The Witches of Samhain

The Witches of Samhain     

For most people, Halloween means ghosts, pumpkins, trick-or-treating and of course witches. But the warty-nosed, pointed hat-wearing witch images that decorate homes and stores at this time of year don't represent the millions of real witches who live among us.

People who practice the ancient religion of Wicca often call themselves witches. Their faith predates Christianity and focuses on celebrations of the natural world, including the change of seasons and sanctity of all living things. Some witches belong to organized groups called covens where they practice rituals and celebrate holidays together. Many other Wiccans are solitary practitioners who adjust the faith's core beliefs to their own lives and needs. Because of this, Wiccans don't all share the same beliefs or worship the same way.

Samhain, or Halloween, is one of Wicca's major holidays. It represents the final harvest of the year. As the year draws to a close, the Wiccan goddess is commonly depicted as an old woman, or a crone. Samhain is the time of year when the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest, so it's the best time to communicate with departed loved ones. Hence the season's ghosts and spooky images.

If you'd like to learn more about Wicca and real-life witches, check out one of the many books that will guide you on this fascinating journey. Many books have been written about Wiccan history, including the popular The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. If you'd like to learn how to practice Wicca, Towards the Wiccan Circle is an ebook that can get you started, and Scott Cunningham's Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner is truly a classic. There are even Samhain greeting cards that you can use to share the joys of this season with friends and family.

However you choose to celebrate, have a blessed Samhain!

Review: Sacred Success: A Course in Financial Miracles by Barbara Stanny

Sacred Success: A Course of Financial Miracles by Barbara Stanny

Link to buy Sacred Success: A Course in Financial Miracles

Story Rating: 5 out of 5

Review:

On its surface, Sacred Success appears to be designed to help women achieve financial security. It starts with author Barbara Stanny's story of how she spent years wearing figurative financial blinders while her husband threw away her money. When things eventually got so bad that she couldn't ignore the situation any longer, Stanny had to make some difficult changes. When the reader delves deeper, though, it becomes clear that this book is much more than just a primer on managing money.

Stanny says that girls aren’t taught to seek financial success, so by the time they're grown up, few women have a plan to achieve that goal. It’s not just about money, either. Certainly women need to have financial security just like men do, but Stanny points out that wealth isn’t usually the primary goal of most women. Instead if they took time to think about it, they would realize that their soul wants to achieve greatness in some way – often by helping others and improving their corner of the world. That revelation shifts the focus from simply earning money to identifying the pursuit that will fulfill a woman’s desire for greatness.

This book was a pleasant surprise. It was inspiring and well written and offered a clear step-by-step program to help readers reinvigorate their lives and find their purpose. Its title nearly prevented me from picking it up for fear of a heavy handed religious message, but that didn’t exist at all. Yes, it’s spiritual, but not religious. It’s nondenominational in its approach to the notion that God or the universe or whatever you believe in has a plan for you and it’s your job to figure that out. You won’t be happy or fulfilled until you are nourishing your soul by pursuing your purpose.

Another surprise here was that it didn’t really focus on money for a substantial portion of the book. That came later – after the more important work of figuring out a purpose, clarifying values, and determining how to avoid letting anything get in the way of that pursuit.

My only real complaint was that the book is marketed to women, while it can help anyone. Hopefully the focus won’t deter men from picking it up. We can all use a few miracles in our lives - whether they're financial or not - and Barbara Stanny has good ideas for helping readers manifest them.  

Reviewed by Peter

Review: Stuff You Should Know About Stuff by Tripp & Tyler

Stuff You Should Know About Stuff by Tripp & Tyler

Link to buy Stuff You Should Know About Stuff: How to Properly Behave in Certain Situations

Story Rating: 5 out of 5

Blurb:

Do you know how to properly conduct yourself in a public restroom?
What about while in the midst of a profoundly awkward silence?
Have you perfected how to get out of helping your friend move?

If you answered no to those questions, fear not. You need Stuff You Should Know About Stuff, the book that future anthropologists will no doubt call "the Rosetta Stone of handling trivial life situations."

From the sketch comedy duo who created the viral videos “Sh*t Nobody Says” and “Things You Can't Do When You’re Not in a Pool," Tripp and Tyler bring you the written word in Stuff You Should Know About Stuff, a guide instructing you how to navigate the treacherous waters of life’s odd quandaries.

There are even photos and illustrations for people who enjoy photos and illustrations and stuff like that. You can read it from cover to cover or you can choose to educate yourself only in conjunction with your bowel movements. Totally your call there.

Stuff You Should Know About Stuff places the priority on the trivial experiences of life, because that's where we spend most of our time; trying to recover from going for the fist bump when a casual acquaintance wanted a high five.

Review:

This is one incredibly funny book. These two guys are hysterical and are like the male equivalent of Erma Bombeck. I can only imagine what they are like out drinking on a Saturday night. They talk about real life situations that a lot of people won't even say out loud (like bare asses on hotel comforters-- a very legit concern in my opinion). 

Now while this book is written more for men, as a woman I still loved reading this. And when I mentioned a few examples from this book to a male friend I did get a few "F*ck yeah, they're right on." And the urinal illustration was confirmed as being 100% correct.

This book is highly recommended if you are looking for some real laughs. 

Reviewed by Elizabeth

Review: Jumping into the Parade: The Leap of Faith That Made My Broken Life Worth Living by Tim Brown

Jumping into the Parade: The Leap of Faith That Made My Broken Life Worth Living by Tim Brown

Link to buy Jumping into the Parade: The Leap of Faith That Made My Broken Life Worth Living

Story Rating: 3 out of 5

Review:

Tim Brown's Jumping into the Parade is a memoir that traces the author's successes and failures from childhood through adulthood. Following an aborted suicide attempt in his forties, he steps away from the ledge "both literally and figuratively" and manages to take control of his life. The book is one part recounting the stories of Brown's life, and one part inspiration for readers who seek to learn from his example, with a dash of faith thrown in to show how Brown sees God at work in his life.

This is a self-help book that's modeled after many others in the same vein. There's nothing wrong with it, but there's nothing new here, either. Yes, Brown had hardships in his life. Yes, he was depressed and nearly ended it all. Yes, he pulled himself out of his difficulties and made a conscious decision to be happy. The thing is that there are so many books like this out there that it's unclear what this one adds to the mix. For instance, the last chapter summarizes the lessons taught in the book. These lessons include such items as, "Learn from your experiences" and "Don't fear your fear." Good advice, sure, but it's been repeated elsewhere and these aren't exactly earth-shattering revelations.

One thing that seemed surprising about this book is that it was written before the author had much chance to see how well the changes he implemented in his life will work in the long term. Many of the changes happened in the past several years, and some are as recent as fall 2013. That being the case, it seems premature to say that the author's problems are permanently solved. It's unexpected that as early as fall 2014 he's already prepared to teach his secrets to others.

Overall, readers might identify with some of the personal experiences shared by Brown in his memoir. The book is told in an essay format with very little dialogue or action scenes. Some might prefer that style, while others might prefer it if he had chosen more of a "show, don't tell" strategy. If readers can gain insights and improve their circumstances through this book, then the author's mission will have been accomplished. But there's not much here that hasn't been seen in other similar works, and fans of this particular genre might walk away disappointed for that reason.

Reviewed by Peter

Review: The One Week Marketing Plan by Mark Satterfield

The One Week Marketing Plan: The Set It & Forget It Approach for Quickly Growing Your Business by Mark Satterfield

Link to buy The One Week Marketing Plan: The Set It & Forget It Approach for Quickly Growing Your Business

Story Rating: 5 out of 5

Review:

Author Mark Satterfield puts his money where his mouth is in this book designed to help business owners attract new clients simply by following a series of easy-to-understand steps. First, he advises readers to identify their niche market and figure out what problem that niche market has that can be solved by the readers' businesses. For instance, if you're an interior designer looking for more clients, you probably know that many people would love your services, but they think they can't afford a designer. In that case, solve their problem by promising to help remodel on a tiny budget. From there, Satterfield helps readers launch an entire marketing plan focused on the niche market's problem that can literally be completed in a week. No, I didn't believe it either, but in reading the book, he made it seem entirely possible.

Satterfield seems to be putting his money where his mouth is here because he followed his own advice in writing this book. His niche market is business owners who want more clients. Their problem is that they think a full-on marketing plan to attract those clients is time-consuming and expensive. Satterfield solves that problem by offering simple, clear steps that cost little to implement and can net results in a matter of days. Nicely done!

The first half of the book gives the reader daily homework assignments to follow for five days in order to get the marketing plan off the ground. The book's second half is "strategic marketing boosts" which include ideas for blogging, social media, and creating joint ventures with other business owners. These aren't part of the basic marketing plan, so can be added on later if a reader chooses.

What's most appealing about this book is the step-by-step, fill-in-the-blanks format. Satterfield does the heavy lifting for readers in many cases. It seems to go back to his desire to solve a client's problems. If a reader of this book is a poor writer and worries about not being able to send out a coherent marketing email, Satterfield solves that problem by offering sample emails with blanks that can be personalized.

This is a recommended read for business owners looking to increase their client base. In the interest of full disclosure, I didn't try to follow the plan so I can't say for sure whether it works as flawlessly as Satterfield claims. Still, this book will remain on my shelf until I'm ready to embark on my next business venture. With Satterfield's help I identified my niche market as women who can't get what they want out of a relationship with a man. I'll solve the problem by booking clients who want me to come over after work with a bottle of wine and a bag of groceries. I'll cook, listen to their complaints about coworkers, and say they deserve to splurge on a spa day. There will be a foot rub after dinner. After they fall asleep on the sofa watching Letterman, I'll do the dishes, walk the dog, and let myself out. This is the best idea since the microwave oven and with this book's help, it will be just as successful.

Reviewed by Peter

The Bible: Fiction vs Nonfiction

Is the Bible fiction or nonfiction? For believers, it's clearly nonfiction, but nonbelievers would call it pure fantasy. The argument has raged for centuries, with no sign of stopping anytime soon, but while theologians duke it out, that leaves bookstore owners and librarians in a quandary: Where should they shelve their Bibles without offending anyone on either side of the debate? 

Mega-retailer Costco found itself in the midst of this debate last year when a pastor visited one if its stores in California and found a copy of the Bible amidst the fiction books. The pastor Tweeted about it, and the story became a national debate. Meanwhile a 7^th grade student at a California school brought a copy of the Bible to school when his teacher said students were supposed to read a nonfiction book. When the teacher told him the book was fiction, all hell broke loose. Well, not all hell, exactly. But a bunch of folks had to sit down with the principal, which is essentially the same thing if we remember correctly from our school days.

Regardless of whether the Bible is fact or fiction, it has definitely inspired a great deal of literature of both the fictitious and factual variety. In nonfiction aisles at your favorite bookstore you'll find a variety of titles that help people interpret the Bible, such as The Everyday Life Bible: The Power of God's Word for Everyday Living, how the Bible's teachings can help people live their lives such as What the Bible Says about Love, Marriage, & Sex: The Song of Solomon, and of course inevitably there's The Bible for Dummies.

The Bible is also responsible for spawning a number of fiction titles. Some focus on particular characters from the Bible, including Desired: The Untold Story of Samson and Delilah and My Name is Lazarus. Some stories are based on parables in the Bible, which are fictional stories that Jesus told in order to teach lessons to his followers. One example is The Power of Parable: How Fiction by Jesus Became Fiction about Jesus.

Whether you believe the Bible is fiction or nonfiction, there are plenty of books out there to feed your interest in the book. Happy reading!

How to Talk to Hot Guys: The 9 Secrets of Getting and Keeping the Guy of Your Dreams by Mehow with David Crowther

How to Talk to Hot Guys: The 9 Secrets of Getting and Keeping the Guy of Your Dreams by Mehow with David Crowther

Link to buy How to Talk to Hot Guys: The 9 Secrets to Getting and Keeping the Guy of Your Dreams

Story Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review:

So apparently there's something called the "pickup community," and there are actually people who call themselves "pickup artists." Who knew? Mehow, the author of How to Talk to Hot Guys, is one of that community's best and brightest. It would be interesting to learn whether most members of this community identify as such, and whether they have a formal, organized group, kind of like the National Rifle Association with condoms instead of ammo. But I digress….

How to Talk to Hot Guys is designed to help women attract men. It's for readers who want to talk to hot guys in order to start relationships, as well as those who are looking for a one-night hookup with Mr. Sexy at the end of the bar. The techniques are essentially the same. You zero in on the man of your dreams – or at least a guy who doesn’t physically repel you – and engage in witty banter designed to keep the guy interested and a little off balance. In the process, you have time to determine if this is a guy who you'd like to spend time with. If he is, you can use your sense of humor to turn him into your helpless sex toy. Or the father of your children. Whatever. At that point, it's your call.

It's a great premise for a book. With the right zingers, the most desirable man is putty in your hands. Mehow even offers some suggestions for screening men to make sure you're getting a good one. After all, how many sane women want to embark on a drunken, drama-filled adventure with a non-famous, not-as-attractive version of Charlie Sheen? He also offers tips for women to help them avoid turning off decent guys. After all, how many sane men want to embark on a drunken, drama-filled adventure with a non-famous, not-as-attractive version of Lindsey Lohan?

This book has some flaws, though. First off, the conversation scenarios demand comedic timing and wit that most people don't have access to on the spur of the moment. Sure, if you're writing a book and you have months to think up clever come-backs, it looks easy. It probably wouldn't come as easily during real life conversations. Also, there are all sorts of rules and situations that were impossible to keep straight. Like when's the right time for "tease stacking" versus "sass" versus "harsh implied frames"? And what are "calibration" and "emotional value" again?

Finally, some of the recommended techniques seemed like they wouldn't attract a man so much as make him think you're either out of your mind or a total bitch. For instance, if a guy you've just met tells you, "I stopped playing football after college," a recommended response is, "Is that when you grew a vagina?" Now, that might be a good response for someone you already know fairly well, but walking up to a stranger in a bar and saying that might instead elicit a WTF? response from a lot of guys. Of course, if a man is put off when you talk about his late-onset vagina, then perhaps it's better to know that upfront before wasting too much time on him.

Reviewed by Peter

Review: Sprouted Soul: Whole Souled Poems by Doobie

Sprouted Soul: Whole Souled Poems by Doobie 

Link to buy Sprouted Soul: Whole-Souled Poems

Review:

Sprouted Soul Whole – Loved Poems by Doobie is a collection of rather short poems that describe the soul that learns to hurt and love over and over again. These poems range in descriptions from the use of sight all the way through various forms of weather. There is not a whole lot of description that can be given without giving away the poems.

Doobie provides very short poems that feel rather incomplete. These poems seem to just give a glimpse into the writer’s soul and what they feel when writing the poem. The best poetry comes from the heart and when a poet allows that emotion to shine so does the poem that they have written. Many of these feel as if the writer has forced the words to come forth making the poems lack the impact that the writer wants to convey. However, with all of that said it is obvious that Doobie has talent that as they write will come through so keep your eye on this poet. This particular set of poems receives a 3 out of 5 score simply because of the budding talent that is shown in these poems.

Reviewed by Unrequited Spirit