What does it mean to be free? What happens when “saving” someone isn’t necessarily saving that person? Paulette Jiles explores these questions, beautifully, in her book, News of the World. Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels and performs the newspaper for those who want to know what’s going on, but who cannot themselves read the news. This lifestyle …
Book Review: Kiss Carlo by Adriana Trigiani
To leap, or not to leap: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of familial expectations and obligations, or to take arms and follow one’s own passions and dreams? In Kiss Carlo, Adriana Trigiani explores this question among others against a backdrop of a local Shakespeare theatre company. It’s …
Book Review: Soulmates by Jessica Grose
Everything happens for a reason – or does it? This is a question philosophers and theologians have debated about for a long time. On the one hand, it seems as though there is a divine order to the universe – things cannot be merely coincidental. On the other hand, things can be so random that …
Book Review: My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward by Mark Lukach
No matter how great life seems, things like depression, anxiety, and nervous breakdowns can hit at any time. For Mark Lukach, and his wife, Giulia, mental illness hit after Giulia turned twenty-seven. Lukach chronicles their life with mental illness and the way that mental illness shapes a marriage. The story that Lukach tells is poignant …
Book Review: Signs and Seasons by Amy Zerner and Monte Farber
What’s your sign? I’m a Scorpio. Supposedly, that makes me intense, passionate, determined, loyal, and obsessive – among other things. While those are all qualities I possess, I’m not sure if they’re qualities I possess because I’m me or because I’m a Scorpio. Either way, it’s fun to think about the way that the stars …
Book Review: Beyond the Label by Maureen Chiquet
What labels do you wear? I’m not talking about Coach or Gucci or Channel, I’m talking about the labels others have given you. “Supermom” is one that’s been thrown around at me. “Wife,” “Mother,” “Type-A,” “Introvert,” “Neurotic,” are others. When we receive labels, it can be hard to break out of them. I know in …
Book Review: The Compassionate Achiever by Christopher L. Kukk, Ph.D.
One of my other projects is a blog called “Activism My Way.” It’s a project I’m passionate about and that I’d love to work on more. I use the blog to encourage others to get involved in their communities and help others. I feel that being engaged in a community and doing service work is …
Book Review: Head Strong by Dave Asprey
Years ago, in a galaxy far-far away known as junior college, I took a biological psychology class. In that class, we studied a lot of different things, but primarily focused on the brain and how its chemicals affected our personalities. It’s where I learned an overview of how to tell from a drawing if a …
Book Review: 1001 Ways to Slow Down by Barbara Ann Kipfer
#73 “Look at beautiful photography.” #235 “Remember, life is funny.” #551 “If you are always ahead of schedule, then there is no need to rush.” #831 “Take control of the information overload. What do you really want to read, reply to, or watch on TV?” #900 “Sit quietly with a blank canvas or notebook. Wait …
Book Review: May Cause Love
In 1997, on New Years Eve, I found myself staring at a second line on a pregnancy test. I was 20 years old, living with a schmuck, not quite divorced from the other schmuck I’d left after a enduring lot of abuse in our on again-off-again high school relationship, working part time at a bookstore, …
