Many Lives Many Masters by Dr.Brian Weiss

Many Lives Many Masters
Dr.Brian Weiss

224 pages

Published July 15 1988 by Touchstone

From author and psychotherapist Dr. Brian Weiss comes the classic bestseller on the true case of the past-life therapy that changed the lives of both the prominent psychiatrist and young patient involved—now featuring a new afterword by the author.As a traditional psychotherapist, Dr. Brian Weiss was astonished and skeptical when one of his patients began recalling past-life traumas that seemed to hold the key to her recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks. His skepticism was eroded, however, when she began to channel messages from the “space between lives,” which contained remarkable revelations about Dr. Weiss’ family and his dead son. Using past-life therapy, he was able to cure the patient and embark on a new, more meaningful phase of his own career. With more than one million copies in print, Many Lives, Many Masters is one of the breakthrough texts in alternative psychotherapy and remains as provocative and timeless as it was when first published.

We Should All Be Feminists

We Should All Be Feminists
Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie 

64 pages

Fourth Estate; 1st edition (9 October 2014)

‘I would like to ask that we begin to dream about and plan for a different world. A fairer world. A world of happier men and happier women who are truer to themselves. And this is how to start: we must raise our daughters differently. We must also raise our sons differently…’

What does “feminism” mean today?

In this personal, eloquently argued essay – adapted from her much-admired Tedx talk of the same name – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century, one rooted in inclusion and awareness. Drawing extensively on her own experiences and her deep understanding of the often masked realities of sexual politics, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman now – an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists.

Thank you so much SRR(Senior Reading Raccoons group on Facebook) for introducing me to books like this. Every time I browse this group, I start making a mental note of the books mentioned in the posts and comments to look up later(as in minutes later). In a couple of minutes though, I realize I have such limited memory.

13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck

Book Title: 13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck
Author: Ashwin Sanghi
Genres: Non Fiction
Rating: 4

The journey of life isn’t exactly easy… Some people make it through hard work and talent. Some fall by the wayside. And some people are just plain lucky. They are blessed with Bloody Good Luck!
But is it possible to attract good luck? Can we train ourselves to be lucky? Apparently it seems that Dame Luck isn’t that fickle. She is well within our reach. In his first non-fiction foray, bestselling author Ashwin Sanghi explores that critical, much-longed for element called luck.
Through entertaining and informative anecdotes, narrations of personal experiences and vignettes of homespun wisdom, Ashwin gives us a whole new insight into how people can work towards being lucky.

Review

I have been meaning to read Ashwin Sanghi for a long time but never managed to. So, 13 steps to bloody good luck, the author's first attempt at non-fiction is my first read by him. That said, the writing style doesn't pose itself as a subject for review. It is neither impressive nor dull. The concept is agreeable and makes you think. Basically, the author argues that luck isn't a factor that cannot be controlled. He proposes that one can increase their good luck by changing their Attitude and/or approach towards 13 factors. As with any other self help book, I was excited to find out how much I could agree to the contents and to what extent I can benefit from it.

Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back

Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I don't know why I picked this book in the first place. I mean am not a christian and I generally don't tend to pick books on religious faith. But I did because it appeared on someone else's to-read shelf and the book had less than 200 pages and the synopsis sounded interesting. I was curious to know what it was all about.

I don't want to question someone's faith by the name of a review. Other than that, the part where Colton was fighting for his life was really touching and I could feel the pain of the parents. And yes, I really got interested how Akiane and Colton claimed Jesus would look like and went ahead and googled Akiane's painting. That's a really heart-tugging painting.

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How I Braved Anu Aunty & Co-Founded A Million Dollar Company

How I Braved Anu Aunty & Co-Founded A Million Dollar Company by Varun Agarwal

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book is a true story as narrated by an uber cool dude, the author and Entrepreneur Varun Agarwal. He starts off with the disclaimer that he is no hemingway but just a story teller, which becomes quite obvious within the first few pages. Rather, he could have warned us about his being uber cool. How does it matter, you may ask!

Love, That Shit!

Love, That Shit! by Chandru Bhojwani

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When an old couple were asked how they managed to stay together for 65 years the woman replied, “We were born in a time, where if something was broke. You fixed it… not throw it away”. This piece of wisdom was making rounds in social networks sometime back and it had me pondering about it now and then. Love, that Shit by Chandru bhojwani is a light-hearted take on both fixing and throwing away as the case needs be. It is neither cliched nor preachy. It lets you step back a little and look at your relationships with renewed perspective and sense. Every chapter starts with a nice and apt quote followed by the author`s humorous and mature handling of the content. I really liked the way the author points out issues like high expectations and less tolerance. Another credit to the author is that he spoke for both gender without indulging in any over-hyped feministic theories.

Eat, Pray, Love

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia. This book almost made to my all time favorite. Almost! You will know why by the end of this review.Elizabeth Gilbert starts off this memoir of hers with her Divorce and a break-up. Kudos to the author for not making it a blame game or look like a peek into the private lives of a couple in disagreement. Just at the time when I start feeling depressed myself with the author's situation, she moves on to do better things, thankfully, like travelling to Italy. She is so good with the written word that she convinces us that travelling to Italy just to learn Italian, simply out of love for the language, is the next logical step for her to take.

Follow Every Rainbow

Follow Every Rainbow by Rashmi Bansal

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Though I have been wanting to read Rashmi Bansal's books for quite sometime, this book made me take the plunge immediately as its of much relevance to me personally, being an inspirational book on Women Entrepreneurs. 
Am at that crossroad in my life currently, where am forced by circumstances to either slow down a bit and solve the more important life's priorities before its too late or dance like a joker trying to balance work and home. I chose the former. Though I have never regretted my decision till date, building a second career, if possible in a varied field of interest than my first career , is always at the back of my mind. 

I loved everything about the book. Firstly, the book title, which is a phrase from a song in 'Sound of Music' and gives enough motivation to pursue something varied and look out for opportunities.

Climb every mountain,

Ford every stream,

Follow every rainbow,

'Till you find your dream.

A dream that will need

All the love you can give,

Every day of your life

For as long as you live

Secondly, the grouping of the entrepreneurs as Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswathi -  the `ghar ki lakshmis` who brought wealth and prosperity to the home by co-opting family members into their business; those who had to fight for survival and rose to the challenge, slaying demons within & without and those  armed with a professional education and are carving out an identity through entrepreneurship respectively. Am not getting into the details of those who are featured and my favorites as each one of the story gives you something or the other to be inspired.

Thirdly, even within the sections (Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswathi) and across the book, there are entrepreneurs from varied fields. Though my favourite section happens to be Saraswathi which is more relevant to me, I enjoyed reading every other story as each one provides you with valuable insights. In addition, each story ends with an Advice to Entrepreneurs from the featured Entrepreneur. Especially, I feel more confident after observing the fact that many of the featured Entrepreneurs have taken the plunge at a later stage in life post their motherhood and that hard work and perseverance is more important than the age that are mere numbers.

Last but not the least, the Helping hands section on various courses and opportunities that's an eye opener for women who have the motivation but lack direction.

The only complaint I have, which is mentioned by the Author herself as a feedback she gets from many, is that there is liberal use of Hindi throughout the book which I feel doesn't add any value. 

Overall, a great read for those who want to pursue something in life to keep them motivated till they make things work and even for those who are already into the bandwagon.

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