calm#34 - The KISS Guide to Feng Shui, by Stephen Skinner
Hooray! Finally, a book on the subject that I can recommend with no hesitations whatsoever. I thought this was a fantastic book. Clearly written, easy to read, with great graphics and charts which often really helped me to understand the material. This book does not go into some of the more complex areas of feng shui (like detailed 8 Houses, or Flying Stars), but what it does cover it covers thoroughly and well. I came away from this book with lots of specific strategies for changes I can make *right now* to improve the feng shui of my home. The book also has a section devoted to specific remedies for each of the five phases (something I felt was missing from the Idiot's Guide), and also a section on furniture placement for each room of the house. After the reading I've done so far, this is the book I would recommend to anyone wanting to get started with feng shui. (Part of PC)
#35 - Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui, by Karen Kingston
Another fantastic book. It's very small, and a quick read (took me only a few hours), but she has some really great stuff here. There's not really much information on feng shui, and the info she does offer uses a different system than the one I'm using, but I didn't find that disappointing, because what she does cover is so useful. Basically, she talks about how clutter represents stuck energy in our environment, which keeps us stuck in old patterns in our lives. By freeing up our physical space, we open the door for new energy and new opportunities to enter our lives. I was already familiar with a lot of her techniques (like how to tackle the clutter in your house and sort through possessions); but what she gave me that was new was some insight about *why* we hold onto some of the things that we do. For example, she really helped me to see that some of my possessions are not actually providing me security and safety, but are keeping me focused on the past, and that I have a lot of things I've kept out of fear - that I'll need it "someday" - but this attitude shows a lack of faith that my needs will be met in the future, which is counter-productive. This book has inspired me to get control of the "stuff" in my life in a way I've never been before, and it feels good. I'd highly recommend this book to just about anyone who feels like they're being "owned" by their possessions, instead of the other way around. (Part of PC)
#36 - James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
This was another of my all-time favourite books as a child, and I really enjoyed this reading of it, as the bedtime book for my son for the past couple of weeks. It's a good story, and my son is very captivated by the story and the characters right now, and it was a lot of fun for us to read together. I'd say this book has withstood the test of time, and I highly recommend it. (Part of PC)
# 37 - The Nanny Diaries, by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I'd expected - I found it really depressing and difficult to read at times. In a nutshell, it's written from the PoV of a soon-to-be university graduate who is working her way through school as a nanny to a wealthy family in New York City. It's pretty much one long horror story about the abuses and lack of respect that the hired help is expected to put up with from their multi-millionaire employers. Not to mention that most of these wealthy families seem to be living highly dysfunctional lives. It's well written and somewhat humorous (or tries to be), but I found so many of the things that happen to be profoundly disturbing, especially since I'm aware that this story, while fictionalized, is based on real things that have happened. In other words, there really are people like this. Ugh. Somehow, this made the whole thing seem not very funny to me at all. (Purchased used; have BookCrossed)
