 Falise
Platt of the 24/8
Book Club shares her top picks in new books. A voracious
reader with diverse interests, Falise chooses the best from
fiction and nonfiction alike, creating a selection that is both
fun and intelligent. Special contribution by Sharon Meyers,
hercommunity editor.
October Good Reads:
the green book:
the green book will launch, propel or save your green life.
Read more...
The Trinity of Health:
This down-to-earth book gives insight into health... Read
more...
Wish Club: herGood
Reads selected this novel in honor of Halloween as well as
our Great Lakes-based readers... Read more...
Patterns of the Earth: This
is a small tabletop book, but don’t let the size fool
you. Read more...
Secret Confessions of the Applewood
PTA: Back to School means different concerns and challenges
for children and parents. Read more...
Playing the Quantum Field:
Though the title suggests quantum physics, this practical
guide provides easy to access information about the quantum
field. Read more...
 the
green book
By Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen
Three Rivers Press, 2007
the green book will launch, propel or save your green life.
This everyday guide to saving the planet exudes positivity.
Rather than asking you to buy anything or stop doing anything,
it takes a strictly guilt-free, can-do approach. Its purpose
is to provide you with the facts and information so you can
make your own informed decisions.
Laid out in the logical compartments of life, the book is
divided into sections including Home, Health and Beauty, and
Travel and Shopping. Each chapter is based on a formula and
contains a cause and effect behavior scenario, simple solutions
and an anecdote from a celebrity.
Although I was proud to read of suggestions that I had already
implemented, I also found plenty of new material, as well
as more in-depth information on old ideas. For example, I
have heard that it’s a good idea to unplug phone chargers
or other power supply instructions for devices when not in
use, but I didn’t know why it mattered. the green book explains
the impact of an individual making this easy adjustment.
According to the authors, “This book is derived from
our desire to be environmentally friendly while remaining
selfish consumers.” If you have never thought about being
green or feel you are too happily set in your ways, then pick
up a copy of this book. It is a very small price to pay for
a very large return on investment for yourself, your family,
your community, the nation and the world.
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 The
Trinity of Health
By Carmen Harra, PhD
This down-to-earth book gives insight into health and faith
by using the symbolic trinity to reflect the balance of the
body, mind and soul that we strive for. Seven guiding principles
join to convey the author’s idea of this trinity of health:
Awareness, Proactivity, Balance, Joy, Togetherness, Nature
and Creating Good Choices/Karma. To Harra, the most important
is Awareness. “Awareness is the basis for transformation,
and transformation is the most significant law of life,”
according she explains.
The book is divided into two parts. Part one presents a principle
and then a personal implementation guide. Part two of the
book is all about food. Food is an essential thread throughout
this book but, as Harra emphatically explains in the introduction,
“This is not a book about dieting. If you look at the
word ‘diet,’ the first three letters of the word
spell out the word ‘die!’ You don’t want to die(t)—you
want to live!” Instead, Harra reveals deeper, more holistic
concepts and thoughts to encourage each of us to take steps
towards a more balanced and healthier life.
Self-evolution is a personal journey and everyone packs different
luggage for the trip. Anyone with an open body, mind and soul
may want to take this good read along for the journey.
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 Wish
Club
By Kim Strickland
Three Rivers Press, 2007
herGood Reads selected this novel in honor of Halloween
as well as our Great Lakes-based readers who will also enjoy
its Chicago references.
Do you ever wonder if you have mentally caused something
to happen, either by wishing for it or perhaps through darker
powers? Jill, Claudia, Gail, Lindsey and Mara explore this
topic in their book club when they read about witchcraft and
on a whim, try it for themselves. It seems to work. Through
playful curiosity and further exploration, the women come
to believe that they possess powers to make things happen.
Though they initially attribute the phenomenon to witchcraft,
after some shared nervousness, the friends conclude that what
they are doing is really more like “wish craft.”
They change their club formally to the Wish Club. The story
takes off when the women begin to grant themselves wishes
at their meetings, realizing they are able to take short cuts
in resolving their personal issues. Their wishes quickly get
out of hand, so the group seeks help from another to hopefully
return to the simpler lives they’d led before.
Kim Strickland brings to life the daydream that we can solve
problems by wishing them away. She goes further than the fantasy
though, by presenting women who become wiser and more appreciative
of what they have by recognizing their own power to change
without the help of witch or wish craft.
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 Patterns
of the Earth
By Bernhard Edmaier
Phaidon, 2007
This is a small tabletop book, but don’t let the size fool
you. This beautiful book contains over 400 images, each with
a caption describing its dynamic perspective of the Earth.
The format of this book is quite simply something you have
never seen before; the images are sorted into categories corresponding
to the patterns displayed in the photographs as opposed to
topic or location. The Earth itself serves as the Table of
Contents. Don’t skip the Introduction, which contains all
narration, and within a few short pages delivers a powerful
direction for the reader/viewer.
Bernard shares pictures that provide a view of nature with
geological processes at work. The Earth’s surface, its
interactions with nature and the resulting connection to resources
will inspire a deeper appreciation for readers as they catch
a breathtaking glimpse of the bigger picture. If you have
an eye for art but a mind for science, this book will dazzle.
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 Secret
Confessions of the Applewood PTA
By Ellen Meister
Avon, 2007
Back to School means different concerns and challenges for
children and parents. For many parents, the start of the school
year means PTA meetings, committees and a stream of fundraising
events enough to unsettle even the best multi-taskers.
At the first PTA meeting of the year, Beryl, Maddie and Ruth
are relegated to the public relations committee, out what
seems like sheer political unpopularity. They decide that
this year they will make the committee shine by helping achieve
the PTA’s years-long efforts at improving the school’s grounds.
Through a twist of fate, a movie crew is scouting the school
as a potential location for filming. Lisa joins the public
relations committee, bringing a coveted apple to the table:
she has a connection to the movie project. With that, the
public relations committee catapults to the center of attention
for the PTA and the entire town. The women share strategy
as well as honesty to find success and friendship.
We face all kinds of personalities in our day-to-day and
Meister exhibits talent for bringing them to life in this
novel. Join the women of the Applewood PTA and you’ll
find yourself cheering out loud.
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 Playing
the Quantum Field
By Brenda Anderson
New World Library, 2006
*Recommendation provided by Sharon Meyers
Though the title suggests quantum physics, this practical
guide provides easy to access information about the quantum
field. Author Brenda Anderson applies the laws of physics
in how we use energy to shape our decisions, and therefore,
our lives. With a fresh approach to taking control, she offers
ten energetic choices along an energy spectrum from fear-based,
low-energy choices, to power-based, high-energy choices. Smart
and savvy, she suggests we use amend the business model of
ROI (return on investment) to ROE (return on energy) in making
sound decisions in both our personal and professional lives.
An easy read with solutions to difficult life issues, this
book helps make life work. Isn’t that what we are all
after? For more information, visit quantumties.com
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| Sharon Meyers |
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