This webpage is about book reviews of hard copy books and audible books in the areas of Spirituality, Meditation, Shamanism, and Natural Healing Modalities that I have found helpful on my evolutionary path.
Jane Eyre
By Charlotte Brontë
Jane Eyre is a story about growing up and coming of age through adverse circumstances. I suppose my fascination with books about unwanted children is the result of being one of those incompatible children myself. At the age of ten, Jane Eyre starts out at her snobbish aunt’s mansion called Gateshead Hall, with three unruly and non-inclusive cousins. The Victorian era provided the social fodder to which I could relate in my own upbringing. How does a young girl learn about self-reliance in the face of religious hypocrisy, poverty, sexism, and corporal discipline? These are issues of which no child at any age, deserves to be subjected. Read more…
The Wild Edge of Sorrow
by Francis Weller, Foreword by Michael Lerner
I received a hard copy of this book for a Christmas gift, from someone close to me who understands what I’m going through. Since leaving the family religion, I’m being shunned by all it’s believers. This includes my two adult children and their spouses. Besides that, now I have grandchildren I’ve never met. How can I heal my grief over the loss of my entire community, ripped out from under me upon leaving? But I had to leave in order to keep — no — to find my sanity. I know I can never go back. Winter is a notoriously bittersweet time for me to hibernate and contemplate my life. During this season, I meditate more than usual. As well, I often curl up on the couch with a blanket, and do a lot of reading. While reading The Wild Edge of Sorrow I’m facing my own various heartaches. I especially resonated with several points in chapter 8 of the book. Read more…
Own Your Self
by Kelly Brogan M.D. with Nancy Marriott
What can a person do when the anti-depressants, mood-stabilizers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety drugs, and tranquilizers turn that person into a zombie? That’s what happened to me at the end of the 1990s. Fortunately, I was able to locate a therapist who helped me taper off all my medications. At the same time, I was being educated about a healthier, more balanced set of beliefs after leaving a high-control religious cult. Then, once I became a functioning human, I got along quite well in my job and my newly-single life. At least in the interim. Read more…
A Complete Guide to Magic and Ritual: Using the Energy of Nature to Heal Your Life
Authored by Cassandra Eason
I almost didn’t read this book. I have a physical copy, given by a teacher I once knew. I gave this book 4 out of 5 on Goodreads. Why? The book is less about magic, especially the way the word is being used these days. While it is indeed about rituals, it is much more about the subtitle, namely, Using the Energy of Nature to Heal Your Life. Yes, the energy of nature. I value the use of rituals because they validate and strengthen my commitment to a journey of well-being by using the elements of nature. I resonate with — and am able to use — some of these rituals where I see a need. They are helpful for creating many of my own rituals, or when I “customize” existing ones. Read more…
The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help
Authored and Narrated by Amanda Palmer
I first heard of this exceptional author when I watched her TED talk. “When we really see each other, we want to help each other,” says author, artist, and performer Amanda Palmer. As I began reading her book, it was easy to see why I was drawn to her. She is wide open — completely transparent — and I absolutely and easily fell in love with her. Read more…
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
Authored by Bessel Van der Kolk, MD
I’m always looking for new information on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), having been diagnosed with it many years ago. I’ve been working with therapists ever since. When I read the work of Bessel A. van der Kolk, M.D., I believe he is an awesome font of information on the subject. Having been a sufferer himself apparently, PTSD was quite a motivator for his choice of academic studies! What I especially appreciated in this book is… Read more…
Goddesses Never Age
Written and Narrated by Christiane Northrup, MD
I loved reading Goddesses Never Age and in my case, it was the Audible version. Christiane Northrup is a board-certified OB/GYN physician who understands the challenges that women face in our fast-paced and sometimes less than forthright world in which we live. Read more…
The Language of Flowers
By Vanessa Diffenbaugh, Narrated By Tara Sands
I rarely read novels unless I feel some resonance with the story line. One lesson I learned from my own tortured life is that that when abandoned, the Universe provides what I call “earth angels” to enable survival and — if circumstances permit — the thriving of the soul. Could this be true of Victoria, as well? I just had to find out. How could someone so thoroughly let down by the system as Victoria possibly trust anyone — ever — again? How could she find… Read more…
A Mind of Your Own
by Kelly Brogan, M.D., Narrated by Cassandra Campbell
Recent years have seen an increase in antidepressant use the world over. Who can dispute that statement, with one in four women starting her day with medication. These drugs have steadily become the panacea for everything from grief, irritability, and panic attacks to insomnia, PMS, and stress. But according to Dr. Kelly Brogan, what women really need can’t be found at a pharmacy. Read more…
Of Water and Of Spirit
Written and Narrated by Malidoma Patrice Somé
Of Water and the Spirit author’s village elders believed that it is utterly impossible to survive being caught between two conflicting belief systems. We have all heard horrific stories about children of the first peoples being ripped away from the security and love of their family and village, and unceremoniously deposited into residential schools. It happened in North America, and now … Read More…
Seeing in the Dark: Claim Your Own Shamanic Power Now and in the Coming Age
Written by Colleen Deatsman, Paul Bowersox, Narrated by Janice Anderson
Have you ever experienced a “dark night of the soul”? Colleen Deatsman is a teacher and a healer who knows from personal experience what it is like to be devastatingly ill. She felt utterly fatigued, depressed, frustrated, disconnected, and lost. For ten years, Colleen was one of the hopeless who suffered from a chronic illness. Traditional medicine could not effectively treat her symptoms. Prescription drugs were more risk than benefit. Side-effects were worse than the “disease.” Determined to live life fully … Read More…
The Self in Full Bloom: Teachings and Practices for Embodied Awakening
Written and Narrated by Mutki with introduction by Adyashanti
I first became acquainted with the meditation work of Adyashanti, so when I learned he is married I immediately wanted to know more about his wife, Mukti. I’m a person who likes to understand the big picture, which naturally includes close associates or partners. I was delighted when I learned Mukti is a teacher of meditation as well as an accomplished healer in her own right. She has a well-rounded background of vital learning tools which include yoga, acupuncture, and Chinese medicine where she learned the yin-yang metaphor for life. She illustrates the masculine and feminine, the give and take, yin-yang of awakening, … Read more…
Saving CeeCee Honeycut
By Beth Hoffman, Narrated By Jenna Lamia
I read the audible version of this story written from the young pre-teen daughter’s point of view. It’s about her life, first with an eccentric southern belle mother who couldn’t stand being displaced in Willoughby, Ohio and a father who couldn’t bear the strain of having what he defined a “mentally ill” wife. His solution was to take a job on the road and as a result, he was rarely home. Consequently, their daughter CeeCee was very much neglected by both parents and scorned by the prim and proper religious community. The saving grace was her kind, elderly neighbor, Mrs. Odel, who provided school lunches and shared Sunday brunches with CeeCee. Then, tragedy struck when the mom died suddenly in a freak accident. The father quickly agreed to a great aunt’s offer for CeeCee to live with her in Savannah. Read more…
Sunface
Written by Esther Harrison
Sunface is the most amusing, inspiring little dahlia the author ever met. You could not help but laugh and be impressed with its mighty effort to produce one gigantic yellow blossom. The author’s second book, Sunface, seemed to write itself. This preschool children’s book was inspired by a flowering plant in the author’s garden. She dedicated this work to her beloved grand-daughter, Emberlyn. Read more…
More to come!
Phoenix of Faith 
you are a prolific reviewer!
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