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book cover
So I actually sat down and got some reading done. Jeez…I was unemployed for two 1/2 months and I just now got a chance to read. Lol.
The first book is a pseudo-classic, written in 1993, and pretty well-known. It is The Celestine Prophecy, by James Redfield. I don’t remember how I ended up with the book (I think this one, and my other ‘book of James,’ was from my aunt) is a little hazy. I liked it, and I understand where the author was going with the concept of coincidences mentioned in the First Insight of the book, but I’m a little disappointed in how predictable they all were to me, and not to the main character of the book. I thought, surely he would figure some of this out by the Sixth Insight. I was wrong! It is a good book; one which made me hungry for such a transformation or human evolution of consciousness to occur. I happened to catch a post on wordpress today that was, in fact, titled “a Harmonic Convergence.” That it was poking fun at Sarah Palin made the post–and its reminder that I have books to talk about–even better. Some kind of coincidence, huh?
I looked up information about this book before I read it, and was suprised to find that there were more, written about the remaining insights. I will definitely check them out. Interested? Go buy the book!
The other book was different in subject matter, to say the least. I will say that A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey sucked me up and I read it as greedily and as quickly as I could. I knew, from my aunt, that there was a great deal of controversy around the truthfulness of his “memoir”. This was confirmed when I checked it out on Amazon, just to see how false it was before devoting any of my time to it. The reviews are either really, really good or really, really critical. You know authenticity is really doubted when employees of the treatment facility from the book (that is never named in it) claim that it is utterly false, while other reviewers link to articles that assert the same. I value fiction just as much as I value non-fiction, so this is a betrayal of my trust. I would have accepted the book if he just pushed it as fiction in the first place. Oprah actually blundered with this one when she added it to her book club…perhaps without that added press, not very many of us would have ever known about the book. So, I’ll say that I enjoyed it, but I have never been an addict, and could easily fall into the fictional world that it was. Because so many recovering addicts have reacted with alarm at the book, I would advise that anyone who is thinking of seeking treatment or is recovering should ABSOLUTELY NOT READ THIS BOOK. But, if you like fiction, A Million Little Pieces is a decent diversion. Buyer beware–check out the 1-star reviews and articles here first.
I finished reading A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier in Sierra Leone during the 90s. It is his memoir, but more than that, it is a book that raises awareness of the plight of children who are forced to “grow up”–and kill–in completely destabilized African nations.
This is probably the best book I’ve read in a long time…upon finishing I just felt like an awful human being. Awful, because when I was 12, I was upset because my mom wouldn’t let me “sleep-over” at a friend’s house…at 12, Ishmael lost his family in a rebel attack on their village, sending him on a hellish journey for the next five years of his life.
Now, at the approximate same age as Ishmael, I have not a single life experience in common with him. I can thank God that I’ve never had to kill anyone for anything, and this is something I’m sure he lives with today and for the rest of his life. But…he, at 28, with this book, with his speeches at the UN, and with his involvement in Human Rights Watch, is doing so much to bring awareness to the children that continue to be forced into fighting wars, that it is clear he was spared for a reason. I am thankful that Ishmael survived, and came back from the most wicked edge of humanity to write this book, so gripping in its details that I could not put it down.
Read this. If you are anything like me, you will want to gather the children to you (ALL of them, in every war-torn country you’ve ever heard about) and shield them, before their childhoods are taken in such horrific ways. You will be haunted, but the time spent reading will be worth it.
I’ve had very little time for much posting lately, but the slow times at work have allowed me to take time to read during lunch and breaks in the calls. I just picked up books that looked interesting, and I enjoyed this one…The Sweet Potato Queen’s Book of Love. I really think I
SPQBOL Cover
may be turning into a sweet potato queen, or at least saving my evolution up for later in life…they have so much fun just living that I hope so…They have a cute little website and Jill Connor Browne has written a few other books that look pretty entertaining as well. The queens are a Jackson, Mississippi St. Patrick’s Day Parade feature, and wear these fantastically augmented green sequined get-ups…and have the attitude to match their sassy outfits. These probably contain the most useful information in how to “manage” my man yet! I highly recommend it, and I plan on reading the others.
The other book, written in a completely different vein, was Five People You Meet in Heaven. This book was completely engrossing,
Five People Cover
and I didn’t mean to, but I read almost all of it in a sitting (trying to save it for my breaks, ya know?). Mitch Albom–who also penned Tuesdays With Morrie–really wrote a great, short novel here. It deals, quite creatively, with the people that influence our lives…some we know…some we don’t, but they have to power to influence us as powerfully as our chosen mentors and idols.
These are both great reads to pass hot summer days, and the diversion has kept my mind off of the fact that there are very few teaching positions in or anywhere near our new home…more on the great school hunt later…
Just finished reading The Shack by William (abbreviated Wm. on the cover) Paul Young. I’m not overtly religious, but I am spiritual because of my upbringing in the church and this book changed the way even I thought about the Trinity. Very impressive!!! I am currently trying to get my boyfriend (son of a librarian–hates reading anything) to at least read this book. Expect more from me later. I finally have a stable internet connection…on the weekends…and so I hope to be writing again.
