5 comments about Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich (Revised edition).

1. Elgin's book is a classic on embodied environmentalism: it demonstrates the actions that we can take in our lives to impact negative environmental outcomes; this book also provides a clear model for our embodied action. This is an empowerment book written by a Father of the movement. The depth and richness of Elgin's insight flows off of every page. A must read for anyone ready to embody their values into action on behalf of the Earth!



2. Hours of my life energy wasted in reading this collection of chapters from a think-tank hippie that I will never get back.
   
   Totally worthless. The only pages worth their ink are the "Suggested Readings" list at the end: provides a list of books from authors that actually know how to write and provide useful information on learning to live simply in our modern world.
   
   In one of his token verses acknowledging Christianity he quotes from 1 John 3:17, but in his ignorance erroneously attributes it to the Gospel of John 3:17 (page 47).



3. Elgin, the author of Voluntary Simplicity, however, is bringing up his Now observation to point out that we can't even get to voluntary if we get strangled by a mind all bound up in phantasms of the past or the future. That's an interesting argument, and I wonder how it might apply to the freedom movement as well. Topic for another day.
   
   By identifying the spiritual basis for a different, more elegant way of living, the author couldn't be more on target. Still, most people reading the book are interested in some practical guidelines for how we can decomplexify our lives in the real external world. Elgin, I feel, eventually delivers, in Chapter 5 Living More Simply, where he outlines three basic areas that we can address immediately:
   
   ...
   
   For my complete review of this book and for other book and movie
   reviews, please visit my site [...]
   
   Brian Wright
   Copyright 2007



4. I'm a great devotee of voluntary simplicity and have read many excellent books on the subject (among my favorites are Janet Luhr's "Guide to Simple Living," Dominguez's "Your Money or Your Life," and Dyzychen's "Tightwad Gazette" collections). This is definitely the worst and least helpful of them all. Seems extremely dated (even though revised in 1998) and "70s" with rather hazy California granola/New Age overtones. The author spends a lot of time waxing poetic on the more general philosophy of the movement (with an emphasis on one motivation, while ignoring others) rather than discussing and offering practical suggestions and tips for achieving a simpler life. Excepts from those practicing the lifestyle were helpful, but the entire book seemed very heavily-handedly biased in favor of a sort of self-congratulatory socialist "sharing the wealth/taking from the rich to give to the poor" doctrine which not all who embrace VS also embrace. Personally, I don't work hard at living simply in order to give the noney I save in doing so away to those who don't work as hard as I do and thus don't have as much, and I gradually grew to resent the assumption that this is what VS is (or should be) all about. For many of us, it's more about being free (i.e., saving money so as to sustain ourselves on less) vs. feeling guilty about being born in "a land of wealth." Too 60s flower child and liberal-leaning for my taste, with not enough substance to sustain it. Possibly a good introduction to the subject and perhaps significant in its day (the early 80s), but it doesn't stand the test of time, in my opinion. There are better books on the topic out there, but at least now it's off my must-read list.



5. What a beautiful book with clear and meaningful information to understand what real "Dolce Vita" or living with simplicity is all about.
   
   We work harder to buy the next gadget, we work hard to fix and maintain the gadget, we work hard to play with it and more.... In the mean time we forget about the true meaning of living simply and enjoying life.
   
   This book will open your eyes and make you realize what is important in life. I found so many pleasure in the ideas written in the book, it does make life simpler to live.

5 comments about Depressed and Anxious: The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Workbook for Overcoming Depression & Anxiety.

1. This will be an informative read for most, requiring somewhere around a high school reading level. Its layout is pretty straightforward and the concepts are presented clearly.
   
   Whenever people have difficulty understanding a book like this there are three basic reasons:
   1) The material is accepted by the reader but somehow distorted or too complex to comprehend.
   2) The material is deliberately blocked by the reader because it violates some deep seated belief.
   3) The reader is compelled by anxiety and intolerant of the pace the `material requires'. This last one obviously holds a particular note of caution for the readers of this text.
   
   Of the three possibilities, most readers will discover that option one is `not' an option.
   
   I suggest that anyone struggling with option two take a good serious look at Zen. Pure Zen is neither a religion nor a philosophy; it is a `path of liberation'. Its purpose is to free the mind from vicious circles of behavior and thought. And it works! DBT is a union between Zen and western psychoanalytic theory. For those that are interested, the following books on Zen are 'must haves' and should be read in addition to this book:
   Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
   The Three Pillars of Zen: teaching, practice, and enlightenment by Philip Kapleau
   Nothing Special: Living Zen by Charlotte Joko Beck
   
   Take this book to heart; it will help.



2. Can a book save your life? This book saved mine. The book along with therapy.
   This book was rather dry reading but the end of the book contains lots of worksheets that can make all the difference. I wish this author would do a book of JUST worksheets. It is a book that was written more for the professional therapists or people studying this type of therapy but I have used it in group therapies and it is powerful and helpful.
   When I first started, I tried to read the book but didn't understand it so I ripped out the last 1/2 of the book (Pages 105 - 180)..those were the worksheets and they made all the difference. After that I was ready for pages 59 - 105.
   I eventually made it from page 1 and on but it is slow reading.
   I know I only gave this book a 3, but it saved my life. It is just that it took three readings before I could really understand it.



3. This book broke my habit of black and white thinking. I love the use of monitoring my feelings on a continuum. I am always between extremes, which is fine with me. Because of this book, I will never see anything as completely dark.
   
   I suffered from GAD, Agoraphobia and clinical depression. Originally, my doctors put me on medicine for anxiety, but these became addictive. Eventually, I had to withdraw.
   
   Since I could only afford to go to a non-profit clinic, therapy was short lived. Eventually, the doctors put me on a anti-depressant, which has worked well. I remained clean from all drugs and alcohol.
   
   I have been reading books about depression and anxiety; this author places them side by side and I love it.



4. Although it is called Depressed & Anxious, it does provide a complete explanation of DBT. Once again its a workbook and if you buy this workbook you need to follow the instructions to get the most out of it. DBT isn't easy but its worth trying.



5. I am a licensed practicing Ph.D. psychologist and very familiar with Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)theory and practice. I have read and recommended this book to clients, and have also been using the book with clients. It is a very organized, dense book that is packed with complex theory and operationalization of theory. The reader may feel temporarily worse from an emotional perspective after reading the beginning chapters because these chapters clarify explicityl and in great detail what is problematic in all aspects of his/her life. However, if the reader can stick with the book, the later chapters provide tools to challenge problematic thinking as well as coping techniques. If the reader is overwhelmed reading the book independently, I would recommend seeing an experienced psychologist or other mental health professional who is familiar with DBT and can assist in working through the material. I also highly recommend this book to any practicing clinician who works with depression and anxiety.

5 comments about Neuro-Linguistic Programming for Dummies.

1. I second the nomination made by the Honest Abe reviewer, Andy Bradbury.
   
   This was in the blurb for this book that I received from the "Dummies" mailing list:
   
   "Your unconscious can't process negatives. It interprets everything you think as a positive thought. So if you think, 'I don't want to be poor,' your unconscious mind focuses on the 'poor and, because it doesn't do negatives, the thought becomes 'I want to be poor.'"
   
   This astonishing claim made me wonder what sort of "neuro-linguistic programming" had been inflicted on the authors. There is no scientific, clinical, or even anecdotal evidence to support this claim. The idea that negatives automatically become positives in the unconscious, as in "I don't want to die" becomes "I want to die", is purely arbitrary.
   
   Here and there a psychiatric patient who claims he/she does not want to die but seems bent to do so could certainly be cherry-picked out of a clinical pool to support this claim; but so could thousands upon thousands of other patients to support thousands and thousands of other claims about the unconscious. What this book reports amounts to nothing more than The Claim of the Day.
   
   What, for example, does such a claim make of wealthy people who are obsessed with not being poor? Do their unconscious minds actually want to be poor and are hugely unsuccessful at making that happen? Or is this conflict supposedly why rich people are sometimes observed to be unhappy? What then about rich people who do not want to be poor and are happy?
   
   With so many variables up in the air - and so many ignored - I found this book and all its vague, unsupported hypotheses to be impossible to juggle.
   
   If the authors are to be believed, my unconscious absolutely loves this book. What do you think?



2. Very succint and easy to understand. A few U.S. to Brit. dialect translations will appear and it is just slightly geared toward women but it is a well written book in my opinion. I got a lot out of it. Thanks to the authors.



3. I really enjoyed this book. A few friends recommended it and I have studied other NLP related material in the past. This book spells out a lot of the powerful concepts of NLP, and gives you real lessons that you can use to apply NLP and change your life.
   
   And if you don't know what Neuro Linguistic Programming is, this is a great way to find out.
   
   Also, If your friends have been bugging you to read "The Secret", but you're turned off by all the spiritual mumbo jumbo. check this book out. Its basically a scientific approach to the reality behind The Secret.



4. For Dummies series is brilliant. I have now got CBT for dummies and NLP for dummies. Both are easy reading, you can pick them up and open at any page. No jargon, anyone can understand the concepts in both books. I have used them to inform my Mental Health student nurses about the different approaches to treatment of depression, anxiety etc.
   As I was a first timer on Amazon I was a little apprehensive about ordering 'on-line' and not absolutely sure I was going to get the goods ordered. However, they were quick to deliver, cheaper than the high street, I will not hesitate to order 'on-line' from Amazon in the future.



5. I totally agree with -among others- D. Font and would like to thank him for referring to Honest Abe's website which I found very usefull. This book isn't worth your time nor your money.

5 comments about Mastering Computer Typing: A Painless Course for Beginners and Professionals.

1. This book is written to give beginner and expert guidance in typing. It is well written.



2. This book is the best self-training material ever... the simplicity of the instructions and the order of lessons give a sense of smooth progression!



3. This book was helpful in that it provided lots of practice in a straight forward manner. It requires time dedication and self discipline. Overall a useful tool well worth the price.



4. nice, easy to follow typing book for both those just starting out and for those who need refreshening



5. The best way to learn typing. You have to spend an hour each day for a month, and you learn typing with ease. The books strongest feature is simplicity: to have some easy task for each day. If you work with a keyboard, you have to buy this book.

5 comments about Black Swan: The Twelve Lessons of Abandonment Recovery.

1. I bought this for a woman I care deeply about. I knew she had some abandonment issues and thought it may help and want her to be happy and healthy even if she's not with me. I read through it briefly. I'm sure it helped me too and I don't have this type of issues. It's the only book I've read besides parts of The Message (bible by Eugene Peterson) were I felt strange afterwards. A weird kind of good headache. It's written about a girl named Amanda that meets with a black swan (therapist) that talks with her to teach her the 12 steps (lessons) that she is a stong person and can survive and be happy in the world all on her own. It helps you develop inner strengths (reaffirms power and control) that people, mainly women and children "belief" they don't have; was stolen. It is a short, easy read. It has a self guided mediation of the 12 steps in the back. I would suggest everyone read this book. It could radically change you life for the better.



2. Black Swan: The Twelve Lessons of Abandonment Recovery
   
   I bought this book for a friend who is receiving counselling due to abandonment issues from childhood. I wasn't sure whether it would help or not. However, after the first few pages, my friend broke down in floods of tears, so it certainly went straight to the heart of her problem.
   
   She has told me that she finds the book very helpful, and intends following each step in the book to, hopefully, some kind of recovery. She said that she thought one would have to have suffered abandonment to fully relate to this book. She said that it walked her through each step and emotion that she had felt at the time of abandonment, and that the child in the book was just as she was at that time.
   
   She would give it full marks.



3. This is a book on abandonment that is put in a childs story. The reason this works is because the material comes through without the typical roadblocks we put up when reading academic stuff. Like music would, it gets inside you via your heart. I love this book and have purchased it 4 times and need to buy another...I keep giving them away. It is a lovely book. I can't tell you how wonderful this is.



4. Excellent book. I highly recommend the book. The book is written through a child's experience. It's a great way to illustrate the hurt, pain, one feels when abandoned. Reading the book brought back the experiences I felt when I was a child and my father abandoned us.
   
   The child in the book was able to learn from her painful experience, deal with the hurt and grow from it.
   
   I highly recommend the book. I think the book would also be a great tool for children old enough to understand it's contents.



5. This book is so easy to read and understand that anyone can benefit from its amazing clarity and brevity, yet the wisdom is rich and deep. If you have suffered abandonment of any type, it is a must read!

5 comments about Receiving Love: Transform Your Relationship by Letting Yourself Be Loved.

1. According to these PhD authors, it is easier to give love than to receive it. It goes back to our childhoods when a parent failed to nurture and rejected the person who depended on him for her very life. When a mother is absent, and a mean uncaring father ignores the daughter, she ends up with a complex which clearly says "Nobody can love me, so why try."
   
   When we get grown, even married to a noncaring, sick man, it is impossible to get the love we want and need. Sometimes, you just have to look elsewhere. And that's not good for the children. Oh yes, you can have children without loving the father of those children. Sometimes, it is forced on you; sometimes it is taken from you when an abusive husband forces the wife to have an abortion, because He does not want to spend money to raise another one.
   
   In this book, there is a guide to help one break the shackles of self-hate and -rejection, and to accept love from others. So often, what they are offering is not love, so you must weigh the issues and try to come to a logical (not emotional) conclusion. Your very life depends on it.
   
   First, you must accept what is offered, but not indiscriminately. Be sure it is love and not lust. All women are "used" on occasion, but if possible you must not give in. The authors of this guide to help you to decipher true love from false promises look to be a couple. There is a science to any relationship; learning to accept love from the person you do love will make you whole again. We all have the potential to love freely and devotedly.
   
   However, you can love more than one man at a time!



2. I am familiar with Hendrix's Imago workshop format, attended one years ago in NY with my significant other. It was one of the most challenging and difficult weekend experiences of my life! The relationship did not last, having NOTHING to do with the workshop (it was hanging by threads before).
   Years later, a good friend who is a therapist, recommended Receiving Love. I felt quite resistant, based on my limited experience, however, since I know many couples who have benefitted from Harville's work, I decided my resistance must mean there is something for me to learn.
   I am learning and opening my heart to issues I thought were healed. Maybe some stuff is never complete... at least for me, I sometimes need more fine tuning, to rehash areas of my childhood that may be lingering quietly in the dark recesses.
   The book is a valuable guide (even for those not in relationship right now, like me) to clarify why things are not working in the "sample" couples. In fact, I think the sampling covers just about any potential issue, except perhaps extreme abuse.
   The exercises are very challenging, I've only done the easy ones so far. The material is deeply thought-provoking, solidly researched and presented with compassion and intellect.
   I appreciate the Hendrixes work, style and dedication to helping people discover themselves. This material offers the endless opportunity to heal yourself and help your mate heal their childhood wounds. Isn't that what we all want?
   Give yourself and your partner a huge gift... read this book, then do the exercises. And talk and keep talking...
   Pie Dumas - Author & Life Coach



3. A very interesting and insightful book. Here are some representative excerpts.
   
   God can be more easily found in human love than in the human mind - from the Brothers Karamazov
   
   Ongoing interaction with a long-term partner can be an agent of transformation more powerful than any other. We have come to believe that it is the clearest way for transformation to occur.
   
   Sooner or later in every relationship the initial attraction turns into a power struggle as couples find themselves facing in their spouse the same behavior and attitudes that drove them crazy in their parents. (Or it could be they project issues they had in the past with other people onto their spouse).
   
   It turns out that loving your partner is the best way to facilitate your own personal and spiritual growth.
   
   The impulse to step away from positive input is an indication that you have problems receiving love.
   
   The most important commitment we (the authors) made were to end negativity and move toward amplifying the positive, even though we said many times we didn't know how to do that.
   
   Separate Knowing = what is real and true exists independently of who is doing the observing.
   
   Connected Knowing = Let me suspend my critical judgments for a minute and see if I can enter your world and try to feel the truth of what you are saying.
   
   We are formed from every important relationship we have ever had.
   
   No one comes to a relationship empty handed. There are all kinds of information, prejudice, wishful thinking, and expectations interjected between people before they really get to know each other.
   
   Self-rejection and self-hatred are directly related to the problems people have in receiving love; i.e., "I'm not good enough".
   
   What do butterflies and good relationships have in common? Both are colorful, but they also go thru 4 stages: For good relationships they are: attraction, romance, power struggle, and mature love (the full blown butterfly). For humans, volition is required for their transformation. Romantic partners have to become conscious (not act unconsciously), set goals, exercise patience and make good choices if their relationship is to progress to the next level.
   
   We assign our partners characteristics we don't allow ourselves to have. We attribute a quality, fault, skill, motive, thought or feeling that originates from us. In a way we project onto them what we don't or won't know about ourselves.
   One clue that it's a projection rather than an objective assessment is if it's veracity is asserted repeatedly, with intense emotion.
   
   Being quick to anger or excessively self-absorbed are more often a symptom of unhealed wounds rather than a character defect. When people are mistreated as children, they don't know they have sustained a hit that strongly shapes the way they will connect to friends and other intimates in the future.
   
   Kindness is an appropriate way of life when everyone is carrying the burden of previous psychological injuries.
   
   Self rejection often masquerades as something else. It can be disguised as hypercriticalism of others or dissatisfaction and negativity about life in general. It can also look like perfectionism or shyness or a reluctance to extend oneself by trying new things.
   
   A person who is having trouble receiving love will show it by consistently deflecting the positives and/or absorbing the negatives.
   
   No matter how disconnected we feel, we are still part of the universal, interwoven tapestry of life. We cannot live in isolation, and we cannot heal alone.
   
   We know that the reason people can't receive love is because they can't accept positive input for traits, talents, and qualities they've disowned, and they can't receive gifts their parents didn't approve of their having. In other words, self-rejection and self-hatred block their ability to take in what would be healing.
   
   You cannot even heal your disconnection by loving other people or by loving God. You may compensate for your self-hatred by loving others, but you do not heal the breach within yourself. You must start loving in your partner those traits, habits, attitudes, and behaviors that give you the most trouble, in fact the very things he or she does that drives you crazy. It could be anything.
   
   What you don't like or have rejected in yourself, you tend to project onto others, with the most on-target projections aimed at your partner. In order to relate to the parts of yourself that are missing, you project them onto your partner and relate to them in that form. You can experience the disapproval and dislike you have for yourself by disapproving and disliking those same things in your mate. This sounds far-fetched only because most projections are created in the unconscious. You don't know you're doing it.
   
   The key is to understand, accept and `love' in your partner the things you hate, because then, in effect, you will be loving them in yourself. This works because the brain doesn't make a distinction between loving yourself and loving the Other. So when you approach the faults or your partner; i.e. your own projections of your partner's faults, with understanding, tolerance and acceptance, you get a double bonus. You experience understanding, tolerance, and acceptance for yourself as well as for your partner. Through repeated acts of loving acceptance, you gather to yourself all your neglected, abused, and frightening parts. Gradually you are restored to wholeness through the hard work of practicing acceptance.
   
   What you need to do:
   
   1. Make a list of the traits you would eliminate or exaggerate in you could in your partner.
   
   2. Examine your list and know that these same traits are in some way connected to you. They are a mirror of the things you have rejected in yourself.
   
   What you make up about your partner (or anyone else) and invest with energy is also true of you. The more you're trying to protect yourself from yourself, the more your projections will seem to you to bear no resemblance to yourself, and the more you will tell yourself that you are not like that in any way. Only when you stop projecting will you know that you've started to become whole.
   
   Fear can make people deaf. It can limit people to talking, without truly communicating.
   
   The inability to listen is always related to how deeply the person is wounded, and therefore, self-absorbed and closed-in.



4. The book was received in a timely manner and the condition was as promised.
   
   Have just finished reading "Getting the Love you Want" by the same author. He has the best way of presenting & teaching that I've ever experienced with a writer on this subject matter. And, wonderful exercises are included at the end to enable readers to practice application of what they've just read. Very helpful.



5. I think this is essential reading for reflection for ALL couples whether they have been married one day or eighty years

5 comments about Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul: 101 Stories.

1. Perhaps the words "for the Unsinkable Soul" had misled me to over expect, I was quite disappointed. The stories are relatively plain and uninteresting. It's a complete stereotype of the first three servings, but with much less glamour and appeal.

   In case you are still very satisfied with the third serving, which I believe only people who had completed the first three servings would look for a book like this, go for it. If you had already been tired of the third one after the first two, this book is not for you.




2. i found that when reading a few of the stories i felt greatly moved, more books like Chicken soup should be written as i feel deeply emotional especially as something unforgettable happened to me recently that has made me look at life completely differently.



3. My friend gave me this book a few years ago, when I was going through a rough time.
   I give it 4 stars, because it is not as great as previous Chicken Soup books. But the stories are still very inspiring.
   Each story is more emotional & moving than the next. Lots of tears were shed, as I read these stories. It makes you realize that your problems aren't so bad & there are a lot of people who have it worse off than you. You must keep a positive attitude & remember that 'life goes on.'
   If you are looking to put your problems into perspective & see the big picture, then this book is for you.



4. A reminder that others have made their way, and we can too.



5. I bought this for my sister who relocated to Kansas and is having a tough time in her life; She is one who doesn't like books and never picks up a book; however she LOVES this book! the short stories filled with courage, love and inspiration help her get through this chapter in her life.

5 comments about Pretending to Be Normal: Living With Asperger's Syndrome.

1. I have now read several books by adults with autism or aspergers. This is a good book to read if you want a better understanding of the autism spectrum and how it plays out in children who otherwise appear "normal". The author describes very well what life was like for her in high school and college. She also writes about her marriage and some of the challenges in that. I believe that this is the first book I have read that goes into that type of depth of close relationships. At the end of the book she has chapters such as organizing your home life, employment options and survival skills for college students. I will probably read those chapters again and in more depth when my son is older. I think that many of the suggestions would be helpful to someone on the AS.



2. Pretending to Be Normal: Living With Asperger's Syndrome
   This book is must read for anyone dealing with Asperger's children, teens and young adults. L. Wiley's insights into her own responses and feelings enables a better understanding of the behaviors we see, and also insight into some of our goals, that may not be shared by those with whom we are working.



3. Liane Holliday Wiley's Pretending to be Normal: Living With Asperger's Syndrome is a very insightful look into the condition, from someone who has it herself. Wiley provides entertaining, and at times heartbreaking, anecdotes of her life, as she grew up not knowing she had Asperger's, but knowing she was different in some way. The advantage of reading a book like this is that it is written by someone who has the condition, albeit undiagnosed, so it provides better insight on the condition than a parent or professional, who doesn't have the condition himself or herself. On the other hand, as another poster has stated, Wiley seems to go back and forth between accepting her Asperger's as the way she is, and saying she's better now that "her Asperger's traits continue to fade away", yet admittedly, that is how many "Aspies" feel. Bottom line: I would recommend this book, but keep in mind that it's not perfect. Especially useful for Aspies or friends and loved ones of Aspies, and anyone who wants to learn more about Asperger's Syndrome.



4. I really enjoyed Liane's story - it gave me hope that my Aspie daughter (and son) will grow up to have fulfilling lives.



5. I'm the one who is fed up with pretending to be normal like anyone else. I have been feeling distant and different from other people like she felt in her university days. I usually felt neglected, alienated, and discounted when interacting with other people. They superficially seemed nice to me, but actually they implicitly hated me. That was why I could trust nobody else. I often felt left behind like the author missed her college classes in a state of confusion in the crowd. After I was diagnosed with ADHD and Asperger syndrome(AS), I realized that I don't have to pretend to be a neuro-typical(NT) person any more! Even though I come to know my AS traits now, it has been very tough to maintain stable relationships with other people, which causes frequent job changes. Especially, unwritten rules and sudden changes get on my nerves! NT people have taken them for granted, though.
   
   Recently I have come to recognize I could find someone to go to bat for; job hunting agency staff who deal with challenged people have trying so hard to understand the specifics of developmental impairments. To my great surprise, they know the ropes more than typical hard-headed psychiatrists! Thanks to them, I can be more objective and understand both the pros and cons of AS and ADHD more than before I met them.
   
   Like Liane Holliday Willy said, people with AS can be normal with more understanding people, I'd say. Then they won't have to suppress their feelings and stress themselves out!

5 comments about Meditations For Receiving Divine Guidance, Support, and Healing 2-CD.

1. I really love the meditation cd's. They are wonderful in helping you to develop and open yourself up. I highly recommend them.



2. This is by far the best meditation CD I have ever listened to. There are three meditations on it. Sonia begins the first with a very short "bio", and then immediately gets to it. There is no other "talk" on it. Other tapes force me to wait until the explanation is complete before "getting down to it". This CD gets right to it and keeps me there. It is very gentle and affirming. I feel so nurtured and relaxed after it. Sonia's voice is a pleasure to listen to, and her inflexions make me think she's in the room with me. I love it and am very grateful for it.



3. I don't like this CD because
   1. Sonia Choquette's voice is recorded some times too loud , other times too quiet - it is very inconsistent :(
   2. her voice is awful! (high-pitched ; it was driving me crazy)
   3. the style of the meditation is confusing: "connect with your heavenly father and your heavenly mother" --> I don't know what she is talking about. I am familiar with the concept of Mother Earth and Father Universe , but my imagination doesn't go as far as to be able to imagine them hugging me...
   
   Simply put: Sonia Choquette's meditations are not my style. I like Doreen Virtue and Collette Baron-Reid much better.



4. These meditations are very moving, guide you to personal/spiritual growth and to opening up. Sonia's voice is very calm and relaxing. Easy to listen to and to enjoy!



5. I so look forward to the stopping of thought,quieting of my mind and relaxing to these 2 beautiful CDs. Soothing voice and music have an incredible calming effect. Another CD, also very empowering and healing that I would recommend also is Living The Secret Everyday:My Secret Meditation...narrated by a very gentle man's voice and beautiful music.Try them both.

5 comments about The New Bottoming Book.

1. Unlike a few we've read, this book was written from a more hetero- friendly point of view. Although there are scenarios described between alternative couples, they are tastleful and much less anecdotal in nature than some that seem to be more of a BDSM gay's memoirs. We enjoyed the scene suggestions and perspectives offered into a bottom's head space. This revised book is written assuming one is not just a 'curious beginner', so it didn't overdo the often present common-sense "safety" section, and it's definitely not a 'how-to'...instead I found it an insightful and pleasant read for the novice bottom.



2. I'm new to this and this is the first book that I've read on the subject, so I was quite excited to get my hands on it. It is an excellent book, but the way that things are worded are from a very philosophical perspective and not a more concrete perspective. There's nothing at all wrong with this persay, however, I tend to grasp concrete concepts much more easily than those presented from a philosophical standpoint. I would have given it 4.5 stars because it really is good, but Amazon won't let me split fine hairs. If you have any interest in this subject from either a dominants or a submissive's point of view then I would recommend that you read this first.



3. This is the second version of "The Bottoming Book," the first one having been published a decade before and much has changed with the world and with the authors, including their names. Catherine A. Liszt, who had minor children that she wished to protect at the time of the first edition, now writes under her real name, Janet W. Hardy. The authors have since written several other books as well.
   This 173-page guide to the art of "bottoming" is packed full of information and personal insights that have the ring of obvious common sense. That's not an easy task since to most people in the world, the entire concepts of BDSM seem like they are straight out of the Hellish visions of painter Hieronymus Bosch.
   The book is like a peek into the strange, dark side of the human mind. Oddly enough, the people involved as bottoms and tops find enlightenment, out-of-body experiences and spiritualism from their excursions into D&S sub-space, trances and endorphin charged highs. I actually hesitated to publish this review under my own name, but it's only a book review and this is still a free country, even for that portion of the nation that is truly kinky and the much larger group that is simply curious about kink and its practitioners--like me.
   It would be impossible for me to provide much detail about the content of this book because it is extremely complicated and yet amazingly simple and understandable. This is not a book for dummies although difficult concepts and what seems like universal paradoxes are amazingly well articulated and explained. This is also not an instruction book on the various techniques of how to flog the skin off a helpless victim. The authors, who write as a team, describe their book as "an unabashedly-centrist book. In it we will tell you over and over again that bottoms are beautiful, bottoms are powerful, bottoms are alchemists who magically transform suffering into sex, humiliation in desire, screams of pain into moans of pleasure." The authors actually do a pretty good job of doing just that--not only explaining why, but also how. That's a hugely difficult task.
   The human mind is a marvelous thing. The complexities of that mind are limitless. This book delves into the many subcultures that are coming out of the closet to proclaim their place in mainstream society. Once the reader has read this book they will still have lots of questions, but they will also have gained a much better sense of what this subculture is really about and how it is often more caring and safety minded than regular society. While it seems to be totally non-politically correct, especially because it uses pain and humiliation and many criminal themes (being captured by pirates or slaves and their masters for instance) as the building blocks of role playing and sexual fulfillment as consensual ADULT forms of loving and caring the reader will quickly realize that much lies below the surface of myths of the world of tops and bottoms. Reading this book is like opening a door into a whole new world of understanding. This reviewer apologizes for not being better able to convey the material contained in this tome. This review is only a few ice crystals on the peak of a gigantic iceberg. The insights contained in this book are a fascinating discovery even for middle-aged conservative and vanilla adults such as me. It could never be considered a boring read. And it won't give the reader nightmares either, it's too thought provoking. It's amazing what some perfectly normal, loving folks will do for limitless amounts of mind-boggling sensation.



4. This book was a fast and easy read while still imparting a lot of useful information.



5. Very well written, it is for any submissive that wants a fresh side on the lifestyle. I will read more books by this author.