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ajlewis2's reviews
1609 reviews
The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety by Alan Watts
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Alan Watts makes a good case for accepting insecurity. He goes deeply into the topic as he always does. If you like a good "think" this could be perfect. I can only imagine the look on his face as he delivers some of the lines in this book. I wonder what the look on my face was when I read them!
The Transcendent Function: Jung's Model of Psychological Growth Through Dialogue with the Unconscious by Jeffrey C. Miller
Did not finish book. Stopped at 18%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 18%.
The first 2 chapters was what I was interested in, especially the analysis of Jung's Essay "The Transcendent Function." These 2 chapters were very helpful in understanding the essay.
Widening Circles: A Memoir by Joanna Macy
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Excellent story-telling of such a rich life. It feels very honest and complete with the happenings and the inner experiences that went with them. Reading this was such an enriching experience for me.
The Tao of Psychology: Synchronicity and Self by Jean Shinoda Bolen
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
This was a well-written book on the intersection of synchronicity, the Tao, and psychology. I feel it opened my mind to understand better my own life experiences. This is helpful and quite comforting.
Tell Me More: Stories about the 12 Hardest Things I'm Learning to Say by Kelly Corrigan
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Such authentic, heart-felt writing! Her stories about important things captivated me, often made me laugh, and gave me that feeling of not being alone in this world. Her stories sound like they are just her sitting there telling them personally to the reader, but in fact the writing is polished. A lot of work has gone into getting it said just right--at least it seems so to me.
A Gradual Awakening by Stephen Levine
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
This book has helped me see a real purpose for meditation--more of a purpose for life rather than what meditation can do for me. I had wanted to meditate for what I could get out of it, but while reading this, I began to feel a real need for meditation. One helpful feature was a chapter that was a sort of in depth description of how a meditation session might go. It was not telling me how to do it, but just how I might experience it. That shifted my perspective which had been more on trying to do it right. This chapter was a relief. Now I see that I can do this and I also realize that it will be work, not a work of perfection, but something that I need as much as I need to cook meals and eat. We'll see where I actually go with this, but I do feel Levine has done his best to get me started.
The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life by Lisa J. Miller
informative
slow-paced
2.5
A scientific study of how our brains are wired for spirituality and the correlation between spirituality and depression--very interesting! However, the presentation of these ideas wasn't very good in my estimation. It was slow, hard reading. Not difficult to understand, just boring. But I will say that it is a rare book that I will continue to read in spite of rating it so low. I feel the actual results shown are very important. I guess it is hard to make such documentation into an engrossing read.