Book #Review: B - by Sarah Kay

In March 2011 at the annual TED concert dedicated to "Ideas Worth Spreading" a 22 year old slam poet received a standing ovation when she presented her poem called "B". This poem has since grabbed the attention of over half a million people via You Tube. I received a hardcover copy of this poem to review.

"B" is described as a poem about mothers and daughters and the wisdom and hope that is shared and sometimes lost - between the two. It is a thank you note, love letter, wish, promise, confession and a secret all at once.  I am writing this to you all with tear soaked cheeks. Having just finished this very quick read, I find myself completely moved. There is so much wisdom and honesty within these pages. Available in Hardcover for $10 and on Kindle for $1.99. This book only takes 5 minutes to read, it is a treasure and would make a beautiful gift from mother to daughter.

Sarah Kay has been a performing poet since she was 14 years old. She is the founder and co-director of Project V.O.I.C.E. (Vocal Outreach Into Creative Expression), which encourages people to use Spoken Word Poetry as a tool for personal and world understand as well as a medium for self expression. The more I hear about this girl the more I see someone completely amazing. Check out Sarah's TED Talk below.



Disclaimer: I received a copy of this hardcover version of "B" for review. All opinions are honest and my own. Originally posted on my primary blog Music and Mommies.

Book #Review: A Desert Journey by Dr. Jerry Burgener

About the Author: Jerry Burgener grew up in Illinois. He spent most of his career as a forensic psychologist and is now in private practice. 

Book Description: Reeling from yet another relationship failure, Jerry travels to the American Southwest to spend a couple of months riding his horse, savoring the warm weather, and finding respite from the daily grind. But what begins as a simple escape to the wide-open spaces of Arizona soon becomes a powerful odyssey of self-discovery. When Jerry comes upon an Indian named Tom in the middle of the Superstition Mountains, he senses that the meeting is no casual encounter. Wise and unreserved, Tom speaks to Jerry with a knowingness that both unnerves and captivates him.
Jerry is compelled to return to the mountain again and again to accept Tom’s challenges, exercises, and assignments for living in the moment, tuning into the love all around him, and honoring a connection to Spirit. With Tom as his guide, Jerry uses dreams and visions of his own past lives to make sense of his modern reality. Tom’s lessons cause Jerry to question long-held beliefs, but they also afford him the insight he needs to move beyond pain and make his metaphysical journey toward inner peace and enlightenment.


My Impressions: While 'Desert Journey' is labeled fiction it reads as though it is spoken from experience. The main character is named Jerry like the author. I later found out that much of this story is indeed from experience with liberties taken to aid in storytelling. Jerry leaves it up to the reader to decide how real of a character Tom is... I enjoy this shroud of mystery a great deal and I must say, I wonder with a childlike curiosity.


This book certainly struck a chord with me. First of all, it reminded me quite vividly of a dream I had last year. In this dream I was travelling through the desert on a journey with my best friend. Near the end of the dream we had come to a point between two cliffs (much like the cover image) where a veil separated and as we passed through we entered a land where colors shone vividly with an incomparable depth.

I enjoyed reading this book so much that it has already begun cycling through my friends. I read most of this book on a blanket in my dining room in a lovely patch of sun one morning. It was a beautiful and thoughtful experience.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of Desert Journey by Dr. Jerry Burgener in exchange for my honest opinion. This review was originally posted on my primary blog Music and Mommies.

Book Review: The Swiss Cheese Theory of Life!

This book was written by Judith A. Belmont, MS who is a national speaker and corporate wellness trainer with over 30 years experience as a psychotherapist and Lora Shor, MSW. Lora is a national health and wellness speaker, an international corporate work/life consultant to Fortune 500 companies and a therapist.

Instantly upon opening this book I was thrust into a world where at any moment I was behaving like one of three characters: The Swiss Wiz, The Swiss Cheese Fairy of Life, or the Negative Stinky Cheese. At first this whole notion while cute and fun, upon first glance seemed a little childish. I was concerned that some people might not take it seriously on account of such a playful analogy. It was my husband who shed light on this for me. He said that given the moods a person might be encountering while reaching out to a book like this, if it weren't written in such childish way a person might be too confused and flustered. As a result, they might find the average book with a similar theme of behavioral therapy a little overwhelming.  I love him.

About 5 years ago we went to couples therapy, we had within 3 months of one another experienced the death of very dear family members. In my case, a grandfather who was a fatherly figure and huge musical influence in my life and in his case the passing of his father that resulted in us adopted his then 4 year old brother. Much of the topics that were covered in this book were golden tools that were taught by our therapist that really helped us through our difficulties. Both my husband and I recommend this book to anyone who finds themselves thinking stinky.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and based upon my experience with the book. This review was originally posted on my primary blog Music and Mommies.

Book Review: Anatomy of the Soul by Curt Thomson

This book has made the list for top 5 most interesting books I have read this year. It comes laced with pros and cons that will vary on the scale depending on your own individual perspectives.

First of all Anatomy of the Soul is highly informative. I love studying and cross referencing different religions and beliefs and this book was able to unveil and broaden additional perspectives that were both different and at the same time similar to the Christian beliefs in a way that doesn't benefit any small group of people or organization.  Instead it becomes personal.  Your mind is the key to living a good pure life. Emotional memory  + Subject/Object of focus = Your Spiritual experience.

Simple enough right.

Okay, there were some fantastic psychological perspectives addressed, including attachment issues, overcoming those issues and building strong pathways in your brain. In some instances, depending on what we faced in our childhood, we may have to build better behaviors from scratch. Picture if you would an awesome tool box with shiny, guaranteed for life tools but deep inside that tool box there are old rusty tools that have been taped up and are ready to break any day. Well we need to replace those tools with some better ones. Do you like that? I came up with that analogy the other day. It takes time to collect the right tools, it isn't the new one that is so hard to learn... it is parting with the old one. We are afraid that our brand new shiny tool won't be as reliable as the old rusty one. How funny is that!

What did however bother me though, was something that didn't necessarily get under my skin but I felt that thousands of people would take the wrong way. Perhaps, even put down before they even gave it a chance. In the introduction, God is mentioned in nearly every sentence, sometimes frequently in the same sentence. The frequency bothered me grammatically, the fact that religion can be touchy for some people made me feel a little stronger about it. I felt that some people who may be open minded enough to accept the perspective might feel overwhelmed by the frequency enough to deter them from reading.

If that doesn't bother you I really encourage the read. Concepts are compared with scripture, the last half of the book presents various amounts of scripture to further emphasize what has been covered. Even if you are on the path of change I encourage you to read this book simply because... when a rock (change) is thrown it creates a ripple (more change). Something can always be learned from someones perspective. We are mirrors of one another you see...

About the Author:
Curt Thomson, M.D. is a psychiatrist in private practice in Fall Church, Virginia and founder of Being Known, an organization which develops teaching programs, seminars and resource materials to help individuals explore the connection between interpersonal neurobiology.


Disclaimer: I received this book from Tyndale Media Center for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.

The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean

About the Book:
The periodic table is one of science's crowning achievements. But it's also a treasure trove of stories of passion, adventure, betrayal, and obsession. The infectious tales and astounding details in The Disappearing Spoon. Follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them.

My thoughts:

I'm a bit of a nerd/geek so I was really intrigued but the sheer thought of reading this book. Rightfully so, it is fantastic! It is laid out in such a fashion that anyone who has absolutely no background in Chemistry will be able to follow it and learn a thing or two about why the periodic table is set up the way it is and why some elements struggle to create and maintain bonds while others excel (sounds like some people I know!) I find I am able to learn things when I have interest in it and hearing all of these stories really helps me visualize everything as it were. Now that you have gotten my imagination involved.... tell me more! It is like listening to an old grandfather tell stories about back in his day. Except, the man is not old and lots of the stories are long before his time. So, don't expect to read "Back in my day..." anywhere in the book.

It has been interesting reading about some conflicting theories/public perspectives as the different elements were being discovered and interesting to read how dramatic you may find the scientific prestige.  One story that I found particularly interesting was the story of Medeleev. Long before he was enrolled in an educationally institution he had experienced more in his life than most people in its entirety. This beautiful tale of sacrifice really helps paint a vivid picture of this man.

One thing worth noting, footnotes are not found at the bottom of each page. Instead there is an index in the back broken down by chapter. Then the page number follows along with extended information about that topic. I found it a clever way to keep the book organized.

About the Author:
Sam Kean is a writer in Washington, DC. His work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Mental Floss, Slate, The Believer, and The New Scientist. In 2009 he won the National Association of Science Writers' runner-up award for best science writer under the age of thirty. He is currently working as a reporter at Science Magazine and was a 2009 Middlebury Environmental Journalism fellow.

Disclaimer: I received this book from Hachette Book Group for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.

Book Review: Live Happily, Ever After... NOW!

About the Author:
For over 10 years, Terry M. Drake has been a family therapist, supervisor and life coach who specializes in teaching people how to get what they want. He currently is a Director of mental and behavioral health programs, as well as in private practice as a hypnotherapist, life coach and trainer.

About the Book:
Live Happily, Ever After... Now! Uses age old, time tested secrets (found in NLP, the Law of Attraction, Positive Psychology and Ericksonian Hypnosis) to teach you how to create the life you want. The key is learning how much control you actually you actually have over your life, you beliefs and attitudes about yourself, others and the world you live in. Once you understand that you are in control (and you will), then you can use the 9 simple steps to make changes and begin living the life you want.

My Thoughts:
I have been implementing changes into my life using the Law of Attraction and Positive Psychology, so I was very interested to see what additional information I could find within this book that would assist in additional transformations. I was very pleased with the food for though that is contained within these pages. It is a very easy read and everything is laid out in a manner that is straight forward and easy to follow. If you are new to some of these philosophies I would recommend reading each chapter individually and then attempt to practice those ideologies in your day to day life. Each chapter has a story (most of which are credited to unknown authors) that captures an idea that is contained within the chapter, one of those story is a favorite of mine about called Two Wolves. Each chapter also has a summary and a number of quotes. One of the chapters discusses the need for perfectionism and the fear of failure. Both of which, hit close to home for the hubby and I, in the form of personal limitations that we are trying to break free from. I would recommend this book for anyone who finds that their life is governed by negative thinking that has been keeping them from the happiness they so desire but might not feel they deserve.

Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy for the purpose of this review from Pump Up Your Book book tours.

Blog Tour - Scars and Stilettos by Harmony Dust

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Fear of being abandoned keeps nineteen-year-old Harmony Dust trapped in an abusive and cruel relationship. She thinks she has hit bottom-tens of thousands of dollars in debt, struggling to get by, and so controlled by her boyfriend that she doesn't protest when he begins openly sleeping around. Things can't get worse . . . until someone tells her how much money she can make as an exotic dancer. For the next three years, Harmony lives a double life as Monique, a dancer in a fully-nude strip club.
Scars and Stilettos is Harmony's stark, honest, and ultimately hopeful story of how God found her in that dark, noisy place and led her out. She has since married, completed an MA in social welfare, and now leads Treasures, an organization helping women in the sex trade discover their true worth.


"Harmony wrote her story so that you and your friends may get help out of whatever dark tunnel you find yourself in. . . . once you start this book, you will not be able to put it down and you will want to get a copy for every person you know." -Holly Wagner, from the preface


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  
Harmony Dust is founder of Treasures, a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles that reaches out to women in the sex industry to show them they are loved, valued, and purposed. Find out more about Treasures, Harmony, and her book at I Am A Treasure or Scars and Stilettos. Check out Harmony's Press Page for magazine articles and videos about her work with women in the sex-trade industry.


MY REVIEW:
Harmony has had a difficult journey. Early on in her life she was sexually abused and eventually raped. She grew up without the influence of a fatherly figure so throughout her life she had no real male role model to teach her the difference between love and lust. In her teens she grew so attached to a man whose nature was that of a parasite. Harmony was unable to see herself separate and became so afraid to loose him that she essentially allowed herself to be indirectly pimped by him. Harmony eventually turns towards stripping to pay their bills and support him and his excessive spending. 


There were so many instances in this book where not only did my heart go out to Harmony but I really wondered why that little voice of reason didn't speak up sooner. I then remembered that each of us come from different unique sense circumstances and trauma can silent that inner voice of reason. Unless you are in that person's shoes, at times it can be difficult to empathize with them because of our own set of circumstances that brought us down a different path entirely.  I found myself immersed completely as people arrived in her life showering her with love and light. These people not only did not view Harmony as an object for sale but viewed her as a wonderful loving real person. Harmonies perceptions slowly began to change and she was able to let go of the things that were keeping her in her own dark prison. Her triumphant journey began and I cried tears of joy. This Christian tale of transformation is perfect for anyone who feels an emptiness in their life and for those who are on the cusp of their own great transformation. It will give you strength.




Disclaimer: Thank you to Litfuse Group Publishing for supplying me with a review copy.