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A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61)

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by: Eckhart Tolle

January 30, 2008

This book really speaks to me. My mind is so busy that sometimes I absentmindedly arrive at a place and then ask myself what I wanted to do here. Within a few moments my mind goes through a number of different thoughts forgetting about the reason that directed me to a certain place. And this is why this book is so helpful. Eckhart Tolle provides simple solution to people like me. The solution is simple but in no way it is easy! The solution is getting rid of the noise in the head and focusing on the present moment and the one single activity that you are undertaking in this moment.

In a way this book is -- to a certain degree -- a rehash of the author's previous work titled "The Power of Now." However, if you have already ... Read More:

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The Last Lecture

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by: Randy Pausch

April 08, 2008
This quick read consists of 61 great mini-lectures, generously sprinkled with autobiographical anecdotes about growing up with many touching and inspirational family memories ["One rule in our house is that you may not ask one-word questions."]. Randy Pausch uses these stories to illustrate life's lessons about parenting, self-esteem, dignity, duty, integrity --and of the importance of dreaming and helping others achieve their dreams.

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The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

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by: Eckhart Tolle

2004-08
How much of your day is actually spent completely focused in the here and now? When you are working, how often do you find your mind wandering? How much of your time is spent thinking about what you are going to do next weekend or wishing you'd handled a particular situation differently?

The majority of us spend most of our life fixated on the past or worrying about the future. The present is just something that we gloss over until we realize that we missed out on something. Then, we yearn to have that day back.

What we tend to forget is that all we really have is now. The past is gone it no longer exists, except in memory. These experiences can't be changed in any way. Dream or worry about the future as much as you want but no ... Read More:

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Remember Me?

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by: Sophie Kinsella

February 26, 2008
I loved this book! Of course I love all of Sophie Kinsella's books, but this was her best in my opinion! What a perfect story to read while on vacation. I did just that and it took me only a day and a half to finish, I just couldn't put it down. Can't wait to see what Sophie comes out with next!

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Eat Pray Love

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by: Elizabeth Gilbert

January 30, 2007
Driven to despair by a punishing divorce and an anguished love affair, Gilbert is left in a state of depression. In an attempt to get her life back on tract she goes to Italy to learn the language and revel in their cuisine, to India to meditate in an ashram, and to Bali Indonesia to reconnect with a healer that she had previous contact with.

This novelist journalist chronicles her intrepid quest for spiritual healing throughout her year of travels, documenting a memoir of her journey and experiences in order to find balance in her life. Not everyone will relate or agree in her methods. Gilbert's over descriptive narrative can be boring at times as she talks a lot about nothing. This book is shallow and superficial, a ranting tale of a self absorbed ... Read More:

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Three Cups Of Tea

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by: Greg Mortenson

January 30, 2007
When I first started reading about Greg Mortenson and his experience in Pakistan my first thought was why is he dedicating his life to this country across the world rather then his own? The more I read the book the more I came to realize that when he was helping educate girls in Pakistan he actually was helping his own country in more ways then can possibly be studied.

I have always believed that literacy and education can change the world for the better if done in a manner to benefit the people. On the other hand education done for the entrapment of the people like the Wahhabi madrassas are instituting can severely harm the people.

The power of books and education is too strong to ignore and "Three Cups of Tea" is a perfect example of this ... Read More:

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In Defense Of Food

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by: Michael Pollan

January 01, 2008
It is so good to read a book about nutrition that does not promote any new diet! The author's message is plain and simple: Go back to nature, eat wholesome foods, and don't bother with dieting. Don't overeat; instead eat slowly, and enjoy your meals - such notion has already been promoted by Mireille Guiliano in her bestseller "French Women Don't Get Fat".

Our curse is processed food. The dieting industry completely distorted our feeding process. Our desire to improve everything and to separate 'needed' ingredients from the 'unneeded' ones leads us to refining most of our food products. However, our artificially 'improved' food only seemingly has the same nutritious qualities as natural food. Artificial and natural foods have as little in common as silk roses ... Read More:

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The Shack

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by: William P. Young

July 01, 2008
Young gives us a personal encounter with a God, full of surprises, wisdom, great, great love and intimacy in a cruel, sad, heart-wrenching, and almost unbearable world. We have our notions of God from experience, observation, religion, the Bible or holy books but if there is a God, our notions are all inadequate. This is quite obvious as Mack, the main character encounters Papa God in all His manifestations, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The Bible does not contain a complete description of God for it would take volumes and volumes to describe all the aspects of His infinite being and if writings can give us a greater sense of our Creator, let us be open to examine that. The Bible mentions God as a Shepherd, housewife, and a hen. There are many more comparisons we can make as we get ... Read More:

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A Thousand Splendid Suns

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by: Khaled Hosseini

May 22, 2007
This book broke my heart. How do these women manage to live their lives? Hosseini's book gave me a better sense of the historical turmoil that the country has endured, and what seems to be insurmountable difficulties faced in trying to bring about change. How little I have to complain about in my comfortable western world life.
Kingston Grandmother

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The Other Boleyn Girl

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by: Philippa Gregory

September 25, 2007
King Henry V11 is accustomed to garnering flattery from young women in his court when he notices Mary Boleyn Carey, lady in waiting to his wife Queen Katherine. Mary becomes the king's mistress and bears his illegitimate children Catherine and Henry. Her joy is cut short when she discovers that she is a pawn in the dynastic plots of her family. While pregnant her sister Anne seduces the King with the aim of overthrowing Queen Katherine, becoming Queen and bearing his legal heirs. Mary realizes she must defy her family and her King and take her fate into her own hands.

George, their brother, is a popular member of the royal court and with family pressure he helps Anne to maintain a favoured position in the King's eyes. The family becomes one of the essential elements surrounding ... Read More: