Personal Pages Books

As a spiritually minded person, I believe in books finding you when you need to read them. This is how Dr. Lauren's book found me. With quite a heavy "relationship baggage" to carry, I have had my share of joy and pain of relationships, recently more of the latter one. This book, however, gave me renewed enthusiasm and lots of practical advice on how to attract harmonious and happy relationships whether romance, friends or acquaintances.

Dr. Lauren is great in structuring her concepts about the types of soulmate relationships, blocks that can hold us back and lessons we need to learn. The ideas of following our Inner Wisdom, living in the present moment Now and being aware of our Personal Resonance (we are and get what we broadcast) are not new to me, but Dr. Lauren is able to put them into context and explain how we can use them to enhance our relationships and spiritual development. As a psychic medium, she writes authentically about what she calls "spiritual efficiency" (having a clear intention about what we want to attract) and asking for "unmistakable signs" for guidance.

I am fortunate to have received a personal reading from Dr. Lauren a few years ago and I can say that her book is a good reflection of her personality - insightful, practical, kind and entertaining.

I assigned this book for my business telecommunications class, in addition to the usual dry, factual, outdated text. It was a GREAT resource! Very smooth reading. Fascinating because it addresses the strategic implications, as well as technical issues. I think it's important for students to not just memorize facts but to also anticipate technologies' business and social implications.

I highly recommend this book!!!

Mark Twain wasn't the only pseudonym used my Samuel Clemens. When this book was first serialized in Harper's Magazine in 1895, it was presented as "Freely Translated out of the Ancient French into Modern English from the Original Unpublished Manuscript in the National Archives of France" - a found manuscript with no connection to the famous author. The book presents itself as a memoir by a fictional companion of Joan's written for his family in the final years of life. The narrator claims to be a childhood friend of hers who, being one of the few people of her village that can write, accompanies her and becomes her secretary during her military career. After her capture and imprisonment, he sneaks into Rouen, where she is to be tried, and becomes an assistant to the official recorder of the the events. Thus, the author has established a single voice that can tell the complete history of the brief, miraculous life of the Maid of Orleans.

The events of the book have been simply summed up in a paragraph in WIKIPEDIA's entry on the Hundred Years War as follows:

By 1428, the English were ready to pursue the war again, laying siege to OrleansTheir
force was insufficient to fully invest the city, but larger French forces remained passive.
In 1429, Joan of Arc convinced the Dauphin to send her to the siege, saying she had received
visions from God telling her to drive out the English. She raised the morale of the local
troops and they attacked the English redoubts, forcing the English to lift the siege.
Inspired by Joan the French took several English strongpoints on the Loire. Shortly
afterwards a French army some 8000 strong broke through English archers at Patay with heavy
cavalry, defeating a 3000 strong army commanded by Falstaff and John Talbot, 1st Earl of
Shrewsbury. The first major French land victory of the wars, this opened the way for the
Dauphin to march to Reims for his coronation as Charles VII. After Joan was captured by the
Burgundians in 1430 and later sold to the English and executed, the French advance stalled
in negotiations.

Clemens presents, through this memoir form, a story of a small group of Joan's friends from her village of Domremy who are caught up in her vision and quest and follow her into battle. They see how this poor, unschooled girl has the wisdom to convince the learned men of the Catholic Church and the French government of her mission, how she was able to raise an army and bring it success in battle despite the reservations of her generals, and how she was able to inspire the people of France to believe in their collective selves, the country of France, in spite of their foreign occupation and poor leadership. Through this approach, we the readers get a wonderful insight into the miraculous influence that Joan had on France at the time.

One might expect the irreverent Mark Twain, who wrote many scandalous pieces to be somewhat satirical in presenting this biography, but that is not the case. While his writing in this book is critical of church and state, his approach to the personal character of Joan puts her above reproach. He could find nothing in her life that was suspect, and he studied the records for 12 years. While he seems unsure about the nature of her voices, he shows Joan as firmly believing that they were real and of divine origin.

This is a mature Clemens who is married with a daughter Joan's age, and he seems happy to have found a human hero who didn't have ulterior motives when closely examined. He liked this best of all his work, yet the critics didn't share his feelings. The original Harper edition ran to almost 600 pages and was issued in two volumes. The story moves slowly with lots of asides about the infighting and rivalries of those around Joan. This may bother some readers since these are obviously fictional characters and not part of the historic record. Also, Clemens was not a scholar of the 15th century and his characters sometimes act more like 19th century Americans than French peasants. Yet these are minor flaws in a story that is an incredible introduction to the life and accomplishments of a truly remarkable person. I, personally, was disappointed that he didn't get closer to his subject Joan of Arc. He gives us the viewpoint of someone who was there and saw everything, but he never gets you inside the mind of Joan. Maybe that is the best we can hope for when reading about such an extraordinary person.

This is a very excellent book. Buy it. Why? It will help you to impact people. It contains Hundreds of thought prevoking "Thoughts".

From what I can understand right now, Leaders seem to have this unique way of allowing there followers to understand and take to heart wisdom that is passed their way. How?

Have you ever noticed that Leaders impact always, always seems to come from a sentence or two? Even though, thoughts seem to just flow from them like rain from a cloud.

This book is full of those impacting Thoughts that not only you can read, but you can use to impact others.

Positive Thoughts from Martin Luther King to Hellen Keller.
Great sayings from Chinese Proverbs to "Advice given to cancer patient James Brown by another Cancer Patient"

"You're Gonna have your ups and downs and your moments when you call it quits. You gotta stick it out, because there's only one ballgame here, and it's your own life. You got no choice. You got to play to win if you want to stay on this earth."

That's one of my favorites. "Advice given to cancer patient James Brown by another Cancer Patient"

Christoper Ducharme
IBO - www.Quixtar.com

I wish everyone had a copy of this book. It's witty, insightful, and uplifting. It has quotes from Virgil to a Navajo song. Many quotes from woen are there, which I also enjoyed. There are many great words of hope and inspiration, in an easily readable form (one quote, per page).

Written by Professor in Gifted Curriculum and Instruction (University of Toledo, Ohio) Robert A. Schultz and award-winning educator and author James R. Delisle, Smart Talk: What Kids Say About Growing Up Gifted is a straightforward "tell it like it is" book gathering testimony from gifted children ages 4 to 12, in their own words, especially for other gifted children to read. Smart Talk gives the straight word on the ups and downs of being gifted, and solid advice on how to deal with expectations, cope with boredom, find personal passions, and look ahead to the future. For example, one boy's honest answer to "What is it like when you feel smarter than some of your friends?" is "You get used to it. But I hate the fact that you can't confide in them about some of your problems or tell them what you REALLY like to do in your spare time." Above all, Smart Talk reaches out to young readers with the reassurance that being gifted may make a person feel different from others of the same age, that doesn't mean he or she is all alone. Enthusiastically recommended for gifted children and their families.

This book really help me to know about myself better than ever before

From getting organized and learning how to prioritize to categorizing time categories and learning how to handle and allot both idle and busy times, SUCCESSFUL TIME MANAGEMENT comes from The Sunday Times' Creating Success' series and packs in solid specifics on the entire process. While SUCCESSFUL TIME MANAGEMENT is a top pick for business libraries at all levels, it also crosses well into the general-interest public lending library, where it will attract any who would learn better time management skills.

This book is great it teaches you all kinds of easy tricks that actually work! Like Nose Breaking!

This book provides a wonderful range of inspirational stories from amazing people who have incorporated balance, mindfulness, living in the present and exercise into their life. The author brings many insights designed to help people work on the emotional and spiritual side of their lives. He discusses meditation, purpose in your life, listening to the heart as well as concepts of manifesting what we want in life.

This is a perfect bed time reading for those times when we need to nurture the soul. There are practical ideas, funny stories, passionate tales from some of the most fascinating people. Please consider giving this gem of a book to your friends, your boss or employees who you care about "having the best in their life."