Secrets to Happiness

Despite what the title suggests, this is not a self-help book. It's a novel. Set in New York City, this novel follows the lives of several characters as they try to create and make sense of their lives. Some of them make (in my opinion) poor and harmful choices, but each seems to learn more about themselves through the process. And isn't that what life really is - a process? Focus on the journey, not the destination. Really this novel does just that. It takes the reader on the journey of the lives of these characters, who are all connected in some way. It's common for the reader to identify with the main character in a book, but I didn't find that to be the case here. In fact, I couldn't identify with any of the characters and I think that's because there was a lack of depth to them. It's like the author only grazed the surface when introducing them.

But, that aside, it was an entertaining read. At times I found myself laughing out loud while reading in bed because it was so funny! The humor was needed and welcomed to off-set the often depressing natures of the characters' lives. With that said, I didn't think the author addressed the title at all. The last page or so of the book offered an attempt to wrap up the content of the book, but nowhere did it explicitly address any secrets to happiness. So, if you're looking for that you won't find it here. But if you're looking for an entertaining read set in NYC, pick up this book and give it a read.

Now here's where it gets interesting. About a year ago I went to a psychic, just for fun to experience something that up to that point in time I'd only read about. The psychic turned out to be a sweet older woman living in a fairytale house that could only be accessed by driving through a diner parking lot into a small opening in a line of shrubs. Her name was Betty and she was delightful. Anyway, she told me I had an Indian (meaning Native American) spirit guide who came to me when I was 4. She then told me his name. I hadn't given it much thought until I was about halfway through this novel. I came to a chapter where the title was the name of my supposed spirit guide. That's funny, I thought. Then I read the chapter. Not so funny anymore, because the title of the chapter actually referred to the name of a character who acted like an all-knowing guide, and he happened to be a Native American. I put the book down, tried to make sense of what I just read, and then picked it up and reread the chapter. I wasn't making it up. The words were right there on the page. So I have to wonder if I was meant to read that book, and what, if any, message is being relayed to me. What is this book trying to tell me?

So far, I haven't come up with much of anything in terms of clarity. If you end up reading it and have some suggestion as to its possible meaning, drop me a note. I'd be interested to read your thoughts.

The Morganville Vampires

Volume 1 (includes books 1 and 2: Glass Houses and Dead Girls' Dance)

A friend recommended this series to me after learning of my fondness (and borderline obsession) with the Twilight series. I didn't know if I would like this book, but I gave it a shot anyway. After the first chapter I was hooked. Maybe it was because I felt I shared a small bond with the main character, Claire, a nerdy girl more interested in academics and learning than other teenage interests. She's so smart, in fact, that she graduates a year early and finds herself off to college at the young impressionable age of 16. Because she is so young, her parents insist that she go to a college closer to home rather than Yale or Caltech (California Institute of Technology). Lucky Claire gets to attend TPU in Texas instead because her parents think she'll be safer there. If only they knew how Claire would be treated there. Black eyes, bruises, and death threats greet Claire at TPU, courtesy of the meanest mean girl around: Monica Morrell. After stumbling upon a classified ad for a roommate, Claire lands herself in the Glass house with new friends Michael, Eve, and Shane. And that is when the fun (and danger!) begins!

I found it extremely difficult to put this book down and am really excited to get my hands on the next volume. Why do I feel like I'm going through withdrawal?

Are vampires REAL? Some people think so.

The Blue Bistro

Have you read The Help by Kathryn Stockett? This book is nothing like The Help in content, BUT it is just as captivating. I couldn't put it down! The Blue Bistro takes place in Nantucket and it spotlights a young woman with an inability to settle down. Meet Adrienne (yes, I occasionally thought of Rocky while reading). She's been in the hotel business for some time, but never in the restaurant business. She goes looking for a job and finds herself at The Blue Bistro. Meet Thatcher, the owner, who happens to be looking for an assistant manager, but finds more than that. Adrienne immediately spots his watch, which she guesses to be a $10,000 Patek Philippe. On her first night at the restaurant Adrienne finds her new boss, Thatcher, to be actually quite, well, bossy. He doesn't like her outfit and he orders her around all night. She came to Nantucket with three rules written on a napkin: (1) Become self-sufficient (2) Do not lie about past (3) Exercise good judgment about men. It seems like they would be easy to follow...

The Legend of Bagger Vance

This book differs radically from the movie, so if you enjoyed the movie and are expecting the same thing, you might be disappointed. It would be very difficult for Hollywood to capture the true meaning of this book in a two-hour movie.

I requested this book from the library after hearing Wayne Dyer mention it in one of his presentations. Apparently the novel, written by Steven Pressfield, is based on the Bhagavad Gita, where Bagger exists as God-like teacher and guru. It follows the story of Rannulph Junah, an amateur golfer from Savannah, Georgia, who is commissioned to play what would become a legendary match against two golf greats: Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen. The game of golf is simply a metaphor for the game of life. The novel is written from the point of view of a man named Hardy, who accompanied Junah and Vance during that fateful match. There is an additional character, Michael, in the novel that is not present in the movie, and Junah's story is told to him by Hardy.

The novel really is wonderfully written as it explores man's greatest fears and the illusion that we are in this life alone. We all have a Bagger Vance that walks beside us, advising us and encouraging us, we just have to stop and listen.

Mother Teresa (DK Biography)

We as an American society are at a loss for good role models. When asked to create biography posters of people they admire, middle school students typically choose professional basketball players like Kobe Bryant, singers like Justin Bieber, actors like Miley Cyrus, and soccer stars like David Beckham. Occasionally a student will choose a parent, sibling, or other relative that has inluenced the student in some way. While all of the people chosen by the students have at least one admirable trait, rarely has a student chosen someone like Mother Teresa, a woman who consistently exhibited truly admirable qualities while working tirelessly to make our world a better place.

If you can ignore her religious affiliation with Catholicism (if it bothers you), I am confident that you will find that she was a remarkable woman. This particular book explores her childhood (born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) in the Ottoman Empire, the day she decided to join the Sisters of Loreto as a missionary, her years spent teaching children, and her life-changing decision to start the Missionaries of Charity, a group of nuns and eventually lay people that ventured into the depths of India's slums to treat and care for the sick and dying. Today the Missionaries of Charity has expanded internationally.

While reading this very quick yet informative biography, I found myself stopping frequently to grasp the magnitude of the effect Mother Teresa had not only on the people of India, but on all the people of the world. Her perseverence and dedication to a life of helping others is not only admirable, but inspirational. She touched those affected with leprosy when others wouldn't. She chose a life of simplicity over one filled with possessions and the newest gadgets. She chose to spend her life spreading love to those that needed it most. She was a refuge to people who had lost all hope.

I have so much to learn from this extraordinary woman. In a society ruled by television, videogames, superstars, grossly overpaid athletes and CEO's, this biography of Mother Teresa offers an opportunity to go within and observe how we're living our own lives. Who do we want to be? There is no reason why company CEO's and oil moguls should be earning million-dollar bonuses while people around the world starve to death and don't receive adequate medical care. There are more than enough resources on this planet to accomodate everyone, if only we could learn to adopt an attitude of sharing instead of greed. I think that only when we begin to understand that what we do to/for someone else we do to ourselves, will we be able to change this global catastrophe. We have a lot to learn about how to treat other people, and thus ultimately our selves.

This book is a starting point.