Books, Personal Project, Professional Development

Book 467: The Mastery of Love (Toltec Wisdom Collection #2)- Miguel Ruiz

I’m not sure I will make it through the third book in the collection. I probably will because I already have it, but I can guarantee I won’t look into the fourth book, The Fifth Agreement or any of the other works by Ruiz.

As I mentioned when I responded to The Four Agreements, this isn’t really my cup of tea and I think The Mastery of Love made that even more apparent the further I got through the book. I found myself getting more agitated the more I read, thankfully it came it at just under 200 pages.

I’m not sure if it’s the deepening spirituality of the books or what, because Ruiz is very careful not to use only Judeo-Christian references, even if he chooses predominantly Western religious references including the Ancient Greeks.

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Books, Personal Project, Professional Development

Book 466: The Four Agreements (Toltec Wisdom Collection #1) – Miguel Ruiz

This book came to me from the Human Resources person at my previous job. I had gone to her to ask advice on how to communicate with another member of our team and she had a lot of great advice, but she recommended this book.

It came up again when I was talking to our Human Resources person at my new job. We were discussing great resources and I mentioned my old HR person loved this book and I realized I had never actually gotten around to reading it.

Once I finished reading it, I spoke with her again and told her some of the drawbacks and she mentioned some others that might be more in line with my life philosophy and pretty much lack of spirituality. That being said this book still had some great points that I appreciated and think anyone can put into practice in their own life.

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ARC, Books

Book 456: Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal – Amy Krouse Rosenthal

If you want a hilarious read that will have people looking at you funny on public transportation, then this should definitely be on your list. I was having a bad week when I started this and within the first 10 pages I was smiling and noticing small things around me that made my week 100 times better.

I first heard of this book in one of the final Books on the Nightstand episodes and thought it sounded intriguing. So when someone from Dutton reached out to me about a review copy I jumped at the opportunity.* But first a brief aside.

I must say Dutton is hitting it out of the park with books I enjoy! I have at least one, but probably two more upcoming books that I’m planning to read from them on my shelf. This doesn’t count for the numerous I’ve already responded to including Ally Hughes Has Sex Sometimes from late 2015 and Fool Me Once and The Stranger from earlier this year. And I haven’t even said yes to all of them, some of the others didn’t fit what I wanted to read at the time, but overall I’ve enjoyed them! Now on to my response.

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Books

Book 455: We Should All Be Feminists – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Wow. I know I’m late to the party on this one, but Wow. Thanks Jess for, all those months ago, finally giving the recommendation to make me read it.

There is not a lot to say about We Should All Be Feminists, that hasn’t been said. And yet I’m going to dither on about it for a good while. IF you don’t want to read (which, shame on you) this 48 page “manifesto” (because it should be one), then check out the TEDx talk she pulled it from at the end of the post. (I haven’t watched it, but need to.)

This is one of those essays that should make its way into our collective conscience, but I’m not sure it will. It is also one of those books that I feel should become required reading, if only for the conversations it will spark, but again, thanks to the divisiveness of today’s politics, outside of specific classes focusing on women and gender, I doubt it will. Continue reading “Book 455: We Should All Be Feminists – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie”

Books

Book 413: The Emperor’s Soul – Brandon Sanderson

DAMN you Mormons and your great Science Fiction/Fantasy! That’s about 25% fact and 75% unadulterated conjecture. Before I go into that (you can skip the next two paragraphs if you’re not interested), funny story: I kept thinking of this as some weird hybrid of the story as it happened and The Emperor’s New Clothes. My mind is weird.

Now, Mormons. Seriously though, why does it seem like there are so many Mormon’s who tell great stories in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genres: Jeff Wheeler, Orson Scott Card, Stephenie Meyer (coughstory teller, still not a great writercough) and now Brandon Sanderson. I’m not the first to ponder religion and writing adn I know I won’t be the last. I know for me it raises a big dilemma of ethics/politics when I chose to read an author who actively believes/participates in a religion which negates/actively works against something I identify with. Do I purchase their novels and have my, what ultimately ends up being fractions of pennies, support their religion through tithing, or do I boycott the author because of their churches stance?

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