Review of Captivating, by John & Stasi Eldredge

Christian, Nonfiction Review, Personal Growth, Starred Review 0

Captivating

Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul

by John and Stasi Eldredge

Nelson Books, 2005. 234 pages.
Starred Review.

Here’s another book I’ve been meaning to review for a very long time. I’m so thankful to my sister Marcy for giving it to me. I reread it again in 2009 in order to enjoy it again and to review it fresh in my mind. I think it blessed me even more the second time around.

Take it from me, this is a wonderful book to speak healing to a rejected and abandoned wife. And I suspect that any woman would be deeply blessed by these words. The basic message is that God has created you captivating and beautiful.

I’m usually leery of books that fit men and women into stereotypes. I think this book escapes that. Here’s what the authors say in the introduction:

“So — is a true woman Cinderella or Joan of Arc? Mary Magdalene or Oprah? How do we recover essential femininity without falling into stereotypes, or worse, ushering in more pressure and shame upon our readers? That is the last thing a woman needs. And yet, there is an essence that God has given to every woman. We share something deep and true, down in our hearts. So we venture into this exploration of femininity by way of the heart. What is at the core of a woman’s heart? What are her desires? What did we long for as little girls? What do we still long for as women? And, how does a woman begin to be healed from the wounds and tragedies of her life?

“Sometime between the dreams of your youth and yesterday, something precious has been lost. And that treasure is your heart, your priceless feminine heart. God has set within you a femininity that is powerful and tender, fierce and alluring. No doubt it has been misunderstood. Surely it has been assaulted. But it is there, your true heart, and it is worth recovering. You are captivating.”

The book talks about how God made us beautiful, but we get wounded and believe lies about ourselves. But God romances us Himself. Here’s a section I like:

“We have all heard it said that a woman is most beautiful when she is in love. It’s true. You’ve seen it yourself. When a woman knows that she is loved and loved deeply, she glows from the inside. This radiance stems from a heart that has had its deepest questions answered. “Am I lovely? Am I worth fighting for? Have I been and will I continue to be romanced?” When these questions are answered, Yes, a restful, quiet spirit settles in a woman’s heart.

“And every woman can have these questions answered, Yes. You have been and you will continue to be romanced all your life. Yes. Our God finds you lovely. Jesus has moved heaven and earth to win you for himself. He will not rest until you are completely his. The King is enthralled by your beauty. He finds you captivating.”

There is also a theme in this book of how God made you the particular woman You are, and that is beautiful. Here’s a lovely paragraph in the final chapter:

“Whatever your particular calling, you are meant to grace the world with your dance, to follow the lead of Jesus wherever he leads you. He will lead you first into himself; and then, with him, he will lead you into the world that he loves and needs you to love.”

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/captivating.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Review of Grandpa for Sale, by Vicki Sansum and Dotti Enderle

Contemporary, Delightfully Silly, Picture Book Review, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

Grandpa for Sale

by Dotti Enderle and Vicki Sansum

illustrated by T. Kyle Gentry

Flashlight Press, New York, 2007. 32 pages.
Starred Review.
2008 Sonderbooks Standout, #5 Picture Books

Here’s another book I’ve been meaning to review for a very long time. Vicki Sansum, one of the authors, is my good friend and writing critique group buddy. We met at a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference in Paris. I saw this book when she first wrote it, and rejoiced with her when it was published. The result is a charming story about how Grandpas are more fun than anything.

Lizzie is watching her mother’s antique shop for a few minutes, while Grandpa is sleeping on a Louis XVI settee. A rich, snooty lady with a poodle breezes in and starts purchasing antiques. Then she sees Grandpa:

“Oh, my stars! Look at this! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one for sale. How much?”

Once Lizzie figures out the lady wants to buy Grandpa, she tells her he is not for sale. The lady says everyone has a price. She offers more and more money.

With each offer, Lizzie imagines the wonderful things she can buy, kid-friendly ideas like an ice cream shop or amusement park. But with each one, she realizes that they wouldn’t be much fun if Grandpa weren’t there to share them with her.

Finally, there’s a lovely showdown with the two glaring at each other.

“Lizzie took a deep breath and leaned in too. ‘Mrs. Larchmont,’ she announced, ‘not everyone has a price, and not everything is for sale.'”

The artist does a fine job using color contrasted with black and white to illustrate what Lizzie is imagining and all that Grandpa would do if he were there, too.

The nice silly idea of buying a Grandpa makes a fun and sweet story to share with a child. Truly, not everyone has a price.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/grandpa_for_sale.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Review of Until They Are Found, by Peter Gray

Christian, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Until They Are Found

The Story of a Relentless Shepherd and His Rogue Sheep

by Peter Gray, B. Th.

UWCM Press, Adelaide, Australia, 2005. 72 pages.
Starred Review.

Here’s another book which I’ve been meaning to review for a very long time. The author sent me the book himself after he read some of my reviews of George MacDonald’s books and others where I admit that I have come to believe that God will eventually save everyone. I agreed to review the book, but that was in the middle of my life upheaval, when I simply wasn’t getting very many books reviewed. I did reread the book in 2009, and thoroughly enjoyed it both times.

Until They Are Found is a short book, almost just a pamphlet, but it concisely and persuasively looks at the three “lost” parables in Luke 15 to make the case that God will keep on searching for sinners until they are found.

The parables are the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son (more commonly referred to as the Prodigal Son). The context suggests that these parables should be considered together, that they are demonstrating the same thing.

In both the first two parables, the searcher searches until they find what was lost. Peter Gray puts it this way:

“What may we say was the reason for the lost sheep becoming found? Was the sheep saved by the doing of good works? Was the sheep saved by the following of law or commandment? was the sheep saved because it recognised its own state of ‘lost-ness,’ and went searching for its shepherd? Heaven forbid! The lost sheep was found for one reason and one reason alone. The lost sheep was found because the Good Shepherd came looking. The shepherd commenced a search and rescue operation that would never finish, until his sheep was found.

“His is a personal search, a persevering search, a successful search. He will search until they are found. The lost sheep contributed nothing to its being found.”

Peter Gray goes on to show how, taken together, Luke 15 definitely suggests that God will save everyone. I like his conclusion. He’s not dogmatic, but suggests that you take a good look for yourself:

“Universalism, the belief that all people will eventually be saved, is a theme inherent in this book. I, like many famous and well respected theologians of the past, hold to at least the possibility of universalism. In this book, I have attempted to let the text of Luke 15 speak for itself. The real possibility of universalism is what it said when I let it speak. Many Christians hold as one of their fundamental beliefs that not all will be saved. Because of that belief, the text of Luke 15 is read and not seen for what it is. I wrote in the preface that this book might leave you with unanswered questions. Universalism is the question I had in mind when I wrote that. It is a question that we should embrace instead of running away from.

“Is the New Testament more universal than the Christianity we have inherited would have us believe? Does the New Testament, even though it teaches the possibility of experiencing hell, also teach the possibility that God’s desire for all to be saved will actually happen? I believe so, but you must make your own decision.

“Happy wrestling!”

I wasn’t able to find this book on Amazon, but the author has a blog with contact information, including a new book available. Here is his blog, called The Saviour of the World. Here is a link for ordering a copy of Until They Are Found, with the first chapter available to read.

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/until_they_are_found.html

Review of The Interruption of Everything, by Terry McMillan

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Fiction Review, Humorous, Literary, Starred Review 0

The Interruption of Everything

by Terry McMillan

Read by Desiree Taylor

Penguin Audio, 2005. Unabridged. 10 CDs, approximately 12 hours.
Starred Review.

A big thank you to my sister Wendy for giving me this audiobook. It’s another one I’ve been meaning to review for a very long time, but didn’t get around to because it wasn’t a library book, and so didn’t have a due date. I know I listened to it more than a year ago, because I remember I was the same age as the protagonist, forty-four years old. But what happened in the book is still vivid in my mind, even after all this time. Perhaps since I listened to it, and thus “read” it over a long period of time, it stuck in my mind all the longer.

Marilyn Grimes is 44 years old and begins going through almost every issue a woman can face in midlife. She and her husband are growing apart, and she thinks he might be straying. She’d like to go back to school and pursue some old dreams, now that her kids are grown. But she still seems to be looking after everyone else.

Her mother’s mind seems to be drifting; her foster sister is in trouble with the law; her own hormones are doing strange things; her ex-husband comes back into her life; her husband goes to South America to “find himself.” Her daughter is expecting; her son gets into a ski accident; her mother-in-law, who lives with them, is finding romance. And that’s just part of it.

Honestly, before the end of the book, in my mind I was begging the author to have pity on poor Marilyn. But I needn’t have done so. Marilyn handles it all with humor and grace, and enough breakdowns and discouragement to still seem human. Her relationship with her two friends Paulette and Bunny adds laughter and perspective to her life as she navigates all the pitfalls of midlife and figures out what course she wants to set for the rest of her life.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/interruption_of_everything.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Review of The Mother’s Book of Well-Being, by Lisa Groen Braner

Nonfiction Review, Parenting, Personal Growth, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

The Mother’s Book of Well-Being

Caring for Yourself So You Can Care for Your Baby

by Lisa Groen Braner

Conari Press, 2003. 181 pages.
Starred Review.
2008 Sonderbooks Stand-out, #7 Nonfiction Personal Growth

Here’s another book I’ve been meaning to review for a very long time. The author was one of our nicest customers at the library on Sembach Air Base in Germany. Again, the time when I moved was a time of upheaval for me, and I got way behind on book reviews. On top of that, this is a book to be read slowly and savored, which I did.

I did give the book to a book-lover friend who was a new mother. She said it brought tears to her eyes and was the best present she got!

The Mother’s Book of Well-Being consists of 52 meditations for each week of your new baby’s life. Each one is only a few pages long, so you ought to be able to get that much reading time in a week! These meditations are not about the baby’s growth, but about your own growth as a woman and as a mother.

In the Prologue, the author says, “That’s where this book picks up — at the point when you can’t possibly go one more moment without sleep, without a shower, without a smidgen of the life you once lived. This is a time of celebration, and also one of healing and learning. When you gave birth to your baby, you also gave birth to yourself as a mother. You’re responsible for another soul and, unexpectedly, newly responsible for yourself.

“The passage from woman to mother is complex. It causes us to reexamine who we are and who we want to be for our children. The ‘guard’ of generations has changed. Becoming a mother suddenly places you in the seat of true adulthood. My feet dangle from that chair often. I hasten to touch the ground and sit up straight in my newfound responsibility. Motherhood is a role in which it takes time to become comfortable and confident. The changes are great and the expectations high. We live in a culture that reveres and elevates motherhood to a superhuman stature. So often we come to the role with perceptions of how it will be, and realize how unprepared we really are. All of the plans you made for yourself and your baby before you gave birth may be hard to take during this time of recovery. This may be the first time you’ve ever been ‘called’ to devote yourself to a job so unconditionally. Some moments will find you strong and tireless, and others will find you exhausted and unsure.

“Be gentle with yourself. You are not alone.”

The weekly chapters have gentle meditations that remind you to look after yourself. Sometimes, they refer to your baby’s growth, as in this passage from Week 30:

“Too often, we miss the sanctity of the present. The present usually arrives peacefully, offering itself as a refuge over and over again while we sit muddled in our minds. We might believe that our thoughts are productive or even interesting, but we’re really ignoring the gift of the day before us.

“This is where our children can teach us. Babies absorb the world around them, touching, tasting, and seeing. They delight in their senses, enjoying the unexpected swoop of a robin or the warmth of the sun emerging from a cloud. Let’s suspend our thinking for a change, return to the simple and original mind with which we were born. Let’s immerse ourselves in the river of the senses — to drift, swim, and float in the day.”

In Week 3, she encourages mothers to find some time to ourselves, somehow.

“Babies tune our hearing outward. We distinguish between cries of hunger and cries of fatigue. We listen for them while we’re awake and asleep. Having a baby pulls us outside of ourselves by necessity. But let’s not forget to keep an ear open to the cry of our inner voice too. Finding thime for solitude encourages us to listen to ourselves. In those quiet moments alone, ask yourself what you need to feel nourished. Honor the answers that come. As mothers, we meet our children’s needs a hundred times a day. Let us remember to ask ourselves what we need to feel nurtured at least once a day.”

My favorite chapter is Week 21, “Literary Escape.”

“Do you ever feel housebound? The weather might be whipping outside, or your baby might be sick with a cold. Whatever the condition, the walls of one’s home can become confining at times. Rather than slink through the day, engage your fingertips and mind by opening a book. There must be at least one book on your shelf that has not yet been read. Perhaps there is even an old favorite that begs to be reread.

“I escape often to Italy, France, and Spain, walking the landscapes of each and taking mental notes along the way. I must remember to return to Tuscany when the olives are harvested for oil. I love Provence when the lavender is lush upon the hills. I’d like to drive winding roads again in Andalucia, amidst lemon trees bending ripe with fruit. Mental travelers need not pack diapers, snacks, or car seats. You’re free to travel alone, which is even lighter….

“It’s refreshing to roam the world — plunging into different countries, meeting new people and tasting their cuisine. If walking another step in your home leaves you less than inspired, sashay into a well-told story. The charms of being at home return after sampling new horizons. Books are an open invitation to another place and time. A baby will usually allow you to sneak a few pages throughout the day. Good books lead us to discover that it is not our house that binds us, but rather the dullness of our thoughts. Reading refreshes the mind and the imagination.”

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/mothers_book_of_well_being.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Review of Sacred Choices, by Christel Nani

Health, Nonfiction Review, Personal Growth, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

Sacred Choices

Thinking Outside the Tribe to Heal Your Spirit

by Christel Nani

Harmony Books, New York, 2006. 313 pages.
Starred Review.
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2008, #1 Nonfiction Personal Growth

I’ve been meaning to review this book for a very long time. I first read it in 2007, some time when my life was in upheaval, with the move to Virginia from Germany and taking online classes to get my MLIS degree. I wasn’t getting many books reviewed at that time.

But this is a life-changing and life-affirming book. I reread it in 2009 in order to get that good advice again and also to review it. Since it is my own copy, not a library book with a due date, I still didn’t get around to reviewing it. So here goes! This may not be as long a review as this book deserves, but I do want to bring it to people’s attention.

You can get a taste of the wisdom in this book by reading the many passages from it that I posted on my Sonderquotes blog.

The core concept behind Christel Nani’s teachings in Sacred Choices is that we all have tribal beliefs we aren’t even aware of. They are beliefs, but we think they are the facts of life, the way the world works. They have been handed down to us from our tribe.

Christel says, “Your ancestors taught you how to work, how to grieve, and why bad things happen. You have taken for granted that in their desire to protect you, they prepared you adequately for life by teaching you the way of the tribe — what they valued and what they believed to be true. These tribal beliefs are the inherited ideas about the way life works, passed down to you from anyone who had power or authority over you as a child — pretty much anyone who was taller than you were. Some of these beliefs cause you to make choices that make your life harder than it needs to be, creating conflicts and inner turmoil often marked by repetitive themes and patterns.”

Sometimes these beliefs are good for us, but often they are not.

“At first, you aren’t even aware that you are making choices at all. You are simply following the tribal way, even when you believe you are thinking for yourself and doing what is best for you. Consider the student who pursues a college degree in an area that offers a safe career path but does not excite her, or the man who gets married despite his doubts because everyone tells him how lucky he is to have found someone so nice. Or perhaps you are justifying staying in a career you no longer enjoy because the pay is good, or a draining relationship because you’ve been together for a long time. These are all examples of lives driven by limiting beliefs, not the heart’s desire. Unfortunately and paradoxically, some tribal rules are contrary to your authentic nature and needs. Even a life that looks successful on the outside can leave you wondering if this is as good as it gets, because you recognize on a deep level that something is missing. And it is.

“What’s missing is a deep satisfaction with your life, alignment with your soul, happiness that wells up and overflows, peace of mind, and a general sense of well-being. One reason you are left wanting is that tribal beliefs can make you think you want things that you really don’t, and when you get them you wonder why you aren’t wowed by them. This is but one symptom of a person at odds with his spirit and not living an authentic life. And a life without authenticity quickly becomes a life without passion.”

In this book, Christel Nani shows you how to uncover your tribal beliefs so you can examine whether they are good for you or not. She doesn’t ask you to throw them out willy-nilly. But isn’t it worth looking at the beliefs you live by? She also helps you rewrite limiting beliefs into beliefs that will serve you better.

Christel says, “I wrote this book to help you learn to listen to your spirit. The purpose of Sacred Choices is to explore your tribal beliefs and determine if they are good for you — to decide whether they raise or lower your vibration. Some tribal beliefs cause you distress and can lower your overall energy and even cause illness. The idea is to be aware of your unconscious choices — to become more conscious and thereby have a greater role in living your life the way you want it to be — not how you were taught, or how you believe it’s supposed to be.”

When I have been able to apply these concepts to my life, I am very happy with the results. Christel’s promises are lavish, but not unwarranted:

“I want you to be wildly happy, incredibly successful, and filled with passion and spontaneity. Listening to your spirit will accomplish all of it. And when your vibrations are good, you are sending out the best possible energy to the rest of the world. The fact is, your good vibrations are healing to others.”

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/sacred_choices.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

2010 ALA Award Winners

Award Winners 0

I got up early on my day off to watch the webcast of the ALA Award winners in Boston. You can find out all the winners at www.ala.org/yma. I’ll mention books I’ve reviewed that were honored:

Stitches, by David Small, won an Alex Award for an adult book that appeals to Teens.

Marcelo in the Real World, by Francisco X. Stork, won the Schneider Family Book Award for the Best Teen Book dealing with disabilities. (My biggest disappointment of the morning was that this book didn’t get any Printz attention.)

Walter Dean Myers won the first Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, by Philip Hoose, won an Honor for the new YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award. (The Award winner was Charles and Emma, by Deborah Heiligman.), as well as Sibert Honor. (The Sibert Medal winner was Almost Astronauts, by Tanya Lee Stone.)

The Michael L. Printz Award winner was Going Bovine, by Libba Bray. I’m afraid I haven’t read the winner or any of the Honor books.

For maybe the first time since its inception, Mo Willems was not included in the Geisel winners (Too bad!). The Award winner was Benny and Penny in the Big No-No! by Geoffrey Hayes.

However, I’m in complete agreement about the winners of the Caldecott and Newbery Medals.

The Caldecott Honor Books were All the World, illustrated by Marla Frazee, written by Liz Garton Scanlon, and Red Sings from Treetops, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Joyce Sidman.

The Caldecott Medal, no surprise and well-deserved, went to Jerry Pinkney for The Lion and the Mouse.

The Newbery Honor Books were Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, by Philip Hoose; The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly; Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin; and The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, by Rodman Philbrick.

The Newbery Medal, also no surprise and well-deserved, went to When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Sonderbooks Stand-outs 2010!

Stand-outs 0

I promised to announce my list of Sonderbooks Stand-outs before the Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz Award winners are announced, so I only have about seven more hours.

Not that I am trying to predict those winners. I am not making claims that these are the most distinguished books of the year, or even the highest literary quality. I choose Sonderbooks Stand-outs simply based on which books I enjoyed the most. After a year of reading, these are the books that stand out in my mind and make me smile. I chose these from all the books I read in 2009. (I decided in 2007 to do like the Newbery Medal and give the year as the year when the books were chosen, not when they were first read.)

I will divide the books into categories, so I don’t have to compare dissimilar books. Within each category, I’ve ranked the books by how much I enjoyed them. Each category except Rereads, that is. This year I revisited some of my all-time favorite books, some on audiobooks, and I don’t have the heart to rank any of them as less than Number One. But I want to call them Stand-outs, because they do stand out. So I’m listing them in alphabetical order by author.

Here are my favorite reads from 2009, the 2010 Sonderbooks Stand-outs:

Fantasy for Teens
1. Rampant, by Diana Peterfreund
2. Fire, by Kristin Cashore
3. Forest Born, by Shannon Hale
4. A Curse Dark as Gold, by Elizabeth C. Bunce
5. Graceling, by Kristin Cashore
6. Dreamdark: Silksinger, by Laini Taylor
7. Once a Princess, by Sherwood Smith
8. Lips Touch: Three Times, by Laini Taylor
9. Princess of the Midnight Ball, by Jessica Day George

Other Teen Fiction
1. Marcelo in the Real World, by Francisco X. Stork
2. Project Sweet Life, by Brent Hartinger
3. Stealing Heaven, by Elizabeth Scott
4. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary D. Schmidt
5. The London Eye Mystery, by Siobhan Dowd

Children’s Fantasy and Science Fiction
1. When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead
2. The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
3. Any Which Wall, by Laurel Snyder
4. Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman
5. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin

Other Children’s Fiction
1. Home of the Brave, by Katherine Applegate
2. Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech
3. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor
4. Lucky Breaks, by Susan Patron
5. The Case of the Missing Marquess, by Nancy Springer

Fiction
1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Anne Shaffer and Annie Barrows
2. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
3. The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery
4. Heart and Soul, by Maeve Binchy
5. His Majesty’s Dragon, by Naomi Novik
6. Still Life, by Joy Fielding
7. The Marriage Bureau for Rich People, by Farahad Zama

Picture Books
1. Jeremy Draws a Monster, by Peter McCarty
2. Orangutan Tongs, by Jon Agee
3. Pigs Make Me Sneeze! by Mo Willems
4. A Birthday for Bear, by Bonny Becker, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
5. Bubble Trouble, by Margaret Mahy and Polly Dunbar
6. The Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney
7. Little Panda, by Renata Liwska

Nonfiction: True Stories
1. Left to Tell, by Immacule Ilibagiza
2. Led by Faith, by Immacule Ilibagiza
3. I Do Again, by Cheryl and Jeff Scruggs
4. French by Heart, by Rebecca Ramsey

Other Nonfiction
1. The Trance of Scarcity, by Victoria Castle
2. Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow, by Karen Casey
3. The Sacred Romance, by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge
4. Loving What Is, by Byron Katie
5. I Need Your Love — Is That True? by Byron Katie
6. The Language of Letting Go, by Melody Beattie

Children’s Nonfiction
1. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, by Philip Hoose
2. The Lincolns, by Candace Fleming
3. 14 Cows for America, by Carmen Agra Deedy
4. Never Smile at a Monkey, by Steve Jenkins

Wonderful Rereads
in Alphabetical Order

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
The Last Battle, by C. S. Lewis
The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley
Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne
Crown Duel, by Sherwood Smith
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare
The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner
The Queen of Attolia, by Megan Whalen Turner
The King of Attolia, by Megan Whalen Turner

Review of Choosing Brilliant Health, by Rick Foster & Greg Hicks

Health, Nonfiction Review, Personal Growth, Starred Review 0

Choosing Brilliant Health

9 Choices That Redefine What It Takes to Create Lifelong Vitality and Well-Being

by Rick Foster and Greg Hicks
with Jen Seda, MD

A Perigee Book (Penguin), 2008. 258 pages.
Starred Review.

I was so impressed by the authors’ earlier book, How We Choose to Be Happy, I ordered this one from Amazon rather than waiting for the library to purchase it.

Like the book on happiness, the authors interview healthy individuals and show nine choices those people have made that led to their good health. They also tie this information in with medical studies that show the physical benefits of these concepts. The book is full of these healthy people’s stories, illustrating the choices that lead to health.

And the choices that lead to happiness are the same ones that lead to health. The chapter headings in Part Two give you the idea:

1. Intention: Change the pathways of your brain with your thoughts.

2. Accountability: Take control of your health by triumphing over the “Victim Brain.”

3. Identification: Envision your joys and passions and tell vibrant stories about them.

4. Centrality: Do the things you love to alter your biochemistry.

5. Recasting: Convert the sadness, fear, anger, and despair of trauma and illness into meaning, opportunity, and action.

6. Options: Create hope and resilience by uncovering hidden possibilities.

7. Appreciation: Value your life and your body, and express appreciation to others.

8. Giving: Build a thriving Marketplace of Giving.

9. Truth: Tell the truth to your body, yourself, and others.

The authors say of these ideas:

“Brilliant Health doesn’t promise a disease-free, pain-free, un-aging life. Let’s face it; sooner or later health and age-related issues will visit all of us. But whether we’re in mint physical condition or facing a disability or a significant, even terminal health issue, Brilliant Health brings us the highest possible emotional and physical quality of life.”

With a promise like that, these ideas are definitely worth listening to.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/choosing_brilliant_health.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Review of I Do Again, by Cheryl & Jeff Scruggs

Biography, Christian, Nonfiction Review, Personal Growth, Relationships, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

I Do Again

How We Found a Second Chance at Our Marriage — and You Can Too

by Cheryl & Jeff Scruggs

Waterbrook Press, 2008. 193 pages.
Starred Review

This book tells the story of a marriage that seemed hopelessly broken. Cheryl had an affair and divorced Jeff. But by a miracle of God, their marriage was restored seven years later, better than ever before.

The authors put it this way:

“This book is about the end of a marriage — about betrayal, disappointment, anger, and wrestling with God. But it’s also about how we found a new definition of happily ever after.”

The book is intended as a message of hope, that God can do amazing things, and heal seemingly impossible breaches.

The authors now counsel married couples having difficulties, and I found their words encouraging. They say,

“We want people to be healed, and we want marriages to be healed. That’s what we pray for all the time. But we don’t know God’s plans for every couple. Our experience has taught us that God can redeem anything, so we never give up on anyone. But regardless of which direction they go, we let them know that we love them and support them and that God loves them no matter what. If you are in this circumstance, we’d advise you to keep yourself and your children safe, diligently seek the Lord through prayer and Scripture study, obtain godly counsel, and do your best to follow God’s leading based on your understanding of him. Never forget that God loves you and he will never withhold his love even if you make a mistake.”

It’s so nice to hear this kind of story, for a change.

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