Acorn Books

The book fascinated me, changed the way I considered things,made me think enlightment was really at hand. Three years later, I have changed my mind about it. The discerment and rethoric Nisargadat are just impressive, perhaps underrated in todays philosophic and spiritual world.
However, I must say it's up to the reader to believe if this is the real path to enlightment. I won't say here what I believe. The book is a jewell of the advaita philosophy. I don't remember skipping pages or being bored in the 400 or more pages this book has.
Recommendable investment.

Are you awake? wondering why the old "ego entity" is still causing trouble? "I Am That" is probably the best medicine you can take during the "relative" process of unfolding. What a gem! Boy am I sorry I missed meeting this guy!

I have a library of hundreds of spiritual books, representing every major religious and mystical tradition.

Few possess the clarity, the startling immediacy, the actual life-altering power of this volume.

If there is such a thing as a holy book, here is one.

What more can be said?

I purchased my first copy of this book 25 years ago, have purchased or read hundreds since and never found any writing more essential to Self-realization than I Am That. Every mind blowing word comes from a simple man who had never received a formal education beyond primary learning. His photo alone will send you into the mystery.

Nisargadatta's teaching is simple and radical. Give every spare second of your free time to being conscious to the only fact you know...I Am. What is that? Look, intuit, be still and realize. Stay with what you truly know and be this awareness always. I am not aware of any spiritual teacher who has offered more truth than this book contains in its 110 dialogues with students. Yet, as Nisargadatta says himself, "A quiet mind is all you need..." Our freedom is realized within and as our own Self. Nisargadatta points where we must BE. Anyone who takes up his advice as their own contemplation can realize the Absolute Self. This book is never the same in any reading and it nourishes the true in you. It flows like water that's headed home to the ocean. Jump in and let the current have you. I Am That is a timeless classic. Don't just read it, live it and be happy.

Sundance Burke, Author Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being

i almost threw this book in the trash once or twice on the first read, it seemed backwards, ludicrous, and difficult to read.
i kept picking it back up and giving it another chance due to all the good reviews, and something inside me that kept urging me to.
Once i started to understand Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj the book became easier to read, it was like, "OHHH, i get it now!"
Now, even though it is difficult to subscribe to, or follow "all" of the Maharaj's teachings, i am finding that some of the principals of non-duality are making my life appear "better" and bringing me closer to others, in understanding them better, i find more tolerance of our subtle differences; thus, common ground to grow on.

There are many wonderful quotes in this book...
here is one of my favorite:


"Causes and results are infinite in number and variety. Everything affects everything. In this universe, when one thing changes, everything changes. Hence the great power of man in changing the world by changing himself." (I Am That, Nisargadatta Maharaj, p 490)


i truly believe that "Everyone" should at least give the Maharaj a chance, and read this book.

wakecowboy.

In Pointers From Nisargadatta Maharaj, devotee Ramesh Balsekar provides further insight into the teachings of what many consider a master of Advaita Vedanta. The teachings are both simple and profound -- and often full of paradox. To "understand" them requires the relinquishment of thought. To "explain" the teachings reduces them to concepts which are inherently false. That is probably why the book it aptly titled "Pointers..." The real truth, according to what Balsekar shares of Nisargadatta's teachings, is "apperceived" directly. And it's based on the deep understanding that there is no individual entity at work...

"The main point in Maharaj's teaching is that in this living-dream of life we are not the dreamed characters, which we think we are, but that we are the dreamer, and it is our mistaken identification with the dreamed character, as a separate independent entity as the 'doer', that causes the illusion of 'bondage'". Pages 202-203

If you have read the classic "I Am That", this is an excellent aid in providing further clarification into our true nature. Enjoy it for all the gifts it brings you.

This book has an amazing feature, which is that it conveys the spirit and presence of Nisargadatta in such a powerful way not even I AM THAT does. The pointers are absolutely clear and straighforward, and they deal with a wide range of cases. No doubt can remain as to the nature of our true self after the reading of this teaching. In a misterious way, Ramesh was able to be the interpreter of the teaching without interfeering with it in this occasion. This teaching (and the way it is presented in this book) is certainly far superior to anything the same Ramesh could have written of its own.

This extraordinary book written by Ramesh S. Balsekar focuses the seekers mind even more pointendly, no pun is intended, than the spiritual classic, I Am That. Aptly titled, Pointers reduces the whole of the seekers spiritual quest into a finite, simple and yet expansive conclusion of unification. If the reader is ready and intuitive, by this I mean to imply his/her spirit is ripened to be plucked from its vine, then no other words beyond Ramesh's Pointers will ever be needed. I highly recommend that all seekers read I Am That as a prelude to Pointers if they wish for the fullest experience possible, they will be rewarded for their patience.

After reading POINTERS From NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ and JEAN DUNN three books on NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ Talks ( PRIOR TO CONSCIOUSNESS , SEEDS OF CONSCIOUSNESS , CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE ABSOLUTE ) It answered why the body was born or should it be said " What were you before you were born " .

Three good POINTS in the book - Consciousness is the illusion . Second - You were before Consciousness and third- the problem with concepts. Understanding these three POINTS made Knowledge and Ignorance seem the same. Perhaps the pupose of life is to understand that what is creating the illusion is consciousness itself.

In one of the NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ books there was a simple sentence that was so powerful and went something like this " THE SEARCH FOR REALITY IS THE MOST DANGEROUS OF ALL UNDERTAKINGS FOR IT DESTROYS THE WORLD IN WHICH YOU LIVE"

Thank you.

If you are ready this book is all you'll ever need, if not it will certainly plant the seeds of awakening. Not only does Ramesh Balsekar translate the words of Maharaj, but goes on to expand and clarify the wisdom of his Guru as only an enlightened disciple can. This is the perfect follow up for Maharaj's classic, I Am That. But Please don't let your mind be put off by Nisargadatta's gritty approach. Because of the Guru's declining health, this book's tone does sound a bit harsh by ignoring common civilities and going straight to the core of truth. Yet that is exactly what we need to realize.

Simolke, Duane. "The Acorn Stories", iUniverse, 2003.

Living in a Small Town

Amos Lassen and Literary Pride

Acorn, Texas--population 21. 001 is the setting for Duane Simolke's wonderful "The Acorn Stories". The town of Acorn is full of stories and if you have lived in a small town you know exactly what I mean. Each of Simolke's stories lets us look into the lives of some of the most interesting characters I have ever read about. As you read each story, you seem to make new friends and when I closed the book I felt as if I actually knew many in the town. Just as the stories are all separate, they eventually tie together. There is just the right amount of detail to let the reader feel he knows the people of Acorn.
Even more interesting is that Simolke wrote this book in a very difficult style of writing--the stream of consciousness. This allows the reader to feel as if he is one of the characters and as the stories come together, we get a picture of Acorn, Texas in quite a unique way. The 16 stories in the book, although separate, are all related and this is not an easy way to write. As the characters merge, the imaginary (at least I think it is imaginary0 town seems to be very real.
The residents of Acorn are very real people--or so they seemed to me as I met them. And as the stores come together the town of Acorn is laid bare reminding me of what is left of a turkey after Thanksgiving dinner. As we meet the townsfolk, we dig below the outside appearance and go deep into the characters. The characters are quite a menagerie of folk all of whom have challenges and problem (just like we all do). It is the personalities and actions of the members of Acorn that make the stories live. In fact, I am not really sure that this is a collection of short stories because of the interactions between the stories and when they all come together it is like reading a novel.
Acorn is located in west Texas and there, under the Texas sun and the majestic oak trees (so unlike Texas) is a mixture of Hispanics and Anglos as well as a few Afro-Americans. Some were born in Acorn and some are hiding in Acorn. Newlyweds Becky and Kyle are very much in love and they are starting a life together. We meet the [...] art dealer and gallery owner who is being blackmailed by the [....] mayor of the town. There is also a famous writer hiding in Acorn because he stages his own fake suicide. There is the high school teacher who favors sports over academics and the young kid who is keeping a secret, a young man looking for a sugar momma to pay his rent, a widow ad her cat, Regina, an overbearing sister, a widow, Mae, who remembers how life was once and so on.
I must say that I loved this book and have reread several of the stories. It is a rare treat and one that will have you laughing, crying, commiserating and identifying. I have not had this much fun in a long time.

Duane Simolke's, "The Acorn Stories," is set in the fictional West Texas town of Acorn, so named because it's the only town in the entire region that has trees, thanks to the foresight of its founders. The stories are a compilation of vignettes that give the reader a glimpse into the everyday happenings of a group of residents whose lives, we learn as the chapters unfold, interconnect in fascinating and unexpected ways. With each new story, or chapter, the reader is introduced to a new character. The stories and lives of the citizens of Acorn interweave, turning "The Acorn Stories" into what is essentially a novel...quite a feat for the author to accomplish in a relatively short book.

Simolke allows the reader peeks into the thoughts of diverse characters, from a policeman's recollection of his abusive childhood, to the befuddled thoughts of a senile old man. We see events from the points of view of a deaf man who manages to do a good job as the high school's English teacher, an esteemed best selling author desperately trying to escape life's travails, and a young couple who find love and, like it or not, become parents at a most unexpected time and place...the opening of an Art Gallery that happens to be owned by the teacher's boyfriend. A small example of how the stories go around.

"The Acorn Stories" allows the reader an understanding of the human condition. We learn what makes each individual's personality tick. Simolke's characters are male and female, young and old, black and white, rich and poor, gay and straight, handicapped and gifted, happy and sad, satisfied and searching, hypocritical and fair-minded. The ability to depict such a wide cross section of humanity, including details of each character's breadth of knowledge and experience, takes a talented, insightful author, and Duane Simolke is such a writer.

I dislike giving ratings to books...they are too subjective...but The Acorn Stories deserves 5 stars as a very intelligently written book. Don't miss it.

Duane Simolke's offering of his sixteen short stories, many with overlapping characters and plot-lines, all set within or around the fictitious west-Texas small town of Acorn, provides its readers an insightful and literate look at what goes on in the hinderlands beyond the boundaries of this country's big cities.

Not as salaciously rendered as was Peyton Place (which, if you remember, was a small town taken on by Grace Metalious), Simolke's Acorn, Texas, still turns out to be rife with some of the same angst-ridden problems, thereby, once again, exploding the myth that rural "out there" is actually more idyllic (even Edenesque), as compared to big-city "in here".

From the who-will-have-control-of-this-relationship "dueling" of Regina Thibodeaux and Dirk Palmer in Simolke's lead-off story "Acorn", to the not-always-that-pleasant reminisces of town maven Aragon Carsons in the book's concluding "Acorn Pie", Simolke puts rural America under a microscope to unveil all of its acne, sores, scars, and festering wounds.

THE ACORN STORIES isn't for any reader out to preserve his or her unrealistic nostaligic notion that rural-America is the place "to be" "to get away from it all". On the other hand, for those of us not put off by realism and always interested in a literate writer who can provide us a peek beneath the veneer, Simolke provides some very enjoyable reading moments.

"The Acorn Stories" is BRILLIANT! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! Heck, it's right in front of me now. I just finished it. I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT! EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT! I cried reading "Mae", and smiled viciously at "Mirrors: A Blackmail letter". Duane, where is "Acorn Revisited."? :) KUDOS!

The Acorn Stories
Duane Simolke

Review by Mountman

Picture a small town in West Texas. Acorn. The reason it's called Acorn is that it is the only town in West Texas that has a lot of trees. Yes, Acorn is a fictional town but after reading The Acorn Stories, I wanted to visit the place, just to check it out.

" "Welcome to Acorn, population 21,001, the Texas town with a little name and a big heart" - Sign marking city limits of Acorn" (taken from the book.)

Like the branches of the Main Street Oak tree, the town has just as many histories and legends. Each story gives you a glimpse into lives of the people of Acorn. Also how their lives are intertwined.

There are stories about the founding family, newcomers, the rich, the poor and in between. When I first started reading it I felt like I was left hanging. Just then, in Simolke unique clever style, things began to connect. Growing up in a small town I could relate to some of the characters. Duane gives you just enough details that you get a feel for where each of the characters are coming from. There are people that you like, some that you can't wait to see if they get theirs. Big cheers for when they do!

Ones that really grabbed me are Survival and Dead Enough. Survival is about a gay, deaf teacher. Dead Enough is about a writer of murder mysteries. I'm not going to give you any details because you will have to find out for yourself.

Whether you are an avid short story reader, or a novel reader this is a must read! So check it out.

This book is one of the more profound. It is the final days of the Maharaj's life. He is a bit more testy and does not hold the readers hand. You must have some insights into the waking and dreaming states of man to get this.

Some people will grasp the message of this book almost immediately, for the rest of us, it is necessary that you have done your spiritual 'homework' first. That said the central kernel of 'truth' will hopefully leap out at you from every talk transcribed herein. Once realized everything takes on new and 'no' significance with life and institutions - simplified and understood. Liberation is with you now, books such as this merely serving to lift the veil of layers of delusion clouding your true self and thus delivering that liberation.

All books that i have read, including I AM THAT are excellent reading for an identification with TRUTH/SELF. Once you enter the Place where there is only ONE/the ABSOLUTE understanding what Nisargadatta was voicing comes easy.

If you are ready, this book is all you'll ever need. If not, it will certainly plant the seeds of awakening. Regardless, it is an absolute treasure.

Although I thought this book was quite good, I must confess some doubts, especially since so many others have already given such glowing reviews. This stuff is very experiential, so words easily lead to misunderstanding. However, what he is talking about is also the most natural and common experience of all experiences. So, why so grim? He says that everything is unreal, and goes so far as to call the everyday world a "fraud". Whose frauding whom? It seems that just because something is ephemeral or relative it is somehow not real, or of any value. Why? That seems kind of simplistic. Just because something changes, and is in constant flux, does it mean it has no value or reality? Not necesarily. Sometimes things are special simply because they are short-lived. No one told me to think that flowers are beautiful. It was just a natural and spontaneous thing, even though we all know they are short-lived. Just because we enjoy the world and participate fully doens't mean we have to be "attached" to it. Little children are great teachers of this.
It seems he finds an impenetrable logic to disprove everything and everyone. He even admits to being trapped by the gunas himself with his addiction to chewing tobacco which has apparently caused his cancer. Why isn't he free to not chew it? Like all food-bodies, why doesn't he answer the natural urge to be healthy? Why isn't he free to find the world beautiful instead of being some fraud? It seems he has receded into a mental world where he has every reason not to live or participate other than perhaps to answer the door for those who want to ask him questions about how they can be more like him. He seems like the ultimate Eeyore who, although right about most things, somehow has no joy.
It's a great book, and one can learn a lot from it, but I would recommend care when reading someone who proclaims to know the truth about reality yet cannot admit to its beauty.
Another little thing that seemed a bit odd was his opinion about saints and sages, other jnanis and the founders of religions. He said they were simply motivated around some concept which they were enamored by. Is love merely a concept? If it were, it would not have lasted.
Also, he sometimes flippantly equates dreams with the waking world. This is not meaningful within the extremes that he takes it. Almost every night is a different and isolated dream world. However, we all wake to the same communal world. It makes sense to compare them to illustate a point, but to reduce the value of the wonder-filled universe to a dream is to miss a lot, and to reduce dreams to nothing is also kinda lame. Sure, I get his point. I really do. This is why I say what I am saying. In the begining, middle and end it is all the Eternal Witness which observes simply a play of consciousness. Whatever we see, think, feel, know, etc. is not the real us. Consciousness watching consciousness until there is simply nothing left to watch. This seems like a great starting point for living life more fully, not receding. We shouldn't dismiss the show just because we know the credits are going to roll in a couple hours.
The last thing I can remember which kinda bugged me was his discussion of friendship. He says a friend is a friend because they benefit you, and when they cease to benefit you then you no longer remain friends, which is why he has no friends. This, however, sounds more like the definition of an employee than a friend. Friends don't always fit into this nice static concept of "to benefit" or "not benenfit". Love and life, friends and lovers, don't always "benefit" us in any overt way. Friends are friends because they are our friends, and we don't send them away because they aren't "benefitting" us right now. It seems stange that this man's opinion is such.
If it's all consciousness, why is maya so side-stepped as meaningless? It is an ascetic's bias to say so. Maya is great, it's a part of our life, and just because we skin our knee, or lose a friend to suicide, or whatever suffering naturally arises and passes, doesn't mean we need to explain it away and make ourselves "safe" from suffering.
He has many great things to say, but still, they are his opinion, and about some things he is just wrong, like everyone else. Overall, I thought it was good, still, I had to express some of the negative side.

A very exact and daily account of the EIGHT years of our war for independence. I have seen Morristown and Jockey Hollow and bought this book there and so can place myself into the actual scene of some of this story.
A great book that answers the question of why people fight for freedom in spite of opposition and nay sayers. Perhaps the military understand best what is at stake because it is so clear and simple when you are doing the fighting and encountering the foe and friend alike, the hunger and fatigue. It is a wonder we won the war but thankfully there were a lot of private Yankee Doodles out there who knew the score.
I am glad they did not change the language and left it as it was written with minimal footnotes. Much more enriching that way. Buy it and you'll love it.
M Smith

Written a lifetime later by a man who had spent his teenage years fighting the British from New England to Virginia, this is the most fascinating and well-written account of the Revolution I've read. Mr. Martin's narrative voice is so matter-of-fact and wryly humorous that it's hard to believe it's coming to you from the distant past.

There is as much social history as military here, as Mr. Martin describes his inoculation with smallpox, his shock at being introduced to a white Connecticut farmwoman's black husband, and the ubiquity of alcohol.

One is struck, in Mr. Martin's account, by how seldom the British /Hessians and American/French ever bothered to shoot each other. There seems to have been a consciousness of the enemy as a human being which made shooting him difficult. This could be hindsight on Mr. Martin's part, but it does jibe with the fact that the total combat death toll for the war (excluding disease and starvation) was around 5,000 on both sides.

Mr. Martin himself seems to have spent much of the war starving. He was only paid twice-- once when he signed up in 1776, and once in 1781 by French officers who dipped into their own pockets to give him a month's salary. Nor was he ever paid anything after the war by a grateful nation. Then again, given that American troops were fed by commandeering groceries, liquor and livestock from local farms, much of the nation may not have been that grateful.

You might be, though, after reading this book. I was. And it's good to remember that fighting for our nation's freedom, once upon a time, meant fighting on our own land instead of other people's.

A fascinating low-level perspective from the eyes of a soldier. Mr. Martin has a terrific sense of humor and shows how much in common modern day people have with our Revolutionary ancestors. The Editor George Scheer provides a high level view of the same events through footnotes. The dialog can take a little getting use to but the reader will find themselves comfortable with it in short order.

I was looking for a soldier's account of the Revolutionary War and came across this rare memoir in the Jamestown, Virgina Nationa Park Service bookstore. I sure was glad I did.
I have read many soldier's memiors from from all periods of time but never during the Revolutionary War. We have heard about the sufferings of our country's first soldiers but Martin tells us like it was as he lived it. There is not a lot of battle descriptions but he is a master story teller who will take you back in time to the days of the colonies and George Washington's army during America's struggle for independence.
If you love good personal history narratives and want to learn about the Revolutionary War then get this book. This would be an excellent book for classroom study or home school.

Private Yankee Doodle, the diary of Joseph Plumb Martin, is an excellent account of the Revolutionary War told from the soldier's view.

Martin campaigned almost continuously from the beginning of the War through Yorktown (with the exception of the first winter after his initial three month service). He lived much of what have become the hallowed tales of our epic struggle for nationhood. He was at the Battles of Brooklyn, Harlem Heights and White Plains, endured Valley Forge (though for most of that winter stationed away from the camp as a forager), Monmouth, the other terrible winter encampments and Yorktown to name a few. Through it all, Martin marched, froze, starved and suffered for his service. It is remarkable that he kept at it for most of the war. (One reads of the constant lack of food (often for two or days) and is amazed that more soldiers didn't simply just quit.) It is more remarkable that he kept at it in fairly good humor - though he did parade with the Connecticut troops who conducted a minor mutiny over the lack of provisions. (An incident that Washington reported to Congress as more worrisome to the cause than the British force occupying New York.)

Martin is a good storyteller and raconteur. The reader will not find detailed accounts of battle here. In fact, battle is mentioned rather matter-of-factly. What is delightful to find is an account of the day in and day out hardships of life in Washington's army. Stories abound of camp life, foraging, marching, guard duty, scrapes with Torries, the hunt for clothing and the other ever-present challenges that soldiers had to endure and perform to simply survive between battles.

This is a wonderful book that I highly recommend.

This is the BEST holocost book I have ever read. I could not put it down! Everyone should read this book to help realize just how fortunate we all are.

The fact that Mr. Garwolinski survived the horrors he did is nothing less than a miracle. And even though what he went through was ghastly; he survived. The will of the human spirit is incredible; which in turn is encouraging. I highly recommend this book!

Silent Screams of a Survivor is a moving biography of a child's survival during the holocaust. It begins by describing the fairly ordinary boyhood of Mitch Garwolinski in Eastern Europe. Quickly, we learn how easy it is for a family, struggling to get enough to eat, forget the larger world and the implications of the larger war being waged around them. The author bleakly but truthfully conveys the concept of just how easy it is for the extraordinary to become ordinary. In their daily struggle to survive, actions that once would have been thought unthinkable become the norm. Indeed, horrors that would send any sane person to the loony bin become just another tale to relate, while on some level the horridness of the event is recognized as such and noted, perhaps to be dealt with at another time. For instance, after Mitch's father is beaten and taken away from his family to a work camp, Mitch himself is forced to begin to perform grueling manual labor. His new job begins the very day after his father is taken away. Thus, Mitch has no time to appreciate just how serious and more perilous is his own and his family's plight. Events overtake the family hardly allowing them any time to do anything but cope with each new deprivation and degradation as it occurs.

In the end, the fact that Mitch not only survives, but thrives after the war is a testament to the indomitable spirit of all human kind and stands as a stark contrast to the villains of his childhood. This book is poignantly relevant today as we all struggle to get through just the day and its immediate needs, ignoring the weeks, months and years to come. I highly recommend this book.

A very well written book. I couldn't put it down. Left a profound impact.

What an amazing accounting of a small boys life in Poland during World War II. A perfect book to gain an understanding of the Holocaust first hand from a survivor. Rather than read about the Holocaust in a textbook, high school and middle school students should read this. This book gives a new meaning to life and the word courage and is more than an unforgettable book-- it is truly remarkable. As an avid reader, I would say this is certainly one of the best books I have ever read!

If this book were a question from Jeopardy, the answer would be "numerous." The question would be, "How many times did Mitch Garwolinski escape death from the Nazi war machine during World War II?" Silent Screams of a Survivor, A Polish Boy's Holocaust, tells this gripping story of a boy (age seven in 1939) who was separated from his family, beaten, molested, and imprisoned in various labor and experimental camps, including Treblinka. The fact that he was still living at war's end is a testament to his will to live under horrible conditions. Sadly, it also portrays how evil men will commit unthinkable acts to accomplish their purposes.

This story is different from most Holocaust stories in that Mitch is a non-Jew, a Catholic, and a child. His family hid Jewish refugees on their farm and Mitch befriended many Jews in the camps. I have read many books about the Holocaust and this may be the best.

One year ago in Plover, Wisconsin, Maddie Christopher had been attacked by a serial killer known as the "Sweet Dreams Killer". People believed his name to be Natas Sivel. He killed mainly women. His victims' bodies were crushed, the heart drained of blood, and not a single outside wound. He almost had Maddie. But her father, Cassidy, saved her in time. While Natas was too weak from the battle, the police imprisoned him...away from the other prisoners. Now, one year later, the killer escaped!

Natas Sivel was really a demon. He was kept buried, asleep, under an oak tree called The Protector, in a music box. But someone hated Cassidy Christopher enough to dig it up and release the demon held within. The demon's sole purpose was to destroy Cassidy, the property owner, by destroying the women he loved.

Maddie and Cassidy had a psychic connection. Cassidy's friend, Officer Kevin Sheridan (who had been first on the scene with Maddie a year ago) called it "hocus pocus stuff". The only other person with a connection to the Christophers was Maddie's best friend, Robyn Warren. When the demon went after Maddie again, she called Robyn. Robyn got Cassidy to go to his daughter while she jumped on a plane and flew toward them.

The demon saw the attraction between Robyn and Cassidy. He saw them fall in love. So the demon wanted Robyn, as well as, Maddie. Only their love could save them and put the demon back inside the music box, to sleep.

**** WOW! Here is a dark romance book. If not for the romance, I'd label it Horror! It sent chills up my spine the entire time! Fantastic reading! ****

"SWEET DREAMS is a tale brimming with thrills, chills, suspense and love. Cass is a man who cares deeply about those around him and will do anything to keep them safe. Robyn is loyal and wants nothing more than to help her friend and her true love. The two work well together against the forces of evil threatening their existence. SWEET DREAMS is extremely well written. The characters are likeable right from the start and come across as very real. The plot was new and refreshing to me and the demon very believable. "SWEET DREAMS is an exciting thrill ride that will keep you up to the wee hours. I highly recommend SWEET DREAMS for everyone who loves non-stop action!" -Carol Durfee for Romance Reviews Today http://www.romrevtoday.com

"Superb! Karen Wiesner's SWEET DREAMS is a roller coaster ride of breath-catching romance and plunging terror. The book kept me up until dawn and not just because it was an excellent read, but because I was too frightened to close my eyes! This paranormal is both haunting and memorable. Definitely a must read!" -Angelica Hart author of THE GATHERING

"The evil presence in Sweet Dreams is tangible from page one. The main characters are instantly sympathetic, and we don't need to get inside the head of the bad guy to "get" his motivation. Shades of The Witching Hour--seduction and terror--kept me up for hours so I could get to the end. Karen Wiesner structures an intricately woven tale that leaves one panting for more." -author Natalie Damschroder

"What a wonderfully ironic title for a wonderfully put together book. The characters won me over right away. Their pain and their longing is so real, their bravery is almost heartbreaking. I appreciated the way [they were layered]with so many levels of devotion and fear to make them intensely human. The plot is compelling as well. As the demon circles in on Cass and Robyn, the suspense builds until it's nearly unbearable, then explodes into a climax that had me gripping the edge of the laptop and hitting the 'next' key so fast I nearly broke it. I just couldn't wait an extra second to find out how it would work out. And I wasn't disappointed. The ending is entirely satisfying." -Karen McCullough, author of PRISM and Rising Star Award-Winning Fantasy, The Rainbow Bridge,

Jean Klein has the ability to create the stillness necessary to see the silent knowingness which Advaita Vedanta or other non-duality traditions point to.

Jean invites us to watch the mind, notice that we desire and fear, witness the arising of jealousy and greed. And in this simple looking without the desire for an outcome, we may find ourselves resting in being - the natural state.

Jean shows us that when we simply notice what's happening in the mind, a space is created, we are immediately outside the suffering - watching as an observer. And in this - we may see that it's all happening in our consciousness/awareness.

This book isn't the easiest to read - it's not a new-age spirituality book, filled with feel-good methods and processes which are intended to make the "person" better. If this, or anything else written by Jean Klein, is read with no attachment to attaining something or getting somewhere, this simple silent presence of being may be noticed as your natural and already-present state.

This book teaches simple effective ways to view life from the heart, instead of just the head. All there is, is Consciousness.
Duality appears in non-duality. Silence is our Real nature.
We are not the body. We are not the mind. The body and mind appear and disappear in our awareness. When we awaken in the morning, it is our body that awakens for Consciousness, what we
really are, never sleeps. We can learn to live from the heart.
Being aware of what I see, what I smell, what I taste, what I
hear, what I am touching, what I am thinking, takes me to a place of Silent Observation. This is what Jean Klein and other Self Realized Masters teach. We are the Self that shines on the world. I am not in the world, the world is in me.

Don't just read this book, digest it.

Namaste,

Michael

The really wonderful thing about this book is that it is seemingly "new" each time you pick it up. A line or paragraph that touched you in one manner at one time will inspire a completely new experience on a second or third read at a later date. Jump in anywhere and you haven't missed anything; it's non-sequential, just like the present moment. Every sentence carries the charge of the entire teaching. Highly recommended.

"There's no person to answer personal questions. I listen to your question and I listen to the answer. The answer comes out of silence."

The essence of non-duality is Jean Klein. The same Absolute that speaks through Nisargadatta and Ramana speaks beautifully through Jean Klein. His writings are perhaps more suited for the Western tuned mind. His words cut sharply and deeply and actually push one toward the non-dual. Others can talk the talk but there is no mistaking the words of a truly realized master.
This is one of four JK books I've read to date and while they are all different they are all basically about the same thing. I noticed with some authors that the later in life they wrote the book the more enlightened it seemed to me. I felt his book "I Am" more deeply than the other three so far.
It's a shame that he, like the fabulous Paul Brunton, is not more widely known.

I suppose I have to admit to a certain amount of bias for the Advaita teachings, but this bias has come at the expence of much effort to translate what many teachers have to to say given their cultural background. This book presents Advaita in wonderfully warm and simple language. Jean Klein provides one of the most aticulate presentations of these teachings available and yet almost completely free from the use of Hindu and Sanskrit terms or popular "insider" language. My feeling is that this reflects his own realization.

REVIEW BY ROCHELLE MOORE - AUTHOR
This book is a wonderful tribute to all the writers who gave up their time and great talent to produce such wonderful work. It was a pleasure to read and I am delighted that these authors are donating funds from the book towards cancer. For any author to take time out from their own work and produce such an excellent book in aid of charity, is really wonderful. These authors are wonderful people with excellent talent and their book is a fantastic read.

The Acorn Gathering; Writers Uniting Against Cancer
Duane Simolke
Review by Len
A true "Story Cycle", this anthology comes together in a unique and most interesting manner. The cohesive nature of "The Acorn Gathering" is amazing considering the different authors and that they had not necessarily read "The Acorn Stories" first. Editor and co-author Duane Simolke is justifiable pleased with the diverse yet universal feel and messages shared throughout the book.

Although all proceeds do benefit cancer research, the book itself is not limited in subject. Stories of conflict, life, bravery, and community awareness all come together in an every day manner. You feel as though you now these characters. That you have been to places like these and the stories and tales are familiar, haunting and sometimes even painful. Do not mistake this as a piece about brave cancer patients and their experiences.

Although a worthy subject, the authors have offered a more common tapestry. One of experiences with which most will strongly associate and or identify. Messages about things we meet in every day life. And as well the people, some good some not so good.

The writing styles are complimentary to each other and as well the work overall. There is flow and continuity as well as strong growing interest. The themes and sometimes even characters relate and overlap. The tales and landscapes are believable and moving. An easy read, which draws its conclusion all too quickly, "The Acorn Gathering" has strong effect and bright colorful style. A unique piece of art, dedicated to a great cause, and brought together by pure talent.

I'd be out beating the drum for everyone to buy this slim anthology even if every story in it were as boring as watching paint dry, as amateurish as finger-paintings by kindergartners, and/or as lacking in literary merit as a porno flick. Because, all author and editor royalties from THE ACORN GATHERING go to the American Cancer Society, and there are few of us whose lives haven't in someway been negatively touched by cancer, whether as regards ourselves, our family members, our friends, and/or our acquaintances.

That said, I'm exceedingly happy that the six contributors provide "anything but" boring, amateurish, and/or lacking in literary merit. Not all of the stories, by the way, have cancer as a thematic. If Duane Simolke's short story, "Finding Acorns In Winter" does tell the poignant tale of a woman surviving breast cancer, juxtaposed against an earlier American Indian woman facing death by starvation, the same author's hilarious "Fat Diary" is about a "big-boned" woman trying to find love and lose weight. Bill Wetzel's wonderful "Nachos Are Green And Ducks Appear To Be Blue At Town Pump In Cut Back, Montana" is about just that. Jan Chandler's "The Gun" drips irony as a tale examining the pros and cons of gun control.

Back to Simolke -- his "The Last Few And The First Few" poignantly post-9/11, via one man's personal reflections on his past -- no potential reader should pay too much attention to this book being promoted as the "sequel" to that author's short-story collection, THE ACORN STORIES, published in 1998. At least as far as assuming anyone need have read the former to enjoy the latter. No need to fear getting lost in this book's story lines, not privy to essential background, because each short story stands entirely on its own.

Which isn't to say you should pass up any opportunity to read Simolke's THE ACORN STORIES. (The "Acorn" of both books, by the way, referring to the same small town of Acorn, west Texas). Simolke's right-on descriptions of life in rural America, no matter where you're lucky enough to find them, will have you never driving through any bit of U.S. countryside ever again without looking at it as far less idyllically bucolic than you might once have imagined.

A vision Duane Simolke had for this book was that writers would contribute stories freely and that all proceeds from the sale would go to the American Cancer Society. Perhaps what he did not count on is that this "gathering" of writers has also produced an artistic realization rarely witnessed in anthologies. The various and individual voices of each story teller in this collection lends cadence and lyrics like an orchestra to a whole larger than the sum of its parts, from Simolke's humorous and "biting" "Fat Diary" to Shawna Chandler's haunting and beautiful "Flamenco Painter." Native Americans, Hispanics, African Americans, and even gay people delightfully form a cohesive voice in the fight against cancer and prejudice and hate. Also given voice, here, is how the destructive cancer of hate can ruin lives, and this message adds urgent notes in the orchestration of the whole. Read Bill Wetzel's two stories and you'll see how two disparate themes are unified by this collection; or read Huda Orfali's work and see how a continuing sub-theme is woven into this smart collection. In all, each story is a note or theme in a surprising whole. --Ronald L. Donaghe author of My Year of Living Heterosexually and Other Adventures in Hell.

It was an extreme pleasure reading The Acorn Gathering. This talented group of writers have put together a wonderful collaboration of short stories. What makes this an outstanding buy is that all the royalties go to the American Cancer Society for cancer research. I highly recommend you going out, buying copies for yourself and your loved ones, and enjoy reading this book.

Each story in The Acorn Gathering deals with situations in life that most of us can easily relate to and have experienced. They deal with breast cancer, life on an Indian reservation, struggles of gay life in a small town, losing weight, divorce, coming to terms with feelings of an abandonment, and wonderful story about a hero who goes to New York City to help after the September 11 Terrorist Attacks, just to name a few. If you think none of those stories sound like you, wait until you read them and experience the way each writer brought those issues into a world we all understand. I found myself caught up in several of the stories, feeling at times, that they were about my own life. This collaborative work, even though it is made up of different short stories, has a common thread that runs throughout the book that gives it an unbroken flow. One story seems to lead right into the next even when they are dealing with new people and new topics. Duane Simolke had put this book in perfect reading order.

The Acorn Gathering has something for everyone. The stories will provoke happiness, laughter, sadness and sometimes anger. Each is an extremely poignant view into the life of people that are all around us. The subject matter is extremely diversified that not only will you enjoy this book but it will open your eyes to the broader picture of how life exists for others around you.

As a person who's life has been greatly impacted by cancer, I applaud the writers of The Acorn Gathering for sharing their talents with us through these stories and the proceeds to help find a cure for those with cancer. The American Cancer Society is a responsible choice to receive these funds. Your contribution by purchasing this book will be well spent. No better gift can be given to someone who is suffering from cancer, than hope. You support of this book will do just that.

I taught first grade for four years and second grade for one year, and I was always searching for good materials to help teach reading with phonics. Unfortunately, I did not know about this book until I began to prepare to home-school my children. This is a wonderful resource that will help anyone learn to teach phonics correctly.

Used this book, not only to teach my own 2 children how to read and write, but taught myself a lot of phonics that I apply myself. It's hard to believe she can teach so much to first graders, but it's true. Not only is there a lot of content, but she presents it so logically, my children would "see" it right away. When children can read well at an early age, nothing can stop them. They teach themselves by being able to read what they are truly interested in. My son was reading high school science in 2nd-3rd grade. My daughter had her bachelor's degree at age 18. This is a "must have" book for the homeschooler (or any student) of just about any age.

The author of this book taught at St. Thomas Episcopal in Houston, Texas where I was educated. Her curriculum was so effective that I consistently scored in the 99th percentile for reading comprehension on all standardized tests, including the SAT and the GRE. I sent my daughter to the same school, with the same good results. They are still using Mrs. Bouldin's technique's.

Taught my 2 homeschooled children how to read with this book and learned a lot for myself in the meantime. Short, and to-the-point. Most highly recommended!

A strong phonetic approach to teaching children reading and spelling. All children taught this way are sucessful!! Even right-brained children benefit from a logical step-by-step approach to phonics and the repetition constantly reinforces and encourages. Positive and thorough, the author is truly a remarkable example for all first grade teachers. Should be a prerequisite to teaching elementary age children. A classic.