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Review: The Opa Way: Finding Joy & Meaning in Everyday Life & Work by Alex Pattakos & Elaine Dundon

The Opa Way: Finding Joy & Meaning in Everyday Life & Work by Alex Pattakos & Elaine Dundon

Link to buy The OPA! Way: Finding Joy & Meaning in Everyday Life & Work

Story Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review:

The premise behind The OPA! Way is that the Greek people have a unique approach to life that helps bring meaning to their daily activities. People around the world have a great deal to learn from this Greek philosophy, and by adopting the Greek approach, everyone's life can be improved. The word OPA! as a twofold meaning. First, it's a traditional Greek word that commonly expresses "joy, excitement, and inspiration." For the purposes of this book, it's also an acronym that represents the three components of the Greek philosophy of life: Others, Purpose, Attitude.

While researching The OPA! Way, authors Alex Pattakos and Elaine Dundon travelled through small towns in Greece and talked with the people they met. This research allowed them to identify key characteristics of the Greek way of life. They concluded that one shouldn't waste time chasing material wealth or professional success or even something as fleeting as happiness. Instead, personal fulfillment comes from living a life that has meaning. That can only be achieved through connecting with others in satisfying personal relationships (Others), being a positive force in the world (Purpose), and feeling content with what one has (Attitude).

           

This book presents a rather simplistic way of looking at both an entire culture and life in general, but the authors get points for enthusiasm. They clearly have great admiration for Greece and her people. The book is full of stories taken directly from their interviews with Greek citizens that highlight the tenets of The OPA! Way. The stories demonstrate how wise the Greek people are and how much can be learned from them. The book's authors also offer frequent quotes from Greek philosophers like Plato and Democritus that show how The OPA! Way has been a central part of Greek life for thousands of years.

One central element of the OPA! Way is that a person must have the right attitude in order to get the most out of life. By the same token, it's probably best to have the right attitude toward this book in order to get the most out of it. Unfortunately, this reviewer had difficulty adopting the appropriate attitude.

While authors Pattakos and Dundon take a utopian view of Greece, it was difficult for this reviewer to completely forget about the protests, strikes, and violence that erupted in Greece in the wake of its recent financial crisis. It wasn't addressed in the book, but in 2012, austerity measures were passed by the Greek legislature that increased taxes, decreased government spending, and reformed labor laws. The steps were necessary to save Greece from economic collapse. Many Greeks didn't want to lose their government-funded benefits, though, and they fought back – hard. Throwing pipe bombs at police doesn't seem like the behavior of a relaxed populace that's more interested in establishing meaningful personal connections than amassing material wealth. The contradiction was hard to ignore.

Overall, this is an interesting book with thought-provoking stories and quotes. There's certainly something to be gained here. Just don't fall into the trap of believing that any society is without its problems. No matter where we're from, we're only human, after all.

Reviewed by Peter

Review: What Would You Do If You Knew You Could Not Fail? by Nina Lesowitz & Mary Beth Sammons

What Would you Do If You Knew You Could Not Fail? by Nina Lesowitz & Mary Beth Sammons 

Link to buy What Would You Do If You Knew You Could Not Fail?: How to Transform Fear into Courage

Story Rating: 3 out of 5 

Blurb:

"What would you do if you know you could not fail?" These words, attributed to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, have inspired tens of millions to face their fears and dare to follow their hearts. This can-do compendium is a veritable tool kit for transforming readers from reticent to role model. From the authors of Living Life as a Thank You, this volume present true stories of ordinary people with extraordinary fortitude. Authors Mary Beth Sammons and Nina Lesowitz have gone to the front lines of adversity and fear to surface the brave hearts who took action before they were forced to, confronting and overcoming their fears in inspirational ways. From world-class athletes, to spiritual teachers, to cancer patients, to ordinary people who took extraordinary action to transform their lives, these courage warriors teach readers to turn apprehension into action. Enriched with motivational quotes and power practices, this courage guidebook advises how to live life with guts and gusto. Readers learn to face and transform their fear, apply the art of tenacity when times are tough, embrace the lessons and gifts of a crisis that lead to personal growth, and simple, effective, and proven methods for confidence and courage.

Review:

This book is meant to inspire readers with stories of everyday folks overcoming bad situations in their lives. The thing is though, that after reading a few of these stories it was a real downer. Yes, the people overcame their adversity by the end of their tale, but those back stories really started to take their toll. And for that one success story from escaping abuse, or losing a job, or defeating cancer there are how many who don't? 

The authors had an interesting concept but in the end it was a little too depressing for me, despite the happy endings.

Reviewed by Elizabeth

Zombies: Not Just For Halloween!

One of the most popular shows on television today is The Walking Dead. In case you're behind on current events because you've been in a coma after being shot by a fleeing felon in Episode 1, this show is about zombies overtaking the world and the ragtag band of survivors who must fight for their lives against both the hungry undead and the evil (and sometimes also hungry) living. The show is based on a graphic novel by the same name.

The Walking Dead didn't invent zombies – they've been creeping people out for generations. Who hasn't watched the original black and white version of Night of the Living Dead on Halloween night and then been too freaked out to open the door for trick-or-treaters? Okay, maybe that's too much personal reflection. But zombies are definitely frightening, with their shuffling gate, voracious appetites, overwhelming numbers, and poor personal hygiene.

Because we can't get enough of re-animated corpses, plenty of books have been published about zombies. Fans can get their hands on The Walking Dead graphic novels if they're interested in reading about where the show came from and where it's likely to go in the next few seasons. There is also a wide variety of other books that focus on zombies. For instance, Slow Burn is the first in a popular zombie series, and let's not forget that quirky take on Jane Austen's classic romance,Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Unlikely as is it might sound, nonfiction about zombies is also available, including The Zombie Survival Guide.

An entire cottage industry has grown up in towns where TWD does its filming. "Walker Stalkers" are loyal fans who visit locations where the show is being filmed in hopes of catching a glimpse of a scene or meeting a cast member. A popular destination for Walker Stalkers is the city of Senoia, Georgia, which served as the setting for Season 3's zombie-free town of Woodbury. Now Senoia is playing host to TWD again as Season 5 filming is underway. Senoia businesses are capitalizing on the show's popularity by offering tourists a wide variety of merchandise. Visitors can browsezombie-themed merchandise like t-shirts and scented candles, or they can book walking tours of filming locations for both TWD and other TV shows and movies that have been made in Senoia.

However you choose to celebrate your love for the evil undead, have fun out there stalking the walkers!

Review: The Best Green Smoothies on the Planet: The 150 Most Delicious, Most Nutritious, 100% Vegan Recipes for the World's Healthiest Drink by Tracy Russell

The Best Green Smoothies on the Planet: The 150 Most Delicious, Most Nutritious, 100% Vegan Recipes for the World's Healthiest Drink by Tracy Russell

Link to buy The Best Green Smoothies on the Planet: The 150 Most Delicious, Most Nutritious, 100% Vegan Recipes for the World’s Healthiest Drink

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Review:

Best Green Smoothies is more than a collection of smoothie recipes. Russell is a hardcore believer in a whole food vegan diet, and green smoothies are an important component of that lifestyle. All the recipes in this book are vegan, which means they don't contain milk or yogurt or any other animal products. That separates this book from many others on the market.

This book begins with an explanation of the benefits of green smoothies, including how this is a convenient way to eat more fruits and vegetables without having to spend half the day gnawing on raw kale. Russell also offers instruction on how to make a basic green smoothie (include one "base" fruit, one "flavor" fruit, liquid, and greens) and even how to fix a smoothie that turned out badly.

To call Best Green Smoothies a cookbook would be inaccurate, since all the ingredients are raw. The only appliance in use here is a blender, the choice of which Russell does discusses early in the book. It turns out not all blenders are created equal. To characterize this as a diet book would also be incorrect. Russell doesn't advocate replacing all meals with smoothies or going on a smoothie fast. Although there are sections of the book dedicated to different types of smoothies, including detox varieties, Russell points out that any radical diet is doomed to fail. Instead it's better to gradually switch to a healthy diet of whole foods that includes green smoothies, and this will lead to greater health and fitness.

You might be wondering at this point whether a vegan smoothie recipe tastes good. I had the same question, so I decided to give one a try. The Super Antioxidant Blast Green Smoothie sounded like a good choice because it called for pomegranate and banana, both of which I had in the house. It also called for 3 cups of baby spinach, which I didn't have. So the first substitution was two cups of organic kale, which I had purchased in case I wanted to try the smoothie book. The recipe also called for one pouch of frozen acai puree. I don't know what that is, and I couldn't even ask at the grocery store because I can't pronounce acai. So I substituted extra pomegranate and hoped it was something like acai.

The smoothie turned out okay, under the circumstances. First, I mixed the fruits and it looked dark pink from the pomegranate. Then I threw in one cup of the kale and everything turned an icky gray color. So I threw in the other cup of kale and everything turned green, which was way better than gray. The taste was all right, especially since I had feared the kale would be overwhelming. It wasn't; the banana was. So I threw in a splash of vanilla extract, which made things better, but the banana was still omnipresent.

Russell prefers smoothies to be room temperature, but that sounded unappealing, so I refrigerated all my ingredients before blending and threw in a couple ice cubes. Also, the texture might have been improved if I'd been using a more powerful blender. My blender is more than 20 years old and dates from when my now-husband and I got our first place together. Probably a more powerful blender manufactured in this millennium would have done a better job crushing the pomegranate seeds. There was also a psychological hurdle here. I'm not a vegan or even a vegetarian, so making a smoothie using just water without milk or yogurt felt wrong. Certainly this wouldn't be an issue for a vegan, however.

My plan is to try another smoothie tomorrow and substitute an apple for the banana. I must make another smoothie tomorrow because I've still got a fridge full of kale. A bunch of it cost 99 cents at Kroger, and it's too hard and leafy to eat on its own without blending it.

Speaking of extra kale, this book had the same problem as most recipe books, namely it calls for a little bit of a lot of different ingredients, and then you're stuck with the leftover ingredients. For instance, a number of recipes here call for ¼ of an avocado. What do you do with the remaining ¾ ? Once you're full of veggie smoothie, you might not be in the mood to eat the majority of an avocado, and it tends to turn brown in the fridge. If you need one stalk of celery, what should you do with the rest? And where do you get only one tablespoon of chia seeds? Don't even get me started on the mountain of kale lurking in my fridge as I write this. It's like a rainforest in there.

Aside from this complaint that I have with nearly every recipe book ever written, The Best Green Smoothies offers a lot of great ideas in an easy-to-digest format. Bon appétit!

Reviewed by Peter

Review: And Give Up Showbiz? by Josh Young

Link to buy And Give Up Showbiz?: How Fred Levin Beat Big Tobacco, Avoided Two Murder Prosecutions, Became a Chief of Ghana, Earned Boxing Manager of the Year, and Transformed American Law

Story Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review:

After reading the complete title of Fred Levin's life story it reminds me of watching a movie preview and later finding out the best parts were in the five minute coming attraction. With the title giving a short description of how he became famous and rich the book seems to be titles the way Fred Levin wants his story told. In describing all of Fred's difficulties they all end with "happily ever after" story lines. Very few detractors are interviewed compared to the people who all shout his praise.

The book is an interesting read but mostly pro Fred Levin. It would have been interesting to hear more from people who lost against him so that the reader could get the two sides to the stories.

Reviewed by Joseph

Review: Finding Zoe: A Deaf Woman's Story of Identity, Love and Adoption by Brandi Rarus and Gail Harris

Finding Zoe: A Deaf Woman's Story of Identity, Love and Adoption by Brandi Rarus and Gail Harris

Link to buy Finding Zoe: A Deaf Woman's Story of Identity, Love, and Adoption

Story Rating: 4 out of 5

Review:

Finding Zoe is a memoir about the life of author Brandi Rarus, a woman who lost her hearing as a child then went on to become Miss Deaf America, have three sons with normal hearing, and adopt a little girl who is deaf. Throughout her life, Rarus experiences communication problems in her dealings with members of the hearing community, but it's not until she embraces the deaf community that she can finally communicate freely with others.

This book runs the gamut of Rarus's life, from her childhood through college, the beauty pageant days, and her eventual marriage and family life. It addresses the triumphs and tragedies of having children, both the biological and adopted varieties. There's also background here about the history of deaf culture in the United States and the education of deaf children.

Surprisingly, a substantial portion of Finding Zoe focuses on Zoe's birth parents, the circumstances of her conception, and the series of decisions that ultimately led to her becoming a member of Rarus's family. This is a meaningful addition to the book because it enables readers to understand how disparate threads came together in improbable ways to create a lovely tapestry. In this case, tragedies like unplanned pregnancy, illness, and family strife were all necessary in order to achieve the ideal outcome: A family becoming complete with the addition of a beautiful little girl.

Overall, this book is well written and seems like a good choice for readers interested in deaf culture or adopting a special needs child. Readers who simply enjoy a memoir that exposes them to a different way of life might also want to pick up a copy. This reviewer's concern is that Finding Zoe's appeal might be limited because of the book's emphasis on the deaf community and the special challenges of adopting. If a reader isn't interested in either of those subjects, they might keep walking past Zoe in the bookstore.

Reviewed by Peter

Review: Ever the Patriot by Candace Riccio Salem

Ever the Patriot by Candace Riccio Salem

Link to buy Ever the Patriot: Recollections of Vincent J. Riccio, World War II Veteran and POW

Story Rating:

Review: 4.5 out of 5

This book clocks in at sixty-six pages and at first glance you might be tempted to say "Really?" However this book's short length actually gives a lot more to the reader than books that are much longer. This story is taken from video interviews and conversations recorded by family members about their father's service in World War II. This recounting of events is exactly what is needed to document veteran's stories before we lose them forever.

After reading Mr. Riccio's account which is his own words about his involvement in the War and his experiences as a POW, the words "Citizen Soldier" comes to mind. There are many books that have been written about Americans that fought in wars. This soldiers' story thankfully has been saved. These veterans went to fight and then returned home seeking to go back to their prewar lives. They wanted to forget and put behind them what they had gone through to bring home victory.

The author is the soldier's daughter and she has properly described him as a patriot. Her father tells his family that he doesn't consider himself a patriot, but a man who loves his country. True patriots usually see themselves in this light. They do not see themselves as heroes no matter what they have doneor accomplished. Hopefully this book will inspire readers to take steps to document their own family members before they find out it is too late. Riccio, the "Citizen Soldier" is an inspiration not only to his family but to all Americans.

Reviewed by Joseph