it in high school, but I have not gotten to it until now.  This is another classic that surprised me.  I really enjoyed this far more than I thought I would.  My average rating was 3 in 2016 and this book was a 4, which I think says a lot.  It is not my all time favorite book but I would read it again.  The book is about a young man’s experience joining the war effort.  Very good.  I really recommend.

Book Review: An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life

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This book reads as a little instruction book on how to be compassionate.  It was a good book to read after the depressing David Sedaris book Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary.  If that book said everyone is awful, this book said, maybe but you can still be compassionate.  Don’t be evil, be a nice person.  I always like the stories told in the books with the Dalai Lama as the author.  Not that he writes much of the book himself mind you.  He has a writer do the work and they kinda get a feel for what he wants to say from the Dalai Lama’s speeches and interviews.  I have two notes from this book that I think are worth sharing with you:

It is difficult to hold back from anger when provoked unless we have trained our mind to first recollect the unpleasant effects such thoughts will cause us. It is therefore essential that we begin our training in patience calmly, not while experiencing anger. We must recall in detail how, when angry, we lose our peace of mind, how we are unable to concentrate on our work, and how unpleasant we become to those around us. It is by thinking long and hard in this manner that we eventually become able to refrain from anger

Compassion is the wish that others be free of suffering.

Book Review: Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary

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This book wins the strangest book of 2016 award from me.  It is a bunch of short stories where the main characters are animals.  I get what Sedaris is trying to say here, but the book is still strange and the stories can be violent and disturbing.  I feel like the main idea here was people are animals and they suck.  In my humble opinion, there are other things I’d rather read that don’t have this message.  Can’t recommend.

Book Review: Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man: A Biography

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I thought this would be Thomas Paine’s work, but instead, it was a commentary on that work by Christopher Hitchens.  Hitchens is a staple on talk shows and lecture circuits.  It seems that what he has to say resonates with a lot of people.  I’m not one of them.  I wanted to read Paine’s original work so that is my mistake that I picked up the wrong work, but being the stubborn oaf that I am, once I started it I wanted to finish it.  I don’t like leaving things half done.  I had to slog through this book and didn’t really enjoy any of it.  I can’t recommend this work to anyone, but it won’t stop me from trying Hitchens other works like God is Not Great.