Brida by Paul Coelho

There is a quote from the New York Times on the back of the book that stay "Coelho is a novelist who writes in a universal language"...it couldn't be more true. In this story, he tells the story of Brida, a young Irish girl, who has always believed in magic, and her search leads her to two people of great wisdom. She is searching for her destiny, as we all are to some extent, and this follows her through love and self-doubt, as well of passion, and spirituality.

I love lately that the books I am drawn to are somewhat magical, or spirit searching, as these themes represent where I am right now - through stories such as Brida's, I feel encouraged and inspired and sane.

This is a beautiful novel.

Breath by Tim Winton

A very quick read - I literally couldn't put it down - I dove into Breath, and didn't want to surface until the very last page. The blurb on the back of the book gives us no idea what we're in for - and is so vague and non-descript that I probably wouldn't have looked at it twice had it not been lent to me.

Bruce Pike in current day is a paramedic - we follow him to a call, that finds a young man dead due to asphyxiation. Pike gently holds the hand of the grieving mother, knowing what happened, even though she tried to erase the evidence. He knows the truth, and he takes us back - far back - to the start of his story.

It's a beautiful story - a sad story - but a beautiful tragedy. Surfing, idols, young love, sexual discoveries, friendships, loneliness, adventure - a complicated youth that grows into a complicated adult. We witness Pike's childhood, and the surprises and disappoints that come with it.

A very good read. And now I want to learn how to surf.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

From the first chapter, I was completely absorbed. I felt like I had fallen through a crack into an undiscovered and beautiful land - Grossman took me to this magical place, just as C.S. Lewis had with the Chronicles of Narnia, and J.K. Rowling had with Harry Potter - to my immense delight, I was completely transported by the magical words on the magical page.

This feeling carried me through a good first part of the book, and I happily followed our hero, Quentin, and his bizarre mix of friends, through their magical training, and intricate workings of friendships and relationships. But unlike Lewis or Rowling, who gave us time and space with our characters, and whom we watched grow and adventure over many novels, Grossman gives us Book I through IV in one novel - and rapidly, too fast almost, we see our young protagonist grow into a complicated, miserable adult. It's a strange progression, and at times I felt like there was just too much happening. I wanted it to slow down - I wanted to see the characters develop slowly, gently - and of course, I wanted, at the end of this novel, to feel magical. Instead I felt sad.

Perhaps the disappointments and sadness are much closer to real life - and what really happens...but I, for one, believe in the magical goodness that exists, even if we can't see it all of the time.

A great escape, but it gets heavy and dark...that said, I am looking forward the sequel, due out in 2011.

Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth

Another dive into the spirit, and our connection with ourselves.

Our relationship with food, and the way we eat, mirrors our feelings about love, anger, fear, meaning and God. I felt in many places that one could substitute food with any addiction - be it alcohol, drugs, or sex. The way we eat, when we eat, how we eat, what we eat, how we live with food in our lives, all say something about how we feel about ourselves.

Roth shares many stories from the workshops that she runs - all in all, I found many stories I could relate to, from my earlier years on earth - my struggles with accepting myself, or feeling accepted by others - my need to please others - I felt I could rewind my life film, and see how I acted about my insecurities through how I chose to eat.

When we learn the root cause of our behaviors, when we learn to express our feelings and what is happening for us emotionally, and when we learn to accept ourselves and these feelings, this gets us to the core of why we do what we do.

If you are on a journey into your spirit, I recommend you add this to your reading list.

The Four Agreements: A Toltec Wisdom Book by Don Miguel Ruiz

Wow.

"But there is really no reason to suffer. The only reason you suffer is because you choose to suffer. If you look at your life you will find many excuses to suffer, but a good reason to suffer you will not find. The same is true for happiness. The only reason you are happy is because you choose to be happy. Happiness is a choice, and so is suffering.

Maybe we cannot escape from the destiny of the human, but we have a choice: to suffer our destiny or to enjoy our destiny. To suffer, or to love and be happy. To live in hell, or to live in heaven. My choice is heaven. What is yours?"

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.

breaking open the head by daniel pinchbeck

This book was recommended to me by a client of mine, after I told her about the adventure in Peru that I was about to go on. In "Breaking Open the Head", Pinchbeck delves into various psychedelics, both exploring them through great thinkers and seekers such as Allen Ginsberg, Antonin Artaud, Walter Benjamin and Terence McKenna, as well as his own personal explorations into other dimensions made available through these medicinal plants and drugs.

Psychedelics are feared in North America - we are closed to the idea that any healing can take place through any alternative means, such as ayahuascha and iboga, which are used in tribal cultures around the world because of their visionary compounds.

Pinchbeck explores worlds through the use of the two medicinal plants mentioned above, but also of mushrooms, and a variety of other compounds. What opened up to him was worlds he didn't know existed, and he makes valid arguments about the validity and existence of these other worlds.

My own adventure with ayahuascha changed my life - it made available to be healing that I didn't know was possible, and that I have spent many years striving for. Aya showed me how important love is, both of self and of life, it made forgiveness a priority and brought clarity to my spirit. Each person's experience with the medicine is different, and the experience changes each time you use it, but I am grateful to have found the beauty of the healing vines.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book, and suggest you give yourself the time and space you need to read it, because it's a lot to absorb.

Vacation reads

so, i read a lot when away. lots of beach reading. but good things. i first dove into a bit of nonfiction with The Best American Crime Reporting 2009, started it when i was in the hospital the day before we left, yep that's right, the hospital. i had to go to bali against the advice of two separate doctors! and i was fine. i just have to have a tiny little surgery at some point in the next week or so. i really liked this book a lot. "Thieves, liars, and killers--it's a criminal world out there, and someone has to write about it. A thrilling collection of the year's best reportage by the aces of the true-crime genre brings together the mysteries and missteps of an eclectic and unforgettable set of criminals. Gripping, suspenseful, and brilliant." I especially liked the one about crime migrating from cities to suburbs due to a nation wide experiment demolishing public-housing projects. Quite a smart read.

Then I read another Kurt Wallander mystery by Henning Mankell called The White Lioness. I know I know, another one but this was my favorite. It switched course partway through and all of a sudden the original case he was pursuing became something else entirely. Also, this is the first time the author included sections from the perspective of different characters mixed in with Wallander's. It was great. Totally gripping and interesting stuff mixed in about apartheid south africa. I wish you liked mysteries.


Next I spent one night reading a kid's book called The Penderwicks. I am in love with this book. It reminds me of all of my favorite kid's books from when I was a kid. Kinda old fashioned but not at all. Story of four sisters and their dad spending a month of vacation in the cottage of a mansion where a
mean lady and a lonely boy live. There's a rakish boy gardener and plenty of adventures. You should read this. It is lovely and simple.



The last book I read, The Black Path by Asa Larsson, was actually the third of a series that the author says she means to be 6 books when completed. I didn't realize this when I chose it or I might have started with the first one, but it reads well on its own. It starts with a woman prosecutor who has been released from a mental institute because the last case she had became so extremely traumatic that she snapped. She moves back to her home town and starts working in a local office. There is a terrible murder there and the local cops get her to help them out on the case. The interesting thing about the author's writing style is the history she goes into with so many of the characters. At one moment you are in the investigation, the next you are reading about how the one character's sister grew up. It all becomes relevant and ties together neatly at the end, but is definitely playing with genre lines. Anyway, I really liked it and now really want to read the first two.