Welcome to Deb's Bookshelf!
A monthly newsletter feature! I am going to read the books on my bookshelf this year and share my thoughts with you. Perhaps I will motivate you to pick up a new book (or one that is sitting on your shelf) and get inspired!
A monthly newsletter feature! I am going to read the books on my bookshelf this year and share my thoughts with you. Perhaps I will motivate you to pick up a new book (or one that is sitting on your shelf) and get inspired!
February 2016
Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution., Brene Brown. I read this book at the right time! And the cover really says it all: "If we are brave enough, often enough, we will fall. This is a book about what it takes to get back up." We can all relate to falling; whether its professional or personal, we have all fallen. We can usually pick ourselves and move forward. This trick is, do we move forward with awareness? Have we learned a lesson about ourselves? Sometimes yes and oftentimes no. What I loved most about this book is that it describes the middle, the day 2, the rumble. It's not always easy to pick ourselves up after the fall, but we can do it. That's the reckoning. It's really not easy to endure the rumble, the middle where we need to dig deep, feel the pain and learn the lessons. Our reward for the rumble is the revolution, where we are on the other side of the issue and rising strong. I love the way Brene Brown writes; the book is enjoyable to read, full of stories and valuable insights. |
January 2016
The 12 Week Year: Get more done in 12 weeks than others do in 12 months, Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington. This was a perfect book to start off the year! The authors break down time management into planned blocks of time and break down goals into 12 week periods. Instead of planning for a full year, tracking your progress and getting to the end of 52 weeks and missing the target, you create a long term vision, determine the activities that will help you achieve your vision and then create a 12 week plan. A short term plan supports realistic goals, the goals are building blocks for your vision and you can determine if an activity supports vision quickly. Course correction is part of the process! |
December 2015
Tune In: Let Your Intuition Guide You to Fulfillment and Flow, Sonia Choquette Sonia is one of my favorite intuition teachers. She is authentic and down to earth. You will find the advice in Tune In practical and easy to follow. Sonia create a 4 step process to using your intuition: Waking Up, Digging Deep, Taking the Leap and Entering the Flow. Here's one of my favorite lines in the book: "That's how intuition works! It begins with shifts in awareness, followed by simple shifts in action, leading to gloriously positive shifts in experience." I couldn't agree more. This is an excellent book to pick up and start using your intuition! |
November 2015
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho Another great book that made its way to me as a gift! It's a parable of a young man and his journey to find his personal legend. He goes through trials and tribulations and learns lessons. He nearly gives up and then perseveres. Intuition is a theme in the book and I loved this passage so much, I actually marked it in the book (something I rarely do): "The boy was beginning to understand that intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected and we are able to know everything, because its all written there." It's a book for all ages as we are all continually searching for our personal legend. |
October 2015
The Four Agreements: A Toltec Wisdom Book, Don Miguel Ruiz I love this little book and wish I read it sooner! The subtitle is 'A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom' and that's the truth. I believe if you follow the Four Agreements, you will find personal freedom. In case you aren't familiar, they are:
Do yourself a favor and pick up this book and spend an afternoon reading it and reflecting upon the agreements. I am certain you will be inspired. |
August 2015
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo There is magic in learning to clear out the clutter in your room, house and life. Marie Kondo's approach includes visualization, intuition and gratitude. Imagine how you would like your drawer, closet, room to look and serve you. Imagine having just the right amount of each item - no more and no less. Then start tidying up by holding each item and feeling its energy. How do you feel? What does your intuition tell you? Does it feel positive or negative? Keep the positive items and discard the negative items. As you discard the negative items, thank them for their service and the lesson they have taught you. While there is much more to the process than visualization, intuition and gratitude, those items resonated and stayed with me. I enjoyed reading this book and incorporating Marie's techniques into my life. It's a quick read and can be life-changing. In fact, I no longer 'give away' clothes to my family without asking if they need or want them. I had been transferring my guilt of not being able to discard clothing items onto other family members. That is simply not right to transfer my guilt and negative feelings. Lesson learned. |
April 2015/May 2015
First Intelligence: Using the Science & Spirit of Intuition, Simone Wright This is an excellent resource to use to develop your intuition. The book is divided into sections with practical explanations and exercises for the reader to use. I particularly like the author's Intuition Triad - peace, precision and perception. From the book: Peace is the energetic starting point of and primary source of our intuitive action. Precision is the awareness with which we notice the words, thoughts, emotions and feelings we use in every moment, especially when seeking intuitive information. Perception is the process of becoming aware of what we notice or experience through our senses, as a reflection of reality, and aware of how to use it to shape our lives. |
March 2015
One Word that will change your Life, Jon Gordon, Dan Britton, Jimmy Page. This is a quick read and helpful! There are downloadable tools to help you develop your One Word for the year. I used their method and my word for 2015 is TRUST. I am practicing TRUST on a daily basis. |
February 2015
What I Know For Sure, Oprah Winfrey. This book is a compilation of magazine columns that Oprah wrote for O Magazine. They are organized in themes and were updated for the book. What I liked about this book, is that is was an easy read, you can pick it up, read a few pages, get inspired, and come back to it. I think it also gives you a look into the everyday Oprah and her struggles and successes. I found it inspiring, in fact, reading it inspired me to add Deb's Bookshelf to my website and newsletter and set my intention for reading one inspirational book each month in 2015! |
January 2015
Walking Home: A Pilgrimage from Humbled to Healed, Sonia Choquette. I enjoyed this book as it chronicled Sonia's journey on the Camino de Santiago also known as the Way of St James. It's an ancient pilgrimage of nearly 500 miles which begins at different points in Europe but always ends at the Santiago de Compostella Cathedral in Spain. This is the location of the tomb of St. James. I was fortunate to visit the Cathedral in 2013 while on vacation. I started following Sonia on Facebook in early 2013 as she was walking the Camino. I had no idea what it was and started doing research. Then I watched the movie "The Way" and added walking the Camino to my bucket list. In Walking Home, Sonia shares her personal reasons for walking the Camino, her trials and tribulations along the Camino and how the walk helped to heal her. It's easy to read, funny at times, poignant at others, and made me want to walk the Camino even more. |