The Non-Fiction / Philosophy Section

This is a self help book describing things that you can do to increase your happiness and or contentment with life. The book is only a scant 248 pages, but contains a whopping 100 chapters. The chapters are basically one page each. Each chapter suggests an exercise to improve the way that we face life.

I found that many of the chapters were well thought out and that many of the exercises should prove to be useful for the person that chooses to practice them. I will not say that I found all of the chapters to be insightful. Most were well thought out and should work well. I am trying to utilize many of those exercises.

There are some of the chapters that I disagree with. I think that some of the problems and exercises that are proposed by Dr. Carlson are not very creative. The majority of the book seems to be sound and while the writing is choppy with the short chapters, most readers will find the book to be sound and while not a masterpiece of writing, a worthwhile read.

Dr. Carlson has w web site that will tell you about him and his newer works. You can visit it at www.dontsweat.com for more information on Dr. Carlson and his new book.

This would be the first Richard Bach book that I ever read. It is also one of the few books that I have read more than once. I could not tell you how many times that I have read this book. This book is about Richard's days as a barnstormer. During this time, Richard happens to meet Donald Shimoda, who is the next messiah. This story happens shortly after Donald quits the job as messiah. Donald and Richard travel around selling biplane rides. Donald teaches Richard how to become an enlightened soul.

Richard learns, sometimes reluctantly, to improve himself as he learns about the illusions of reality. The book has another book inside it called the Messiah's Handbook and this handbook has some powerful philosophical quotes.

Just like most other Bach books, Illusions is written on two levels. If you read the story as just a story, it reads almost like a children's tale. If you open your mind to a higher level, you will find some enlightening statements and when I read it, I come away feeling more at peace with myself and others around me.

I have recommended this book to numerous people. Many love it as much as I, but others who take the story too seriously, do not like it. I would not recommend this book to people that are easily offended by religious differences. Since Donald quit the job as messiah they can be offended.

This is a book loaned to me by my brother John. This book asks the question, what if humanity has not finished evolving? This book is a story of Mr. Redfield's trip to find the Celestine prophecies. These are revelations discovered by the celestine monks hundreds of years ago. By following the lessons of the prophecies, one can attain a higher spiritual plane. Even though this work is listed as fiction, it poses some interesting questions.

If you enjoy books that pose the question of where we are going, and what our place in the universe is, then you should read the entire Celestine series. The book is very well written, and the questions posed by it will make you think.

This book is billed as the greatest psychological breakthrough in humanities history. Speaking as a former psychology major, I will not say that it is not possible. The theory is possible given what little we know of the working of the human brain. I read the theory posed by Mr. Hubbard, and while I would be willing to give it a try based upon what is written in the original text, I have some serious doubts. The first is that the study and practice of Dianetics is now controlled by the Church of Scientology. If this is a legitimate scientific endeavor, then why hide behind a religious organization.

Given all of the bad press that the church has gotten over the last few years, I will not try any of the practices described in this book. I will not submit to any processes carried out by a cult. There is too much opportunity to twist this auditing process into brainwashing. I would recommend against anything put forth in this book except as an interesting psychological study. If this theory is proved to be accurate in the future, great, but I would be wary.

This completes my listing of Non-Fiction and Philosophy books. I know that the list is not all that long, but in this field I am rather particular. There are a thousand idiots writing Self-help and Philosophy books. Most are junk. For all of the good things that I had heard about Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance I was very disappointed. If you have read some of these books, and wish to recommend other authors or books to me, mail me at rags@sssnet.com . I would be interested in hearing from you as I am always looking for new things to read.