November 2003

"Coast to Coast Ghosts:
True Stories of Hauntings Across America"
by Leslie Rule

Following is a review of this month's Power Book (by a reader):

"Finally, here is a ghost book that doesn't resort to
junior-high storytelling to be scary! Leslie Rule tells her well-
researched ghost tales in a straightforward, matter-of-fact
manner. She is open-minded, but it is clear that she has gone to
a lot of trouble to authenticate her stories. She has certainly
not thrown scepticism out the window. This would be a wonderful
book to reassure people who have seen ghosts. Rule includes
quite a few helpful checklists, so the frightened viewer can
determine in retrospect whether she is experiencing a
legitimate haunting or not. And, on top of all this, it is MOST
entertaining! This is a very compelling book, difficult to
put down once you pick it up."

October 2003

"Kama Sutra"
by Anne J. Hooper

Following is a review of this month's Power Book:

"Joining Anne Hooper's Great Sex Guide in the Great Sex
Series, Kama Sutra combines the spice of age-old eroticism with
the candid instruction of a contemporary sex guide. Based on
the classic "Ananga Ranga" and "Perfumed Garden" positions, Kama
Sutra draws aside the veil of myth and mystery surrounding
Tantric sex and shows how to combine sensuality and sex for a
loving, fulfilling relationship.

Anne Hooper's first edition of The Kama Sutra (more than 500,000
copies sold worldwide since 1994) established this renowned author
and sex therapist as the foremost modern interpreter
of the ancient Indian erotic classics.

September 2003

"Psychology of Winning"
by Denis E. Waitley

Following is a review of this month's Power Book:

"The world's foremost producer of personal development and
motivational audio programs now brings you a remarkable set
of strategies that can change your life dramatically.
There is often only a small difference between the top leaders
in every field and those who merely "do well." In The Psychology
Of Winning, Denis Waitley offers simple, yet profound principles
of thought and healthy behavior that guide men and women to
the top in every field of endeavor...principles that give you
the winning edge in every situation.

Being a winner is an attitude, a way of life, a self-concept.
It's a heads-up, full-speed-ahead way of living and being.
It's an expectation of success that you can master with
your personal coach, Denis Waitley.
With Denis Waitley's expert training, you will finally be able to:
Transform your high expectations into real outcomes,
Concentrate on your desires and the rewards of success,
instead of fear and failure,
Visualize and act out winning situations to guarantee your success."

August 2003

"In Search of the Miraculous"
by P. D. Ouspensky

Following is a review of this month's Power Book:

"A new edition of the groundbreaking spiritual treasure,
with a foreword by bestselling author Marianne Williamson.
Since its original publication in 1949, In Search of the Miraculous has
been hailed as the most valuable and reliable documentation of
G. I. Gurdjieff's thoughts and universal view. This historic and
influential work is considered by many to be a primer of mystical
thought as expressed through the Work, a combination of Eastern
philosophies that had for centuries been passed on orally from teacher
to student. Gurdjieff's goal, to introduce the Work to the West,
attracted many students, among them Ouspensky, an established mathematician,
journalist, and, with the publication of In Search of the Miraculous,
an eloquent and persuasive proselyte.

Ouspensky describes Gurdjieff's teachings in fascinating and
accessible detail, providing what has proven to be a stellar
introduction to the universal view of both student and teacher.
It goes without saying that In Search of the Miraculous has
inspired great thinkers and writers of ensuing spiritual movements,
including Marianne Williamson, the highly acclaimed author of
A Return to Love and Illuminata. In a new and never-before-published
foreword, Williamson shares the influence of Ouspensky's book and
Gurdjieff's teachings on the New Thought movement and her own life,
providing a contemporary look at an already timeless classic."

July 2003

"The Circle"
by Laura Day

Following is a review of this month's Power Book:

"If you could invent your own reality, what would it be?
In this book, Laura Day guides readers into a realm of wish
fulfillment and creative dreaming: The realm of The Circle. In this
sacred space, Day explains, we can actually accept our desires, focus
on their fulfillment, and change our lives. “Go ahead,” Day urges,
“dream what you want. Allow yourself to wish. Allow yourself to feel
your hunger. In The Circle, nobody endures hungry.” Day’s ideas are simple,
but they speak to everyone. We all have a secret vision of ecstasy,
but we feel helpless to make those visions real. Day insists that her
book -- with its exercises, explanations, and visualization techniques
-- can help. “By the end of this book, you will be an intuitive, a healer,
and the conscious creator of your own reality,” she promises. “You will
know that you have achieved mastery by choosing the one thing you want
to change and changing it.”

The Circle promises a new reality -- and if anyone can deliver that,
it is Laura Day. The bestselling author of Practical Intuition,
Practical Intuition for Success, and Practical Intuition in Love,
Day has developed an enthusiastic following for her books, magazine
articles, and appearances on television. In this book, she completes
her course, offering readers home-grown visualization
exercises that turn dreams into reality."

June 2003

"Active Side of Infinity"
by Carlos Castaneda

Following is a review of this month's Power Book:

"Ordinarily, events that change our path are impersonal affairs,
and yet extremely personal." My teacher, don Juan Matus, said this in
guiding me as his apprentice to collect what I considered to be the
memorable events of my life. Don Juan Matus was a Yaqui Indian shaman
from Sonora, Mexico. . . who traced [his] lineage to the shamans who
lived in Mexico in ancient times. Over the course of thirteen years,
don Juan ushered me into the cognitive world of those shamans, a world
which was. . . ruled by a different system of cognition than the one
which rules our world of everyday life.

Writing The Active Side of Infinity was a response to don Juan's
directive to collect such an album of memorable events. . . . As time
went by, he revealed to me that gathering such a collection was a
traditional task given by the shamans of his lineage to their
apprentices. . . . Don Juan stated that to formulate an album
of this nature demanded such discipline and impartiality that
it was, in essence, an act of war.

"Don Juan described the total goal of the shamanistic knowledge
that he handled as the preparation for facing the definitive journey:
the journey that every human being has to take at the end of his life. . . .
Don Juan considered that to collect the memorable events in their lives
was, for shamans, the preparation for their entrance into that
concrete region, which they called the active side of infinity."

In The Active Side of Infinity, written in the final years of
preparation for his definitive journey, anthropologist and
shaman Carlos Castaneda gives us his most autobiographical and
intimately revealing work ever, the fruit of a lifetime of experience
and perhaps the most moving volume in his oeuvre."

May 2003

"Self Matters: Creating Your Life From the Inside Out"
by Phillip C. McGraw

Following is a review of this month's Power Book:

"Your life has a root core that, once understood, unlocks a
powerful force to create your life the way it was meant to be, the way
you want and need it to be. Key questions and an amazingly clear "map"
are now at your fingertips to begin your journey to "Live by Design."
These are questions that, with the help of this book, you can answer
and bring into action-oriented focus:

What are the ten most defining moments of your life?
What are the seven most critical choices you have made to put you on
your current path?
Who are the five most pivotal people in your world and how have they
shaped you?
Identifying and working with these key elements are at the heart of
Dr. Phillip C. McGraw's latest work, Self Matters, and soon they will be
at the heart of your own new work: you.

Through his books, McGraw has changed the lives of millions. In introducing
the world to his matter-of-fact, tell-it-like-it-is philosophy of life,
Dr. Phil, as he is known to his legions of fans, has put an end to the
"everyone's a victim" attitude that had taken hold of our culture. Published
in over twenty-five countries, and with millions of books sold, his two
number one bestsellers, Life Strategies and Relationship Rescue,
forced readers to take a serious look at the excuses they had so
long been clinging to as to why they were not happy, not successful,
and not enjoying their one chance at living. Now, Dr. Phil takes
those lessons a great leap further and explores one of the most
challenging questions facing us all: When you look in the mirror, who is
truly hiding beneath that face? Instead of taking a surface look at the way
we live our lives, Dr. Phil demystifies how your self-concept came to be
and gives a nuts-and-bolts approach to creating a new plan for living and,
in turn, for discovering the real you. In this groundbreaking
work, Dr. Phil challenges you to find your "authentic self"-that
person you once were before life took its toll. It is you at your greatest,
most fulfilled, most real moment. It is the person you have always wanted
to be, but were too distracted, busy, or scared to become. Instead, you
have created a "fictional self"-taking on the identity of who you
believe you are supposed be, the person people tell you you are. The
incongruence between these two selves is what leads you to feel that
your life is incomplete, unbalanced, and altogether more difficult
than it really should be. The good news is it no longer needs to be
that way. By using the plan set forth
in Self Matters, Dr. Phil helps you to demystify your self-concept and
learn how to reclaim your authentic self. In evaluating your life by
only the facts, you can learn to think beyond the excuses and fears that
have masked the person you have always wanted to be.

Self Matters is one of the most forward-thinking works on self-concept
and self-esteem ever published. For the first time, an author tells
it how it is and, in the process, teaches us all how to live the lives
we have always wanted but prevented ourselves from living. We get only one
chance in this world, and now, Dr. Phil shows all how to make the most of it.

April 2003

"Open Your Mind, Open Your Life: A Book of Eastern Wisdom"
by Taro Gold

Following is a review of this month's Power Book:

"Open Your Mind, Open Your Life has sold more than 100,000
copies since it was originally published in May 2001. Building upon
that valued tradition, this new and expanded volume contains 70%
new material and original watercolor art.

This latest edition continues to encourage and uplift readers with
more than 300 inspiring guideposts based on the timeless wisdom of
Buddhist and Eastern thought. Containing sage advice on opening life
to its inherent joy, Open Your Mind, Open Your Life leads readers
further along the path to lasting happiness and enlightenment.
Beautifully crafted by award-winning book designer Holly Camerlinck,
this new volume is filled with exquisite Far East-inspired patterns
and original artwork by Matthew Taylor. The book also includes profiles
of great Buddhist and Eastern thinkers such as Nichiren, Shakyamuni,
Lao-tzu, Confucius, Makiguchi, and Mahatma Gandhi."

March 2003

"Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America - a Memoir"
by Elizabeth Wurtzel

Following is a review of this month's Power Book:

"Full of promise is how anyone would have described Elizabeth Wurtzel
at age ten, a bright-eyed little girl who painted, wrote stories,
and excelled in every way. By twelve she was cutting her legs in the
girls' bathroom and listening to scratchy recordings of the Velvet
Underground. College was marked by a series of breakdowns, suicide
attempts, and hospitalizations before she was finally given Prozac
in combination with other psychoactive drugs, all of which have worked
sporadically as Elizabeth's mood swings rise and fall like the lines of
a sad ballad. This memoir, both harrowing and hilarious, gives voice
to the high incidence of depression - especially among America's youth.

Prozac Nation is a collective cry for help, a generational status
report on today's young people, who have come of age fully entrenched in
the culture of divorce, economic instability, and AIDS. "This private world
of loony bins and weird people which I always felt I occupied and hid in,"
writes Elizabeth, "had suddenly turned inside out so that it seemed like
this was one big Prozac Nation, one big mess of malaise. Perhaps the next
time half a million people gather for a protest march on the White House
green it will not be for abortion rights or gay liberation, but because
we're all so bummed out." Writing with a vengeance (Nirvana, Joni Mitchell,
and Dorothy Parker all rolled into one), Elizabeth Wurtzel will not go gentle
into that good night. She wants off medication, she wants a family, and
most definitely, a life worth living.

February 2003

"Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living"
by Bruce Lee

Following is a review of this month's Power Book:

"A wonderful book in offering solutions for daily questions

Searching for certain truths regarding daily living is the ultimate human inquiry.
How does one reach happiness and serenity? In this book the master of Kung Fu,
the one and only Mr. Bruce Lee, shows us another side of himself not known
by most, the educated side that studied and obtained a BS in philosophy.
This inspirational man not only sought out to become master of his own
physical being but also his mental, spiritual, and emotional. Fulfilling the
human body and spirit in all ways we desire to achieve life's understandings.
Mr. Lee's contemplation upon life's challenges is shown here in this book,
and what I like about his methodology is that it offers simple suggestions.
Not answers. If you were to seek out a solution for a single question in
your life, you would eventually derive a similar answer to Bruce's.
Save yourself the time and grief, consult The Master himself in this amazing book."

January 2003

"The Alchemist: A Fable about Following Your Dream"
by Paolo Coelho

Following is a review of this month's Power Book:

"From the Publisher

"Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its
readers forever. The Alchemist is such a book. With over a million
and a half copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has
already established itself as a modern classic, universally admired.
Paulo Coelho's charming fable, now available in English for the first
time, will enchant and inspire an even wider audience of readers
for generations to come. The Alchemist is the magical story of
Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of
a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home
in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian
desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist. The story of the
treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories
have done, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts,
learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and,
above all, following our dreams."

December 2002

"The Limits of Influence:
Psychokinesis and the Philosophy of Science"
by Stephen E. Braude

Following is a review of this month's Power Book:

"From the Publisher

The Limits of Influence is a detailed examination and defense of the
evidence for largescale-psychokinesis (PK). It examines the reasons
why experimental evidence has not, and perhaps cannot, convince most
skeptics that PK is genuine, and it considers why traditional experimental
procedures are important to reveal interesting facts about the phenomena.
It then examines why PK does not pose a clear threat to the very fabric
of science, and many have supposed. The major skeptical challenges to
taking large-scale PK seriously and the reason why those challenges are all
unsatisfactory are considered. The evidence examined most closely is the
turn-of-the-century evidence for physical mediumship, with special attention
given to the cases of D.D. Home and Eusapio Palladino. The author compares and
evaluates the leading theories of apparitions and considers the extent to which
the evidence for collective apparitions can be interpreted as a further type of
psychokinetic phenomenon. Finally, the claim that PK (and psychic functioning
generally) might occur in refined and extensive forms is considered. It argues
that this claim is not as outlandish as many have maintained and that we might
have to accept something like the "magical" world view associated with
so-called "primitive" societies."