November's books

[pjthompson]

Well, I was this close, >THIS< close to having a month in which I showed some moderation in my book buying (3), but then a late month splurge blew that out of the water. Still, eight books is not as bad of a total as some months. Ahem.

I even bought a book by Dr. Wayne Dyer. I can't believe that! I've avoided him assiduously for years. I had this otherwise beloved English teacher in high school, see, who was a big proponent of Dyer. Though I ate up everything else this teacher said with a spoon, I never bought into ol' Wayne, and my beloved teacher wound up having a nervous breakdown the next year so it seemed like whatever Dyer was pushing hadn't worked too well.

Added to that, I'm generally deeply (deeply, deeply) skeptical of all New Agey power of positive thinking type philosophies because if you scratch beneath the surface of all their affirmative talk, they seem to be blaming victims for the bad things that happen to them. "You didn't think positively enough," or "You let stinkin' thinkin' rule you." Social Darwinism in new packaging, folks. Still wrong. When confronted with this question, Dr. Dyer says that people who say such things have over-simplified his message to an absurd degree, and perhaps that's so. I remain skeptical.

But I'm not skeptical about a positive attitude being more helpful than a negative one. I just think that sometimes it's impossible to maintain (and probably inappropriate) in the face of some of life's more brutal turns, turns that are just part of the wheel spinning to a new position, that have nothing to do with the victims having put themselves into a position of being victimized. Sorry, Wayne, no can go there.

Dr. Dyer has recently been diagnosed with leukemia. I sincerely wish him well (because I seriously believe in the threefold law), but we'll see how his positive thinking works out for him.

Which is a long damned preamble as to why I bought one of his books, isn't it? Could it be someone is feeling defensive? Hmm? Whatever. I have my own theories about "The Power of Intention" and I found myself deeply curious to see what Dyer's's made of it. So I'll read it. With reservations and caveats, probably, but I'll read it.



Finished in November

I didn't do so well finishing books this month and those I did finish were from my bigtime comfort authors. It was that kind of month.

1. Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris - new
2. Kindred in Death by J. D. Robb - new


Begun in November

1. Kindred in Death by J. D. Robb - new
2. Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain – TBR
  (I'm getting kind of tired of Archie and Gretchen.)
3. Eye of Heaven by Marjorie M. Liu - TBR
  (Still reading this one.)

Purchased in November

1. Kindred in Death by J. D. Robb – B&N
2. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger – Ralph’s
3. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger – B&N

(I was killing time at Ralph's waiting for a prescription to be filled and read the first chapter of Her Fearful Symmetry. I was totally hooked, but didn't think I could spring for the hardcover, so I bought the paperback of The Time Traveler's Wife instead. The next week I got a lovely coupon from B&N which allowed me to buy Symmetry for the same price as the paperback. I do believe authors deserve fair compensation for their work, but I can't afford a steady diet of hardcovers. I count on my deep discounts. And there goes someone being defensive again.)

4. The Lost by J. D. Robb, Patricia Gaffney, Mary Blayney, and Ruth Ryan Langan - Amazon
5. The Power of Intention by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer - Amazon
6. The Princes Of The Golden Cage by Nathalie Mallet – Amazon
7. Memories, Dreams, Reflections by C. G. Jung – Amazon seller
8. Return to Elysium by Joan Grant – Amazon seller


Continued Reading in November

Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Daughters of the Earth by Carolyn Niethammer, Middle Kingdom: The Faerie World of Ireland by Dermot MacManus

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

they seem to be blaming victims for the bad things that happen to them.

YES.

I can't agree with you more. Sure a positive attitude is better than a negative one, but not all people are made the same way, you can't squeeze positive attitude out of everyone; some people are born more morose than others, etc., and furthermore (and furthermore and furthermore and furthermore) we all will die eventually, no matter how positive our attitudes are. It's like thinking that if you just eat the right diet live wholesomely, you'll never get sick. No.

It smacks not only of social darwinism, but of the belief that goodness/right living will earn you material reward--the thinking that says all the fortunate deserve to be so, and all the unfortunate too. The evil side of karmic thinking.

[pjthompson]

Exactly. It's a form of magical thinking that can lead to a certain moral smugness—which for my money isn't any different than the kind of self-righteousness that leads to religious wars. Maybe a milder version, in most people, but taken to extremes it has that potential.

And like you said, we're all going to die eventually, no matter how positive or "right-living" we are. :-)

Signed,
the Morose One ;-)

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Oh, I am so fed-up with some of the New Age philosophies. One acutally had the nerve to say that my MS is a mental issue caused by the bad relationship I have with my mother.

Let me know what you think of The Time Traveler's Wife?

[pjthompson]

One acutally had the nerve to say that my MS is a mental issue caused by the bad relationship I have with my mother.

Unbelievable! This kind of thing makes me insane.

Let me know what you think of The Time Traveler's Wife?

I will, but the way I read it could be awhile before I get there. :-)