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Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Posted November 14, 2009 By dorolerium

From the book cover: Riding a bike is only one of the many things Auden’s missed out on.  Even before her parents’ divorce, she was cast in the role of little adult, never making waves, focusing on academics to please her demanding mother.

Now she’s spending the summer before college in the tiny beach town of Colby with her father and his new wife and baby.  A job in a trendy boutique introduces her to the world of girls, their friendships, conversations, romances.  And then there’s Eli, an intriguing loner.  A former star on the bike circuit and a fellow insomniac, Eli introduces Auden to the nocturnal world of Colby.  Together they embark on a quest: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to put a tragic episode behind him.  Combine two lonely people with a charming beach town and an endless supply of long summer nights, and just about anything can happen.

*****

At the beginning of this book, I thought perhaps I was very similar to Auden.  Like her, I often find it easier, and nicer, to be by myself and caught up in books or just alone with my thoughts.  But as you get further into the book, you find that Auden isn’t necessarily happier to be alone, she’s just so socially behind that she doesn’t know how to connect with people.  We accompany her on her journey of self discovery, learning just how much of her is aimed to please her mother rather than herself…maybe she does want to be normal after all!

I found it endearing just how clueless Auden is when it comes to other people, and I suspect some of the people I went to high school with were the same way.  I personally love stories about people finding themselves, especially when it helps me learn something about myself.  To an extent, I also felt like I was experiencing typical rites of passage for the first time, such as a food fight or having a paper route.

This is also an interesting look into small town life, where everyone knows each other, learning the history of each of them more through their knowledge of each rather than from a first hand account.  It challenges you to go beyond your initial impression of people, teaching you that even when everyone is so intimately involved in the lives of everyone around them, you can still be surprised.

I really enjoyed the characters and their interaction with each other, including the Auden at the beginning of the book and the person she becomes at the end.  Her interactions with Eli, how they both help each other heal and become more complete people, was especially touching for me to read.  It’s so sad to see people that young as broken as they are, and it makes it that much more satisfying as you see them come back together and become the people they should be.

I’d never read anything by Sarah Dessen before, but now that I have, I’m a fan for sure.  I feel like she has a great insight into what a YA reader is looking for, and manages to make the subject matter interesting for adults as well.  While the end of many books leaves me wishing there were more, this one wraps itself up nicely and although I would love to see what college and the future holds for Auden, I am happy to she where she ends up when the book is finished.

Read this book if: You like a sweet coming of age novel.  I think it’s an especially good read for teen girls, and will hopefully help them see that they are all unique and it’s never too late to change.  More importantly, that it’s okay to be different.

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Legacy by Cayla Kluver

Posted November 1, 2009 By dorolerium

The Crown Princess of Hytanica, Alera, is expected to choose a husband within the next year.  She hates her fathers first choice, Lord Steldor, and finds herself in love with another man.  In the midst of all kinds of turmoil, and on the brink of war, Alera must decide if she’ll follow her heart or her duty to Hytanica.

Alera is both a fascinating and frustrating character to read.  I found myself seeing the choices she was making and willing her to make different ones in a lot of cases, hoping she’d make the choices I would make were I in her position.  The majority of the story centers around her – whether it’s time she spends with Steldor, stubbornly disobeying the adults in her life, or visiting with the mysterious and newly arrived Narian.  It’s a good story, and an interesting perspective on palace life in a fantasy world.

The author of Legacy is sixteen-year-old Cayla Kluver, I was a little wary about this book given that she is so young.  There’s no doubt in my mind that a young author can be a good one, but I wondered, will she write something that an adult would also like.  The answer is a resounding yes!

I found myself sucked into this story, worrying about all the characters and wondering what was going to happen next.  I genuinely feared for some of them during the dangerous parts of the book; hated Steldor’s actions and personality; loved the mystery that accompanied Narian.  And the Glamour reader in me loved the descriptions of the clothes!

Though the book is over 450 pages, it was one of the fastest reads I’ve ever experienced.  The writing was easy to read and the story so engaging that I was just turning page after page.  Each chapter also begins with an intricate drawing around the first letter, which I really loved and found both endearing and fitting with the story.  The pictures actually match pretty closely with what happens in the chapter, so I found it quite fun to go back and look at them after reading part of or the whole chapter.

I was especially anxious toward the end of the book, as more and more things start coming together and you really wonder how on earth can everything be resolved!  I had no idea, up until the end of the book, that there are at least two more books in the works after this.  And as a what happens next kind of person, I am thrilled to see that I’ll have more of Alera and her story in the future.

Read this book if: You like YA fiction and romance.  I think this is especially a good book for a teen reader, and in my opinion it’s a good precursor to historical fiction.

Filed in 2009, Cayla Kluver | Tagged:

Knit the Season by Kate Jacobs

Posted October 27, 2009 By dorolerium

Reading this book was like a reunion with old friends.  I am always eager to see what these ladies are up to, and Kate Jacobs did not disappoint with the third installment of the series.

When I read Knit Two, I really liked it, but also felt like it required you to have read The Friday Night Knitting Club prior to reading it.  Whether intentionally or not, I believe that while Knit the Season is definitely a continuation of the stories of all the club members, it could also be a stand alone novel.  As a fan of the series, I would love for everyone to read it from the start, but you could totally just pick this book up and understand these people without having done so.

One of the things I really liked in this book was the memories of Georgia mixed in with everything else.  I felt like Dakota must have, getting an entirely new perspective on her mother based on who was telling the memory.  Georgia was something I missed in Knit Two, like all the club members I profoundly felt the loss of her.  But just as everyone in the novel is learning better how to cope with her no longer being around, the passages describing her helped me cope with it as well, what I genuinely feel was the loss of a friend.

For me, the book also continued to dispense real life advice, something I love about these books and Kate Jacobs as an author.  I feel like I can take the advice the ladies give each other to heart, as though they were giving it to me, such as when KC tells Peri that timing is more important in your life for a relationship to take hold, rather than who the person is – meaning there isn’t just one person for everyone, and it has to be right for you and your life.

The glimpses into Georgia’s past were also really interesting to me, and I’d honestly love a book just about Georgia in her younger days.  Seeing her always looking for the best, and trying to find a way to get to the big city, it’s a quality I hope to find in myself some day.  Perhaps Georgia can teach it to me.

I really loved watching Catherine, in particular, continue to grow and mature as time has gone on.  Although Dakota is the one who started out as a young teenager and has grown into a woman over the course of these novels, Catherine has had an even more important growth cycle into a wonderful maturity.  It’s very refreshing to see someone like her coming into their own, and figuring out what they really want.

Along with Anita as the voice of reason, we get to spend more time with Dakota and Georgia’s Gran from Scotland, as well as Bess Walker, Georgia’s mother.  These ladies always seem able to give the best advice, whether that be because of their own age and wisdom or simply because you do feel so close to them…although we never got much of Bess prior to this novel.  I feel as though I’m Dakota in these situations, learning from women who know better than I do.  I often thought maybe they were speaking directly to me, such as when Gran tells Dakota she doesn’t need to figure her entire life out at once, or when Bess explains that it doesn’t really do you any good to push people away to protect yourself.  It does more damage in the long run anyway.

Not only did this book reconnect me with characters I love, it also made me feel a new appreciation for the fast approaching holidays.  I’ve never been a huge holiday person myself, often choosing something like work over time with family.  But this year, perhaps because of my own new situations, I want to make an effort to be involved and spend time with the people I care about.  While I think those feelings were brewing inside me already, Knit the Season really helped to bring the thoughts to the forefront of my mind, and make it a priority this season.

And I consider this a fresh reminder to get cracking on my Christmas knitting!

Read this book if: You’re a fan of the series, or would like a fun, fast holiday read.  It would make a great book to sit down with during the holiday break this year, a wonderful way to unwind.  I, for one, hope there are more books to come!

Filed in 2009, ARC, Kate Jacobs | Tagged:

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

Posted October 20, 2009 By dorolerium

When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years because of Saren’s refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment.

As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable.  With the arrival outside the tower of Saren’s two suitors – one welcome, the other decidedly less so – the girls are confronted with both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.

Although I didn’t know it when I originally chose to read the book, this story is based on a little known fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm, the same people who brought us the likes of Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, and many others.  As one might expect, the tale is as inviting as the others, and I found myself pulled in by the story.

We get to read the whole story from Dashti’s point of view, as she writes their days in her book of thoughts.  I quite liked this arrangement, because if nothing else, Saren is a bit of a frustrating character and I don’t know if I would have wanted to see her thoughts throughout the entire book.  We learn early on that Saren cannot read or write, so Dashti gives us both of their lives in journal format.

I really enjoyed seeing the two girls go from a lady and her maid, to friends, all the while seeing how very different life is for the gentry versus the commoners.  While Saren is frustrating and I spent much of the time wondering if I should like her or not, Dashti is charming, clever, and loyal to the end.

Although this isn’t historical fiction, a lot of it is based on accounts of times long ago on the central Asian steppes.  Naturally, the mystical elements of the story are total fairy tale, but otherwise I think the life they lead, the reverence to multiple deities, presents an interesting look into a life we may not know much about.

The love triangle Dashti finds herself mixed up in makes me yearn to be a part of the story, to live in this world and experience their adventures with them.  The disguise and drama really make you wonder what’s going to happen next, and will love triumph over all?

I found the ending very moving, and I loved the end of the story for each of these characters, I felt it was just perfect.

Read this book if: I think this is a really good book for the YA audience it targets, and would be something fun to read with your young daughter.  It’s also not bad to read just on your own!

*Review originally posted at Royal Reviews

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Knit Two by Kate Jacobs

Posted October 16, 2009 By dorolerium

We enter into this book approximately five years after the end of the first one.  Some of the club members lives have changed quite a bit, yet the constant is still that they get together on Friday evenings to knit, chat, and support each other.  They encounter new struggles: children, relationships, marriages, college, not to mention the lingering grief from the death of one of their own.

One of the things I really loved about this book was seeing how much Dakota has grown in the five years that have passed.  I remember the feeling of wanting to take on the world, and have the adults in your life become uninvolved, all the while knowing deep down that things are still out of your control.  I was actually a little surprised when, at one point, she mentions how much older all the other women of the club are.  I say surprised because it never really occurred to me – I probably most closely match with Darwin’s age, but the age gaps weren’t ever on my mind.  And I think this is a great way to capture her youth, showing how she is still at an age where the age of everyone else is more of a big deal.

We also see the club split kind of in half for the summer, with four members going to Europe and the others staying back in New York.  Through this divide, we experience new friendships forged among the members who were maybe not as close to begin with, and learn secrets that no one had any idea existed.  It was great to be able to witness these changes and revelations in their lives, as opposed to being told about something that happened when we weren’t around to read it.

My only complaint, as an avid history lover, is that this book did not make me yearn to go to Rome.  And maybe that’s the point, to explore the relationships even with an ocean separating them, and not focus too much on the setting itself.  But even books I didn’t fall in love with in the past have made me very much want to go to the country in which they were set, so that is perhaps the only flaw for me in this one.

I also think, along with being an enjoyable read, that there are some good life lessons and wisdom thrown in.  At one point, Anita and James are talking and Anita says, “No one thought anything of the fact that I didn’t find someone else after Stan.  Why not? Because I was a dried up old lady.  But you, such a virile man, you should be rushing out and getting married.  Well, that’s nonsense.“  I love this, because I agree so wholeheartedly.  There is this idea among many people that because you’re young, you should be coupled up, and I dislike that mentality.  So I’m glad to see someone else, even if it is just a character in a book, feel the way that I do.

I really like this series, and the second book did not disappoint in the slightest.  I think the thing I like best is it’s just feels so real to me, I can genuinely envision these women and the adventures they go through.  I’m sure we could all go through our lives and find friends who are similar to these women we are reading about.  I very much look forward to the third book!

Read this book if: You liked the first one and want to continue the story.  I don’t think this is a standalone, given the intricacies of the relationships, but it is a great follow up book.

Filed in 2009, Kate Jacobs | Tagged:

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Posted October 6, 2009 By dorolerium

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book, and since I knew nothing about it at first, I was pleasantly surprised from the moment I opened it.  To say I really enjoyed this book would be an understatement.  And I hate to sound like other reviews out there by drawing similarities to Twilight, but to me it seems a little apparent that this author used similar plot devices.  But for me, it was like a much better version of Twilight…something I simply did not want to put down because it was almost like I was worried it would get away from me.

Imagine you go to class one day and the teacher makes you sit next to the new guy – mister tall, dark, and mysterious.  Do you do your best to avoid him, or do you go against your better judgment and let yourself get to know him?  Welcome to the world Nora Grey just entered.

Nora is smart, pretty, confident, and certainly has a bright future ahead of her.  Patch is absolutely trouble, from head to toe.  Picture Edward Cullen, except with no effort whatsoever to be good in the slightest.  He’s bad for her, he knows it, and he doesn’t take that into consideration with his pursuit of her.

I fell in love with Patch, Nora, and the dynamic between them.  I loved feeling like Nora did, knowing how bad he is, yet wanting to get closer to him and experience more.  Watching her change her mind constantly was really a struggle I felt like I would have too – always a chance to go back, but letting your desire get the better of you.

You never really know what you’re going to get when you become involved with a guy like Patch, but you can be sure your life won’t be boring.  And sometimes, you just can’t control your actions, so it’s better to just go with the flow instead of fighting.  Nora manages to do quite well in the face of truly frightening situations, and I loved her reliance on herself instead of just turning to the guy she likes at every corner.  I feel she stays true to herself throughout, a refreshing change from stories where the man instantly becomes the perfect protector.

This book was full of surprises, leaving you wondering who you can really trust and if you can even believe what’s before your very eyes.  It’s great mystery and suspense, and is the kind of story I dare you to put down.  I finished this in less than a day, neglecting as much as possible to stay with it and continue to experience the story.  It’s one of those books that I wish I could erase and experience anew, but since I can’t, I will anxiously await the sequel instead.

Read this book if: You liked Twilight.  I really think you’ll love it if you did.  It’s also just great YA fiction, so I say pick it up from your library or local book store!

*Original review published at Royal Reviews

Filed in 2009, ARC, Becca Fitzpatrick | Tagged: , ,

In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant

Posted September 28, 2009 By dorolerium

Rather than a tale of virtue and youth, Sarah Dunant brings us a journey of love and betrayal, prostitution and loyalty.

We meet our main characters, a courtesan called Fiammetta and her dwarf assistant Bucino in the height of their prowess in Rome.  But alas, the city falls to invading forces and these two are barely able to escape with their lives.  As we accompany them on their journey to Venice and watch as they are forced to start a new life, we are taken to a world the author has not shown us before.

I read Sarah Dunant’s books in half reverse order, her tales of convents and virtuous women coming before this one.  And perhaps that is why, as much as I did like this book, I did not fall in love with it as I did her others.  The tale is told from the perspective of Bucino, and he is charming enough, but he is not a lovely young lady.

The book tells most of the story between their downfall in Rome through their fortunes in Venice.  What I found myself really wanting was more of a history of Fiammetta, rather than the little bits of background we get through other means.  Because I feel that Sarah Dunant is so good at telling these things from the beginning, I wanted to see the roots of a courtesan life.  What is it like to be brought up by your own mother to service men until you are too old to continue doing so?  Does the courtesan ever wish for a different life, try to find a way out?

Yet, because I have read so much about marriages during this time period, it was very interesting to read a story of the semi-alternative.  All lives are run by men in this time period, but to an extent, the life of a courtesan seems a little more free.  Fiammetta is able to run her household basically as she wishes, and it’s refreshing to see that as much as she can, she makes her own fate.

I admire the author sticking to history as much as she can, and perhaps one of my favorite parts is her “Author’s Note” at the end.  It’s a nice tie-in between real life and the fiction she has spun for us.

On the whole, it is a good book and one I’m glad to have in my collection, for I will undoubtedly read it again.

Read this book if: If you’ve read other books by this author, I think you’ll like it, though perhaps not as much as The Birth of Venus.  Also, if you like tales of Italy in the 1500′s, this book will probably pique your interest.

*Original review published on Royal Reviews

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The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

Posted September 27, 2009 By dorolerium

I’m sure by now, everyone is familiar with the premise of this book – it’s in the title, after all!  A group of women join together, unintentionally at first, and form a knitting club that meets every Friday night at Walker & Daughter in Manhattan.  While the knitting club is where we meet our cast of characters, it is really only the background in this charming tale.

As a knitter myself, the book made me long to pick up one of my numerous projects and work on it.  It’s hard when you’re torn between two of your favorite things, knitting and reading, because I at least cannot do both at once.  However, I have no doubt that Georgia Walker, the owner of Walker & Daughter, would have been competent at doing the two things together!

I really liked all the characters in this book, and I find myself wishing again that I knew them in person.  I guess it motivates me to go to my own local knitting club, which I have been procrastinating about doing even though I enjoyed myself the one time I went.  I loved the way this book bounces from one character to another, telling things from each of their perspectives so we get an intimate look into their individual lives.  It was great to see relationships grow and watch these women help each other through divorces, school, lay-offs, reconciliations, and even illness.

The story of this book is brilliantly simple – nothing extraordinary or magical happens, which I quite loved.  Each of these women have their own ambitions and it was fantastic to see them all struggle and try to achieve what they were aiming for.  I especially liked the story of Dakota, Georgia’s daughter, who is trying on all kinds of things, simply to find out who she is.  It’s so refreshing to read about a young girl who wants to make something of herself!

One thing that struck me is how in a sense, each of these women are brought together by their own loneliness.  I believe they each mention it at some point, just how lonely they are in their own ways.  The club helps satiate that, and by the end I think they have all found themselves to the point where the loneliness has subsided.  I like reading about this kind of thing, it gives hope that anyone can get past their problems if they work on it.

To me, they all seem to form a lovely family, and they manage to pull through all kinds of trials together.  They learn that, just like knitting isn’t made up of one stitch, a life isn’t made up of one person.

Read this book if: You’ll probably like it if you like knitting, although it’s certainly not a knitting book.  Although knitting is a theme, and the yarn shop is a central location for all of them, it’s more about lives.  I think this is also classified as “chick-lit”, so I’m not sure if I can recommend it for men – but then again, I don’t know that I read anything that I’d recommend for men!

Filed in 2009, Kate Jacobs | Tagged:

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

Posted September 26, 2009 By dorolerium

Once again, Sarah Dunant spins a masterful tale of life long ago, starting in Florence in the 1480′s.  We enter the life of Alessandra Cecchi, a 14 year old girl who is sadly, too developed for her time.  She loves to learn, speaks multiple languages, has no talent for dancing, and above all, she loves art.

Alessandra has inherited her love of color from her father, a clothing merchant renowned for his vibrant cloths and she yearns for the secret of color.  While most young women learn to sew and prepare to be mothers, Alessandra sketches scenes from the bible and other images she can conjure up in her mind.  She yearns to explore the beautiful city she lives in, to feel what it must be like to be a man in a time of great change, both politically and culturally.

One evening, her father brings home a young painter, someone to paint the family chapel as well as commit them all to canvass for history to see.  A young man with great talent, someone Alessandra cannot avoid and hopes to learn from.  A man who will change her life.  Together they will question if God can be reached through art, or if art itself is a sin as the new fiery monk of the city proclaims it is.

As it becomes clear that Alessandra is close to womanhood, a choice must be made – enter a convent and never have the ability to explore her creativity, or let her parents find a husband who may understand her a bit.  She chooses the latter, a move that will affect her future, more than she could ever guess.

We go on this journey with Alessandra, through the rest of her life, the twists and turns and decisions she must make to create a life she has always wanted.  In the meantime, the city is exploding outside the walls of her home, and Alessandra is unable to explore the freedom she sought so hard…it is taken away as suddenly as it is given.

I never wanted to put this book down, and even though we do follow Alessandra through virtually her entire life, I am still yearning for more.  It’s a beautiful story, and although I disagreed with some of her decisions, I was compelled to continue on this journey with her.  I loved the book, and my only disappointment is that it ended too soon.

Read this book if: You like historical fiction, especially something set in Italy during the Renaissance.  It’s very interesting to me to see life during this time in a country other than England, and I’m glad I took the time to read it.  Sarah Dunant is a master of this era!

*Review originally posted on Royal Reviews

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The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz

Posted September 25, 2009 By dorolerium

I will first say that I think this is the kind of book you really have to be ready for, as in searching for something better in your life.  In my limited experience with self help books, I would say that’s generally the case, actually.  If you don’t feel there is anything wrong with your life, if you’re not searching out something that will make it better or make you happier, it does you no good to read something designed to get you to a happier place.

I agree with the principle of this book, and I think the message is a good one, it’s just maybe not something I feel I needed.  To a large extent, I think I was kind of living by several of these agreements already, so I don’t know that it helps to be told to live by them.  I also feel that this stuff is common sense, so I’m not certain it needed to be said.  Anyway, the Four Agreements are:

Be Impeccable With Your Word – Speak with integrity.  Say only what you mean.  Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others.  Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

I agree that it is wrong to be self depreciating or gossip about others.  But I also wonder, at what point does something become gossip?  See, I like to share my life with my friends, and as such, I tell them a lot about what’s going on.  Is it gossiping if I happen to relay an experience that included another person?  Or is it not gossip if I am speaking from truth, even if it is just the truth from my own perspective?  I don’t feel like any of these questions were answered by the book, so I am left a bit wondering with this one.

And one of the things I really disagreed with was an example the author used that is someone using the word to damage someone else.  In this scenario, someone sees their friend and says

“Hmm!  I see that kind of color in your face in the people who are going to get cancer.”  If he listens to the word, and if he agrees, he will have cancer in less than one year.  That is the power of the word.

If cancer is caused by the power of words and thought, it wouldn’t be so hard to cure.  I agree that words are valuable and can really hurt people, we should all definitely watch what we say, but I simply cannot believe this.  My grandfather died of cancer, no one said he was going to get it and he didn’t think it was going to happen, it just did.  And all of us wanting him to be rid of the disease, to be well again, didn’t help either.

Plus, who says something like that to their friend!

Don’t Take Anything Personally – Nothing others do is because of you.  What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream.  When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

The premise of this is that everything everyone else says is really about them, and everything you say is really about you.  I know this may be semantics on my part, but if that’s the case, what is the point of conversing or interacting with people?  And I just can’t agree with that specific segment – if I say one of my girlfriends looks pretty, or that she has fantastic shoes, I don’t mean it about myself (okay, maybe the shoes part).

I agree with the idea of this agreement, and I do try to live by it.  Don’t take anything personally.  This is an especially important thing to remember when you are hunting for a job, or meeting new people.  So it’s a good idea.

Don’t Make Assumptions – Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want.  Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama.  With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

Good in theory, especially when applied to someone else’s behavior towards you.  However, the author doesn’t really do anything to help us along, as in teach us how to avoid making assumptions.  Or even give examples of when making assumptions is simply going to happen, and is maybe even okay.

As an example, let’s say you have a dinner engagement with a friend, and that friend never shows up, never calls, you’re simply at dinner by yourself.  How can you avoid making an assumption in that situation?  And is an assumption okay if you’re simply worried about the safety of your friend?  I, for one, am unable to leave that situation as “oh, so and so didn’t come.”  I will worry about them until I hear from them, and if they’re okay, despite the fact that I shouldn’t take things personally, I’m going to want an explanation.  Is this wrong?  Maybe.  But I have nothing to offer as to how to avoid it.

Always Do Your Best – Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick.  Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

I learned this one from watching Dollhouse, because they are always saying “I try to be my best.”

Okay, I didn’t *really* learn it from Dollhouse, but they do say it.  This is a principle I’ve tried to live by for years, and I really think that a huge part of it is understanding and accepting that what is your best will vary.  Each day may start differently, but if you give your best, at least you did that.  I agree with this sentiment.

*****

Generally speaking, I feel a little like the author is asking us to do the very thing he says we should reject – take things on faith, or agree to believe.  We have to take his word that these new agreements are better than the ones he claims we have made already, the ones that are constantly forming in ourselves based on our training throughout our entire lives.  And from my perspective, living by these principles will probably make your life better, but I don’t need someone else to tell me that, nor do you.

Read this book if: If you feel like these are things you need to read to help you through your life, by all means, read it.  But as I mentioned at the beginning, I think to at least a small extent, you have to be seeking this stuff out in your life for this kind of book to really work for you.  Otherwise, you’ll probably just have questions like I did.

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