Category: Non Fiction
The Minds of Billy Milligan — Daniel Keyes
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching — Ursula K. Le Guin
First Spritz is Free — Kathleen Ann Gonzalez
Musashi — Eiji Yoshikawa
Words Are My Matter — Ursula K. Le Guin
Zen: Beginner’s Guide — Ian Tuhovsky
I do like books about Zen and i’ve read a great many throughout my life: so where does this one stack up?
I really enjoyed it. Ian has a very approachable style of writing and digs into all aspects of Zen, mostly for the beginning practitioner; but i would also suggest that this is a great book for the Zen curious who have no interest, whatsoever, in pursuing a practice; or for those who maybe just want to dabble a little and see if it’s for them. And it’s also a good book for those of us who practice alone, either due to where we live or other circumstances, but need a little support and/or guidance occasionally.
It’s verily worth the 99p i paid in a Kindle sale.
My only criticism is that there’s a fair few typos that a bit of mindfulness in the proof reading would have prevented which, to be honest, i found rather amusing considering the topic of this book.
Ian’s Page
#zen #iantuhovsky
Wabi Sabi — Beth Kempton
I really enjoyed Andrew Juniper’s book, Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence so i thought i’d may as well give Beth’s book a read as well.
However, unlike Andrew’s book, which i seemed to remember focussed more on the actual aesthetics and the Zen side of Wabi Sabi, with Beth’s book we look deeper into the lifestyle and world view of this wonderful concept.
In reading this book you soon become aware that Beth really has done a lot of homework, lifework, career work and academic work on Japan, and she does a wonderful job of bringing another take on the concept of Wabi Sabi to us non-Japanese readers who are always eager to learn more.
When it all boils down to it, it’s essentially a self help book coming from a really interesting angle. There’s plenty of food for thought in here for anyone looking to make their life even a little bit better tomorrow than it was yesterday. I’m fairly certain that everyone could find at least one thing in here to help improve their own lives in a really good way.
Beth’s Page
#japan #wabisabi #bethkempton
Wake Up — Bonnie Myotai Treace
Having recently restarted my meditation practice, which is going really well, i thought it about time to give this a read.
I would firmly put this book on the shelf for anyone interested in Zen and deepening their practice: lots of little nuggets of info in here, well presented and easily read.
Also contains a good list of further resources at the back of the book.
Bonnie’s Page
#zen #bonniemyotaitreace
Atomic Habits — James Clear
This book is a must for everyone who wants to improve their lives in any way at all.
James dives deep into how our human brains work and how we’re hardwired, and gives great, sound advice as to how to use this hardwiring to our advantage instead of being mindless slaves to it. I just wish i’d read this 40 years ago, but, it’s never to late to change and i look forward to the benefits that this information can bring to my life moving forward. I would even go so far to say that his book should be essential reading at all schools: the sooner people can get this stuff into their heads the better their lives and their futures would be.
It’s definitely a keeper and a book that i know i’ll be re-reading some time in the future once i’ve done some work on it all. In the meanwhile i just have to get on with the process as i’ve got some annoying habits to be rid of and good habits to build.
I repeat, once again, this book is a must.