Recent Reads

About a month ago I set a goal to start reading more...or rather start reading.  It has been many years since I actually read an entire book.  Since setting that goal I have completed 3 books and am on my 4th.  I am really enjoying the books I've been reading and am glad to have picked up this hobby. 

* The first book I chose to read was "29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life" by Cami Walker (memoir). 

"At age 33 Cami Walker was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and the life she knew changed forever. Then, as a remedy for her condition, she received an uncommon prescription from a friend, an African medicine woman named Mbali Creazzo: Give away 29 gifts in 29 days. Cami was amazed by what unfolded during her month-long journey." 

As a result of her experience and book, an entire online movement was started all over the world - a movement aimed at reviving the giving spirit.  I am just about to complete my first 29 day cycle of giving!  http://www.29gifts.org/

* Next I read "The Shack" by WM P. Young (spiritual fiction) 

"Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him."  

I loved this book!  So much I went out and bought 7 copies of it it share with others and I plan to read it again soon. 

* More recently I finished "The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book" by Don Miguel Riuz  (religion/spirituality)

"Sit at the foot of a native elder and listen as great wisdom of days long past is passed down. In The Four Agreements shamanic teacher and healer Don Miguel Ruiz exposes self-limiting beliefs and presents a simple yet effective code of personal conduct learned from his Toltec ancestors. Full of grace and simple truth, this handsomely designed book makes a lovely gift for anyone making an elementary change in life, and it reads in a voice that you would expect from an indigenous shaman. The four agreements are these: Be impeccable with your word. Don't take anything personally. Don't make assumptions. Always do your best. It's the how and why one should do these things that make The Four Agreements worth reading and remembering. " 

I really enjoyed this book as well.  It was a quick read as the book is small and short.  But I really liked how simple it was...not too simple, but the author did a good job of explaining and illustrating the thinking behind each of the four agreements.

It is my goal to continue reading at least every day.  To help me along (and to be a little more 'green'), I invested in a digital reader (aka ebook reader).  After much research I decided not to go with the well known Kindle reader by Amazon.  I just do not like the fact that Amazon.com uses a proprietary format for the ebooks such that only people who own a Kindle can buy their books.  I decided to go with a Sony reader instead.  Sony is one of the companies that offers ebooks in an open format that can be used by nearly every reader.  But even still I am not limited to just buying books from Sony.  There are tons and tons of online ebook stores out there for me to shop from. 

I settled on the Sony Touch Edition PRS-600 reader.  It offers a dictionary function so that I can look up any word whenever I want.  I can highlight parts of the book to refer to later and even make handwritten notes or drawings.  It's about the size (length and height) of a paperback book.  It is very thin and easy to carry in my purse.  Ebooks cost less than new hardbook/paperback books, take up less room, are more 'green' and you can even get free ebooks online or borrow them from your library.  I love it and highly recommend one.