Best Buddhism
This #1 New York Times best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing. #1 New York Times Best SellerAmazon's Best Book of 2014 in Crafts, Home & Garden. "Ms. Kondo delivers her tidy manifesto like a kind of Zen nanny, both hortatory and animistic." a literal how-to-heave-ho, and I recommend it for anyone who struggles with the material excess of living in a privileged society. A totally reasonable, scary cult that works, doesn’t kill people (a bonus), but does drastically change your life. the Japanese expert’s ode to decluttering is simple and easy to follow." "Reading it, you glimpse a glittering mental freedom from the unread/uncrafted/unworn, buyer’s remorse, the nervous eyeing of real estate listings. "All hail the new decluttering queen Marie Kondo, whose mess-busting bestseller has prompted a craze for tidying in homes across the world . "How could this pocket-sized book, which has already sold over 2 million copies and sits firmly atop the New York Times Best Seller list, make such a big promise? Marie “KonMari” Kondo runs an acclaimed consulting business in Tokyo helping clients transform their cluttered homes into spaces of serenity and inspiration. With a three-month waiting list, her KonMari Method of decluttering and organizing has become an international phenomenon. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is a best seller in Japan, Germany, and the UK, with more than two million copies sold worldwide, and has been turned into a television drama for Japanese TV. She has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time , featured on more than thirty major Japanese television and radio programs, and profiled in the Sunday Times , Red magazine, You magazine, the New York Times , USA Today , NPR's Here & Now , Slate , Family Circle , and the London Times, who has deemed her “Japan’s preeminent guru of tidiness, a warrior princess in the war on clutter.”.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I grew up in a cluttered house and married the King of Clutter (he's the type of person who'll open a credit card bill, pay it online, and then just leave the empty envelope, inserts, and bill itself randomly strewn on whatever surface happens to be nearby). It's a breath of fresh air and positive energy that brings real joy to the process of "tidying up." My clothes are all mine (which also means that they're in nowhere near as terrible a state as other things in my house), so going through them affects only me and involves only my own feelings. Her advice may sound silly at first, but if your belongings inspire feelings of unhappiness, guilt, etc., her anthropomorphism of them can really help you change your viewpoint in a positive direction. That is likely to carry a different level of meaning for someone in Japan than in the U.S. Other references to spiritual practice and feng-shui are not likely to resonate the same way for an American audience. There is a lot of discussion of travel toiletries, but very little about kitchen utensils, toys, or other items found most often in a family home. I'm now a week in, and 6 months seems like hardly enough time to tackle all the junk in my house, but I can fully see how this can be a life-changing process."
"I was browsing Pinterest one day and stumbled upon the "konmari method" and was intrigued, so I bought this book for kindle and read it in about an hour. I always thought I was a very organized person (because everything I owned had a designated, labelled place and my house was always super clean), but after reading this book I realized I was nothing more than a skilled hoarder. I probably discarded well over 100 bags of clutter in that 6 weeks and earned over $400 selling the big-ticket items via social media, which I used to make my house prettier."
Nobel Peace Prize Laureates His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have survived more than fifty years of exile and the soul-crushing violence of oppression. In April 2015, Archbishop Tutu traveled to the Dalai Lama's home in Dharamsala, India, to celebrate His Holiness's eightieth birthday and to create what they hoped would be a gift for others. By the end of a week filled with laughter and punctuated with tears, these two global heroes had stared into the abyss and despair of our time and revealed how to live a life brimming with joy. "[An] exquisite book...An intimate glimpse into the minds of two of the world's spiritual guides, and their foundation for an attainable and practical approach to experiencing a more enriching and sustainable life of abundant joy." "This sparkling, wise, and immediately useful gift to readers from two remarkable spiritual masters offers hope that joy is possible for everyone even in the most difficult circumstances, and describes a clear path for attaining it." And it’s a book that vividly probes the very nature of joy itself — the illusions that eclipse it, the obstacles that obscure it, the practices that cultivate it, and the pillars that sustain it." For over three decades the Dalai Lama has maintained an ongoing conversation and collaboration with scientists from a wide range of disciplines, especially through the Mind and Life Institute, an organization that he co-founded. The Dalai Lama travels extensively, promoting kindness and compassion, interfaith understanding, respect for the environment, and, above all, world peace. In 1994, Tutu was appointed chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission by Nelson Mandela, where he pioneered a new way for countries to move forward after experiencing civil conflict and oppression. He is the founder and president of Idea Architects, a creative book and media agency helping visionaries to create a wiser, healthier, and more just world.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The Book of Joy lives up to its title and goes much further."
"Both the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu have risen beyond their respective religions to reach out to all humans regardless of their location."
"The best book that I read in 2016."
"In these controversial times, how wonderful to be offered the chance to sit in on the respectful and insightful dialogue between these two spiritual leaders, who give us all hope that their messages will be spread far and wide."
"The Dalai Lama and Archbishop."
"The writing is primarily dialog and the Dalai Lama and Bishop Tutu are surprisingly informal and chummy."
"Many wonderful thoughts, gives unique perspectives , as well as reinforces many established perspectives."
"I have the audiobook that I got in Audible and I wanted to get the book so I can underline and write notes on it."
Beginning to understand how our lives have become ensnared in this trance of unworthiness is our first step toward reconnecting with who we really are and what it means to live fully. -- from Radical Acceptance Radical Acceptance. A psychotherapist and Buddhist meditation teacher in the tradition of Jack Kornfield (who contributes a foreword), first-time author Brach offers readers a rich compendium of stories and techniques designed to help people awaken from what she calls "the trance of unworthiness." Interweaving stories from her own life as a hardworking single mother with many wonderful anecdotes culled from her therapy practice and her work as a leader of meditation retreats, Brach offers myriad examples of how our pain can become a doorway to love and liberation.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Kaiser has a program called radical acceptance that I think must be coming from the brilliance in this book."
"If you are looking for a tangible blueprint on how to build a life rooted in awareness, if you are searching for a route to overcome everyday suffering, if you are struggling to find the light within, read this book."
"These tapes give true inspiration to putting the ageless wisdom of mindfulness to work in one's life."
"It certainly does a good job of teaching the reader about Buddhist psychology starting from self compassion to loving kindness to all beings."
"I liked hearing her stories and about how she got started."
"I didn't know Tara Brach before reading this book which is a wonderful book."
"2nd book is better."
"The concepts and practices transcend Buddhism so don't let that turn you off....especially can provide a great comfort if you are going through a difficult time."
Best Buddhist Rituals & Practice
In The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching , now with added material and new insights, Nhat Hanh introduces us to the core teachings of Buddhism and shows us that the Buddha’s teachings are accessible and applicable to our daily lives. For illustration, he dips into the vast stores of Buddhist literature right alongside contemporary anecdotes, pointing out subtleties that can get glossed over in other popular introductions. Nhat Hanh then proceeds through a series of laundry-list definitions of core Buddhist terminology: Four Noble Truths, The Noble Eightfold Path, The Three Dharma Seals, The Three Doors of Liberation, The Twelve Links of Causation, The Three Jewels, The Six Harmonies, The Five Powers, The Five Wonderful Precepts and The Four Immeasurable Minds.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Where most Buddhist books get lost in glowing exhausting praises of how wonderful Buddhist concepts are, while actually never getting around to explaining the concepts, this book presents a loving detailed summary of the concepts."
"I found it hard to put this book down."
"Fantastic, common sense presentation."
"Excellent book by a truly special man!"
"Excellent explication of the core teachings."
"good stuff to sit and ponder....makes so much sense."
"I am a big fan of all of his books, including this one, but I may have read too many in a row."
Best Buddhist Sacred Writings
Lao-tzu's Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, is the classic manual on the art of living, and one of the wonders of the world. --. -- The New Republic "Beautiful and accessible; the English, as 'fluid as melting ice,' is a joy to read throughout."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Get this book, make some tea, turn of the incessant rattlings in your brain and the screens in your home and relax to ancient wisdom that has influenced millions of hearts and minds for thousands of years..."
"I felt the digital version was hard to read."
"Anyone who's looked at the original Chinese characters knows that it's tough to literally translate into English - many connectives we use to make things flow are just not present in the Chinese. Where other translations can be bogged down with frilly adjectives and add-ons, this one strips itself down to the bare essentials - not only approaching the spareness of the original, but also the theme - 'ten thousand things' are 9,999 too many!"
"It's been said that this is the best translation of Lao Tzu's Tao Teh Ching, though I cannot attest to the validity of the statement I can say that of the few translations that I have read this has been the most easy to understand and the most enjoyable."
"if you want to read the original this is a fine translation."
"Read these thoughts of long ago and far away."
"Not only for how articulately they translated the passages, but also for the introduction, preface, and the per-verse commentary in the back."
"More than happy to see an edition of Tao Te Ching that was my first exposure to the material."
Best Theravada Buddhism
Author Bhante Gunaratana, a renowned meditation master, takes us step by step through the myths, realities, and. benefits of meditation and the practice of mindfulness. If you'd like to read about meditation and then go back to your regular life, don't get this book. Henepola Gunaratana, a monk from Sri Lanka and venerated teacher of Buddhism, warns us that vipassana meditation is "meant to revolutionize the whole of your life experience." His 52 years as a Buddhist monk make Mindfulness in Plain English an authority on a living tradition, and his years of teaching in America and elsewhere give it the clarity and straightforwardness that has made it so popular. (Jon Kabat-Zinn). "A classic--one of the very best English sources for authoritative explanations of mindfulness."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Very easy to read and helpful if you're starting a meditation practice."
"The author’s insight into the practice is invaluable in making this an intimate reading experience."
"This book explains the mechanics of vipassana meditation, and the reasons behind them, in simple, clear language."
"The author fully understands that the reader is a novice and he reminds us often not to worry while clearly enumerating all the pitfalls one may encounter on their journey toward mindfulness."
"It describes powerful developments in awareness that one can expect with enough cumulative hours spent in mindfulness meditation."
"Bhante writes with great clarity and simplicity, but also with the authenticity of a monk and the authority of a scholar."
"A very usable approach to developing a very worthwhile ability."
Best Tibetan Buddhism
Chödrön discusses: · Using painful emotions to cultivate wisdom, compassion, and courage. · Communicating so as to encourage others to open up rather than shut down. · Practices for reversing habitual patterns. · Methods for working with chaotic situations. · Ways for creating effective social action. Pema Chodron, a student of Chogyam Trunpa Rinpoche and Abbot of Gampo Abbey, has written the Tibetan Buddhist equivalent of Harold Kushner's famous book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Consequently, Chodron's book is filled with useful advice about how Buddhism helps readers to cope with the grim realities of modern life, including fear, despair, rage and the feeling that we are not in control of our lives.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book’s title caught my eye at a time when I felt like things were falling apart for me. I’ve long been open to the teachings of Buddhism and so I thought I might find some insight, even comfort, in Ms Chodron’s words. And so when facing one of those inevitable times when we are losing it all, we can find an understanding of what we’re feeling when Ms Chodron says: "We react against the possibility of loneliness, of death, of not having anything to hold on to. She states what her whole book is about when she says: "What we’re talking about is getting to know fear, becoming familiar with fear, looking it right in the eye—not as a way to solve problems, but as a complete undoing of old ways of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and thinking." Ms Chodron states it as: "Thinking that we can find some lasting pleasure and avoid pain is what in Buddhism is called samsara, a hopeless cycle that goes round and round endlessly and causes us to suffer greatly.""
"However, I felt like halfway through the book, Pema forgot about the topic or ran out of content and focused on meditation for the last half."
"The title of this book is so ridiculously deceptive; this is a philosophical approach to life in general, it isn't a 'how to' on how to recover from catastrophe."
"It's one that I will get a different message from each time I pick it up."
"Nevertheless, the author guides the reader with her particular compassionate style, to a new way of thinking. The author's warmth can be felt at all times, being perfectly aware of the necessary pain one must go thru to find its own nature."
"must have for those seeking solace in difficult times."
"Excellent book."
"Great advice in this book."
Best Zen Buddhism
I’ve written fourteen books, and it’s the practice here in Bones that is the foundation, sustaining and building my writing voice, that keeps me honest, teaches me how to endure the hard times and how to drop below discursive thinking, to taste the real meat of our minds and the life around us." Goldberg brings a touch of both Zen and well... *eroticism* to her writing practice, the latter in exercises and anecdotes designed to ease you into your body, your whole spirit, while you create, the former in being where you are, working with what you have, and writing from the moment. Definitely not another ``how to write better themes'' or a rehash of the writing process, Goldberg's short, quirky chapters give the finer points of how to write in a restaurant and why bother to write at all.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I think the negative reviews on here are missing the bigger picture. So what if she relates writing through the zen mind thing and speaks a lot about spirituality. Look at best selling writers like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, or even the chick that wrote 50 Shades.....did it takes some courage to write what they do? I can remember reading Stephen King's books and thinking this dude lost his mind. They had to dig deep and put down the bones regardless of what others thought."
"Rather than dry, impersonal teaching about the rudiments of writing, Natalie shares her experiences in bringing her writing alive."
"Natalie is gifted and inspiring, and articulates the struggle, joys and zen-like path to becoming the writer you are."
"I am not to much on Zen or poetry but over many years I have learned to accept what I wish, not just what is written.Of many books I have read recently I am very glad my friend advised me of this one."
"Practical and useful, yet inspiring as well!"
"I started reading Writing Down the Bones again today."
"I highly recommend this to every aspiring writer and artist, and anyone else who aspires to be creative."
"This is not only a book about writing for writers, it is a book about creative process for any artist of any kind."
Best Zen Philosophy
This #1 New York Times best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing. #1 New York Times Best SellerAmazon's Best Book of 2014 in Crafts, Home & Garden. "Ms. Kondo delivers her tidy manifesto like a kind of Zen nanny, both hortatory and animistic." a literal how-to-heave-ho, and I recommend it for anyone who struggles with the material excess of living in a privileged society. A totally reasonable, scary cult that works, doesn’t kill people (a bonus), but does drastically change your life. the Japanese expert’s ode to decluttering is simple and easy to follow." "Reading it, you glimpse a glittering mental freedom from the unread/uncrafted/unworn, buyer’s remorse, the nervous eyeing of real estate listings. "All hail the new decluttering queen Marie Kondo, whose mess-busting bestseller has prompted a craze for tidying in homes across the world . "How could this pocket-sized book, which has already sold over 2 million copies and sits firmly atop the New York Times Best Seller list, make such a big promise? Marie “KonMari” Kondo runs an acclaimed consulting business in Tokyo helping clients transform their cluttered homes into spaces of serenity and inspiration. With a three-month waiting list, her KonMari Method of decluttering and organizing has become an international phenomenon. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is a best seller in Japan, Germany, and the UK, with more than two million copies sold worldwide, and has been turned into a television drama for Japanese TV. She has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time , featured on more than thirty major Japanese television and radio programs, and profiled in the Sunday Times , Red magazine, You magazine, the New York Times , USA Today , NPR's Here & Now , Slate , Family Circle , and the London Times, who has deemed her “Japan’s preeminent guru of tidiness, a warrior princess in the war on clutter.”.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I grew up in a cluttered house and married the King of Clutter (he's the type of person who'll open a credit card bill, pay it online, and then just leave the empty envelope, inserts, and bill itself randomly strewn on whatever surface happens to be nearby). It's a breath of fresh air and positive energy that brings real joy to the process of "tidying up." My clothes are all mine (which also means that they're in nowhere near as terrible a state as other things in my house), so going through them affects only me and involves only my own feelings. Her advice may sound silly at first, but if your belongings inspire feelings of unhappiness, guilt, etc., her anthropomorphism of them can really help you change your viewpoint in a positive direction. That is likely to carry a different level of meaning for someone in Japan than in the U.S. Other references to spiritual practice and feng-shui are not likely to resonate the same way for an American audience. There is a lot of discussion of travel toiletries, but very little about kitchen utensils, toys, or other items found most often in a family home. I'm now a week in, and 6 months seems like hardly enough time to tackle all the junk in my house, but I can fully see how this can be a life-changing process."
"I was browsing Pinterest one day and stumbled upon the "konmari method" and was intrigued, so I bought this book for kindle and read it in about an hour. I always thought I was a very organized person (because everything I owned had a designated, labelled place and my house was always super clean), but after reading this book I realized I was nothing more than a skilled hoarder. I probably discarded well over 100 bags of clutter in that 6 weeks and earned over $400 selling the big-ticket items via social media, which I used to make my house prettier."
Best Miscellaneous
-- rather, he learned them in the past few years, working on his own and practicing on the subway, using simple techniques and free online resources. With empathy for the language-challenged and abundant humor, Wyner deconstructs the learning process, revealing how to build a foreign language in your mind from the ground up. This is brain hacking at its most exciting, taking what we know about neuroscience and linguistics and using it to create the most efficient and enjoyable way to learn a foreign language in the spare minutes of your day. Fluent Forever won't teach you French, or German, or any other language -- but it will teach you how to learn whatever language you do want to learn, and to learn it faster, and more efficiently. If you want a new language to stick, start here.” --Gary Marcus, cognitive psychologist and author of the New York Times bestseller Guitar Zero “Aspiring polyglots of the world, take note: this book will help you pick up any new language in record time. I've never been so excited to challenge my mind.” --Karen Schrock Simring, contributing editor at Scientific American Mind magazine “Fluent Forever more than meets the daunting challenge of learning a new language by giving the reader a solid game plan based on how people actually learn and memorize information. His writing is engaging, smart, and conversational, making learning a real joy. If you've ever wanted to become fluent in another language, do yourself a favor and start reading Fluent Forever now.” --Melanie Pinola, Contributor Writer for LIfehacker.com and author of LinkedIn in 30 Minutes " Fluent Forever is the book I wish I had had during my numerous failed attempts at learning different languages. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is serious -- not just aspiring but really serious -- about becoming fluent in a foreign language.” --Kevin Chen, Co-Founder, italki.com “Mash up the DNA of Steve Jobs and Aristotle, add training in engineering and opera, and you get Gabriel Wyner, whose ingeniously elegant system helps us knuckleheads learn not just foreign languages but, well, everything. Pick a foreign language (yes, including English) and voilà : el futuro es tuyo . "Fluent Forever more than meets the daunting challenge of learning a new language by giving the reader a solid game plan based on how people actually learn and memorize information. His writing is engaging, smart, and conversational, making learning a real joy. -Melanie Pinola, Contributor Writer for LIfehacker.com and author of LinkedIn in 30 Minutes " Fluent Forever is the book I wish I had had during my numerous failed attempts at learning different languages. It employs an intelligent mix of the latest methods for learning a language on your own using the web, apps, and voice training tips in an accelerated time frame.--Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick for Wired Magazine and author of What TechnologyWants "I know what you're thinking: But learning a new language is soooo hard ! Pick a foreign language (yes, including English) and voilà : el futuro es tuyo .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The use of minimal pairs (two words like cat and cut that differ by only one sound). He has a way of using these to train you to actually hear the differences, which can be very tricky in some foreign languages. The pronunciation material should help you master individual words. But an equally, if not more, important part of conversation is called prosody and concerns the rhythm and stress applied to a string of words. Even without knowing a word of French and Italian, you could easily distinguish the difference in rhythm in a typical conversation. You will pick this up in conversation (slowly) but can speed this up by learning poetry in the foreign language, because typical poetry emphasizes prosody. A simple example is: I pick up the book; I open the book; I look at a page in the book; I close the book; I put the book down. The only truly negative is that much of the material talked about in the book is not yet available on the website."
"There are a lot of books and web products lately that are designed to help anyone learn a language, even those of us who gave it a good try for several years in high school and barely came out of it knowing enough to ask how to find a toilet. The short version of my feeling about this is that if you want a lot of control over your learning process, you're really serious about learning a language, and you like the idea of using techniques that have a lot of scientific and research backing behind them, this book is VERY much worth it. It teaches in a way that can FEEL harder at first than other approaches, but the goal is to ultimately make total learning process a lot easier by not cutting corners and taking shortcuts that could hurt you in the long run. He advocates spending time working on learning sounds early because a) you have to learn pronunciation eventually, and you might as well not spend a few years practicing pronouncing something wrong before going back and trying to fix it, and b) knowing what a word sounds like makes it a lot more memorable. Once you're past the sound issues and learning the spelling rules, he advocates only using the language you're learning on the flashcards, including lots of pictures, and really trying to tie words and meanings to things in your life. (In fact, some of what he covers also shows up in another book "A Mind for Numbers" that just came out a couple of days ago, that focuses on similar "how to learn" research and tricks with an emphasis on learning math and science. FYI there's also a "Learning How to Learn" MOOC available through Coursera based on that book.). So he views the flashcard creation process as when you teach yourself something, and then you have a connection to your flash cards that makes it easier for you to understand what they were meant to remind you of, and to learn the material on them. The biggest barrier that I see here is that you have to be willing to take a lot of control over your own learning process, because you're building the materials. I think that there'll probably be some people who will end up doing better following a lesson plan from some other learning system (like a grammar book or Duolingo or whatever) and using this to strengthen and fill in their learning."
Best Religion in French
Ce parcours à Saint Michel n’est pas un outil magique pour ceux qui doutent, mais un outil de chevet qui conduit au miracle ou à une vie de pratique de foi de tous les jours. Coming Soon….
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book teaches you how to fight the evils or Satan."
"Aujourd'hui, je dirai le 51 jour, Saint Michel Archange est avec moi, et avec ma famille - Je sens vraiment sa présence chaque jour."
"Change my life, it is a testimony of the power of faith and believing in God greatness and love for us."
"Great prayer note for me."
"Very powerful book."
"Ce livre est vraiment bien présenté, bien élaboré."
"Dans les combats contre les forces tres malefiques."
"I ordered a french version but received the english one.The cover is in french but the pages are in english."
Best TA & NLP Psychotherapy
At the time of Frankl's death in 1997, Man's Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages. The book begins with a lengthy, austere, and deeply moving personal essay about Frankl's imprisonment in Auschwitz and other concentration camps for five years, and his struggle during this time to find reasons to live. The second part of the book, called "Logotherapy in a Nutshell," describes the psychotherapeutic method that Frankl pioneered as a result of his experiences in the concentration camps.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Read this book, read this book."
"Those that had developed purpose and meaning to the harsh conditions got out of bed every morning to face another unbearable day."
"I cried and became distressed as I listened to Viktor Frankl's personal journey."
"About suffering and learning to go on and live a happy, productive life after devastating losses, situations, and personal catastrophes."
"Profound insight."
"A little twist of ideas as to why some people survive the worst and why others don't survive medium bad."
"I am just now to the place he talks about how thinking of his wife and having mental conversations with her gave him strength to stay alive!"
"A nice read about the importance of finding meaning in your life."
Best Motivational Growth & Spirituality
A special 25th anniversary edition of the extraordinary international bestseller, including a new Foreword by Paulo Coelho. "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity." The charming tale of Santiago, a shepherd boy, who dreams of seeing the world, is compelling in its own right, but gains resonance through the many lessons Santiago learns during his adventures.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"After deciding to travel to a Romani fortune-teller in a nearby town to discover its meaning, a gypsy woman tells him that there is a treasure in the Pyramids in Egypt. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is.”. The Alchemist Physical CoverAlong the journey, Santiago meets an Englishman who is in search of an Alchemist and together they continue their search for treasure. The essential message is that treasure is more worthy than gold."
"I purchased and began reading this book 2 years ago and, for whatever reason, I couldn't get into it."
"I have heard a lot of positive things about this book but couldn't bring myself to read it."
"I read it with an absolutely open mind for about half the book, and then had to force myself to choke down the rest. Paulo Coelho introduces you to the moral core of the story, which can and is summed up in a few paragraphs, probably at some point in the first ten pages. After that, apparently because he is incapable of nuanced writing, of metaphors, or of allowing the reader to decipher any meaning at all for himself, he instead decides to pound the exact same few moral points into your skull every single page, for exactly 182 repetitive pages. Instead of being berated by the omniscient narrator about chasing our dreams, thinly disguised as the seemingly only thought our one dimensional main character possesses? Which sort of ties in to the second largest flaw, maybe the first in order of importance depending on what your aim is, which is that this book is simply a dull, boring story, and rather poorly written, or possibly it's a children's book and I missed that because adults are reading it heavily in America. Just the same message reiterated again and again, the plot sort of being there as a vehicle for the mass repetition of the moral lesson. The omniscient narrator, clearly nothing but Coelho, spouts his belief about following a dream through the most superficial, paper thin main character in the history of literature. But no amount of mumbo jumbo repitition about Omens made this book appealing to my inner mystic, which really isn't that hard. Coehlo seems to be under the impression that you can have two characters look at each other, and use the word Omen, or personal treasure, and that is enough substance to intrigue the reader. But he fails to grasp that the reader actually has to feel intrigued and moved; by the plot, and by the characters."