The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar

This book is about choices and it couldn't be complete without mentioning the classic example that everybody has surely heard about. The one where if you wait longer, you'll get a bigger prize. In her chapter, Senses and Sensibility, I thought it was interesting how by hiding snacks under an opaque lid, "the average waiting times increased by up to 60%" among the children.

This might be an especially interesting book if you happen to be taking a statistics class while reading it. It makes the class more interesting.

Solace by Roberta Temes, Ph.D.

This is a book that should be on every bookshelf as it is hard to find someone who has not suffered the loss of a loved one. I found chapter 4 (Help from Others) especially useful...I never thought of looking for websites on this topic.

The part I liked best however was the format of her book. I enjoyed reading the contributions of people coming from all over the place. It gives the book a whole different perspective and makes you feel like you can really connect with someone who has gone through the same things.

Although this is a serious topic, there is a bit of humor in it too. I have to admit that some of the examples of the humorous epitaphs made me laugh.

The Shimmer by David Morrell

If you like action, you’re going to enjoy “The Shimmer” but it’s also for people who like suspense books. While sometimes the events that take place can be questionable (can there really be such a thing as these “lights”), the overall feeling you get from this book is that it’s sort of like UFOs. Some people are going to have an easier time reading this book if they are more open minded. I’m not saying you need to believe in UFOs to enjoy it, but you need to try to be open to new ideas to at least get through the whole book. I enjoyed reading this book although at times I had to stop and think about what was being said and re-read it a couple of times before continuing with it.

How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life by John C. Maxwell

I like the fact that this book doesn't take up too much space and...I guess it's true. Good things really do come in small packages.

At first, there were a couple of chapters in which I thought the author was contradicting himself: (chapter 3: Harness Creative Thinking and chapter 4: Employ Realistic Thinking) but after reading the whole thing, I was able to see how it all fits together.

Overall, there were many good ideas in the book; some of them we've heard before, but are definitely worth repeating. My two favorite parts were "Question Popular Thinking" and "Rely on Bottom-Line Thinking" and a nice "feature" to the book were the "Thinking Questions" at the end of each chapter.

This book makes you see things differently.

I Hate People by Marc Hershon and Jonathan Littman

This is an interesting non-fiction book that talks about how to make time for yourself at work to pursue your own interests. By setting time aside for yourself, and working solo, you will find that you will come up with great ideas and become more productive.

There are quite a few modern-day companies, like Google for example, that are used to show that breaking away from tradition is often times a good thing. One thing that really surprised me was that taking a nap at work has actually been shown to improve productivity. This would be a great thing to mention to your boss.

The main idea that I got from this book is that the “cave” is something you need to retreat to in order to become more productive and re-energize yourself. This can be your cubicle, a space in your house, or even your car. The important thing is to try to find a place where you can have uninterrupted thoughts. Here, in your “cave”, is where you’ll get creative when you think like a soloist.

In order to deal with the most common type of people you’ll run into at the office, the kind that get in your way and try to sabotage your ideas, this is a must read. I call it office survival reading…don’t leave home without it!

The Power of Premonitions: How Knowing The Future Can Shape Our Lives

This book is about premonitions and how people react to them. It’s divided into five parts which are: (1) The Cases (2) Evidence (3) Why, What, How? (4) Why Should We Want To Cultivate Premonitions, And How Do We Do It? (5) Premonitions And Our Worldview.

I liked the fact that the author started out with cases as this caught my attention from the beginning. The overall message of the book I took away with me was that if you want to be prone to premonitions you should have an open mind and be comfortable with the idea that this can really happen. Many people in the book were quick to point out that they, in fact, did not feel comfortable telling people of their premonitions for fear of being ridiculed.

One question that many people, myself included, wanted answered was the question about money. If it's true that we can see into the future, is there a way we can "fix" the future to win the lottery...to know the "magic" numbers and become rich? Wow! That would be great! The funny thing is that it doesn't work that way. Somehow, when there is an overwhelming sense of greed, the numbers don't work out in our favor. You'll have to read the book to know what I'm talking about.

This book was not only able to hold my attention, it also got me interested in exploring physics…I think I’ll be paying more attention to my dreams too.

10 Things You Need to Know About Premonitions By Larry Dossey, M.D.,
Author of The Power of Premonitions: How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives

1. Premonitions are extremely common. They probably arose early in our evolutionary history because they provided our ancestors with a greater likelihood of survival and procreation. They were thus likely to have been incorporated into their genes and passed down through succeeding generations. As a result, we now appear to be hardwired for premonitions. They have become our birthright, part of our original equipment.

2. Premonition means literally "a forewarning," indicating that they often announce upcoming events that are unpleasant e.g., a health crisis or a natural disaster. This is not absolute, however; premonitions may also foretell pleasing events such as a job promotion, the location of a parking spot, or even winning lottery numbers.

3. Premonitions can be realistic or symbolic. They occur commonly during dreams, but also during full, waking awareness.

4. Five rules of thumb aid us in knowing which premonitions to take seriously: (1) if the premonition warns of a health crisis or death; (2) if the premonition is numinous, highly vivid, or "realer than real"; (3) if a dream is recurrent, appearing often in the same night or in succeeding nights, as if clamoring for attention; (4) if the premonition is associated with physical symptoms; or (5) if the premonition is experienced independently by a spouse, partner, lover, or close friend.

5. There are four categories of scientific evidence for premonitions: (1) presentiment experiments, in which the body responds to a future event prior to one's conscious awareness of it; (2) precognitive remote viewing tests, in which a distant individual "gets" information from a sender up to a week before it is mentally sent; (3) online tests of precognitive functioning, and (4) global consciousness effects that are detected by random event generators stationed around the earth, which often react prior to the occurrence of a subsequent happening.

6. Premonitions alert us to impending problems and crises of those we love. These warnings are extremely common between parents and children, spouses, siblings (particularly identical twins), close friends, and lovers. Empathy, love, compassion and a sense of oneness mediate premonitions.

7. Although we cannot have premonitions on demand, we can invite them into our lives by setting the stage for them, so they are more likely to occur. We can become more premonition-prone.

8. The most effective way to become more premonition prone is to develop a discipline wherein we quiet our mind and attend to the subtle messages from within and without -- through meditation, contemplation, immersion in nature, or just "getting quiet." Courting mystery also helps. As Rumi said, "Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment."

9. Keep a dream diary, in which you record your dreams on waking. This makes premonitions more likely to occur and insures that they will be remembered.

10. Premonitions are an indicator of the soul and a bridge to the transcendent. Their value goes beyond their practical benefit of warning us of upcoming dangers. They reveal the presence of a timeless aspect of our consciousness, and therefore point like an arrow to an immortal, eternal aspect of who we are.

©2009 Larry Dossey, M.D., author of The Power of Premonitions: How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives

Author Bio
Larry Dossey, M.D., author of The Power of Premonitions: How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives, is a leader in bringing scientific understanding to spirituality, and rigorous proof to alternative medicine. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Healing Words, the first serious look at how prayer affects healing. He has been featured several times by Oprah -- her TV show, radio show, and magazine -- and is an international advocate for the role of the mind in health and the role of spirituality in healthcare. He lives in New Mexico.

The Accountant's Story: Inside the Violent World of the Medellín Cartel by Roberto Escobar with David Fisher

This book was a quick read because it was very interesting. Although it’s hard to feel any sort of sympathy for drug traffickers, this real-life story about Pablo Escobar makes him seem like a modern day Robin-Hood to his people. Each story has two sides and this one definitely takes you to that other side, to see what it’s like to walk in the shoes of a different person.

I liked the way this book was able to take you into the busy city streets of Columbia as well as to the hidden jungles where many laboratories were built to make cocaine; it made me feel like I was actually there. What really stood out above everything else were the translations from Spanish to English; they were right on target and I’ve never seen a better job done when it comes to translating. I’m not sure if there is a movie planned for this book but it sure would be a great idea!