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Carol M. (bookwuman) - Reviews

1 to 3 of 3
Magic Bus: On the Hippie Trail From Istanbul to India
Magic Bus: On the Hippie Trail From Istanbul to India
Author: Rory MacLean
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 2
Review Date: 6/14/2009
Helpful Score: 3


Reverberations of a bygone era permeate this book. MacLean traces the fabled "hippie trail", the overland route from Turkey to India, which thousands of young people traveled throughout the 60s and 70s. He talks to those who were there, both natives of the lands traveled through and the travelers themselves.

The author does a superb job of examining how the hippies changed the culture and lands through which they traveled as well as how the journey changed them. He also paints a timely portrait of what those lands are like today.

For those who were there this book is a chance to revisit a pivotal time in their lives, and for those who weren't and wish they had been, it's a chance to vicariously experience the journey of a lifetime.

I loved this book!


My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey
My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey
Author: Jill Bolte Taylor
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 88
Review Date: 7/4/2009
Helpful Score: 5


A mind-blowing account of the author's experience before, during, and after a major hemorrhagic stroke due to an AVM. This book leads to the question, "who am I" or, "who is this 'I' I take myself to be?". Very thought-provoking for those with an open mind.

What makes this book especially interesting is that the author is a brain researcher and describes and explains the way our brains work so anyone can understand.

We clearly have far more control over our daily experience than we imagine. Read this book to find out how and why.

With much insight, this book fascinates and, ultimately, inspires us to tend the gardens of our minds.

Highly recommended.


No Boundary : Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth
No Boundary : Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth
Author: Ken Wilber
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.9/5 Stars.
 4
Review Date: 6/9/2009
Helpful Score: 1


Ken Wilber provides a comprehensive overview of the spectrum of consciousness, from the level of the persona/shadow all the way to unity consciousness. He provides a framework whereby the many different therapies, from simple counseling to cognitive therapy to existential analysis to the esoteric understandings of the world's religions, all have their place. While these different therapies sometimes seem to contradict each other, Wilber shows how they are each useful and correct at their own level. Each method endeavors to help heal a split in the psyche and enable wholeness and provides a springboard to the next level of consciousness.

Lucid and easy to understand - which surprised me. I have avoided reading his books in the past because many of them seemed dense and overly intellectual, at first glance. Not so this slim volume. Highly recommended.


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