Inprint - New Books of interest

Seeking Enlightenment Hat by Hat: A Skeptic’s Path to Religion by Nevada Barr. (Berkley Books, $13.00, Paperback.)

Known for her murder mystery series, this is Nevada Barr’s non-fiction debut. In her trademark, earthy, frank style, Barr takes the reader on her personal journey of self-discovery and spirituality. She addresses the most universal principles and how they apply to the issues of everyday life with short personal anecdotes told with candor, sensitivity, and humor.

Barr grew up in a non-religious home and had no spiritual education. Her family never attended church or read any spiritual books. The topics of sex, religion, and politics were off-limits. “God helps those who help themselves” was the extent of her belief system. She helped herself to pretty much everything, helping herself right out of a marriage and into mental illness. It was the selfless servitude of family and friends during that time that healed her and made her reevaluate the meaning of her life.

When she began to look inward, she gained new perspective on everything from forgiveness, humility, and gratitude, to vanity, betrayal and her own sexuality. In taking an honest look at herself, Barr embraces the everyday challenge of honoring life’s universal principles as well as discovers a lasting connection to God and humility.

Mr. Everit’s Secret: What I Learned From the World’s Richest Man by Alan H. Cohen, $16.95, Hardcover.)

“Sure you learn from pain, but you also learn from ease and fun. It’s like learning to ride a bicycle—you learn by falling off, but you learn the most when you stay balanced and enjoy the ride. Pain is highly overrated as a teaching device. If you pay attention to internal signals and external feedback, life won’t need a 2x4 to get your attention. —Bert Everit.

In this modern-day parable, the story’s narrator is hired to manage Bert Everit’s wheelbarrow factory. He finds all of his preconceived notions about business and life being challenged by his new boss. Instead of quitting, he accepts Mr. Everit’s challenge to overcome his self-limiting thoughts and learns that life gives you what you need if you are willing to accept it.

Best-selling author and Aspectarian Columnist Alan Cohen shows us not only how to create financial success, but also the happiness and joy that must go along with it to make it all worthwhile. His latest book, Mr. Everit’s Secret, teaches us we can have everything we want in life—success, relationships, career, money, happiness—and it doesn’t have to be a struggle. Most of us were taught that to reach our goals, we have to work hard, and fight every step of the way. But, it’s simply not true. Cohen shows us that our goals are already in reach, but we are often too comfortable in our lives—even if our lives stink—to step forward into change.

The Knitting Sutra: Craft as a Spiritual Practice by Susan Gordon Lydon. (Broadway Books, $12.95, Paperback.)

Can a pair of knitting needles be a tool for spiritual growth? Can a ball of yarn connect you with a community that shares your passions? And can meditation masquerade as a knitting reverie? Susan Gordon Lydon says “yes” and captures her own journey of discovery in The Knitting Sutra.

When Gordon Lydon was coping with a broken arm, her knitting took on new significance. Knitting was essential to strengthening her hands, but it also provided her with a newfound sense of peace and creativity. Immersed in brilliant colors, textures, and images of beautiful sweaters, she found the stillness within, a way to contact the soul in a way she had never imagined, the very thing that she had been pursuing in the study of formal spiritual practices. The Knitting Sutra also recounts her remarkable membership in a community of craftswomen around the world, from sweater makers in Scotland to Navajo weavers. This knitting narrative relays the healing and enlightenment one woman found through her craft, and how knitting fans can learn to knit their way to nirvana.

Wablenica: Tale of a Lakotah Orphan by Mary Kay Thill. (Balance Books, $5.50, Paperback.)

Eleven year old Rose’s mom dies just a year after her dad’s fatal accident. Rose, now orphaned, becomes part of the Chicago foster care system. She struggles in several foster homes, none that last. Ruli, a Lakotah guardian angel is sent by God to help Rose deal with being an orphan and teach her that she is a Lakotah and proud. Rose’s journey in search of a family leads her into friendship with Megan and a traditional ceremony on the Pine Ridge reservation.

This young adult novel offers the reader a sense of the contemporary lifestyle of those caught up in the foster care system. It also presents some of the rich spiritual history of the Lakotah Indians along with a present day view of their struggles living on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.

The Way of Conflict: Elemental Wisdom for Resolving Disputes and Transcending Differences by Deidre Combs. (New World Library, $15.95, Paperback.)

From fights with spouses and siblings to tiffs between coworkers to internal turmoil over career and personal choices—conflict is a constant of everyone’s life. Yet very few people are aware of how they personally approach disagreement or how conflict really works.

In The Way of Conflict, mediator Dr. Deidre Combs applies common cross-cultural and scientific wisdom to resolving conflict while providing a comprehensive approach so all parties in a confrontation can safely win. For every conflict there exists a true win/win solution. The parties involved just need to stick together long enough without destruction to find it. Combs gives readers the skills to stick with conflict and with one another until they can discover the lasting, creative answer.

The Way of Conflict employs the common cross-cultural metaphor of the four natural elements (earth, water, fire, and air) to identify our innate conflict styles and forge an easy-to-follow path through chaos. Also included are folktales, quick-reference charts, and self-tests so a reader can quickly assess a conflict and implement an appropriate resolution.

Movement for Self-Healing/ An essential Resource for Anyone Seeking Wellness by Meir Schneider. (New World Library, $12.95, Paperback.)

Born blind and declared incurable after a series of childhood operations left him with only a slight ability to discern light and shadow, Meir Schneider remained convinced that his handicap was not permanent. As a teenager, he began work with two teachers who gave him exercises and techniques to reverse his blindness. Within four years he had gained a remarkable degree of vision and had begun to develop a system of therapeutic exercise combining movement, breathing, and mental imagery. He also began working with people whose physical problems ranged from chronic headaches to polio and muscular dystrophy, inspiring them with his example, enthusiasm, and faith. Miraculous recoveries ensued.

Sections in the book give specific guidelines for healing back problems, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, breathing difficulties, eye problems, and muscular dystrophy. Movement for Self-Healing shares the stories of Schneider and the people he has worked with, detailing his holistic methods of stimulating the natural healing powers of the body, offering a practical guide to specific exercises, and offering a profound message of inspiration and hope.