Books like Reincarnation

Stories of people with personal connections to times long gone and places far away always fascinate me. In this novel, 13-year-old Willow begins experiencing strange visions that lead her to believe that she led a former life in ancient Egypt. I love how the author doesn’t shy away from sensitive subjects like religion and terminal illness, but handles them with sensitivity (Willow’s best friend is a fundamentalist Christian who does not approve of the idea of past lives, and Willow’s sister is gravely ill). Still, the main focus of the story is Willow’s research into the possibility of reincarnation, and I found it captivating. 

I’ve always had an interest in the Salem Witch Trials. So Gallows Hills is a spine-tingling novel that ticks a lot of boxes for me! 17-year-old Sarah moves to a new town and is asked to be a fortune teller at a local fair. When her fortunes start coming true, people question her. Is she a witch? Then she starts having visions that link her to a time and place long ago. I love the idea that our past is always with us, and that we are doomed to repeat the past until we can deal with it!

This is another tale that starts with a fortune-teller—but this time it’s teenage Jo who gets her future told. The clairvoyant tells her that there is only one true love for her—but the last time Jo saw him was in a past life! Now she needs to find him in this life. Jo doesn’t believe a word of this, but events start to unsettle her. Could reincarnation possibly be true? But what if she can’t recognize her soul-mate when she finds him again in this life? I love the suspense elements in this book as well as the romance.

Who doesn’t love a new take on the Arthurian Legend of King Arthur? This fairly light-hearted story tells of King Arthur and his friends reincarnated in modern times. Age-old legends, it seems, never die… and now present-day teenagers Will and Elaine must fight the same battles for good to triumph over evil. It’s a modern twist on a classic love story, and a lot of fun.

I’m going to try really to not spoil this one…This is the story of two people who seem to be locked in life together, and not just locked in life, but repeating life. Sometimes they are friends. Sometimes they are lovers. There’s even a life where they are parent and child. The scenarios repeat – a bit of a Groundhog Day-ness to them. Then you quickly realize this is a cleverly disguised sci-fi, but despite all that, it’s the soul-mate-like connections that make us human. 

This is an extraordinary story about a young child who has violent nightmares and memories about a past life as a Fighter Pilot during World War II.

The book details the experience within this family to deal with not only the nightmares but also the progressive recognition of the parents to face the reality that this young child had a past life at another time and place. The parents search for details to confirm the child's experience and memory and are actually able to speak to other Fighter Pilots connected to this past-life hero.

It is a wonderful story of adventure and courage in facing what appears to be a frightening reality for this young boy.  

This may be my favourite book ever, apart from I Am Lilith. It shares lucid past life memories of the author in very ancient Egypt, as well as her experiences living through World War II in Eastern Europe, revealing purposeful links between souls incarnated in both lives. The spiritual knowledge is astounding, and the depth seems endless. I’ve read it multiple times and often randomly read a few pages, each time seeing something new. It’s very evocative, with fascinating descriptions of life and spiritual practices in very ancient Egypt while highly evolved beings were still active. It explains how the pyramids were made, and that a long era of separation and dense consciousness was due before a return to unity again would rise. It also explains the truth of passionate human love and sexual connection, through spiritual yet also very human eyes. It’s a mighty tome to take on,… show more.

It always seemed unfair to me that not only do we get just one life, but we only get to live it once. So I fell in love with this novel from the moment I read its premise: Ursula Todd is born and dies and is born again… and again… and again.

I love that she doesn’t remember her previous lives except as vague intuitions that help her avoid making the same mistakes twice–and I also love that avoiding those mistakes often means she makes other (often fatal) mistakes. I found this book funny, moving, and thought-provoking, but what I love most about it is the way its down-to-earth, realistic style allowed me to fully inhabit the impossible conceit at its heart. 

Dr. Stevenson was the founder and director of the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. In the course of his work, he started to encounter very young children who reported details of lives they had lived before. Many, many young children. Rather than dismissing the stories as fantasy, he started paying attention when he realized many of the stories were provable.

He spent decades traveling the world, finding and talking to the children who remembered. (Since his death, Dr. Jim Tucker has continued the research at UVa. His own work is totally worth a read: Life Before Life: Children's Memories of Previous Lives.)

I remember this book as one of the first fantasy novels I picked up, and I have been hooked ever since. Lauren wrote with such passion and mythical imagination.

The love story was tangled with emotions and torn love, and Daniel and Luca had the best chemistry for the first read. I knew it was fantasy, but adding love to it was a bonus.