http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/121373 en-US Tue, 13 May 2008 06:27:11 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 22136662 Tue, 13 May 2008 06:27:11 -0700
author: David Sedaris
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/13/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 20747148 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:33:08 -0700
author: Dave Marinaccio
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 04/23/08
shelves:
review:
Haha! Really a cute anecdotal book that offers plenty of opportunity to laugh out loud and reflect at the same time!
]]> 20730685 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:27:46 -0700
author: Tom Cowan
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1993
rating: 3
read at: 01/97
date added: 04/22/08
shelves:
review:
Honestly, I read this book over 10 years ago. If I recall properly, it describes the experiences of modern (celtic) shamanism, it's trance traditions and mythological roots. 10 years later I read Julian Jaynes' "Origins of Conciousness" which added a wonderful and controversial consciousness evolution theory on shamanic experiences, modern and otherwise. While reading Jayne's book, I often nodded in recognition from what I'd remembered reading in "Fire in the Head."
]]> 20747846 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:29:13 -0700
author: Eric Bogosian
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.45
book published: 1995
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 04/22/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 20746971 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:11:13 -0700
author: Alan Kaufman
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 04/22/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 20746788 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:10:24 -0700
author: Michael Paterniti
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 04/22/08
shelves:
review:
A light, fun read on a partly true story of a journalist who drives Albert Einstein's brain across country.. meets a lot of colorful characters along the way including a completely whacked out William Burroughs.. among others.
]]> 20746652 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:05:51 -0700
author: Bruce D. Chilton
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 04/22/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 18172054 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:04:31 -0700
author: Karl Marx, Frederick Engels
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.20
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 04/22/08
shelves:
review:
It's certainly interesting to read from a historical/background basis. I find commentary and other outside discussions about Marx's philosphical ideas in relation to our current society more informational though.
]]> 20714518 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:50:05 -0700
My opinion is emotionally skewed. I worked in a metaphysical crystal shop for 5 years and have had so much immersion into the New Age world that I drowned in it. Anyone wanting to take a picture of my aura while playing a quartz crystal bowl tuned to my heart chakra and chanting a Native American blessing song will immediately make me want to violently attack them. I don't know why. It's the same thing when crazy evangelical christians ask if I've found jesus yet and spits out gibberish that is supposed to be the tongue of god. Perhaps because it rings out "cult" and I immediately go into defense mode.

With all of this said, of course I'm not going to like the Celestine Prophecy. I can appreciate it's "insights", however something so simple doesn't need to be deemed as some sort of spiritual breakthrough book because some guy invented a fanciful story with life energy channels (I'd rather watch Donnie Darko), crystals and auras. This book is mere dressed up common ideas, such as negative projection onto others, pegged "insights" that needed to be "discovered" through New Age modern Indiana Jones style.

I know I'm being too harsh but really.. enough with the crystals and quantum healing already.

With all of this said, if you're emotionally/psychologically/spiritually deprived in any way and you require fantasy built around truly fundamental emotional/psychological/spiritual lessons, then I suggest you read this. Most of America has so you won't be alone. It's so simple even a kindergartener could understand.

Oh! you know what I just realized?! I thought I was writing about "The Secret" in that last paragraph! Woops!
]]>
author: James Redfield
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1996
rating: 1
read at: 01/03
date added: 04/22/08
shelves:
review:
WARNING: This review should not be read by the easily offended.

My opinion is emotionally skewed. I worked in a metaphysical crystal shop for 5 years and have had so much immersion into the New Age world that I drowned in it. Anyone wanting to take a picture of my aura while playing a quartz crystal bowl tuned to my heart chakra and chanting a Native American blessing song will immediately make me want to violently attack them. I don't know why. It's the same thing when crazy evangelical christians ask if I've found jesus yet and spits out gibberish that is supposed to be the tongue of god. Perhaps because it rings out "cult" and I immediately go into defense mode.

With all of this said, of course I'm not going to like the Celestine Prophecy. I can appreciate it's "insights", however something so simple doesn't need to be deemed as some sort of spiritual breakthrough book because some guy invented a fanciful story with life energy channels (I'd rather watch Donnie Darko), crystals and auras. This book is mere dressed up common ideas, such as negative projection onto others, pegged "insights" that needed to be "discovered" through New Age modern Indiana Jones style.

I know I'm being too harsh but really.. enough with the crystals and quantum healing already.

With all of this said, if you're emotionally/psychologically/spiritually deprived in any way and you require fantasy built around truly fundamental emotional/psychological/spiritual lessons, then I suggest you read this. Most of America has so you won't be alone. It's so simple even a kindergartener could understand.

Oh! you know what I just realized?! I thought I was writing about "The Secret" in that last paragraph! Woops!

]]> 20714334 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:50:52 -0700
author: William Gibson
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1984
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 04/22/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 20714272 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:50:22 -0700
author: Jeffrey Eugenides
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 04/22/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 1780680 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:16:46 -0700
author: Julian Jaynes
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1978
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 04/22/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 20711901 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:14:44 -0700
author: Kurt Vonnegut
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1963
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 04/22/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 20711858 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:14:11 -0700
author: Tom Robbins
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 04/22/08
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]]> 1743599 Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:08:25 -0700
Also wars broke out fighting for better more arable lands and increased explorations broadened migration routes.

You get the idea.]]>
author: Brian M. Fagan
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 07/07
date added: 03/20/08
shelves:
review:
Basically talks about how climate influenced the migration and cultural evolution of man. An example would be the climate shift from moist/sufficient rainfall to dry/arid found in Northern Africa. Some tribes clung to the banks of the Nile. Most tribes migrated North to colder regions adopting heavier clothing, more frequent hunting leading to domestication of cattle and sheep and the cultivation of wheat and other grains. Some migrated farther south, looking for moister areas but adjusting their culture likewise when they did not find it (in fact, it getting more dry/arid), they domesticated animals and cultivated grains but on a smaller scale than the Northern tribes.

Also wars broke out fighting for better more arable lands and increased explorations broadened migration routes.

You get the idea.
]]> 16401094 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:02:21 -0800
author: Byron Katie
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 03/08
date added: 02/26/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 2863623 Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:15:33 -0700
author: Diane Wolkstein
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 07/09/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 2862576 Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:04:11 -0700
Gruesome details include Cesearean Sections during Medevil times without proper sanitation, medical tools, or even anesthetics.. One description about sawing through the pelvic bone to create more room in the birthing canal, leaving the mother paralized if she survived. Strict religious rules requiring women undergo pregnancy, no matter the complications, without any relief of pain, often resulting to the exhaustion and death of mother and child.

I thought the book was informative, however it was very repetitive. The book was a veryquick read (I read in two days) and could have potentially been made even shorter without the excessive repetition of information that was used as 'filler'.

Still, anyone wanting to cringe and 'thank g-d' that we have made the medical and social advencements we have regarding women and childbirth, should read this book.

]]>
author: Petrina Brown
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 07/07
date added: 07/09/07
shelves:
review:
Pretty gruesome descriptions of the tiral and tribulations of women through the ages (about 200 BCE - 21st century) regarding their social role as progenitors of the human species.

Gruesome details include Cesearean Sections during Medevil times without proper sanitation, medical tools, or even anesthetics.. One description about sawing through the pelvic bone to create more room in the birthing canal, leaving the mother paralized if she survived. Strict religious rules requiring women undergo pregnancy, no matter the complications, without any relief of pain, often resulting to the exhaustion and death of mother and child.

I thought the book was informative, however it was very repetitive. The book was a veryquick read (I read in two days) and could have potentially been made even shorter without the excessive repetition of information that was used as 'filler'.

Still, anyone wanting to cringe and 'thank g-d' that we have made the medical and social advencements we have regarding women and childbirth, should read this book.


]]> 1780126 Mon, 09 Jul 2007 09:47:04 -0700 Pretty interesting history of lying and deception beginning with the Torah (Old Testament) and Greek/Roman myth, traversing philosophy and psychology and landing in the science of evolution, human and otherwise.

Covers why we lie, how we lie, what makes a successful lie, pros and cons and how it affects our society and development as a species.

I recommend it!]]>
author: Evelin Sullivan
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 06/07
date added: 07/09/07
shelves:
review:

Pretty interesting history of lying and deception beginning with the Torah (Old Testament) and Greek/Roman myth, traversing philosophy and psychology and landing in the science of evolution, human and otherwise.

Covers why we lie, how we lie, what makes a successful lie, pros and cons and how it affects our society and development as a species.

I recommend it!
]]> 1781079 Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:01:34 -0700
author: Joseph Telushkin
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1991
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1781060 Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:00:47 -0700
author: Hershel Shanks
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.00
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1780881 Fri, 08 Jun 2007 13:53:51 -0700
author: Alexa Albert
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2002
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 06/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1780105 Fri, 08 Jun 2007 13:07:23 -0700
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1743308 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:41:29 -0700
author: Derrek Hines
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.20
book published: 2004
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1743266 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:40:18 -0700
author: Huston Smith
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1743212 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:38:48 -0700
author: Daniel C. Dennett
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1743186 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:38:03 -0700
author: Marion Zimmer Bradley
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1982
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1743174 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:37:43 -0700
author: Patricia A. McKillip
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1976
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1743176 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:37:43 -0700
author: Patricia A. McKillip
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.45
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1743158 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:37:16 -0700
author: Patricia A. McKillip
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1743149 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:37:02 -0700
author: Herman Wouk
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1978
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1743117 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:36:08 -0700
author: Matthew Stewart
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1743075 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:35:10 -0700
author: Mark Kurlansky
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1743058 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:34:26 -0700
author: Darrin M. McMahon
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1742967 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:31:30 -0700
author: William Golding
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1954
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1742941 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:31:03 -0700
author: Jeffrey Eugenides
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1742934 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:30:58 -0700
author: John Steinbeck
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1937
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1742932 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:30:57 -0700
author: George Orwell
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1945
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1742916 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:29:59 -0700
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Ashley
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1925
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
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]]> 1742911 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:29:54 -0700
author: Harper Lee
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1960
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1742857 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:28:39 -0700
author: Anita Diamant
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 1742836 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:28:02 -0700
author: Jane Austen
name: Ashley
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1813
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]>