Hi
I am reading a true story of a woman possessed by 16 seperate personalities, two of whom were men . This is a psychologigal masterpiece and it forces you to look at the people around more closely . I cannot put it down.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It has me hooked - three generations of a greek family, beginning in the 1920s and following them to 1930s America, as narrated by Cal, born a girl but really a boy. It's a very colourful read, and very satisfying.
I could not put this book down. I read it in three days.This would make a great film. One of the best books, I have ever read and I have read hundreds of books.
If anyone reads it, please let me know what you think.
'Unbowed' by Wangari Maathai. An excellent autobiography of an amazing woman who saw there were problems caused by what was going on round her and set to to try and sort them out. She is the first African Woman to receive a Doctorate and also the first to receive the Nobel Peace Prize - and very well-deserved it is too.
I was brought up not too far from where she came from and it has been fascinating to see her perspective on things, and though I left the country as a young adult I can identify with so much of what she describes - especially her grasp of environmental ecology and the damage being done to the countryside. She had such courage and fortitude in the face of enormous resistence from the authorities. Her Green Belt Movement, which mobilised the African women, has so far planted some 45 million trees in Kenya - so very much needed. So sad she died last September as I'd love to have spoken with her and tell her how very much I admire her.
Fiction: I'm re-reading Joseph Hansen's Dave Brandstetter mysteries. Am on 'The Boy who was buried this morning' - book 11 out of the 12.
Non-fiction: Zero Degrees of Empathy (A new theory of human cruelty) by Simon Baron-Cohen.
"Rebecca Nettl-Fiol and Luc Vanier: Dance and the Alexander Technique, Exploring the Missing Link" It's a great book to understand and learn how to apply the Alexander technique in dance.
Titanic Voyager: The Odyssey of C. H. Lightoller by Patrick Stenson. 2011
No, this is not just another Titanic book, but the amazing biography of Charles Herbert Lightoller, a sadly forgotten British hero. He was the most senior surviving Titanic officer, hero of Dunkirk and a man of determination, courage and faith with an adventure-filled history. What a story! It makes Indiana Jones seem tame - and it all actually happened.
His career spanned the ages of 13 to 72 and included both World Wars. He first went to sea as an apprentice at the age of 13 on a clipper and survived indescribable hardship, including his first shipwreck and sinking (of four!) at the age of 15.
On June 1st 1940, (at the age of 66) he set out with his eldest son Roger and a young sea scout to rescue as many stranded soldiers as he could from Dunkirk. Under heavy fire all the way and back, being dive-bombed by enemy aircraft and dodging mines, he succeeded in saving the lives of 127 men in a boat he'd previously only managed to squeeze 21 in before..
Patrick Stenson is a brilliant storyteller and he lets "Lights" speak for himself through the pages. It's a book that both men and women love - and as you might have noticed, I can't recommend it highly enough!
Emptiness Dancing by Adyashanti - Zen/Advaita teachings, it's not all 'be here now' stuff, some genuinely thought provoking stuff, some a bit cliched, some things you recognise as truth.....
Starman: new-ish David Bowie biography - after all these years, still a fan!
I have just finished reading - Always by my side by Christina Schmid.
Christina is the wife of Staff Sergeant Olaf `Oz` Schmid GC. He died while doing his job as a bomb disposal expert in Afghanistan in 2009.
I found this book truly inspirational and very emotional. Its one of those books I am so glad I picked up at the library. I have a far greater understanding of what our troops are doing out there.The danger they are under and how brave they are. I have a lot of respect for the bomb disposal experts. How can they do their job?How do their families cope when they know they are away. They are all so brave.
Fiction - the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch
Non-fiction - The Ancestors' Tale by Richard Dawkins
All brilliant!
Rivers of London - yes, brilliant! I read Whispers Underground just recently. Another good author along these lines (who you might like) is Mike Shevdon - first book is Sixty One Nails...
Rivers of London - yes, brilliant! I read Whispers Underground just recently. Another good author along these lines (who you might like) is Mike Shevdon - first book is Sixty One Nails...
I broke my reading-fast to munch on simple, nutritious, organically homegrown food for spiritual thought and growth.
In Steve's words: "Quite simply this book is your personal guide to finding your way through life in the easiest way possible; but in a way that is utterly unique to you alone."
A few tasty morsels to whet your appetite:
"At the very core of our being we all possess the same energy; that of the creator. This energy is pure, it is untainted, quite simply it is love without condition." (Chapter 2 - Spiritual Energy and You)
"Control in some areas of your life appears needed; but from a spiritual perspective this is something that really is detrimental to any form of genuine and authentic progress.
Growth for all of us is about drawing on that part of yourself that hidden within and yet possesses all the qualities that you will ever need; untainted by the will and desires of others." (Chapter 10 - Control and You)
"When you are born you enter physically and mentally in the third dimension, but it is entirely likely that the level of your soul’s development may be far above that. By this I mean anywhere up to the Eleventh Dimension. So you can, I think, see that a large gap may need to be closed up.
This is the challenge each of us faces in any given lifetime; to fully come together mentally and emotionally with the level of our soul’s development and move forward together. Then the “knowing” that each of us possesses comes fully into being and guides us forward." (Chapter 16 - Getting it Together)
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