Will Self Books

I had the benefit of seeing an interview on a Canadian talkshow a couple of years ago. I have read the book and met the author. We have a gifted helper in our midst, Grace's goal is to help people advance thier life in their own direction, she inspires us to fulfill our dreams, even to have a dream, and she shows us the steps that are necessary to get their. This book provides a wealth of compassion, expertise and references to real life experiences that helped make Grace Cirocco who she is, and believe me she insired me to believe I can have such strength and belief. To have faith in one's own ability is the key to great things. I feel 'great' since being introduced to the book and to Grace. We are blessed, those of us who have been able to experience the process of Taking the Step with Grace Cirocco.

This book is amazing! It is like a bible for me. Whenever I feel like I need some motivation or direction I read a chapter that is relevant to how I'm feeling and do an excercise and I feel so much better. This is a must read for anyone looking for personal growth and empowerment.

Take The Step: The Bridge Will Be There by Grace Sirocco is an inspirational guide to finding the right path in life and to determine what that path might be. Sirocco's approach to the world of doing is a helpful and educational outlook on what those lost really should be doing in order to be found. Strongly recommended for its encouraging nature and its apparent knowledge, Take The Step is the ideal book for readers seeking a better sense of self, as well as and particularly to those wanting the freedom of self and/or pursue self-improvement.

If you're looking for a book to help awaken you to the endlessly magical potentialities and purpose of your life, then `Take The Step, The Bridge Will Be There' is waiting for you.

Refreshing in its honesty and joyfully uplifting, this book is a genuine gift of love. Its author, Grace Cirocco, offers 389 pages of awesome eye-opening anecdotes, analogies and quotable quotes which spur us on in a jubilant embrace of our highest selves. Her vulnerability in sharing so much of her deepest being is empowering to behold. Couple this will her invigorating humor, her inspiring and enlightening perspectives and her enthusiasm which is nothing short of contagious-and you have a feel-good, `I'm ready to turn my life around' journey which will keep you smiling and moving forward, long after you finish the book's final page.

Take the step and experience this book first hand. I guarantee that as you work your way through the light of its odyssey, you'll feel the angel known as `Grace' beside you, every step of the way.

Grace Cirocco's book is unquestionnably one of the best books I have read to help me work through issues in my life and to assist me in recognizing things as they come up and deal with them effectively. I have found reading this book and applying it's principles deeply rewarding and it has helped me become a better person. I have recommended it to many people and will continue to do so.

After Katie's mom gets remarried, her family moves to a new town and she starts attending a new school. After she gets involved in a school production, she starts to feel more comfortable in her new surroundings and in her own skin.

But something's still not right. If this is a new start, a new stage of her life, if this is her now, her after, then what came before? After repressed memories surface in her dreams, Katie starts to remember what happened to her when she was younger.

Fans of Davida Wills Hurwin's previous novels A Time for Dancing and The Farther You Run will not be disappointed. Circle the Soul Softly is just as memorable as its predecessors. This is a poignant book on many levels, with realistic characters and emotional twists. Readers will yearn to comfort and support Katie as she has revelations on stage and off about acting and about herself. Highly recommended.

In spare and poignant prose, Davida Hurwin Wills weaves a story about coming to terms with an unthinkable truth and the redemptive powers of courage, honesty, and love. This book is a powerful read for anyone who has been through trauma or knows someone who has. For parents, it's an inside look at the lives of teenagers and for teens, it is a gentle yet fearless treatment of an experience in which it is easy to feel so very alone.

I've read all oh Ms. Hurwins books and this one may just be my favorite (although A Time for Dancing has become a young womens classic). In Circle the Soul Softly Hurwins writng is complex yet straightforward, always progressing the plot and deepening the characters emotional life while using language that any women would love to luxuriate in. I was so enthralled I read it in one sitting! I would highly reccomend it for anyone and give a special recomendation to young women who have had traumitic life experiences. Nothing in the world is better then reading about someone elses experiences confirming that you are not alone during the hardest times of your life.

I have read all of Ms Hurwin's books and enjoyed them. This is possibly my favorite. The story was compelling and moved along at a rapid pace. I read it in two sittings. I couldn't wait to see what emotionally would develop on the next page. The characters were clearly drawn, and Ms. Hurwin found each of their unique voices. I particularly liked the ending (often people can't decide how to end a book). I won't give it away. I found the book's sense of compassion and empathy for the human condition, and the difficulties of complex relationships most satisfying. A read that left my heart feeling full.

Circle the Soul Softly wraps itself around the reader like a shawl woven from sweet and sorrowful strands of truth. It holds you, and gently insists you hear what it means to be human. Why do we feel what we feel? What are the stories behind our behavior? These universal themes are explored in Davida Wills Hurwin's beautifully expressive, skilled prose. Circle the Soul Softly offers a deeply intimate psychological portrait of how a young women begins to lift the covers off her memory and reveal a past she had forgotten. The covers are heavy. They come off slowly. And when the truth of her childhood emerges, Hurwin is clear with the reader; revelation is just the first step in healing. This novel does not succumb to the "quick fix". Integrating (into the present) our wounds, our grief, our past... takes time. In this compassionate, expertly crafted work of fiction, Ms. Hurwin gets at the deeper truth. I read it one sitting a week ago, and still feel held in its soulful circle.

Whether you want to write your own ethical will or help others write about their values and what they want to leave behind - this book will help you. Dr Barry Baines is caring, honest and has in-depth experience which he shares with us in this book. I found myself coming back to it for a second and third time. Even when I see it just sitting there on my book shelf, it triggers more thoughts about my own life and what I will leave behind. This book gives you something to think about and to work with. It will touch you.

Easy to read and understand. Found this book very useful in discovering more information about ethical wills. Several written examples also provided.

If you are searching for a venue to create a legacy for your family that will continue for generations to come, purchase Bary Baines Ethical Wills, Second Edition to assist you in preparing this written legacy. The intriguing concept of sharing ones' values and ethics is a priceless investment not only to the writer but to everyone who will ever read the document. Baines also includes information and insight into another important document that everyone needs to write: The Living Will. This book is a valuable investment that is worth more that you will ever pay. It is well written, inspiring and when you complete it you will have a legacy to leave your heirs.

This is a great introduction to ethical wills. They sound really mysterious but it's a great concept -- writing a letter to the future -- that's a really valuable gift for a family. And it's a really useful process for the writer. It can give you a whole different perspective on how valuable your experiences are.

Ethical Wills by Barry Baines, MD breaks new ground in the ethical will movement within the US. Written for easy comprehension, this book covers the topic in excellent fashion, while providing the inspiration so essential to completing the task of putting our values in print for those we leave behind. I highly recommend this book, not only for the informational content, but for the encouragement it brings for completing the process. The section on living wills and advance directives is also very informative and useful. For those looking for a single source of information on this subject, Ethical Wills by Barry Baines is an outstanding resource.

I first read Rollo May's _Love and Will_ about 30 years ago and the wisdom of his writing has stayed with me since. May wrote before the time that "self help" became a heading on the shelves of a bookstore, in a time when analytical psychotherapy was still popular. Bearing that in mind, the reader will find that what May had to say then is all too true today. Whereas in the past love and will solved the problems of relationship to others, they have now become the problem. In our schizoid world real communication is rare. (The reader might think that May wrote after the advent of the personal computer.)

Now, there are a couple of reasons why I do not offer May's final analysis of the problem. One is that with the advent of "self help" we have shifted from an analytical to a behavioral form of psychotherapy. More than one writer says just do these ten things and you will be happy. The second reason is that the reader might miss May's concept of the daimonic. In it's simplest terms, it means that a person has to have something going on in his/her life.

Read the book. Learn the lesson. Set your own course of actions.

Find out here why love and will are so psychologically intertwined....and why a dearth in one means a dearth of the other. In a culture in which deterministic explanations and excuse-making have largely replaced a recognition of personal responsibility and the power of the will, it's no wonder love itself is impoverished. May also offers alternatives to this state of affairs. An excellent book.

This text captapults the understanding of certain spiritual experiences into awareness. It discovers, uncovers a rationality to consciuosness without imposing one. And an intellectual depth that gently and elegantly surrounds one in the rich fabric of western culture and its Greek heritage.

Examples are care as the source of will, charity as the biblical translation of agape, rebirth of experience as Eros: the king of the daimonics.

LOVE AND WILL is probably Rollo May's best book, his magnum opus. It was published in 1969, when May--by then one of the most prominent psychologists on the American scene--was sixty-years old. And, despite its intelligence and psychological sophistication, it became a best-seller. Central to this praiseworthy work are chapters 5 & 6, in which Dr. May introduces (presaging James Hillman) his radical concept of "the daimonic." Any person concerned with the so-called senseless violence so prevalent at the close of the millennium would do well to have a look at these stunning, seminal chapters. Also of interest, especially to psychotherapists, is May's erudite discussion of "intentionality" a little later on. Though May's treatment of some subjects might be slightly dated, there is much here to be strongly recommended, especially for students and other readers who appreciate substantial books such as Ernest Becker's THE DENIAL OF DEATH.

I read this book in graduate school in 1973 and then again 30 years later. When I was a young man I had not had enough experience with Eros to understand the book. I knew I wished to do great deeds but I did not know the source from which these thoughts emerged. Now, in the second reading, I recognize the forces of Eros in my past and present and recognize the need to integrate the daemonic or shadow to fully harness these forces.

The central thesis of the book is that Eros, the life force, directs our Will toward our highest potential. Rollo May asserts that hate is not the opposite of love, apathy and disinterest is. The opposite of will is not indecision - but rather May sees it as detachment. May's central thesis is that Eros (Love) is the fundamental energy behind Will. Eros is the force that drives men to seek God. Eros is the spirit of life and is not to be confused with the sex drive. Rollo May points out that the sex drive seeks satisfaction and release of tension whereas Eros drives us outward. Much of the first half of the book carefully explains the similarities and differences between the sex drive and Eros, the life force. Primarily May sees sexuality as a drive reduction process, similar to the learning theorists Clark Hull and James B Watson. Eros, however, is the creator, forever reaching out, seeking to expand. As Paul Tillich says "A movement from the potential to the actual" and "vitality is the power of creating beyond oneself without losing oneself." Eros is the power from which we do not want release but rather to be prolonged, to form the world. Eros drives us to go beyond ourselves, to transcend ourselves, to reach ethical goodness, to seek truth and beauty. May connects his theories to St. Augustine, Freud, Maslow, Joseph Campbell, and Plato; all of whom belived that love is the fundamental human experience; pervades all our actions, and is the deepest motivating force. Freud further believed that all civilizations are created by the disciplining and re-direction of the forces of Eros. Rollo May, the therapist, points out that the task is not only to recognize our own power but to recognize the self aggrandizement that accompanies all human endeavor in this realm of power and love. May is similar to Jung in the concept of recognition of the shadow or daemonic as a guide to the self as well as a path toward integration and concentrated power and life force. Referring back to Harry Stack Sullivan, May points out that we can only love others to the extent that we can love ourselves. What is it like to be someone who has harnessed the power of Eros? May quotes Hegel: "Socrates, like all heroes who cause new worlds to rise and inescapably the old one to disintegrate was experienced as a threat; what he fought for is a new form which breaks through and undermines the exisiting world."

I think the reader may find that the works of Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung further inform May's thesis. I strongly recommend the book to those who study mythology, philosophy, and psychology.

This book is for those who desire self-help using a cognitive method. Dr. Low was an unrecognized pioneer in the mental health field; he has been credited by his patients with saving many lives. The book is extremely practical. It may encourage readers to participate in a self-help organization founded in 1937 which has in the intervening years become international in scope. One may choose portions of the book that are applicable. After having read the book more than 25 years ago and consulting it as a resource, I recommend it for those suffering from mental/emotional afflictions for whom self-help is appropriate. Recovery does not replace a professional, but rather works with him/her.

I was a nervous wreck and had been on the verge of suicide and could not find medication to alleviate my anxiety symptoms. I found RECOVERY through Alchoholics Ananymous, because I was not an alchoholic, but had reached a point where I could not sleep more than an hour a day and I found alchohol provided temporary relief but was afraid of becoming alchoholic. After reading this book and attending 6 months of meetings, the symptoms slowly disappeared and I was able to use the tools explained in the book to regulate my thoughts and as a result, regulate my feelings. This book is practical and very useful on an ongoing basis. I strongly recommend it.

sincerely,

michael

I received an e-mail from a lady who told me that rational-emotive therapy saved her relationship and maybe even her life! And I believe her. But some of us need more heavy "Head Work" I believe. Real "Trench Warfare". Dr. Low teaches you cognitive-behavioral therapy in this book. But he doesn't leave it there. Daily readings. And ONE TWO-HOUR MEETING A WEEK WITH OTHER NUT CASES! Why am I screaming? Because it is easy to sit at your computer and be mean. But you can't get

away with this in real life. I read most of Low's book after my first meeting. I felt excruciating anxiety for 4 days BEFORE THE MEETING! I'm screaming again, right? Sorry. And my reading didn't really DIG IN until I got to the meeting. You say something and then everybody else contributes and then these cognitive techniques are really cut into your brain. This is the main text. So it is one-third of the program. The other two parts are daily application and one meeting a week. It seems that people with psychological problems make TREMENDOUS demands on themselves. This book will re-wire your brain. And that may take awhile. But remember this. According to Dr. Low, when you cut a "temper" sequence of working yourself up into anxiety and anger or down into depression, you will be automatically reducing those HIGHER STRESSORS which you will have to confront. Let's make it simple. Asking a question of somebody on the street may cause incredible anxiety. Let's say 99. But if you "spot" this scenerio and replace it with realistic thoughts ("I'm not doing anything wrong") and endorse yourself ("I did just fine") - this process will reduce the the anxiety of public speaking, say, from 1,000 to 859. Good deal, huh? As Low says, "Strike at the Weakest Link". If your dog dies and you have a BIG DEPRESSION of 876, let us say, and you practice this program and your spouse dies, you might only get hit with a 700! Whereas, before, it might have been 7,000, given you a stroke, and put you in a hospital. Do buy the book. I could philosophize about all the chapters (Like "The Courage to Make Mistakes", chapter 30), but I think you now understand the whole purpose of the text. If you don't want to wait, then find out where the closest Recovery, Inc. Meeting is (they are worldwide for those of you in Guam), take 5 minutes, run in, and buy a copy. Good luck.

This is THE book on mental health for any kind of disorder from compulsive eating to schizophrenia. Tens of thousands of people have been helped by this book. I already have been helped greatly. Self-disscipline is the only answer. And I think we all know this at some level. There is no easy way to happiness. The paradox is that we have to go through misery in order to be happy. I have written reviews on meditation for Amazon. And I do feel that this is what really makes us into warm human beings. But I did confer with practioners who have practiced for over 30 years. And in pathological conditions (severe depression, obsession-compulsion, eating disorders, and similar problems including schizophrenia) - many people need a little more. This also includes anxiety disorders which so many of us suffer from. Alcoholics Anonymous costs nothing for the treatment of alcoholism. And Recovery, Inc. costs a recommended donation of $2 for a 2-hour meeting. A.A. works despite the technocrats and their twisted statistics. The Mad Scientists. And Recovery, Inc. has been helping people all over the world for mental problems. And this is their Bible just as "Alcoholics Anonymous" or the Big Blue Book is the Bible of A.A. Dr. Low had created a system of cognitive behavioral therapy that works! Then came the "new breed" of healers who promised us self-esteem in ten weeks or 3 minutes a day. They ignored Low (ripped him off actually) and attacked A.A. They are not a "well-meaning" breed of lion tamers. In this book, you will learn about "The Courage to Make Mistakes". You will find that the first goal in mental health is to shoot for being average. Whether you think you are Napolean or "exceptional", you can afford to be average according to Dr. Low. This was all stated way before Drs. Ellis and Beck decided they were the new scientists of mental health. Dr. Low created the cognitive-behavioral

approach way before these gentlemen. The only difference is that his approach works. Please refer to "recovery-inc.com" on the net. A diagnosis from a qualified physician comes first in Low's method. Then you will be allowed to attend meetings. Yes, you can leave early. That is part of recovery. "Spotting" when you are beating yourself up with thoughts. And you "encourage" yourself for your progress. The people seem very intelligent and kind. Both my psychiatrist and therapist are ga-ga about Recovery, Inc. They love it and recommended it to me. The changes are swift and lasting. But not in 10 weeks or 3 minutes. It's very much of a shame that A.A. and Recovery Inc., which originated in the thirties when people were not looking for a "quick fix", are now being over-looked by the new intelligensia. Many have been hurt by these pseudo-intellectuals from the sixties. Dr. Low emphasizes that we go into a "DANGER" alert kind of status all the time. Many need to change this to "DISTRESSING". As he states in the book, sometimes a headache is just a headache and not a brain tumor! I am so grateful to Recovery, Inc. and it's kind members. Along with A.A. and my Insight Meditation course (also available from Amazon.com), I don't feel that I will ever be truly lacking in the ability to love others and to be loved in return. Thank you.

This is the best available therapy for depression, bipolar depression, panic attacks, and related disorders. Either alone, or with psychotropic medications, this group therapy succeeds where individual therapy fails and makes the patient more amenable to individual therapy, as not sabotaging mental health is a major focus. This is precisely the method used in cognitive therapy, effective since introduced widely in the 1980s, but not affordable by most of the population.
The Recovery method is still going strong after all these years.

Vita's Will was a very enjoyable read loaded with wisdom and insight. I appreciated the author's honesty in relating what her family went through and how she personally dealt with all that happened. Her honesty will help me, and other readers, deal with life's challenges and I'm grateful for that.

You'll laugh, you'll cry but most of all you will be touched by this honest, insightful look at family and coping with loss.

Everyone who has a big job and a big salary ought to read this book. Too many people spend time worrying about nothing, and it can all disappear in a moment, as Debbie eloquently writes. This book is a practical and heartfelt story about stepping off the corporate latter when reality intrudes, and getting in touch with the truly important aspects of life. It's a quick but touching book to read.

This is a good one. I found myself recommending Vita's Will before I finished reading it. The Real Life Lessons at the end of each chapter, are helpful "words of wisdom" I continue to think about and/or share with others, especially loved ones going through a tough spell.

I went ... on April 13, "Good Friday" with the sole intention of purchasing "Joseph Girzone's" "Never Alone". I walked straight to the book, took it off the shelf, when my eye's caught Debbie's book "Vita's Will". With my name being Vita, I was completely taken aback! I looked at the book in my hand for a moment, rushed to pay for it, came straight home, and read it... In her book, Debbie re-lives a time in her life that would have broken most, yet she surfaced with more wisdom, humor, love, and a greater appreciation and passion for life. I too had a similar period of time with my family and felt immediatley bonded to her and her family, those that passed and those still with us. It is truly cliched to say that I laughed and cried, but I did, and I enjoyed every moment of it!!! I had never in my life laughed that hard and out loud when reading a book! It was as if it was to be part of my healing process as well, and it felt wonderful to know that we are truly not alone in life and what it brings us. Thank you Debbie, for sharing your story, inspiration, wisdom, life lessons, and your intimate life details with us... You and your book are truly gems.

Well thought out and clearly articulated...you feel at home with Laurie. There are two tapes. On her Change tape she offers useful information and exercises that help you to decide the changes you want to make and then 10 steps to help you carry them out. Her tape on Communication hit some hot buttons for us and were good reminders about style differences, and how we can appreciate that in others. We both have creative activities we do, so her Creativity tape ideas stimulated fresh ideas that that are a big help.

Laurie Sheppard has down to earth good sense & enormous creativity that can inspire you to make the changes in your life that you have always wanted. A long time ago she advised me to never give up on my dream & now I am living it! Thank you Laurie!

In our lives' path we encounter challenges, difficulties, obstacles and support. Add this tapes to your bag of support in your life's journey and you will have a constant reliable companion you can refer to time and time again for insights, suggestions and new ideas for action. I highly recommand these tapes to anyone.

Lauire's light and breezy style makes this self improvement course different
from all the rest I've seen or heard. Do what she says and your life WILL change.

Ms. Sheppard's tape, The 3-C's is a wonderfully organized & clearly articulated journey through the maze of challenges "elephants in the road" we face in today's success driven world. The tape is easy to listen to and gets you to think & participate in an active way to deal with those things that block us in our pursuit of achievement. Personally, I have a huge library of tapes by the masters & books in every "self-help" sub category; Ms. Sheppard's tape is clearly a new classic. I highly recommend it!

If you are interested in yoga, this is a must have! Realize yoga is NOT just exercise!

An affirmation is a statement of truth which one aspires to absorb into his life. It has been said that we are what we eat. It would be truer to say, "We are what we think." ~J. Donald Walters

Affirmations can heal your mind and body. Since 1948, J. Donald Walters has been studying and practicing the ancient science of concentration and meditation known as Raja Yoga. You do not have to actually practice Yoga in order to enjoy or benefit from his knowledge. You may enjoy the affirmation and not say the prayers (To Cosmic Energy, God, Divine Mother, Spirit, Lord, Heavenly Father) or just enjoy reading the passage on the left explaining the fifty-two basic subjects. You can take what you need from this book and enhance your life. You could adapt the prayers to your own religious beliefs.

Within this tiny book you will find a passage, an affirmation and a prayer for: Success, Energy, Immortality, Humility, Sharing, Consideration for Others, Inspiration, Joy, Discrimination, Humor, Truthfulness, Happiness, Forgiveness, Courage, Non-attachment, Self-confidence, Acceptance, Positive Thinking, Love, Service, Work, Contentment, Introspection, Calmness, Wisdom, Concentration, Security, Self-control, Will Power, Generosity, Awareness, Moral Vigor, Willingness, Patience, Renunciation, Enthusiasm, Devotion, Openness, Even-Mindedness, Self-expansion, Power, Income, Good Health, Peace of Mind, Perseverance, Practicality, Gratitude, Kindness, Alertness, Non-injury, God-Remembrance, High-Mindedness.

I especially enjoyed reading the topic of "Acceptance." Here we learn that this is one of the most difficult lessons in life and the author explains how we waste so much energy wishing our lives were different. He explains how we can accept what comes into our lives as coming from God.

The Affirmation: "I accept with calm impartiality whatever comes my way. Free in my heart, I am not conditioned by any outward circumstance."

I also enjoyed reading the section on "Immortality" and thinking of myself as a "child of eternity." When you think of death as being a change and not an "end" it does not seem as frightening unless you are still wondering where your soul will end up.

The section on "Joy" and "Happiness" is enlightening and very true.

J. Donald Walters believes in affirmations which are repeated with deep concentration. The words are then carried into the subconscious and can change us on levels of the mind in which we have little conscious control.

To heal yourself, you may have to set your inner conflicts in order and start to think differently about your life.

I have also enjoyed reading: "Secrets of Emotional Healing" by the same author.

"Affirmations for Self-Healing" is a book to keep on your bedside table to read in quiet moments of reflection perhaps while listening to "Relax: Meditations for Flute and Cello" composed by Donald Walters.

~The Rebecca Review

The learned writer from Portland, Oregon seems to have missed out in his school lessons what a book review should consist of. He has made his dislike of the author quite clear, but other than his childish attack on the editing I found nothing to give me any inkling what the book can or cannot give me. Luckily I had already read the book, so I can give my own review. The book is a fine example of affirmations, how and when to use them, with an added point of using prayer along with them. There are 52 affirmations and prayers so you can use one a week for a year. I found many of these affirmations to have a strong effect in my life. Don't let the small minority of Donald Walters hate mongers turn you away from a wonderful author. Here is an affirmation that our friend in Oregon could use. "The whole world is my home and the human race, my family. With God's kindness I embrace all men.

P.S. I really think the review should stick to just that, and not be used to further the anger of a few. This seems to fall under the atacking the author catagory.

A little jewel of a book with a user friendly format that allows it to be used as a real handbook. It's set up with an inspiring and helpful chapter on how to use affirmations in the most effective way, then it goes on to present fifty-two different qualities with corresponding affirmations. Mr. Walters, in his descriptions of the qualities, provides the reader with deep insights which aid in focusing the affirmations with the appropriate awareness and intent.

I've personally gained a lot from using quite a few of these affirmations and I've also found them very beneficial in working with others in my position as a counselor.

A very practical book for healing!

The affirmations in this book have a power to transform that belies their simplicity. There are 52 topics/qualities- each one has a short description, an affirmation, and a prayer. Rather than use a new one each week, I find it more helpful to find a quality that I need to work on, and then use the affirmation for a few weeks.

This is one that I'm using now, on energy:

"Within me lies the energy to accomplish all that I will to do. Behind my every act is God's infinite power."

Try repeating it silently throughout the day for a week or so. Then decide for yourself if this book is for you.

Lili's book is such an inspiration. We all need to be inspired and motivated. Sometimes in life, obstacles and troubles can bring us down and we need to be recharged, like a cell phone needs to be recharged.
Lili writes from her heart. What started out as notes to herself to help herself turned into a book. I am so grateful that Lili decided to turn these words of wisdom into a book in order to help others. And the photographs she took are beautiful and are the perfect compliment to her words.

Karen

Truth, beauty, and integrity shine through the simplicity of these lines -an uplift like an unexpected smile from a stranger - suddenly it feels like you've known each other all along. Thank you for bringing your particular brand of beauty to our lives, Ms. Dauphin!

I Will Touch the Sun is Lili Dauphin's collection of short but poignant poems of inspiration. Read these small seeds of hope, tend to the garden of peace and joy and observe the experience; the uplifting power of her words blossom in the reader's soul.

"I Will Touch the Sun" is a reminder to enjoy life and to not take small things for granted. The book motivates the reader. It's something you can read daily for inspiration. The poems also help you set goals. It's fun to read, and has great photography of the outdoors. It makes a very good gift!

This book is an incredible work of art that is a positive influence on how to view life and never take anything for granted. When you are feeling down pick this book up and read a few of the poems and your mindset will change to be more positive as you think and reflect on what you just read.

BUY THIS BOOK!
I bought the book after looking at the page where I had to decode Greek letters into English sentences. I was afraid that it was a gimmick and nothing more. I WAS WRONG. As a baby, no one taught you to talk or walk. And actually you didn't learn to read because of phonics. You learned to read in spite of it.

In the last 6 months I have read John Dewey's "How We Think", John Holt's "How Children Fail", and watched a National Geographic Special "Brain Child" that referred to the Carolina Abecedarian Project (http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~abc/) at the University of North Carolina, I began to suspect that there was help for my children ages 6 and 10.

I believe this book will play a major part. My children's school taught them phonics with its hundreds of rules and exceptions but excluded hand writing just as Marion Blank writes in this book. With 40 years of teaching she has explained something that I've long suspected. Children learn the rules without having to hear or read them.

At the Children's Museum in Indianapolis (www.childrensmuseum.org), I read this quote, "If we taught children to speak they would never learn." I found the quote in John Holt's book. Marion's explanations helped me see that reading is much the same way. What children need are the skills to learn. Then they will learn to read automatically.

I REPEAT, "BUY THIS BOOK!"

It is great to see a book that so clearly shows what is required for children to become successful readers and to see how easily it can be achieved with the right instruction.

"The Reading Remedy" is wonderful. For the first time, I can truly understand why my daughter was having problems in learning to read and what she needs to succeed. After using the Phonics Plus Five techniques for just three months now, I can already see a major difference in my child's skill and self confidence. If you're a parent and you're concerned about your child's success in school, I urge you to read this book.

FInally, a book that makes sense on reading. As a speech language pathologist, I see so many children who struggle with reading. I have used the techniques outlined in the book and had tremendous success. This book can help so many children reach the success they dream of.

I know from personal experience that any parent who wants to improve a child's reading ability will enjoy and benefit from this book. I used Dr. Blank's easy-to-use reading program with my son and it worked wonders. It is great to see her making her ideas available to all parents.