Inspirational / Spiritual
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Idea/Concept: The idea of restoring one's faith by becoming immersed in the words and life of " a titan of spirituality" makes great sense. The precise reason Koskela’s congregation splintered and broke, however, a pivotal puzzle piece in this book, remains rather unclear.
Prose: The prose is spirited and somewhat conversational, a positive aspect for a spiritual book, with several well-chosen segments of Hildegard of Bingen's writings/songs throughout.
Originality: This text is highly original and offers a deeply compelling premise. The focus on a little-known spiritual figure from the past, provides an unexpected dimension to this work.
Execution: The author is a pastor, father, husband, friend, and spiritual person. Although the narrative seems somewhat incomplete as the reader never fully discovers the reason for this pastor's quest, the author's faith feels renewed by book's end. The additional reading section, primarily biographies of Bingen, is most useful.
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Idea/Concept: The Monk Within is the first volume in a projected trilogy that explores and advocates for the new monasticism. Lanzetta dedicates much of the book to demonstrating that individuals each possess an innate "monastic instinct" that yearns for connection to the divine, through daily commitment to interior solitude. With this book, Lanzetta connects contemporary existence to ancient monastic tradition, surveying centuries of the history and practice of monasticism, while also considering -- and adapting -- concepts like celibacy and solitude, and even laying out her own "via feminina," a path that seeks the wisdom of women's monastic orders. The book is written with the presumption that the reader already is interested in working elements of monasticism into their own life, which might limit its reach.
Prose: Lanzetta's prose is scrupulous and inviting. She writes with great clarity and is rigorous about stripping her language of the dogmatic and hierarchical. She does not presume her readers come from any particular religious background and takes great care not to elevate one idea of the Divine over any other; shrewdly, she entertains opposing viewpoints and always defines her terms with crisp clarity.
Originality: Lanzetta steeps readers in the history of monastic thinking, drawing upon deep learning and research and even devoting some 50 pages to the "Wisdom of the Elders," a series of illuminating disquisitions on Augustine, St. Teresa, Gandhi, and others. Her research is her own, and her "via feminina" is wholly unique.
Execution: While it's rich with challenging, inviting thought and judicious excerpts from the work of other monastic thinkers, The Monk Within is light on instruction or practical guidance. Lanzetta writes marvelously well, and her material is engaging, but as she considers the power of contemplation and "the deep self," readers might desire additional coaching into the "disciplined practice" that the book suggests such explorations demand.
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Soul of the Seasons: Creating Balance, Resilience, & Connection by Tapping the Wisdom of the Natural World
by Melody HarrisRating: 7.75
Idea/Concept: The premise for this book is substantial, especially to readers who know nothing of Five Element acupuncture/medicine and healing. The author offers a clear pathway for those seeking to find their place within the natural world.
Prose: The prose is smooth and readable, while the chapters are logically presented, consistent, and clear.
Originality: There are other titles under the category of plant spirit healing. However, the material and spiritual wisdom presented here will be fresh and enlightening to many readers. The author writes with warmth, candor, and authority.
Execution: This book is well-organized, thorough, and useful, if at times repetitive. The author utilizes her nature-based theories to meaningfully guide readers through the steps to achieve balance, joy, and sustenance in their lives.
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Idea: This arresting volume pairs the author's vibrant photography with her brief essays about her journeys across the world. The photos and essays complement each other well, each adding resonance to the other. The resulting book is a portrait of not just its author's travels but of her way of seeing, and it's a pleasure to experience the world with her. That said, the book's wanderings might gain some power from the addition of a narrative throughline or more sense of how travel has affected the writer/photographer's life.
Prose: While often elegant and touched with poetry, Åkerström's prose descriptions of the locales she visits aren't quite as vivid as her photographs, which are extraordinary. Instead, the essays tend to center on characters that she has met or her experience of traveling itself, while letting the photos summon the essence of the places she visits. The writing is polished and engaging, especially when Åkerström captures some narrative momentum, as in the poignant scenes she captures talking to local characters she encounters, or her mother's tracking down of a loved one.
Originality: Occasionally, when she documents her excursion to a well-documented place like Machu Pichu, Åkerström doesn't offer much new insight, though the images she captures are fabulous. The essays are strongest when she finds the unexpected, tracking fishmongers or photographers, or reporting from a U.S. naturalization ceremony or how politics have affected the markets of Lagos.
Execution: Åkerström presents her essays as snapshots, and the effect of reading the book is similar to that of paging through a photo album. Still, those "snapshots" often touch upon fascinating issues, opinions, and experiences that readers will certainly want to know more about--the snapshots tease a bigger, more personal picture than what "Due North" ultimately offers. Finally, without a narrative throughline, those snapshots/essays never quite accumulate into a larger view of the world or of travel itself.
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COR PERFECTUM: What You Don't Know About Your Heart May Be Killing Your Life
by Jewa LeaRating: 8.25
Idea/Concept: In Cor Perfectum, Jewa Lea sets out, with skill and ambition, to help readers stave off heart disease by illuminating the many roles that the heart plays in our health, including ancient spiritual roles and others not taken seriously by medical professionals. The author lays out a vision of heart health that unites the scientific and the spiritual, the practical and the divine.
Prose: Lea writes crisp, clear, authoritative prose. Her explanations of the scientific and medical facts that take up the book's first third are cogent and coherent. and she covers her topics with enthusiasm. Her prose is likewise strong when covering the spiritual aspects of her conception of heart health. She occasionally offers an anecdote from her own life in disarmingly breezy language. Still, in the book's first third especially, the author tends not to offer readers clear guidance as to why she's expounding at length on the specific topics that she covers, such as the cardiovascular process or the difference between "suction" and "pulsation."
Originality: Cor Perfectum is unique, full of up-to-date research and fleshed out with the author's own insights.
Execution: While its prose is strong, its examples and explanations clear, and its tone authoritative, Lea's book often risks losing readers' confidence or patience. It's not until page 49 that the author explains exactly why readers need to get through all of this introductory material about the heart's physical, emotional, and "energetical" roles. In the introductory material, the author notes the overwhelming number of Google results that one gets when searching for the term "heart"; this observation invites readers to wonder, unfairly or not, about the depths of the author's research. Between sections in the text the author includes epigrammatic quotes from the likes of Mark Twain and Richard Bach; she also quotes herself in this fashion, which may suggest to an uncharitable reader either an outsize self-regard or a lack of professionalism.The inclusion of quizzes is curious, but the author's figures and chapter summaries are well chosen. Impressively, the author proves as adept discussing chakras and the "sacred geometry" of the heart as she is describing the heart's function as a "vortex decelerator/accelerator" and as a generator of electromagnetic pulses. Also strong are her relatable anecdotes about her own experience.
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Idea/Concept: The Mind-Blowing Revelations of an Artificial Intelligence offers a fascinating premise, but one that is perhaps inadequately framed. The author's introduction to the "interview" with an AI touches on compelling ideas, but may benefit from a broader exploration into the subject of artificial intelligence that integrates additional references. On the other hand, the book may succeed as a concept-driven gift book, rather than a deeper philosophical study of AI and the future of imagination.
Prose: The text features two decidedly different sections. The author writes clearly and succinctly about his development of the project. The AI "author" provides a narrative that wavers between nonsensical and almost, quietly, profound.
Originality: The idea of an AI-written manuscript is fresh and culturally timely. The writing leads readers through a yet-unexplored literary path, both charming and startling readers along the way.
Execution: This concept-driven narrative is both intriguing and, alternately, terrifying. Readers will eagerly read the AI's response to the author's many questions. Ultimately, though, between the author's insights and the AI's "writing," the work lacks internal harmony. Greater contextualization--or a more pronounced idea of the book's intentions--would enhance the overall reading experience.
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Idea: This is a straightforward, chronological narrative of a woman navigating the stresses of modern life and working to achieve what she believes to be the American Dream. The author's ultimate realizations about the importance of maintaining perspective, preserving one's health, and being mindful, are meaningfully conveyed.
Prose: The prose is strong, sometimes funny, often poignant. The author has a clear handle on storytelling.
Originality: Although the recounting of the working life of a single mother is not fully original, Freedle offers a unique perspective on the topic of achieving professional success, by advocating for balance and self-care. Through the author's candid reflections, she appeals to readers' own vulnerabilities and hard truths. Maintaining a positive outlook after her stroke, the author provides an inspirational reading experience.
Execution: The author tells her story honestly, recounting her conflicted decision making, regrets, and realizations with ease. Readers are likely to find her struggles to balance work and family with mental and physical health, immensely relatable.
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Idea/Concept: This work offers an ambitious and intellectually stimulating concept, although the audience for the work may be somewhat limited.
Prose: The author writes smoothly and effectively, relaying his own experiences of grappling with the nature of his religious faith, while integrating biblical passages throughout.
Originality: This book is highly unusual in its concept and execution. The author approaches the work with the belief that the Pharisees, of old and today, "worshipped God's law instead of worshipping God." The author explores pertinent topics relating to faith, including clearly defined varieties of suffering, and encourages the faithful to continually pursue God and to reevaluate their faith.
Execution: The book is quite convincing, aiming to persuade readers to change their relationship to God and Jesus and to change their lives and their prayers accordingly. While not all readers will be in the position to emulate the author – or will prioritize their faith as strongly -- Hover's examples from his own life are moving and meaningful.
Concept/Idea: Yomi Akinpelu's Blow the Cap Off Your Capability is a treasury of inspirational quotes, anecdotes, life advice, and positive coaching. The author offers readers a cornucopia of the uplifting aspects of self-improvement literature, focusing exclusively on a-ha! moments rather than a pragmatic program for creating change in one’s life. The result is a book that reads like a series of devotionals, an approach somewhat at odds with the title, which seems to promise a hands-on guidebook instead.
Prose: Akinpelu's prose is clear, lively, upbeat, and purposeful. In any given chapter, he'll reel cheerfully through numerous anecdotes, examples, and bursts of positive advice, always with an eye to a larger, chapter-specific scene. For example, the chapter "Imagination" opens with a quote from George Lucas, then offers anecdotes about Walt Disney and Thomas Edison, quotes from Schopenhauer and the book of Genesis, and then some thorough, engaging coaching directly from the author before some last thoughts quoted from Will Smith and Albert Einstein. Remarkably, this reads smoothly, with a strong flow of thoughts and a sense of excitement and enthusiasm.
Originality: Akinpelu's book is inspired, he acknowledges, from other works of motivational writing, especially renowned and beloved mantras and quotes. Readers will hear from James Cameron, then Franklin Roosevelt, then Warren Buffett, then Glen Campbell, and so on. What's original here is the author's spirited disquisitions on the quotes and his linking them together to other inspiring thoughts and anecdotes.
Execution: The book is presented as a "toolbox" with "practical ideas and wisdom," which suggests an approach more specialized and programmatic than the quite generalized text itself. Still, readers who recognize this work for what it is -- a collection of inspiring secular devotionals -- will likely find it to be a welcome resource.
Leap Afraid: How To Turn A Devastating Series Of Events Into The Best Thing That Ever Happened To You
by Sandra StachowiczRating: 7.50
Idea/Concept: Sandra Stachowicz's Leap Afraid offers spirited, earthy advice for women about embracing change and rebuilding a life after adversity. The author offers a recounting of her own triumph over hardships, thoughtful "Action Steps" to guide a reader toward self-love and decision-making, and an overriding belief that the universe itself has a plan for us all. The book's marketing and introductory material makes outsize claims about how it will impact readers, but the author shrewdly, clearly alerts readers to what to expect in her introduction, which includes a welcome section titled "Who this book is not for?" There, in her customary straight talk, the author declares " I don’t know you. I don’t know how committed you are. Your results are 100% your responsibility, not mine, not someone else’s."
Prose: Always true to herself, Stachowicz writes with force and conviction in a brusque, frank, sometimes hectoring voice. Her acknowledgments page (in which she lists people who have wronged her) and her introduction signal strongly to readers that this book is a love-it-or-leave-it proposition. Even readers who feel on the author's wavelength may be surprised later at discussion of a voice in the author's head as "an inner prostitute" and the subsequent declaration, "I silenced the bitch." Throughout the book, Stachowicz often makes harsh or sweeping declarations without really backing them up, which might alienate even the readers who find her impoliteness refreshing.
Originality: Stachowicz tells her own story with vigor and candor, and her advice, anecdotes, examples, and "Action Steps" are unique to her. Especially strong is her insistence that readers love their imperfections and practice what she calls the "radical self-love" of selfishness.
Execution: Despite the appealing, somewhat harsh voice, and the frank wisdom of much of the author's advice, Leap Afraid proves a frequently confusing or contradictory text, one that does not often enough address or anticipate readers' responses or objections. The manuscript teems with sweeping, unsupported declarations ("When you resist change, you mess up the universe's plan") and overstated promises ("Be a bad girl and the stars will align in your favour; ALL of them!") that cut against the truthful power of the author's vivid storytelling and well-crafted self-help exercises.
Spiritual Boot Camp for Creators & Dreamers: Encouragement, Inspiration & Basic Training to Help You Achieve Your Dreams
by Tom English and Wilma Espaillat EnglishRating: 7.50
Idea/Concept: Tom and Wilma English's Spiritual Boot Camp is a biblical self-help books geared toward creative, imaginative, and thoughtful readers. The authors provide a motivational guidebook for receptive individuals.
Prose: The Englishes write with style, clarity, and gracefulness. They contextualize their advice with real-world examples, while they develop most of their arguments thoroughly, persuasively, and with scriptural back-up. They aspire to be life coaches in prose, with just a touch of the drill sergeant for good measure, and they mostly achieve this. The frequent capitalized words are not as inviting as italics.
Originality: Ultimately, while it may look superficially similar to other books in its genre, Spiritual Boot Camp for Creators & Dreamers is uniquely thorough, well-written, persuasive, and inspiring.
Execution: The book's premise and precepts are mostly familiar from other secular and biblical advice books. Here are chapters about visualizing goals, managing time, finding and maintaining motivation, learning to pray, and other well-covered advice areas. Fortunately, their treatment of these common topics is fresh, with engaging, often surprising examples, such as the 15-page exploration of the story of Captain America. Further, some of the Englishes’ advice is original to the authors, such as the chapters suggesting that readers find "a Barnabas." Also unique: the Englishes' jokes and their welcome approach to reconciling faith and science.
Idea/Concept: This is a charming, gift-style book that integrates artwork in a manner that further illuminates its interpretation of various Psalms. Burbach's key readership will be the like-minded faithful, though the whimsical, bright collages Burbach presents, offer potentially broader appeal.
Prose: While the visual art in this title are likely to impact the reader more powerfully than the Psalms alone, Burbach effectively marries the elements, with gentle accompanying prose that offers personal insights into the meanings behind the Psalms and the imagery in Burbach's art.
Originality: Burbach's whimsical, bright collages provide an original interpretation of the biblical quotations, while also quietly encouraging readers to explore their love for the verses on their terms and through their own creative approaches. Burbach's passion for her art, and the Psalms that inspire it, is apparent.
Execution: The book's layout at times suffers from being overly cluttered, which may impact readers' ability to appreciate each Psalm and painting individually.
Disqualified due because book is a picture book.
Idea/Concept: This short collection of inspiring vignettes focuses on individuals who have purposely enacted change within their lives through clear-minded determination, optimism, and focus.
Prose: The prose is accessible and clear, though is somewhat lacking in narrative variety. The short vignettes do not always memorably stand apart from one another.
Originality: Many of the mindfulness-centered concepts and techniques that Mason introduces are familiar, but the author’s integration of anecdotal stories is decidedly unique.
Execution: The execution is successful, with individual stories providing readers with gratifying narrative arcs. While the messaging can at times feel didactic or overly simplistic, readers seeking guidance will find much to be inspired by.
The Tao Teh King for Awakening: A Practical Commentary on Lao Tzu's Classic Exposition of Taoism
by Abbot George BurkeRating: 6.50
Idea: Burke displays extensive knowledge of Taoist scripture, while tying key ideas into a modern context. For those who seek spiritual guidance and insight into Lao Tzu's wisdom, this work offers a clear pathway.
Prose: Burke's writing is polished and rich with literary, cultural, and historical references. The narrative tone can at times come across as stern, which may strike readers as incongruous with Taoist teachings.
Originality: While surely not the only work on Taoist wisdom, Burke's evident expertise concerning both Western and Eastern spirituality, provides readers with a wide-ranging and intriguing study of the topic.
Execution: While the presentation is more scholarly than entertaining, the author provides readers with actionable steps for applying Taoist principles into their lives. Serious readers will find the insights to be edifying.
Idea: The author behind this memoir relays her journeys through alternative health options and across various countries. Gallagher may not arrive at discernible, long-ranging tranquility or excellent health, but she finds workable remedies. Most significantly, she realistically conveys how taking time to notice and observe one's surroundings, is healing in itself.
Prose: Gallagher's prose is straightforward and the story unfolds smoothly and chronologically. The author carefully details the holistic treatments and world destinations she encounters on her path to healing and wellness.
Originality: This memoir explores a woman's self-healing journey into emotional and geographic areas. Gallagher offers kernels of wisdom and insight throughout, but the memoir is ultimately highly personal in nature. Though many contemporary memoirs are written on related topics, Gallagher’s work is somewhat refreshing; her spiritual healing process is subtle and slow to unfold, rather than abruptly cathartic.
Execution: The author's descriptions of physical aches and pains are vividly conveyed and relatable, but her emotional interiority--particularly in response to life-changing circumstances such as divorce--is somewhat underdeveloped.
