Seriously, The Most Practical And Uplifting Book I've Ever Read

Title: The Power of Now

Author: Eckhart Tolle

Length: 229 pages

Year Written: 1999

Why I chose this book: My friend Buddha introduced me to the concept of the 'pain body,' and through intensive Googling, I came across this book that I'd already heard of before in passing.

The first thing I will say is that everyone should read this book. The second thing I will say is that this is one of very few non-fiction books I have read for pleasure in several years. The third thing I will say is that this book is deeply powerful and highly practical. I'll stop counting the things I'm saying now. I can't believe it existed for 16 years without my having read it, but I’m glad I read it at this particular point in my life. I can admit that the very essence of me is skeptical of and resistant to terms like "spiritual enlightenment." Even the title, The Power of Now, initially strikes me as corny and barf-able. I immediately conjure mental images of preachers that wear pop star mics. As soon as I started reading, though, all my preconceived notions were shattered into a trillion pieces.

There are several chapters, all relevant to one another and the larger theme of being fully present in the moment without basking in the illusions of the past or worrying about the future. My favorite chapter was ‘Enlightened Relationships,’ which had genuine gems I was able to put into practice immediately. One of the biggest pieces that I identified with very closely was about our past pain and the way we lay back in it, unconsciously perpetuating more of the same for our lives. Tolle spells it out this way: “As long as you make an identity for yourself out of the pain, you cannot become free of it.” Having been single for the better part of the year, after being in a five-year relationship, this chapter reaffirmed my peace in my solitude. I realized that most “love” relationships are addictions, a vain search for wholeness in a secondary source, and largely and unknowingly operated by the ego. 

While I was reading, I checked hashtags on Instagram to see who was also reading this book. And then I talked to them about it. Surprisingly, a few people mentioned that the concepts in the book were difficult to grasp at first, and that they needed to reread multiple times. For me, it was more of a natural absorption, like the muted voice in my subconscious had gained confidence and volume. Overall, this is an excellent book—one that isn’t guaranteed to help you (at least not immediately), but it sure won’t hurt you.  

Rating: 9.8/10

A Brief, Unmoving Response to the Problems of Contemporary Feminism

Title: One Dimensional Woman
Author: Nina Power
Length: 69 pages
Year Written: 2009
Why I chose this book: It was short, on my shelf, and seemed subversive and intriguing.

In college, my minor was Women's Studies. During that time, I passively absorbed many perspectives regarding gender equality and the trajectory of women's social status. This small book was essentially a regurgitation of the ideas we'd swap in class. Some of the topics addressed include "the working woman," pornography as liberation, and the intersection of feminism with consumerism. All in all, it was slightly boring and triggered very little emotional or political reaction from me.

Since the book is only 69 pages, ideas are introduced and just barely expounded upon before the next thought is spit out. This book primarily presents critical flaws in the popular ideals and patterns of feminism today, but does little to facilitate plausible alternatives. For example, author Nina Power offers a small tirade against the prototypical nuclear family, but hardly offers the other side of the argument, or a sensible suggestion of how we might eventually shift that paradigm.

Of course, this might be like an eighth grader reading a Clifford book—One Dimensional Woman may be a helpful primer for those with very little familiarity with the basic concepts of contemporary feminism. At 69 pages, it's certainly worth a read, regardless of its low-impact "wow" factor.

Note:  Yes, this is only the third book I've finished in 2015. Yes, it was only 69 pages, and yes, it is the first book I've finished since March 10. Yes, it is now July. Do as I say, and not as I do: make time to read, read, read. Keep your brain active lest it melt into mediocrity. Thank you.

Rating: 5/10

A Vacation You Would Probably Never Take IRL

Title: The Sly Company of People Who Care
Author: Rahul Bhattacharya
Length: 278 pages
Year Written: 2011
Why I chose this book: I found this book in the Kinokuniya bookstore in Los Angeles, and was intrigued by the cover and title.

This book officially has broken the record for longest time it's taken me to read anything (relatively short in length) from beginning to end. I started reading in October and didn't finish until a few days ago. That's five months, a time period in which a lot has transpired in my personal life. By the time the plot switched gears a little more than halfway through, it was easy to identify parallels between the book and my life, and all in all it was a strangely rewarding experience. (Side note: This is also only the second book I've finished in 2015—suffice it to say it's been a lazy year for reading.)

The main character of The Sly Company of People Who Care is a 26-year-old journalist from Bombay who leaves everything in India behind for a rudimentary life in Guyana. One a one-year visa, he navigates the poverty-stricken but awe-inspiring terrain of a new country populated by a smattering of different cultures and customs. He eventually meets a woman that captures his attention and they embark on an adventurous and volatile relationship that eventually lands them in a lot of trouble.

Language and the way Bhattacharya employs it was the most important part of this reading experience for me. The book is chock-full of regional dialect and though that sometimes slowed down my reading, it also paid off well in many moments. Another important part of this reading experience was the vacation that it takes you on. Unless you're Guyanese, you probably weren't thinking of traveling to Guyana. Bhattacharya's main character takes an unlikely vacation that people often question him about, incredulously. The book's ability to transport you to an entirely different place that you probably have zero prior reference for, so acutely, speaks to the layered, complex nature of the writing. Overall, it was an interesting read that took way too long to finish.

Rating: 7/10

A Great Novel for the Elderly and the Basic

Title: The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Author: Mitch Albom
Length: 196 pages
Year Written: 2003
Why I chose this book: I picked this up when I was working at Barnes and Noble (roughly 6 years ago). It's earmarked in a bunch of different places, but I didn't recall much (or any) of the story. It seemed like a nice, wholesome choice to start off my reading in 2015.

From the title alone, you can assume a few things about The Five People You Meet in Heaven. You can assume it has religious undertones, likely a tad cheesy. You can assume it is a feel-good story with a happy ending. You can also assume that Mitch Albom, who also wrote Tuesdays with Morrie, will, from time to time, tug at your heart strings and tear ducts. Ultimately, it was a cute story, but nothing groundbreaking or deeply profound. It might be a nice book to read if I was anticipating an imminent death. Or if I was a religious type who made a New Year's resolution to read more books. This would be the perfect choice.

TFPYMIH (horrible acronym) is the story of Eddie, an old maintenance guy at a beach pier amusement park. He dies, and then meets five people from his life, in their respective heavens, who then explain to him the meaning of his life's events. It is cute, and it is short. Some parts, mainly a section involving Eddie as a soldier in battle in the Philippines, are quite gruesome, but Albom's writing is more on the side of fable than truly convincing fiction. I didn't cry, and I cry at a lot of things, so there's that. At best, I probably smiled, and might have let out a small gasp at one or two moments.

Rating: 7.7/10

50 Books In 2014 Year-End Recap

Today is December 29, and I am approximately one-third of the way through my thirty-first book of the year, and I probably won't finish by Wednesday. I have read a grand total of 30 books for the year 2014. Of course, my goal was 50, and I would be disappointed, but someone tweeted me this yesterday:

When I started this reading challenge, I knew that 50 books in one year was a lofty goal. Fifty was always kind of an arbitrary number. I knew it wouldn't bother me very much if I didn't finish, as long as I stuck with it throughout the entire year—and that I did. Even though some months passed in which I finished only one or two books, I never went anywhere without a paperback in my purse or a digital copy of something on iBooks. I seriously read a lot of great books this year, and it has been my most fruitful New Year's resolution to date by far.

My biggest realization is that to truly enjoy a book, you've got to take your time, and you've got to read it more than once. I didn't do either one of these things this year, in the interest of completing my goal. Even though 2014 is ending, the challenge isn't (especially since my friend/blogger maven Tyece so graciously included me in her list of 50 Blogs To Take Into 2015—check it out!). 50 Books In 2014 will remain a space where I document and review all the fantastic literature I consume, and hopefully inspire others to read some of the same titles (or any titles, really). Here are some graphs.

Weren't those cute? Special shout outs to: Paolo Coelho for writing the best book I read all year (The Alchemist); Kevin Kunitake for lending me several of these books and being a great literary conversationalist; Amazon for making it possible for me to order books for as low as $0.01 plus S&H; Tyece Wilkins for reading and supporting the blog via Twenties Unscripted; my online pal Courtney for appreciating the blog and being a fellow bookworm; and to everyone who supports my reading habit in one way or another. See you next year!

Book 30: Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

Title: Tropic of Cancer
Author: Henry Miller
Length: 318 pages
Year Written: 1934
Why I chose this book: A tattered, almost obliterated copy of this book was lent to me by my friend Kevin. I took it, but bought a copy on iBooks for ease of reading.

This was not a bad book, but it was a bad choice. As you can see, it has been a MONTH since I last finished a book, and it's December. This means that I have less than a month to read 20 more books. Fortunately for me, this is one of those challenges that you can still feel good about regardless of the outcome (kind of like running a marathon for charity or something like that). Plus, some people won't read 30 books in 30 years. Hmm. Anyway, I say this book was a bad choice because it certainly would be more enjoyable sans a hovering timeline. It is a book that provides profoundly meaningful tidbits, about life and the human condition, but not necessarily a quick and easily digested storyline.

Tropic of Cancer is one of those books I've always known of (perhaps initially through an episode of Seinfeld) but had no clue about its content. The only thing I knew, just prior to starting, was that it was initially banned, which is not a concept my modern mind can necessarily grasp. It turns out that Tropic of Cancer is a surly, kind of depressing, half-fiction account of author Henry Miller's nomadic life in Paris as a struggling writer. The novel is chock-full of dirt, both sexually and hygienically. Life for Henry Miller between 1930 and 1934 was apparently laden with lice, starvation, and whores. I later learned that he based many of his characters on people he knew in real life, including beastly poetic writer Anais Nin (who I read earlier this year, and now realize was probably writing about cheating on her husband with Miller). They apparently had quite the passionate affair that many speculate to have crystallized in his character "Tania":

"I am fucking you, Tania, so that you'll stay fucked. And if you are afraid of being fucked publicly I will fuck you privately. I will tear off a few hairs from your cunt and paste them on Boris' chin. I will bite into your clitoris and spit out two franc pieces..."

More than the actual novel itself, I am fascinated with the circumstances that led to the novel's creation. I am blown away by the inspiration that two awesomely nasty writers shone onto one another in the nude and then onto paper. I'm also fascinated with the feeling of being a fly on the wall of some unintentional bigot's dilapidated Parisian quarters in the 1930s. The novel can be quite graphic, but honestly contains nothing more offensive than life itself. It has been heralded as the literary work that paved the way for our current freedom of expression in fiction. For that, especially, I am grateful.

Rating: 8.3/10

Book 29: The Giver by Lois Lowry

Title: The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry
Length: 225 pages
Year Written: 1993
Why I chose this book: Like the last book, this one was recommended to me by my friend Kevin (which means it will be a great, meaningful book that I absolutely love).

Long after Brave New World, but years before The Hunger Games trilogy, Lois Lowry wrote this brilliant, powerful, yet simple story about many of the same dystopian visions that seem to recur throughout popular literature. The Giver is a kid's book, but relevant to all ages. For those unfamiliar with Aldous Huxley's masterpiece Brave New World, it is about a society where babies are bred for particular careers, and everyone is too doped up on a drug called "soma" to ever consider the bigger picture, or even the existence of one. People are generally more familiar with The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, in which kids aged 12 through 18 are entered into an annual drawing where boy and one girl are selected from each of the 12 districts to fight in an arena (though more like a complete ecosystem) until one survivor remains. The Giver is not as complex as Brave, nor as violent as Hunger, but much more moving than either.

The main character, Jonas, is a young boy who lives in a community where everything is rigid and controlled. Births are regulated to 50 per year, and each "newchild" is closely monitored so that on their twelfth birthday (which occurs as a mass ceremony every December) they can receive a job assignment from the community's elders, for which they immediately start their training. Though many kids already know what they will be assigned, because of their expressed interests and hobbies, Jonas has no idea what he will get. So, of course, he gets assigned a mystical, prestigious, but super mysterious and scary job: Receiver of Memory. Essentially, his job is to hold all the memories of the world so that everyone else doesn't have to. This turns out to be, like, the biggest gift/curse combo you could ever imagine.

Jonas goes through about a year of very painful self-discovery and newfound awareness, which all culminates in a simple, slightly unfinished ending. Lowry's reserved, elegant style of writing definitely add to the pleasure of reading this story. Moreover, it gives us highly relevant but perhaps uncomfortable food for thought.

Rating: 9.7/10