Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert January 21, 2007

This was a really good book. The author wrote about her search for spirituality as she traveled across Italy, India, and Indonesia. It’s a very personal book, as she began her journey after she left her husband, and dealt with the grief over the loss of her marriage and another love.

I loved the author’s description of her time in Italy, the people whom she met and befriended, and her endless search for the best food she could find. I loved the way that she became comfortable with her aloneness, and the way that she stopped being so afraid of being alone. In fact, I found her time in Italy to be more spiritual than her time in India at an ashram, where she seemed to be fighting herself as she threw herself into spiritual practices that didn’t seem to fit her. And in Indonesia, she went to learn from a medicine man, but she learned just as much from herself and the culture around her.

This is a terrific book by a terrific writer, and I recommend it highly!

Found Dogs by Elise Lufkin and Diana Walker August 13, 2006

This is such a great book. It’s filled with the stories of stray dogs who were rescued, either from shelters or directly from the streets, and how they affected the lives of the people who adopted them. It’s so wonderful to read the stories of how the dogs changed as they came into their new homes and how creatures who were abandoned managed to become someone else’s treasure.

I think anyone who has a rescue dog (or dogs) would love this book. The stories are heartwarming and the photos are beautiful.

The Language of Miracles by Amelia Kinkade August 3, 2006

Amelia Kinkade is an animal communicator, and in this book describes the methods of animal communication. It’s more than “how to communicate with animals,” it’s “why we can communicate with animals.” Communication is not always hearing words, it’s seeing images or feeling impulses.

The book is filled with stories of people communicating with animals and with explanations of energy fields and connections. I loved the stories but tended to skim a little through the quantum physics stuff, since I’m not as interested in how every little thing works.

I personally would not want to hear every one of my animals’ thoughts translated into words, and that’s not what I think animal communication really is. The author herself says that we translate what we receive from animals into our own language. This book helped me realize that those of us who live with animals communicate with them all the time, and that it’s a good idea to be more conscious of what we are communicating, whether we are sending feelings or images.

The Diary of Lucy Blue by Janice Mitchell July 29, 2006

A behaviorist I consulted regarding my new dog suggested this book to me. Lucy Blue is a sheltie who came from a puppy mill. When she was rescued, she was so depressed that she was nearly catatonic. The book records her progress as she settles into her new home. It’s an interesting read for someone who has a dog who has “issues.” The author, the woman who fostered and eventually adopted Lucy Blue, records all the progress Lucy makes, and all her setbacks.

Since I’ve only had my new dog for a little over three weeks at this point, it was good for me to read how much a dog can improve in time. I also appreciated that the author included her own mistakes made while learning to deal with Lucy Blue. It’s so easy to go to far too quickly, and I sometimes need the reminder that these things take time.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote May 15, 2006

I read this book for a book club. It’s not something I would have chosen to read for fun, and I approached it much like a homework assignment. I kept finding other things to do and other things to read, so it took a while to finish.

The book is about a murder of a family in Kansas in 1959. It was extremely well written and interesting, but it’s just not something I want in my head.

Jumpstart Your Metabolism: How to Lose Weight by Changing the Way You Breathe by Pam Grout April 17, 2006

I liked this book. The premise is that in order to increase metabolism and lose weight, we need to get more oxygen into our bodies. The book is written in a conversational tone, with lots and lots of breathing exercises.

I read the book all the way through, but want to go through it again slowly and try all the different exercises. I find that as I remember to breath more deeply, I feel calmer and more centered, and that’s certainly a good thing. This is the kind of book I think you can refer to over and over, and you’ll always get something good out of it.