Reviews with TLC

The Guided Meditation Handbook: The Complete Guide To Writing, Leading, & Recording Guided Meditations by Max Highstein is an easy and enjoyable dive into creating meditations. Highstein breaks down the process of writing meditations complete with examples and explanations of those examples. The Guided Meditation Handbook covers many aspects of creating meditations for personal use, to lead, and to record, and to upload to meditation sites. Highstein made writing, recording, and sharing meditations feel feasible. I felt excited about attempting to write a few meditations, recording them, and sharing them by the time I finished reading The Guided Meditation Handbook . Currently Reading: A People's History of the United States  by Howard Zinn   On Zionist Literature   by Ghassan Kanafani We the Gathered Heat: Asian American and Pacific Islander Poetry, Performance, and Spoken Word   by Franny Choi, Bao Phi, No'u Revilla, and Terisa Siagaonu (editors) Disclosure: T...

A Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jongg by Elaine Sandberg answered several questions that had arisen after friends introduced me American Mah Jongg recently. Sandberg explains the tiles, the game, and strategies well with a bit of levity that made the information feel more accessible. A Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jongg contains quizzes and exercises to aid in learning. I took all the quizzes and discovered I'd already done some of the exercises, but I think it would be advantageous to work through all the exercises. I also think I might take the book along next time I play since everyone in the group I'm playing with is relatively new to the game. Sandberg's approach helped me feel less intimidated. A Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jongg is a well written, informative resource for anyone getting started playing American Mah Jongg. Currently Reading: A People's History of the United States  by Howard Zinn   The Guided Meditation Handbook: The Com...

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer changed the way I see moss. Before I started reading Gathering Moss , I jokingly told my husband that by the time I finished the book I would probably never let him clear the moss from our yard again. Turns out it was no joke. Kimmerer examines, explains, and describes mosses in a way that had me increasingly appreciating the role they play in our ecosystems. I felt like Kimmerer took me into the forest, the bog, and the river with her as she researched myriad mosses. The microecosystems living within the moss fascinated me while the resiliency of the mosses gave me hope. Kimmerer also shines a very bright light on the destructiveness of people and how that destructiveness is sometimes wrapped up in what are expressed as good intentions.  Gathering Moss brought me to a place of appreciation for the mosses on my trees, in my yard, and on my porch by making Kimmerer's research feel relevant to my life....

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad explores the attitudes of the West toward other people and other nations in language, particularly Middle Eastern nations, that is brilliant in its simplicity. El Akkad doesn't sugarcoat the message about how powerful people strive to hold onto power and expand that power at the expense of those who they see as powerless but also deem dangerous. One, Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This exposes how the media and various governments push the agenda of the powerful until the damage is done and can't be reversed before they pivot to talk about how horrible things were and then seek out quotes to prove they were always against the atrocity even when the body of evidence proves otherwise. El Akkad had me nodding along with his assessments, wincing at his observations, and blinking back tears at his descriptions. He weaves the past with the present and the personal with the societal in ways that demon...

Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein presents an observation on the world that I desperately wanted to not make as much sense as it did. I didn't want to see the parallels between the beliefs I hold dear and the ones I absolutely abhor. Yet, Klein reminded me of something I've long preached to others - that we need to see each other to understand each other to make any real change. Much of what Doppelganger examines also proves that the issues we face are far more nuanced than we think and how that lack of nuance sends us to our own corners repeatedly. Klein weaves a narrative that demonstrates how easy it is for people in power to sow divisiveness by creating doppelganger ideologies that have us seeing each other as the problem instead of seeing the power of unity. Klein uses her own experience of being confused with Naomi Wolf repeatedly to illustrate her point and to explain what motivated her to look into the mirror world and find all these doppelgang...

Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal by Mohammed El-Kurd refuses to flinch in all the best ways making it an important book to read for anyone trying to better understand the world. El-Kurd examines, dissects, and analyzes political and social discourse around Palestine and Palestinians. El-Kurd manages to be blunt, eloquent, lyrical, and honest all at the same time. He doesn't hold back unless it's to deliberately expose a larger point. There were moments when I felt uncomfortable and resistant while reading Perfect Victims before seeing those moments as opportunities for growth and better understanding. El-Kurd's writing is an invitation to take off the blinders of misinformation, disinformation, and preconceptions in order to see the world and humanity a little clearer and maybe, just maybe, take action to make the world better. Perfect Victims reminds the reader that to demand a victim to be perfect is to inflict even more harm because there is no such thing as...

Black Roses by Ariel Day is a short book filled with easy to read poems. Day writes about life experiences in relatable and engaging language. I really enjoyed the simplicity of many of the poems in Black Roses especially the ones with a twist that exposed an underlying emotional complexity. Day's poems reminded me of past experiences, some that felt more bittersweet even in remembering former pain. Black Roses comforted, inspired, and sometimes surprised me with poems that are short but impactful. Currently Reading: Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World  by Naomi Klein Perfect Victims: And the Politics of Appeal  by Mohammed El-Kurd We the Gathered Heat: Asian American and Pacific Islander Poetry, Performaance, and Spoken Word by Franny Choi, Bao Phi, No'u Revilla, and Terisa Siagaonu (editors) Disclosure: This blog contains affiliate links meaning if you click on those links and make a purchase, I earn a commission at no additional cost to you. If you'd like to f...