Updated June 21, 2008. Random new links added throughout and general rewrites/edits here and there.
Here is my ever expanding list of recommended books and websites, grouped by topic. I’ll be adding to the list as I read more or remember things I accidentally left out. ;) As always, I don’t endorse everything here 100%, it just means that these particular sites or books have enough of something useful, meaningful, informative and/or inspiring to be worth mentioning. Also, I’ll be adding in mini-reviews for each site and book as I go. For now I just want to get the list up and running.
Enjoy…..
Aliens/UFOs, Abductions, MILABS and Paranormal Phenomenon
The Threat – The Secret Agenda. David Jacobs, Ph.D. Good counterbalance to the new age love ‘n light pro-alien propaganda, looking at the insidious side to the hybrid breeding program and what the aliens may really be here for. See also this piece by David Jacobs in Issue #1 of JAR Magazine called “A Picture We May Not Wish to Gaze Upon.”
Silent Invasion – Ellen Crystall, Ph.D. The UFO invasion of the Pine Bush/Hudson Valley area of New York back in the 80s. I was left a bit dumbfounded after reading this book, wondering how this went relatively unnoticed and unreported within the mainstream??? UFOs were out there practically every night, skimming over treetops and people’s houses….landing in fields…..and the world in general just looked the other way?? (with the exception of one featured spot on “PM Magazine” where the whole thing was treated like a joke.) Not Ellen Crystall though, she was out giving these things chase on the roads and in the fields, taking pictures, rounding up whoever she could get to go out chasing with her, and even reported that these beings were involved in some sort of digging underground in the middle of the night. Possibly mining for certain elements, as that area contains rare elements not found anywhere else, or else just general underground base/tunnel activity. This is a must-read for anybody who’s interested in UFO-ology. My favorite chapter was “The Human Factor,” chapter 14. Another bit worth mentioning is that Ellen is no longer with us, another victim of cancer in the vain of Dr. Karla Turner, another woman out there exposing a more realistic/negative side of the alien presence. UFO researcher and MILABS target Barbara Bartholic was also threatened with getting cancer’d back in the 80s although luckily she is still here. But it seems that disclosing the true agenda of these beings to the world back in the 80s and early 90s was not “allowed” or deemed acceptable and so these researchers were done away with, but, not before they managed to get their material out there, thankfully.
Extra-Terrestrial Friends and Foes – George C. Andrews. Interesting little known book that I only just finished reading and which I now highly recommend. The gist of the book is revealing that we’re being lied to by the government about the true nature of the alien presence in the world, while covering a wide assortment of subjects relating to alien lore: The hybrid breeding program, the increase in missing children in certain countries, underground bases, the secret treaty-gone-awry between the U.S. government and the “Grays” and whoever their masters are, the various assortment of aliens that have been visiting Earth and the different agendas, the demonic/interdimensional possibly alien influence on Adolf Hitler, the supposed Virgin Mary sightings and the evidence that they are holographically projected images originating from UFOs, disinformation authors and government-sponsored disinformation, including the hoaky CIA-produced 1988 document “UFO Coverup? – LIVE!”, crop circles, indications of ET manipulation in human affairs contained within history and mythology, the extent of the alien cover up and people who are “suicided” when they get too close to things, and lots more, including excerpts from other works and guest contributions from various researchers and authors. What I like about this book is the author’s approach is intellectual, yet still personable, and he applies rational logical thinking to dissect what we’re being told about all things alien and abduction related. His way of thinking and the conclusions he comes to as a result of that thinking often matched myself. He also strikes me as being a very sincere guy, and one major sign of this is that he’s not afraid to admit when one of his previous conclusions about something from a prior book might be wrong. The sign of a sincere researcher is one who is willing to change their mind and go where the information is leading them. It shows an open mind and sincere desire to get to the truth, versus many researchers who only want to prove their own views at all costs, because of ego, or push somebody else’s disinformation agenda. All in all this book is very informative and packed full of juicy information and insights, lots of material that will really get you thinking…and empower you too. Which is another reason this books stands out for me. It’s not just a bunch of negative material that winds you up and leaves you hanging. There are some empowering insights/advise from several sources about what we can do on our end to combat what’s taken over our reality. A must-read for all alien and UFO researchers, in my opinion.
The Love Bite – Alien Interference in Human Love Relationships – Eve Lorgen Until reading Eve Lorgen’s work in 2001 I had never considered the possibility that love relationships could be manipulated to serve something else’s purpose. After reading through her website I came away realizing that a couple of my past relationships have the “checklist” of love-bite traits – (instant and intense “burning the candle at both ends” type of love affair connection, full of psychic woo-woo mind reading, unbelievable synchronicities, and then abruptly shutting off overnight, either on my end, or with the guy in question) and they definitely seemed to be artificially set up in the ways in which we would come together. Pandora’s Box warning though ;) : Once you start to question the nature of your personal relationships in terms of being artificially manipulated then the rest of your life has to be analyzed. A must-read for all abductees, whether “alien” or MILAB.
Karla Turner Memorial site for the late Dr. Turner, the UFO/alien abduction researcher. Here you can you can find free online copies of her books (her surviving husband has given his blessing for it) as well as downloadable videos from her various speaking engagements.
Taken – Karla Turner. The late Dr. Turner’s book regarding eight women’s personal case histories as alien/military abductees. Nice sampling that gives a broad overview on the topic, and which is guaranteed to provide at least a few answers and fill in some missing puzzle pieces for MILABs. At Karlaturner.org you can find free online copies of her books (her surviving husband has given his blessing for it) as well as downloadable videos from her various speaking engagements.
Overlooked Aspects of the Alien Presence (scroll down til you get to the January 10th entry)
Synopsis of the Alien Master Plan
MILABS Operations – James Bartley. Excellent article that covers many aspects of MILABS not being discussed anywhere else. Mr. Bartley aptly covers everything from “Beam me up” transport technology to the fact that the secret factions have the ability to manipulate time and space. He also gets into off-planetary operations, frequency control of targets, both the physical and “astral ops,” physical abductions versus virtual reality/dream time programming, end-times apocalyptic programming, the phenomenon of both preferential and abusive treatment of targets, the differences between MILABS and Monarchs, and much more. A must-read that I’m very enthusiastic about! Click here for the rest of James Bartley’s writings.
MILABS – Military Mind Control and Alien Abductions – Dr. Helmut Lammer and Marion Lammer. Having never heard of the idea of the military/government taking and messing with people, I was stuck in “unanswered question limbo” back during 2002…..until reading this book. I knew I’d been taken, I had my proof for that, but I didn’t fit the stereotypical alien abduction scenario at all. Something else was clearly going on here….but what?? This book provided my big “Eureka!” breakthrough moment, which is why I still have to recommend it despite its flaws. There are many useful insights and corroborations to be found in the Lammers’ “MILABS,” but do read with discernment as there seems to be a subtle agenda going on with this book to dismiss certain aspects of abductions, as well as using silly comic book-style illustrations that undermine this important subject. But, still a must-read for any MILABS/mind control researcher.
The Alien Jigsaw – Website with useful writings pertaining to alien abductions and MILABs. I’ve had the “Alien Jigsaw” link up on my site and in my book for awhile now, but only recently realized (probably due to the “Alien Jigsaw’s” recent site re-design), that it was connected to a book by the same name, written by another female with a lifetime of weirdness who has logged her many strange events, similar to myself. When I realized this it was a “wow!” moment. I recently did a cover redesign for my book, choosing the theme of puzzle pieces, pieced together to reveal a lab rat style maze, only to discover the parallels with Ms. Wilson’s MILABS-themed books (and site) which also utilizes the theme of puzzle pieces. Guess this a common theme for MILABS! ;D
JAR – Journal of Abduction Research New online magazine featuring a variety of authors contributing their personal research and experiences into the abduction phenomenon. “The mission of JAR is to create a global platform on which to debate the significance of the extraterrestrial presence. JAR will publish all cogently argued points of view that give us insight about who the UFO intelligences are, what they are doing, what they want, how human beings are reacting to them, and how the extraterrestrial presence may influence the future of the human race….”
Close Encounters of the Possession Kind- Dr. William Baldwin. Dr. Baldwin is a hypnotist specializing in the phenomenon of entity/alien attachments on people and how to rid their presence. The book also delves into the aliens’ etheric implants and techno gadgets that they attach to their abduction targets. A good book for those who believe themselves to be an abductee, but hadn’t realized this component of it all.
Barbara: The Story of a UFO Investigator - as told to Peggy Fielding. The life and times of UFO abductee and researcher Barbara Bartholic who worked with Jacque Vallee for seven years and eventually became a MILABs target as well. Written by Peggy Fielding, and based on interviews that Barbara gave to her. It’s an interesting read that gets into aspects of the abduction phenomenon I’ve never seen mentioned elsewhere, painting a darker, more realistic picture of alien abductions, counterbalancing the typical New Age viewpoint.
The Mothman Prophesies – John Keel. In the thirteen months leading up to the collapse of the Silver Bridge on December 15, 1967, Point Pleasant West Virginia was inundated with weirdness. UFOs, Men In Black, and most notorious of all…the Mothman, a red eyed winged flying apparition about 7-8 feet tall. Author John Keel chronicled his investigation in this book, which is a great read. It’s also an interesting study in group synchronicity and hyperdimensional manipulation from behind the scenes. John Keel had his extended network of people that he was communicating with around the country via phone and mail, (the days before the internet, after all) and some of the synchs that began happening and the way things were “lining up” among his network were truly amazing. I came away from this book concluding that not only are there hyperdimensional elements, of course, but that they also have a tendency to toy with humans just for the fun of it.
Conspiracy – Mind control, chemtrails, HAARP, NWO, 9/11, the dumbing down of society, etc.
Mind Control, World Control and Mass Control – Jim Keith. Two books that give a solid overview of all things relating to government mind control on both individual targets and the masses at large, by the late Jim Keith.
The Illuminati Formula for Creating a Totally Undetectable Mind Control Slave
Fritz Springmeier and Cisco Wheeler. (Or try this link if the other one doesn’t work. Hands down the most detailed and comprehensive source on Illuminati/occult based mind control. Fritz’s material outlines the techniques that are supposedly employed to compartmentalize the mind, (this is the heavy duty dark material I forwarn the reader about in a moment) how the systems are set up within the mind, what the symbolisms, trigger words and number codes are, (sometimes minus a few words or numbers so as to not trigger programmed people who may be reading) as well as information regarding electronic mind control, implants, ritual cult programming and assigning demons to targets, among many other things. He also devotes an entire chapter to exposing Walt Disney and his work, as well as discussing the Wizard of Oz. It’s like a handbook in a way getting into some heavy duty dark material. Not for the faint of heart. Recommend easing your way into the subject with lighter fare first if you are new to the topic. Also just to note that after Fritz’s books were released, he was soon brought up on what seemed to be various false criminal charges and locked away in prison…and his mind control books bought up and removed from circulation. That says to me that his material was the real deal.
Mind Control in Amerika – Five Easy Steps to Create a Manchurian Candidate – Gunther Rassbacher. Excellent article that outlines the government’s selection and training of youths from America’s juvenile incarceration system to become programmed “Manchurian Candidates.” I recommend this piece in my mind control writings because I recognized what Gunther was talking about as being the situation of my younger brother Joe, who’d been locked up between the ages of 14-17 and then continually followed, monitored and taken after being released. Much of what Gunther writes about was spot on for what I witnessed of Joe, so he seems to definitely know what he’s talking about.
Illuminati News Interesting site that delves into the mind control, (specificially within the entertainment industry) aliens/abductions, the NWO, etc. I’m a fan of the section about mind control within the entertainment industry in particular, called “Rock ‘n Roll and Mind Control.” Be sure to check it out, and the sub-sections within that section. Most all of us consume entertainment to some degree and the way music and movies and their performers are used to spread insidious agendas is something we all need to hear about.
Secret, Don’t Tell – The Encyclopedia of Hypnotism – Carla Emery. Comprehensive historical overview of hypnosis that delves into the use of unethical hypnosis, as well as government mind control projects. Well researched, extremely detailed, and a very valuable resource that also contains many additional book, article and website links and references. The late Ms. Emery, who was a victim of mind control herself, put a lot of time and effort into compiling this work and even went into hiding while writing it. If it wasn’t for the intervention of “something higher” one night, then this book wouldn’t exist at all, as explained in the very first opening introduction. !
Angels Don’t Play This HAARP – Dr. Nick Begich, Jeannie Manning. Historical overview on the HAARP array in Alaska and the Tesla technology it’s derived from; what it is, what it’s supposed to do, and the impact it will have on the planet and life forms.
Global Warming. Global warming, in my opinion, is not what they’re telling us it is. We’re given only one option – it’s man made, period – when that very well may not be the full story. While pollution certainly plays a part in steering the direction that Earth is heading, there seems to be other factors at work, including both weather manipulation and the sun heating up and behaving strangely. Global warming as pummeled into our heads in the mainstream media – which by the way, was a literal overnight 180 about face – is quite the money maker, with the Live 8 concert and “Inconvenient Truth” book and movie, and all the other promotional tie-ins. :/ Following are some links that delve into these aspects of things:
The Great Global Warming Swindel
Video that outlines how environmentalism is a political movement and the belief in global warming as presented to us by The Powers That Be has become like a religion, and if you don’t back it then you’re considered a heretic. Delves into other possibilities for what might be going on here.
Dr. Judy Wood – 9/11 Issues A website coming from an engineering standpoint that shows and explains how the World Trade Centers were taken down by directed energy weapons. “Dr. Wood started to question the events of 9/11 on that same day when what she saw and heard on television was contradictory and appeared to violate the laws of physics. Since that day she has used her knowledge of engineering mechanics to prove that the collapse of the World Trade Center twin towers could not have happened as the American public was told.”
Alice in Wonderland and the World Trade Center Disaster – David Icke. Great expose that questions all the plot holes and discrepancies of the official story of September 11th. The official story doesn’t add up, worse yet, it’s an outright lie, as David Icke aptly shows in this book. It’s a must-read for anybody who’s questioning. After presenting a brief re-cap on the “Illuminati” and world situation, David Icke walks the reader step by step through the events of that day and all the questions it spawns, thoroughly covering every possible plot hole and discrepancy you can think of, and then some. I myself haven’t believed the official story since about a week or two after 9/11 when the Orange County Register (in SoCal) ran a big story complete with colored illustrations to prove to the reading audience how the planes were able to take down both towers. Never mind that they went down looking identical to a controlled demolition. The effort to convince the public with large, full page colored diagrams was so over the top that I knew right then – this is bullshit. I frowned and even said that out loud while tossing the paper aside in disgust. They were trying WAY too hard to the point where they overshot it. Shortly thereafter I was getting ready for work one morning and felt compelled to switch the radio dial to 106.7 KROQ out of nowhere, a station I no longer listened to. And that’s when I heard this fast talking British guy explaining to morning hosts Kevin and Bean about how the events of 9/11 were orchestrated by something known as the “Illuminati.” His name was David Icke. His charisma and rapid fire delivery of some of the discrepancies and plot holes in the story had me riveted, and I sat down on the floor to listen, glued to the radio even though my ride was due to pick me up in only five minutes. :D I didn’t care though. All I knew was that the official story was total bunk, and here was the first person I’d heard in the media voicing this perspective. Hallelujah! Kevin and Bean laughed and ridiculed him, but I made mental note of his website address when it was mentioned, with plans to look it up later at work. I hadn’t done any formal conspiracy research, and this infamous David Icke interview is what started it all and sent me on my path. The rest is history. (btw David Icke references this particular interview on page 205 of the book, the last paragraph of the chapter. ;) )
The Underground History of American Education; and Dumbing Us Down – The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Education – John Taylor Gatto. Former New York State Teacher of the Year, John Gatto quit teaching via a letter to the Wall Street Journal OpEd page in 1991, declaring that he was no longer willing to hurt children. He has since moved on to campaigning for public education reform, and these books outline where our educational system has gone wrong. Gatto has written many other books that you can find on Amazon as well.
The Universal Seduction – Many contributing authors
Montalk High quality website with articles by the author Montalk regarding metaphysics, conspiracy, aliens/abduction, the Matrix Control System, and alternative science. Click here for his new book, ‘Fringe Knowledge for Beginners.’
All of his articles are great, but some good ones off the top of my head would be:
Emotional Management
Realm Dynamics
The Art of Hyperdimensional War
Matrix Agents – Profiles and Analysis, Part I
Matrix Agents – Profiles and Analysis, Part II
Synopsis of the Alien Master Plan
Human Simulacra
Nexus Magazine Australian publication (with U.S. and U.K. editions) regarding alternative health, suppressed science, Earth’s ancient past, government coverups, UFOs and the unexplained, etc.
Strange Days, Strange Skies Concerning chemtrails…
Chemtrail Central More chemtrail info…
InfoWars I don’t fully endorse the mindset of InfoWars/Prison Planet, because in my opinion the material is lacking a big chunk of the puzzle – namely, the hyperdimensional, behind-the-scenes component of our reality. But, it still has value, especially for people that are awakening to the fact that we’re being lied to about what’s happening in this country and this world. Just remember to keep going with your research. Don’t stagnate in 3rd density conspiracy forever.
What Really Happened Same thing as above. ;)
Polachek.net The main hub to access not only the Karla Turner and Phil Schneider tribute sites, but where you can find a random mish mash of other interesting, informative and important resources.
Trash Your TV. Website devoted to spreading the word about a TV-free lifestyle. I particularly like the success stories section detailing people’s observations about the nature of TV and media nowadays and why they decided to give it the heave ho…
White Dot – The International Campaign Against Television. Message board forum that’s a sister site to Trash Your TV, with in-depth discussion about all aspects of TV/media and getting rid of it in one’s life.
Spiritual Evolution/Human Consciousness/Self Improvement/Getting out of “the matrix”
Infinite Self; Whispering Winds of Change; The Quickening; Sixth Sense; God’s Gladiators – Stuart Wilde. Some of my all time favorite books by one of my favorite authors. For anybody who’s new to Stuart, I’d recommend starting with The Quickening. GREAT book that covers all the basic concepts Stuart often writes about in his trademark humorous, down-to-earth style with personal anecdotes, and it’s a quick read to boot. Also be sure to check out all of Stuart’s articles from his website I have many of these printed out and highlighted up in a three ring binder.
Travels in a Stone Canoe – the Return to the Wisdomkeepers – Steve Wall and Harvey Alden. Three words: Get this book. !! If you’re into spirituality, are interested in Native American spirituality in particular, then it’s a must-read. It’s already now one of my all time favorite books, just amazing. From the book jacket: “In this luminous story, two journalists from National Geographic on assignment in Indian Country cross an invisible boundary between two worlds, two different visions of reality – and find their lives transformed. In a stunning and probing narrative – part adventure tale, part reflection and epiphany – the authors of Wisdomkeepers embark on a “spirit journey” into the living wisdom of Native American spiritual elders. When, nearly twenty years ago, a darkly enigmatic Cherokee herbalist approached Harvey Arden and Steve Wall with the proposition that they join him in a study of the lives, wisdom, and spiritual practices of Native America’s fast-disappearing “Old Ones,” the veteran writer and photographer found themselves thrust, despite their own hard-nosed skepticism, onto a mystic “path of the Wisdomkeepers.” After receiving “signs foretold by the Cherokee,” they set off on an journey of spiritual discovery through another world, called Great Turtle Island, where the Old Ones – The Wisdomkeepers of aboriginal culture in North America – bestowed upon them piece by surprising piece a set of “rules for being human” called “Original Instructions……” So this is the companion piece to Arden and Wall’s Wisdomkeepers book, which was the compilation of 17 different interviews with Native American spiritual elders. “Stone Canoe” details the behind the scenes story of how “Wisdomkeepers” came to happen. I just received my copy of “Wisdomkeepers” (and ordered an extra copy to give away!) and I can’t say enough good things about both books.
To Become a Human Being – The Message of Tododaho Chief Leon Shenandoah – Steve Wall. A compilation of the best of thirteen years worth of tape recorded insights from Chief Shenandoah, concerning the plight of mankind and our place in the world. Includes pics from photographer/compiler Steve Wall. My favorite chapters were “Return,” which concerned how lost modern people are, the Natives included, as they try to find their way back to the old ways, and then “Becoming Human Beings.” Click here and scroll down to read a review of the book. Features reviews of other Native American books, including ones by Steve Wall and Harvey Arden.
Beyond Within Great website by the authors Palehorse and Gehenna that I recently came across that has a host of articles to help people improve and empower themselves against neg entities and life situations in general. It gets into “out there” topics in a sane, personable and levelheaded way, using personal experiences and anecdotes with humor thrown in.
Radiant Mind: Essential Buddhist Teachings and Text The reader’s reviews on Amazon do a great job of summarizing this book. A great primer, as the Amazon reviews note, with a sampling of authors and texts from over the ages covering the basic history of Buddhism, The Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path and all the basic tenets and philosophy, as well as meditation. This book has a respectable feel to it, not the cartoonish watered down feel that a lot of spiritual books do nowadays. Just a simple cover, and the text does all the talking.
The Fire From Within – Carlos Castaneda. Toltec path material, part of a series of about twelve books total. I particularly enjoyed “The Fire From Within,” which is a continuation of Carlos’ chronicles of his tutelage under the Yagua Indian sorcerer/Toltec warrior don Juan de Matos. It covers all the basics such as petty tyrants, inorganic beings/the predator/foreign installation, the position and shifting of the assemblage point, stalking, impeccability, intent, the dreaming body, and more. There’s controversy as to whether don Juan was real, or if Carlos just made his experiences all up. Whether real or imagined (or a mix of both, which is my personal opinion) there is no doubt that the concepts presented in his books are vital tools for anybody trying to pull themselves out of the muck of “the matrix” and free themselves, becoming a warrior.
Return of the Warriors (book 1); and Cry of the Eagle (book 2) – Theun Mares. Books concerning the Toltec path, same as the Carlos Castaneda material. Whereas Carlos’ books used his supposed real life experience and foibles with don Juan to teach and illustrate various principles, Theun’s books are a straightforward, no-nonsense manual of sorts. All the basics are covered in “Return of the Warriors” – hunting for power, the gap to freedom, stalking, intent, not-doing, recapitulation, etc. “Cry of the Eagle” is the more advanced continuation of the Toltec principles, divided into three sections: Transmutation, Transformation and Transfiguration, covering such topics as the four attributes of a warrior, stopping the internal dialogue and stopping the world, erasing personal history, dancing with death, dreaming guide and techniques, and so on. If you complete these two books there are two others in the series that get progressively more advanced, “The Mists of Dragon Lore” and “Shadows of Wolf Fire.”
“The Power of Concentration” – Theron Q. Dumont. Really neat little book from 1918 that says all the same things that the recent “The Secret” book and video says. But it said it 90 years ago. !! It’s a spiritual primer of sorts, getting into the way our thoughts and beliefs affect everything going on around us and therefore, why being able to be focused and in control of your mind and thoughts is so vitally important; connecting with your higher self, not taking life for granted, right living and right action, and all around self mastery.
The Way Out – Anonymous. A book full of very high level wisdom and inspiring insight into the nature of getting free from our limited reality and changing attitudes about money, how thoughts and beliefs affect the sort of life we have and ridding negative thoughts and speech in lieu of right speech and right action, connecting to the God force, aka, the Higher Self within, and so on. Another book saying what “The Secret” says, but it said it over 30 years ago. Overlaps “The Power of Concentration” in some aspects with some of the subject matter, but it’s high level wisdom that can’t be reiterated enough in different ways, by different sources.
I am Me, I am Free – The Robot’s Guide to Freedom- David Icke. I love this book as David Icke makes so many great points and writes in a completely down to earth, and at times sarcastically humorous writing style, not taking himself too seriously.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull; and Illusions – The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah – Richard Bach Two of my all time favorite books. :)
The Hidden Messages in Water – Masaru Emoto
The Thoughts – For Awake People by author Marcus, on a wide variety of consciousness topics….
ESP/Psychic Happenings, Psychic Defense, Manifesting, Oracles, Astrology, etc.
Animal Talk – Penelope Smith. I’d come across several books at our local metaphysical bookshop pertaining to communicating with critters, but the ones that really got my interest and jumped out at me were Penelope Smith’s, because they were sensible – not all new age hokey like some of them were, where it seemed the so-called “psychics” were really projecting their far out new age channeling philosophy onto the animals around them. I kept going back to her book every time we’d go to the shop, so finally I decided to just buy it. :) “Animal Talk” is a practical guide to how anybody can learn to tune out all our internal mental noise and be able to tune into what critters are thinking and communicating to us. It has her personal background story for how she got involved with it all and many fascinating anecdotes illustrating various animal communications she’s experienced. Being able to telepathically communicate, with humans or critters, is a particular interest of mine. It seems humankind is at a crisis point in terms of becoming increasingly more cut off from not only our own selves, but people around us, all animal and life forms, and the environment in general.
The New Astrology – Suzanne White. A combination of your western sun sign with your Chinese zodiac animal. A book that mixes dry and personable humor with detailed personality descriptions that are so uncannily accurate they might make you fall off your chair. Just read some of the reviews on Amazon, I’m not the only one who was like o_0 at the uncanny detailed personality description! It’s the best “personality type” astrology book I’ve ever come across.
360 Degrees of Wisdom – Charting Your Destiny with the Sabian Oracle – Lynda Hill. These are oracle symbols channeled back in 1925 that use astrology. There are 360 symbols to go with the 360 degrees of the sky, altogether incorporating archetypes that fit any particular situation or issue.
Link to the book:
The online oracle:
The Home Page:
Lynda Hill’s book with her insights into each Sabian symbol has gotten the best reviews so far that I’ve seen on Amazon out of the various Sabian books out there….and for good reason. It’s just uncannily accurate. Whether you use the physical book or the online oracle, either way the results are kind of freaky in how accurately they will match up to the question or issue you’re having, sometimes using words and phrases that verbatim talk about the issue, so you know it’s not a situation of trying to make something fit. It just does fit, period. !! I posted a link to Lynda Hill’s website and online version of the oracle on a message board that I participate in and the response was amazing – so many people had stories of the ways in which the oracle matched up exactly to what they were asking about, so it wasn’t just me having amazing luck with it all! :D Highly recommended for those who enjoy trusting “higher stuff” to work through a divination method for input and advise. The online oracle is a shortened version of each symbol, but it’s still good for testing it out to see if it works. Once you determine that it does, then the book is highly recommended as each symbol has a full page of insight, much more thorough and expansive. Also the book has a birthday chart in the back, telling you which three symbols correlate to your birthday. One of the three is bound to fit, it did for me anyway and my boyfriend, if not all three. Also, you can use the book in conjunction with your astrological chart, if you know where everything is on your chart. If you don’t, I recommend this free site, www.astro.com. Click on “Personal Portrait” and plug in your birthday info. to see where all the planets and houses were at the time of your birth. For instance, if your Astro.com chart says that your sun was in Scorpio at 17 degrees (as was mine,) then your main sun sign Sabian symbol would be Scorpio 17. (In fact, Scorpio 17 was the one out of three birthday symbols that really matched my particular situation, not so surprisingly.) My moon was in Virgo at 26 degrees, and my ascendant was Leo at 2 degrees, so Virgo 26 and Leo 2 are other symbols I would look at in the Sabian Symbols book, just to give you an example. Look at the whole list of planets and houses and their degrees to correlate to the Sabian symbols to get insight into your personality and life path. It’s amazingly uncanny!
Messiah’s Handbook – Richard Bach. From the inside cover of the book – “In Illusions – The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, Richard Bach met Donald Shimoda, a fellow pilot with the keys to the universe who barnstormed the Midwest in a Travel Air biplane. Part of Shimoda’s secret was a small book, bound in what looked like suede – Messiahs’s Handbook: Reminders for the Advanced Soul. “Open it,” he said, “and whatever you need to know is there.” Lost for decades and rediscovered, here it is in print at last – reminders for those who have outgrown cynicism and doubt.” And from the author’s foreward: “Hold a question in mind, please. Now close your eyes, open the handbook at random and pick left page or right.”
This book is great for exactly that – getting synchronistic advise and messages to pressing questions and issues you might have. It really does work! On more than one occasion I’ve opened the pages to reveal a bit of advise that so perfectly matched up to the issue I was thinking about that all I could do was laugh.
Osho Zen Tarot – Everybody’s going to have a tarot that works for them that they prefer but I really like this one. It’s not “magick occult” in nature the way many tarots are. Instead it’s a deck that incorporates Zen philosophy into cards illustrated with stunning artwork with its own variation on the traditional four suited deck and major arcana. For that reason it won’t be for everybody. You have to be somebody who resonates with Zen philosophy, the Tao, Buddhism; or if you like Stuart Wilde for instance, as I do, then this will be a great deck for you. It’s the path I’m trying to go down as I work through ridding negative mindsets and patterns, and so I’ve had success with it so far. The book that comes with the Osho Zen deck suggests several different card spreads you can use, but something I’ve taken to doing recently is to ask a question to my Higher Self, then use the deck as a communication tool to get answers. I’ll intend that while shuffling the cards the right card will pop out of the deck at me. And it always does! Unlike traditional tarot decks where you have tedious repeating suit cards like the 4 of wands, the 5 of wands, the 6 of wands, etc., with the Osho deck you have a whole deck of cards about concepts and archetypes, fitting most anything you can think of….which is why it works so well (for me) in answering questions I have. “What is this all about?” “What’s going on here?” “Any general advise about what I should do?” and there’s always a card that pops out of the deck and lands on the floor and when I turn it over, it matches up in uncanny ways to what I’m thinking and asking about. (Example: When asking about a very meaningful dream I had one of the cards that popped out of the deck was “Going with the Flow” – with an image of a person floating/swimming on their back in blue water. At the beginning of the dream in question I was swimming along on my back in blue water. Another time I was asking about anger – card that popped out of the deck was “Suppression” regarding suppressed anger and an image of cracked glass. How do I combat these times when I’m angry? Card that popped out of the deck said simply, “Awareness.” :) ) So I’m a big believer in tarot/oracle cards as a life aide when looking for direction and guidance, and so I definitely recommend the Osho Zen tarot for anybody who resonates with that particular path.
Practical Psychic Self Defense – Understanding and Surviving Unseen Influences – Robert Bruce. I had the chance to see Robert Bruce speak in person for free at our local metaphysical bookshop in 2005 and I jumped at the chance since I’d read this book and found it to be the real deal. Mr. Bruce knows what he’s talking about and his book is filled with personal anecdotes from his hands on experience dealing with neg entities and possession, written in a personable, accessible and level headed way. People don’t realize how much neg entities run rampant exerting their influence on people, and for that reason I consider this book an absolute must-read. After reading it you may realize in retrospect that certain things that have happened to you in life or particular behaviors/feelings/moods that you or somebody you know have exhibited were really the influence of a neg entity. So much of what he talks about in this book I experienced first hand when I spent a year living in a paranormally polluted apartment, which I called The Vortex and I only wish I could have had this book available to me at the time to help me with what I was going through! Unfortunately it wasn’t published until 2002, and my “Vortex” stuff happened in 2000-01. ;D And many other things he talks about I later encountered from 2002 – 2007. Click on the above link to his website, Astral Dynamics, and check out the book’s table of contents and summary to give you an idea of everything the book gets into. Hearing Mr. Bruce in person relaying some of his stories that he talks about in the book was really neat, and he was a likeable and down to earth guy.
Everyday Life In Two Worlds – A Psychic’s Experience – Kelly Joyce Neff. Saw the title which included “in two worlds” and I had to get this one. ;) It was a really interesting book, one woman’s autobiographical life adventures with her psychic abilities and happenings, her past lives and all around words of wisdom. (btw, I didn’t agree with the one 2-star review it received on Amazon.)
Anti-Consumerism/living off the grid/Environment
Ran Prieur. Some of my favorite Ran articles include How to Drop Out, and How to Survive the Crash and Save the Earth. But here in his essays section you can find the rest of his writings.
www.verdant.net – Anti-consumerism website. (site doesn’t allow other sites to link to it; you’ll need to copy and paste the URL into your web browser to access their site.) “Consumerism is a pattern of behavior that helps to destroy our environment, personal financial health, the common good of individuals and human institutions. This site details ways that you can help defeat consumerism, save money, work less and lead a more satisfying and environmentally benign life while helping to restore the economic self-sufficiency of your community. We present resources that can help the reader become a better-educated citizen and grassroots activist starting from any level of commitment and knowledge. Updated Constantly.”
The Legacy of Luna – The Story of a Tree, A Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods – Julia Butterfly Hill. Two years of living in a 1000+ year old redwood named “Luna,” exposed to the northern California coastal elements and harassed by a logging company, all to keep the tree from getting cut down and to bring the issue of forest clear-cutting to the public’s attention. I followed this story while it was happening back in 1998, so I was definitely interested to read the book. Not too many people could have done what she did. Because when I say “exposed to the northern California coastal elements” I mean exactly that….sleeping on a tiny little platform strung up over a hundred feet in a tree with a tarp hanging over the top and the sides wide open, allowing all manner of wind, rain, snow and whatever else to be blowing in 24/7…….for two years straight.
Alternative History/The Situation on Planet Earth
Everything You Know is Wrong – Book One: Human Origins – Lloyd Pye. When you click on the link, be sure to check out Pye’s essays (which appeared in Nexus Magazine) entitled “Human Origins Part I & II” and “The Literal Creation of Mankind.” Down to earth and personable, Lloyd Pye presents compelling evidence that Man did not naturally evolve on planet Earth. “The Powers That Be” give society two diversional options to fight over – Evolution or Creationism, when in fact neither seems to be correct and there’s a third option that we need to be looking at – Interventionism. In his essays Pye expands further and shows how domesticated grains and animals could not have been created by our relatively primitive hunter-gatherer ancestors as we’ve been taught, and that evolution occurs on the micro level only – not macro – and so a more accurate explanation for how Earth gets re-seeded after extinction level events would be the “cosmic dump truck” theory. I find Pye’s essays to be better than the book only because the book (which came before the essays), ties things in to the work of Zechariah Sitchin and “the Annunaki.” BUT, the book is still worth reading, as it expands in-depth about the nature of hominids. You’ll learn a lot, including the bit about Elaine Morgan’s “Aquatic Ape” theory.
The Time Rivers – Goro Adachi. The premise of this book is that the Nile River (and possibly the Mississippi and Amazon) were artificially created and not natural in their placement and evolution. I really enjoyed this book once it got going towards the end where it digs into the mathematical properties of the Nile’s geographic placement. Math phobes need not worry though, anybody can follow along. I also enjoyed the bits about the esoteric/Masonic ritual encoded within NASA’s launches and landings. Goro is another researcher ignored by academia – and partly I can understand why. I think the book could have been organized differently. To convince academia, he should have stuck to the concrete material in the second half of the book that deals primarily with the mathematical message/properties. The first half of the book could have been the extra stuff as an aside, or else placed after the math stuff. (although let’s be real here…he would have been ignored regardless because academia puppets are in place to ensure the continuation of the illusion and lies we’re surrounded by. ;) They’re not actually interested in getting to the truth of this reality.) All in all I think these “ignored researchers” are always worth a read.
See also some of Goro’s fascinating articles, specifically:
Stargate Cipher 2012 Part I
Stargate Cipher 2012 Part II
The Lucifer Time Code Part I
The Lucifer Time Code Part II
Who Built the Moon? – Christopher Knight & Alan Butler. This book isn’t perfect – it was written by two people, so the writing doesn’t always flow and wasn’t well edited, it seems to have been slapped together on the fly, and the “photos” section is really just a collection of generic stock pics, and one of the pics is incorrectly labeled to boot (!!) BUT….BUT!….hang in there! :D Because the message of this book and the discoveries that the authors made is well worth the read. Like Lloyd Pye and Goro Adachi, the authors have been ignored by mainstream academia. Why? Because they’re actually on to something, in my opinion. The authors discovered that the mathematical properties of the earth-moon-sun system defy statistical chance, and the implications of it all are pretty astounding. It’s one thing for a person to say that they believe the moon is a construct – it’s another thing entirely when they have the mathematical statistics to back it up. But math-phobes need not worry – this isn’t a “math and physics” book – quite the contrary. These guys are actually masons, completely lacking an astronomy and physics background, who happened to figure some things out based on their previous line of research. So anybody can follow along. In my opinion this is a must-read, and I think it was slapped together so quickly because these guys wanted to get this out there ASAP, for whatever reason. Also see this interview with Christopher Knight from New Dawn Magazine for more background on where these guys are coming from.
Survivors of Atlantis – Their Impact on World Culture- Frank Joseph. There are a lot of alternative history books out there, but this one was well done in my opinion. So many interesting points and connections are made in this book, and what I enjoyed in particular were the details of the four (Atlantean) cataclysms that Frank Joseph was able to put together using history, anthropology, geology, astronomy, and climatology, as well as the cross comparison to the various Native American legends that all say the same basic thing, describing survivors from a catastrophe that came from the east and integrated with their tribes. There’s also the fascinating opening introduction regarding the massive copper mining operation in the upper Michigan peninsula that coincided with Europe’s Bronze Age, “Menomonie Indian tradition speaks of fair-skinned mariners who had come in the past to ‘dig out the shiny bones’ of the Earth Mother….” and the little known area of Poverty Point, Louisiana, a city that existed 3,000 years before Columbus and whose concentric rings of alternating land and water canals matched the description of Plato’s Atlantis. Possibly the Gulf of Mexico entrance up the Mississippi and into Michigan where the copper mines were.
The Gods of Eden – William Bramley. When Mr. Bramley started out trying to research the origins of human warfare, “UFOs” and “aliens” were the last thing on his mind. But his historical research began revealing that non-human intelligences seem to be directing affairs on planet Earth from behind the scenes. Down to earth, informative and thought provoking, this excellent book (released in 1990, before David Icke and Jim Marrs) winds its way back through human history and shows the thread that links politics, war, religion, and even great plagues. I find this book to be superior to Jim Marrs’ “Rule by Secrecy” from 2000 because it thankfully avoids Marrs’ mistake of tying everything into the work of Zechariah Sitchin and “the Annunaki.”
The Biggest Secret; Children of the Matrix; Tales from the Time Loop – David Icke. Very famous books that discuss who’s really running the show here on planet earth. The writing in “The Biggest Secret” is all over the place, “Children of the Matrix” repeats some of the same stuff that “Secret” does (and delves into areas quite dark, so, be forewarned) but they’re all still worth reading as they’re jam packed with information that is guaranteed to change how a person views the world around them. I especially liked the end of “Tales From the Time Loop” where Icke gets into the revelations about the nature of reality after taking ayahuasca in South America.
Jordan Maxwell “Jordan Maxwell continues as a preeminent researcher and speaker in the fields of secret societies, occult philosophies, and ufology since 1959….”
The Convoluted Universe, Books I & II – Dolores Cannon Two of my favorite books. :) Dolores Cannon is a hypnotist investigating past lives. Ms. Cannon has been regressing people for years and while most sessions are pretty mundane, every once in a while something really interesting comes out..such as future lives, parallel realities and incarnations as non-human entities on other planets. These books are a compilation of those spectacular and revelatory sessions she’s experienced with people, with information that will expand your view of reality if it wasn’t already! Ms. Cannon is very good at what she does, with a knack for asking great questions to keep the info flowing, but while avoiding leading questions, as well as tape recording all her sessions in order to produce accurate transcripts. These are books you can’t put down!
Conversations with Nostradamus – Dolores Cannon Another one of those unusual hypnosis sessions that turned into something much more. It started out with a client’s past life regression as a Greek physician working in France alongside who we now know as Nostradamus. Once Dolores realized who this Greek physician was working with, she had him ask Nostradamus questions for her, and soon that developed into the hypnotically regressed client being used as a vessel to meet up with Nostradamus in another realm via his scrying mirror, where Dolores could speak with him directly. Even more interesting, Dolores was later able to use two other clients as vessels to meet up and talk with Nostradamus in this other realm as well. (All with full permission of the regressed client.) In these conversations with Nostradamus he really comes across as a multi-dimensional real person with a complete personality, a very fiery, passionate and intelligent man who was alive and well in his “present” while speaking with this mysterious woman from the supposed “future.” Not so hard to believe once you realize that there is no time, and everything that has every happened and ever will happen is happening at once. Dolores used her opportunity with Nostradamus to get – correct and accurate – translations of his ambiguous enigmatic prophesies, straight from the horse’s mouth, and this is where it gets good. And funny too, all at the same time. She can’t speak French, and French, like English, has changed and evolved in the 500 years since Nostradamus first wrote his prophesies. So she’d bumble her way through reading the modern French translations of his quatrains, meanwhile as he was trying to not only understand her way of speaking a modernized French but getting frustrated and angry once he heard just how botched his quatrains had become over the centuries of various interpretations. !! It was times like this that it becomes very evident that she was really speaking to him. Even more so when he described life in the Inquisition-era 1500s, a world of poor hygiene, plagues and short life spans where the Church ruled everything and kept everybody in line via fear. In fact it was Nostradamus’ fear of the Church and the Inquisition that made him leery and distrustful of saying more than he does to Dolores a lot of the time. And about halfway through the book Dolores begins to have one of those spine tingling goose bump moments when it becomes apparent that she’s actually influencing what Nostradamus was seeing and helping to shape the prophesies.
“Conversations” is a three part series, but the first one is the must-read, as it outlines how the whole process got started, as well as the translation of many quatrains. The second and third books are just Dolores working with Nostradamus to translate more quatrains.
The Legend of Starcrash – Dolores Cannon I really love this book. What first seemed like a typical ho-hum past life regression of one of her female clients, living as a male hunter named Tuin in a Native American tribe somewhere in northern Canada thousands of years ago, turns into a story about the tribe’s ancestor’s who came from far away across “the void” in a “ship” many years before. Relayed innocently in passing by Tuin, Dolores realizes what she’s just accidentally stumbled onto and begins pressing for more information about the tribe’s ancestral legends. Tuin doesn’t even understand the legend himself and takes the words at face value, not understanding how a “ship” that large could possibly have stayed afloat in water. But Dolores soon recognizes that what he’s describing is a downed space ship of some sort, the physical relics of which were apparently passed down through the tribe’s shamans, the beings themselves becoming his tribe’s ancestors, and the rest of the book is history. It’s a fascinating read not only because of the legend of starcrash, but to hear about what life was like for Tuin in his culture. It’s once again a “time travel” situation, where Dolores’ subject is a somnambulist hypnosis subject who goes under so deep as to literally become Tuin in real time, with no memory of it upon waking.
The Stargate Conspiracy – Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince. Book that challenges the Egypt-Mars link that has worked its way into the alternative history research circles over the past twenty years or so, as well as delving into insidious government tinkering within the new age/channeling movement….something that many, if not most, new agers seem to be completely unaware of. From Amazon: “In recent years, alternative historians have gained remarkable insight into the mysteries of ancient Egypt-but according to Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, their discoveries tie into a dangerous conspiracy nearly fifty years in the making. At the center of this conspiracy is a group of respected, powerful individuals who believe that the ancient Egyptian gods are real extraterrestrials who will soon return to earth. [Inspiration for the movie “Stargate” and corresponding TV series “Stargate SG-1” anybody?] The conspirators have intimate and exclusive knowledge of this momentous second coming – but they insist on keeping it to themselves. In this riveting, well-researched book, Picknett and Price reveal what this conspiracy means for the rest of mankind-and expose the insidious motivations of the individuals and organizations behind it…” Not a perfect book by far, but I still think it’s worth a read for anybody interested in channeling, alternative history, Egypt/Mars, etc. Things are not always what they seem to be, and this book will give you another viewpoint to consider.
Dreams, Astral Travel/Out of Body, Remote Viewing, etc.
Astral Dynamics – Robert Bruce
Far Journeys – Robert Monroe
In Your Dreams – The Ultimate Dream Dictionary – Mary Summer Rain. Over 20,000 dream symbolisms covered – The most comprehensive dream symbolism dictionary I’ve ever seen, hands down. This is the follow up to her previous work, Mary Summer Rain’s Guide to Dream Symbolisms. Worth getting for anybody who pays attention to their dreams and/or keeps a dream log.
Dream Moods Great comprehensive online dream symbolism interpretation site. Includes their handy alphabetized dream dictionary
Resources
Spaceweather.com Website that keeps up with everything astronomical, but you don’t have to be an astronomer to find something useful. Keep track of the latest sunspot and sun activity, near Earth asteroids, and all the latest interesting sky happenings with sky charts (such as Comet Holmes for instance). Also features great astronomy photos from around the world from the Spaceweather.com community. And there’s a handy archives section if you need to go back and research anything.
Wunderground.com A comprehensive weather site. Type in a country or zip code and pull up the weather, complete with radar and satellite maps, for any place in the world. There are sections for hurricane/cyclones, tornadoes, marine, astronomy, archives and historical records, among tons of other stuff, and thousands of nature/weather/scenic photos uploaded by the wunderground.com community…one of my favorite aspects of the site. :) You could comb through this website all day and still not touch on it all!
Health & Medical, Body & Mind
The Doctor Within Website that gets into all aspects of how we’re doing everything wrong nowadays with health, food and nutrition, and what we can do to get ourselves back on track. Dr. Tim O’Shea has a particular emphasis on vaccinations and autism, relevant topics in light of the autism epidemic nowadays.
World’s Healthiest Foods Resource too look up all the properties of various vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, grains, meats, seafood, legumes, etc.
The Biology of Belief – Bruce Lipton, PhD. Dr. Lipton was a cellular biologist for 20 years before he had to face the facts of what his research was showing him – that the mind and beliefs play a heavy role in the body’s health and wellbeing…not necessarily genetics. I first discovered Dr. Lipton by watching one of his videos on the same subject as the book. He was such an energetic, personable speaker making such great points that I bought the book. Both are worth checking out, as his message is positive and inspiring. You’ll learn a lot, and hopefully come away with a new outlook on things if you weren’t already aware of the ideas he discusses.
Inventing the AIDS Virus Peter Duesberg, PhD. AIDS apparently isn’t a virus, and HIV isn’t what causes it. Until this book I never gave the subject of AIDS much thought. But afterwards there was no denying the many excellent and thought provoking points that Dr. Duesberg makes – If HIV truly caused AIDS, then it needs to be present in every single person who has “AIDS“….which it isn’t; What constitutes “AIDS” is actually an ever-growing umbrella list of diseases and ailments indicative of immune failure…often times brought on by heavy drug usage…but not one single “virus” that can be viewed under a microscope; AIDS is not communicable…if it was, it would have spread like wildfire, instead of being contained within target key groups. A true virus does not discriminate. It affects all humans equally, to ensure its survival. So if this is all news to you, then this book is a must-read. It also gets into the rich, Mercedes Benz driving doctors in Africa who run the clinics that diagnose everybody, no matter what the problem, as having “AIDS,” thus funding the pharmaceutical corporations and personally benefiting from it all. On a side note, I think the subject of AIDS has been a victim of the stereotypical polarized, false two choice option deal – either AIDS is exactly as “The Powers That Be” tell us it is, or, it was manufactured in a lab and let loose on gay men and other “undesirables” that the government wants to get rid of. To that I say……….X! How about the third choice option – I’m always talking about this ;) – which is that AIDS is what was outlined above. Not a real “virus.” But a modern by-product of other problems, that funds the pharmaceutical corporations and keeps thousands of people perpetually employed. :/ Always look for the third option. Reject polarized “either/or” thinking that limits you to only two extreme choices.
The Holographic Universe – Michael Talbot.
Prescription for Nutritional Healing- Phyllis A. Balch, CNC, James F. Balch, MD. One woman I used to work with considered this book her “bible” and I can understand why. :D It’s a comprehensive encyclopedia of sorts that gets into how to treat all the major health problems and ailments via food, nutrition and natural supplements, with sections devoted to all the major supplements and herbal remedies – what they are, what they’re useful for, what they interact with, etc. – as well as explaining about enzymes, amino acids, and all the components of health and nutrition. An all around informative must-read and must-own. Whole Foods Market’s nutritional supplement sections always have a copy of this book on hand for shoppers to use, as well as the one mentioned below by Dr. Murray.
Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements – Michael T. Murray, MD. I found this book quite useful. There is a chapter for every vitamin and mineral as well as many supplements, with a list of which foods contain the most of each, the signs and symptoms of deficiencies, how they interact with other vitamins and minerals and what to watch out for, and most important of all….the best forms of each supplement to take. There are bezillions of supplements on the market, but how do you know which one is the most absorbable or efficient? Well, this book will tell you! An intelligently written book that also delves into the chemistry of certain supplements, I’ve learned a lot by reading it and definitely have to recommend it.
Non-Fiction, Stuff that’s about Stuff ;)
There are bezillions of non-fiction books out there, so my short little list isn’t meant to be the end all be all. But since I haven’t read the bezillions that are out there, here are the few I have which I really enjoyed…
Fast Food Nation – Eric Schlosser. Fascinating and very well written book that gets into all aspects of the fast food industry and how it’s affecting the world. Eric Schlosser visited slaughterhouses and potato factories, and plants that manufacture the chemicals that flavor our foods; he investigated the health and physical hazards of the meat packing business with its exploited workers, interviewed migrant/immigrant labor, fast food franchise owners and their workers, and even Carl Karcher himself; he reviews the history of the fast food industry and how it was spawned, and gives an overview of the McDonaldization of the world and how it’s not only affecting our health, but the environment and planet in general. This was an excellent book in my opinion, and I love these sorts of quiet, well written expose pieces.
Nickel and Dimed – On (Not) Getting By in America – Barbara Ehrenreich. Great well written expose about the exploitation of the working class. From the book cover: “Millions of American work full-time, year-round, for poverty-level wages. Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them, inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that any job equals a better life. But how can anyone survive, let alone prosper, on six to seven dollars an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, taking the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home aide, and Wal Mart salesperson. She soon discovered that even the “lowliest” occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts. And one job is not enough; you need at least two if you intend to live indoors.” I worked as a waitress in Florida for a brief period, same as her, so I could relate to the things she saw and reported while there. This book does a good job at shining the light on the fact that so many people in America are expected to work for poverty level wages. [On a side note: When you want to understand how things got to where they are in this country, with the myriad of issues that plague our society and the fact that so few lack the smarts and awareness to see what’s happening and to take action, then you have to look at the fact that most Americans are kept slaving away like hamsters in a wheel. When you’re unable to keep your head above water and can’t afford proper nutrition and health care and exist in your little realm bubble of poverty, poor education and ignorance, then really, are you going to care about the Big Issues happening out there? Let alone be able to do anything about it all? Nope. Hence, “stuff” can take over. And it has. Which was all part of the plan to begin with. Our society’s set up is by design, not a random accident.]
Stiff – The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers – Mary Roach. A book about dead people, in a nutshell. ;) But a well written and interesting one at that. Mary Roach explores all the facets of what can happen to a body after we go. Bodies donated for medical students, crash test dummies, the “Body Farm” in Kentucky for forensics research, and heads for facial plastic surgery practice. You’ll learn about autopsies, embalming and how bodies are prepared for funerals, organ donation, beating heart cadavers, the growing movement for alternatives to burial (such as turning remains into compost) and the more gory stuff such as medicinal cannibalism, head transplant experiments/reanimation, and the history of body snatching for medical study and dissection. Among the many things covered in this book. The author leaves no stone unturned. It’s stuff the average person will never have exposure to and gives you a LOT to think about by the book’s end. Due to the organ transplant chapter and the author’s experience witnessing a body having its organs harvested, I now have a newfound appreciation and respect for all my organs and make an effort to give my body thanks and appreciation for working correctly and being healthy. ! And thanks to Michael Talbot’s book, “The Holographic Universe” I know that my organs do hear me and respond accordingly! So much we take for granted until things stop working….
Phantoms in the Brain – Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind – V.S. Ramachandran, M.D., Ph.D. I haven’t even finished this book but I’ll still jump the gun and recommend it! From the book cover: “A brilliant “Sherlock Holmes” of neuroscience reveals the strangest cases he has solved – and the insights they yield about human nature and the mind. Using such low-tech tools as cotton swabs and mirrors, and working with patients whose neurological symptoms range from hallucinating cartoon characters to thinking their parents are imposters, Dr. V.S. Ramachandran uncovers answers to deep and quirky questions of human nature that few scientists have dared to address, including why we laugh or become depressed, how we make decisions, deceive ourselves, and dream, why we may believe in God, and more. This is inspired medical sleuthing that pushes the boundaries of medicine’s last great frontier: the human mind.” I especially enjoyed the chapter about “phantom limb syndrome” and how Dr. Ramachandran solved the mystery of how it happens with nothing but a Q-tip and helped some of his patients rid the phantom limbs that had been plaguing them for years using only a mirror. Fascinating stuff! You’ll learn a LOT in this book about the workings of the brain.
© 2007-2008
Carissa Conti