February 8, 2010
· Filed under Author Interviews, Book Reviews · Tagged abuse, angels, fearless, goals, happiness, healing, inspiration, law of attraction, living your dreams, love, magic, manifest, Notes from the Universe, optimism, passion, positive thinking, relationships, self awareness, stepfather, the secret, the Universe, trauma, vision board
Infinite Possibilities: The Art of Living Your Dreams
By Mike Dooley
Published September 8, 2009 (Hardcover) Atria Books/Beyond Words
The first voice I heard this morning – sandwiched in between dreams somewhere in the six o’clock hour – was Mike Dooley’s. In the first seconds, before my consciousness prodded me to speak my professional greeting, I thought, what a lovely way to wake up.
Mike was calling to give me a different phone number for our conversation on Open Book with Diana Page Jordan some seven hours later. He apologized for the early hour, but he needn’t have. Guileless at that time of day, I absorbed his energy, and it felt good.
On the show – and in the book, Infinite Possibilities – Mike has a common-man way about him. He’s a tax accountant turned T-shirt entrepreneur turned author/speaker. He’s not stuffed full of himself. His openness helps in understanding our own paths.
Like me, I often worry that I’ve doomed myself Read the rest of this entry »
February 5, 2010
· Filed under Author Interviews · Tagged abused children, abusive mother, alcoholism, career, cold mother, fearless, fiction, healing, inspiration, marriage, motherhood, novel, passion, rape, relationships, self awareness, stepfather, storytelling, thriller, trauma, writing
Winter Garden
By Kristin Hannah
Published February 2, 2010 (Hardcover) St Martin’s Press
Kristin Hannah and I talked for more than a half-hour today, about Winter Garden and about writing and relationships, while locked up in the inner chambers of a Barnes and Noble bookstore in a Portland, Oregon suburb. We went deep, we dove in together, and we didn’t come up for air, until that thirty-minutes was up. I’ll let you know when the show airs on Open Book with Diana Page Jordan. We taped, because Kristin won’t be in town on a Monday when my show is live, and if an author comes to Portland on tour, I’d rather do the interview in person than on the phone.
Kristin, her blond pageboy gently swaying as she answered my questions, was wise and wonderful. Read the rest of this entry »
February 4, 2010
· Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged abuse, epic, family, family tragedy, father, fearless, fiction, Fiddler on the Roof, happiness, healing, how to heal, inspiration, love, manifest, mother, novel, optimism, rape, relationships, Russian, sisters, stepfather, storytelling, thriller, trauma, writing
Winter Garden
By Kristin Hannah
Published February 2, 2010 (Hardcover) St Martin’s Press
Two grown sisters – one who tensely fills her life by tackling every chore, the other who escapes to international cesspools of warfare to photograph anguished faces – struggle with their family legacy. A story that is teased out in Kristin Hannah’s masterful epic Winter Garden.
When Meredith and Nina lose their father to a massive heart attack, leaving them to the icy mother they believe never loved them, it is then, perhaps that I first begin to grieve my father’s death. Read the rest of this entry »
February 3, 2010
· Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged abuse, alcoholism, anger, bad day, career, dancing, father, happiness, healing, how to make it through, inspiration, love, magic, manifest, mother, optimism, passion, positive thinking, promises, rape, relationships, self awareness, stepfather, tough times, trauma, violence, writing
Promises To Myself
By Maryanne Radmacher
Published February 1, 2010 (Hardcover) Conari Press
For this book to arrive today. Unrequested. Is a miracle. I read Promises To Myself twice. Which is not difficult. But it is profound.
You know Maryanne Radmacher’s work. Her distinctive writing. Phrases. Images. Pictures. Pregnant with color dancing perfectly on each page.
You ever have a really crappy day? The kind that, you say to yourself, okay, I’ll begin the day anew, and you start again, but then it’s crappy again? Read the rest of this entry »
February 2, 2010
· Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged boyfriend, dating, divorce, fearless, girlfriend, happiness, humor, inspiration, love, manifest, marriage, optimism, passion, personal ads, positive thinking, relationships, self awareness, valentine's day, writing
Sexually, I’m More of a Switzerland
By David Rose
Published on February 2, 2010 (Hardcover) Scribner
It’s nearly Valentine’s Day, and I’ll put it out there. It would be nice to be some really great guy’s girlfriend. I was married all my post-college life. Until divorce, nearly seven-years ago. We’d gotten married on Valentine’s Day. In retrospect, not a good move. Every V-Day, I can’t help but think how dumb an idea that was.
I’m rambling. This is why I picked up Sexually, I’m More of a Switzerland. I was in the mood to read real personal ads.
David Rose, who edited the book after being cupid’s postmaster at a literary publication in London, Read the rest of this entry »
February 1, 2010
· Filed under Author Interviews, Book Reviews · Tagged be happy, empower, fearless, goals, happiness, inspiration, interview, love, luck, magic, manifest, optimism, passion, positive thinking, relationships, self awareness, studies
59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot
By Richard Wiseman
Published December 29, 2009 (Hardcover) Knopf
Better look a little closer before you buy everything that self-help author has to sell. It might not be true.
In the twenty-some years I’ve been interviewing authors for radio, TV, print and the web, honestly, the greater proportion has been self-help authors. They don’t all walk their talk. And, no, I’m not telling who. But I will say that Richard Wiseman has got the science, and it’s all in 59 Seconds.
I interviewed Richard Read the rest of this entry »
January 29, 2010
· Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged abuse, alcoholism, art, career, cinema, fearless, film, filmmaking, happiness, healing, inspiration, mother, passion, pedophilia, positive thinking, rape, relationships, self awareness, stepfather, trauma, vicious, violence
Art Cinema
By Paul Young
Published October 1, 2009 (Hardcover) TASCHEN
Art Cinema is a stylistic and chronological traipse. The work portrayed stuns, devours sensibilities, stimulates.
A still from the film Caribbean Pirates shows a nude man painted white with blood – or is it chocolate – poured all over him. Across the page is a quote by Luis Bunuel, The cinema is a marvelous and dangerous weapon if a free spirit wields it.
This coffee table book feels completely foreign to me. Read the rest of this entry »
January 28, 2010
· Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged believe, gratitude, inspiration, magic, manifest, optimism, passion, positive thinking, reticular activating system, self awareness, take your time, the mind, the power of now, the secret, vision boards, writing
Freedom For A Day: What If You Believed For Just One Day That Everything Would Work Out Perfectly?
By James Goddard
Published October 30, 2009 (Paperback) Intermedia Publishing Group
If you’re reading this blog, you’ve probably read – or at least seen – the book and movie The Secret. Real Estate agent Jim Goddard decided to live according to the tenets of The Secret for one day, and write a diary-like book called Freedom For A Day.
Goddard makes a few choices and sticks with them throughout this particular summer day, and discovers this is one of the best days of his life. Read the rest of this entry »
January 27, 2010
· Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged admission, bad job market, business school, career, education, fired, GMAT, jobless, law school, Law School Podcaster, LSAT, self awareness, unemployed
The Law School Admission Game: Play Like An Expert
By Ann K. Levine, Esq.
Published May 15, 2009 (Paperback) Abraham Publishing
What do you do when your job gets eliminated, or you’re pressed into taking a lesser job for less pay? Do you chuck that rat race, and go back to school? Thousands are choosing to enhance their degrees. I heard today that Cornell’s law school is seeing a 52% increase in applications over last year. Law schools and business schools are freaking buried in applications. They’re turning down applicants with 4.0’s and nearly perfect GMAT’s and LSAT’s. I am not saying this to dissuade you. I’m setting you up so you know where to go for great support.
I interviewed Ann Levine of www.lawschoolexpert.com last week for a show on the wait-list. A firebrand, I loved her energy. Read the rest of this entry »
January 26, 2010
· Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged enlightenment, inspiration, Jesus, magic, manifest, Mary, novel, passion, religion, self awareness, storytelling, writing
Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment
By Deepak Chopra
Published November 3, 2009 (Paperback) HarperOne
Entranced, immediately, I fell into the book Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment, and into the gentleness of Deepak Chopra’s writing. I’ve read probably a dozen of his books, and I have never perceived this quality to this degree. A soft reverence. But bold.
It is quite bold to novelize the story of Jesus between the ages of twelve and thirty. And – huge – caveat here. Read the rest of this entry »
