I have never read anything filled
with such wisdom, psychological insight, and practical suggestions for personal
transformation.
Far from a self-help book, When Things Fall Apart encourages the reader to develop a straightforward relationship with reality—the
world around us. This elderly American Buddhist nun presents a compelling case
that we need to accept all of it, including a willingness to experience our own
distress—and learn from it.
I’ve tried writing about these topics in a
non-fiction format and never matched Chodrin’s elegant, simple
style. I fold in many of the same ideas in my novels via my characters’
voices, which works for me. My wife and I have been reading this
book aloud to each other on Saturday mornings and discussing whatever
relevance to our lives a given chapter has.
Pema Choedroen reveals the vast potential for happiness, wisdom and courage even in the most painful circumstances.
Pema Choedroen teaches that there is a fundamental opportunity for happiness right within our reach, yet we usually miss it - ironically, while we are caught up in attempt to escape pain and suffering.
This accessible guide to compassionate living shows us how we can use painful emotions to cultivate wisdom, compassion and courage, ways of communication that lead to openness and true intimacy with others, practices for reversing our negative habitual patterns, methods for working with chaotic situations and ways to cultivate…
McDonnell is Irish—a well-known comedian—as are his characters,
which adds to my enjoyment. The language and attitudes of working-class
Dubliners are fascinating. The book is a cross between a thriller and a
mystery, with four books in the series.
Once again, I know from experience
how hard it is to mix humor and suspense. I think I manage it fairly well,
leaning toward the suspense end of things. McDonnell relies heavily on
humor—laugh-out-loud humor. I love that.
The first time somebody tried to kill him was an accident.
The second time was deliberate.
Now Paul Mulchrone finds himself on the run with nobody to turn to except a nurse who has read one-too-many crime novels and a renegade copper with a penchant for violence. Together they must solve one of the most notorious crimes in Irish history . . .
. . . or else they’ll be history.
A Man With One of Those Faces is the first book in Caimh McDonnell's Dublin Trilogy, which melds fast-paced action with a distinctly Irish acerbic wit.
Perry's female
first-person narrator feels authentically womanly—albeit
a Seneca kick-ass woman versus my ordinary amateur detective. He pulls this off
effortlessly.
Perry is also a master of elongated
suspense. You have to keep reading. You can’t stop. One surprising thing leads
to another, and only Jane’s bag of tricks enables her to protect the woman she
is trying to hide from nasty criminals. On the run with her charge for most of
the book, the plot builds to a very satisfying conclusion.
“A challenging and satisfying thriller . . . [with] many surprising twists.”—The New York Times
Jane Whitefield is a Native American guide who leads people out of the wilderness—not the tree-filled variety but the kind created by enemies who want you dead. She is in the one-woman business of helping the desperate disappear. Thanks to her membership in the Wolf Clan of the Seneca tribe, she can fool any pursuer, cover any trail, and then provide her clients with new identities, complete with authentic paperwork. Jane knows all the tricks, ancient and modern; in fact, she has invented several of…
Tom is dangerously close to discovering his threshold—the point of no return for his sanity.
His encounter with the killer represented one more bizarre hot potato he was forced to juggle instead of filing away neatly. It wasn’t one too many, but what if the next one was? And could all the coincidences that keep happening to Tom be nothing more than that? The questions pile up for both Tom and the reader, much as the murders do.
Tom explores his inner transformation with a clinician’s expertise as he’s forced to expand his perspective and gather new tools to maintain his sanity amid all the drastic plot twists that are foisted on him by a host of offbeat characters.
