Review: Eat That Frog

The legendary Eat That Frog! (more than 450,000 copies sold and translated into 23 languages) provides the 21 most effective methods for conquering procrastination and accomplishing more. This new edition is revised and updated throughout, and includes brand new information on how to keep technology from dominating our time.
I was reading through Google Reader when I came upon Unfinished Person’s blog. He talked about this book and I thought I need to learn how to manage my time. Between Grad school and my hobbies I feel that there is not enough time in the day. So I promptly requested this book from the library.
It was interesting. Brain Tracey the author says to do the most pressing thing first. To”eat the ugliest and biggest frog” then do other things. I have to admit that I tend to do the opposite. I procrastinate until I have no choice then I feel stressed out by my perceived lack of time. Once I followed his advice and broke down what I was actually doing I found that I wasted a  lot of time on Facebook and online. So From now on I am going to do the most pressing things first then if I have time to do other less pressing things.
This book is recommended for people who want to learn how to better manage their time.

Sink Reflections

I have followed Flylady for a few months now. When I saw that she had a book out I went to the Library and got it. The basic information can be found on her website but she has such a fresh and funny voice that you wont mind reading the book too.
I am the world messiest person. I had read other organizational books but none of them stuck. Flylady is all about baby steps. You don’t tackele all of your problems at once but rather you take baby steps to build routines that will get to the root of your problems. You start with shining your sink and build up from there.
What makes it even more refreshing is that Flylady herself has been where millions are now. She writes with sympathy and encouragement.You never feel that she is talking down to you but rather building you up to where you need to be.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has trouble keep a house decently clean. This book will guide you and it it is easy to follow.

Review: The Case for Falling in Love

This is  a book that was hailed as the anti-self help book. Where most self help books tell you what to do to gain a man (annoying if you ask me) this book goes in the other direction and tells us how the “self-help” culture gets in the way of actually falling in love.

In the first half of this book the author explains how certain books exploited the gender gap leading readers to believe there is something wrong with them if they do not act as if society accords them too. In one section she explains how her friend was reading from John Gray’s “Starting Over”. After she read a few passages this once strong independent woman became so concerned that she was doing everything wrong and started to act in the very manner that drives men off. She shows that these books were written for a time ages past. Instead she shows readers that just accepting yourself and acting like you is the best way to go. She does a through job at disassembling the convoluted gender stereotypes and why they do not work in today’s world.

The second half of the book she explains what to do if you been through a break-up. She treats relationships that have ended not as personal failures but as a way to grow. She states that each relationship teaches us something about ourselves and that we should take the opportunity to grow. She does caution against dating certain kind of men. Namely those who act as we were still in the 50’s.

I found myself agreeing with her. This is the kind of book strong independent woman need to read. After taking apart the self-help culture and poking fun at traditional books on how to get a man or what to do to keep a man she shows that acting like yourself really is the best way to go. This was a refreshing read. I too get tired of hearing that I must mold myself into a cookie cutter of a perfect wife or girlfriend to keep a man. Her overall tone of the book is that somewhere somebody will love your quirks is much needed.

Review: The Artist Way

I had been having serious writers block for the first half of the year. I tried everything I knew to combat it but to no avail. Then while reading book blogs I began to hear of a book called the Artist Way. I decided I had to check it out.

I have to say I was not disappointed with this book. It has been three weeks since I started the cornerstone of the book which is Morning Pages and Artist Dates. I can already see an improvement.

The book takes on a 12 step aura to help combat “creative blocks” It is not only for writers but for anyone who wants to live more creatively. That means even if you do not pursue any of the tradional creative outlets than this book can still help you.

Some people might be put of by the spiritual aspect of this book. I read some reviews where this was the case. I do not feel it is overly spiritual in in that case the spiritual overtones actually added a dimension to the book.

Overall people who are looking to be more creative  will enjoy this book.

Review: Be a Better You

I first heard Joel Osteen on TV and when I heard he had some books out I couldn’t resist. I checked this out from the library and I was not disappointed.

If you have heard him on TV you probably know that he is a phenomenal motivational speaker. He is also the same phenomenal motivational writer.

This book outlines the seven steps that you can take to become a better you. They mostly run along the lines of be a more positive person and have passion for life. There are also other tidbits like thank people even if they do a bad service and being grateful for where you are now. He gives advice on how you can embrace where you are at right now and how you can move forward.

Let me say that I am the kind of person that distrust organized religion. I believe in Jesus and God yes but many of the followers I don’t like. Especially when we start dealing with fundamentalists. They annoy me to no end. Having said that I still liked this book so even if you not all that religious I still think this book will appeal to some of you. There are a lot of good advice in this book.

Review:Happiness Project

Everybody wants to be happier. Sure we could all move to the tropics and make ourselves think we are happier but what if you want to change your life where you are? That is what author Gretchen Rubin did.

This book chronicles a one year journey that the author took to “change her life without changing her life” She conducted research on happiness and made a resolution chart and tried then out for a year.

She draws on current happiness research. What does happiness really mean? She points out that it will be different things for different people. Which is true what makes me happy wouldn’t necessarily make you happy. She took some antidotes from some people well known for their happy state of mind and drew inspiration from them.

She sets up a system that allows her to focus on one aspect of happiness per month. For example the first month she focuses on energy. Because having energy will make the other resolutions easier. Makes sense. Then she sets up how she will gain more energy. She goes to bed when tired even iif its at 9 30 pm. Sounds simple but how many of us really do that? She keeps a resolution chart to track everything.

This book was really fascinating. She had scientific facts to back up her claims so it does not come off a New Agey or some far off experiment that everyday people like me and you could not do. In fact it is so doable that many people are doing their own happiness project, including myself.

Review:Getting Things Done

This was a re read for me. Back in the day I was an disorganized freak. I could find nothing to save my life. A friend recommended this book so I read it (can you tell I will read almost anything someone recommends?) Any way the book did help to some degree. When I remember to use the principals in the book that is.

In all seriousness though if you are disorganized and you miss deadlines and stuff or you miss very important events (like me) David Allen has some very good recommendations that can help you get a better hold on things.

I still remember when GTD was the latest fad. It is still going strong judging by the amount of GTD stuff on the internet and other book that have been written about it. One book about it is enough for me though.While I like the book and it concepts there is only a certain amount they can say without rehashing the same stuff over and over again. When they make a book that can actually do the organizing for me then I will be more interested.  In all fairness though the book does work so read it if you are looking to put some order in chaos.

The Power of a Praying Woman

From Goodreads:

It may seem easier to pray for your spouse, your children, your friends, and your extended family, but God wants to hear your requests for your life too. He loves it when you come to Him for the things you need and ask Him to help you become the woman you have always longed to be. The Power of a Praying Woman has led countless women into deeper, more fulfilling prayer lives. Now, with a new cover, Omartian, through her knowledge of Scripture and candid examples of her own epiphanies in prayer, shows you how to:
1. draw closer to God
2. know His plans and purpose for your life
3. receive comfort, help, and strength for every day
Trust Him moment by moment with the concerns of your heart and discover the awesome power that prayer will release in your life.

This is a re-read. Every time I read it I feel that I get more out of it. I try and read it several times a year.

Ever since I was little I have been taught to pray for others. Somehow it seemed selfish to pray for myself. This book shows that not only is it good to pray for yourself but that God wants you to. It tells when you stop and take time to yourself that you fortify yourself to do what God has in store for you.

This book explains all the different areas that you can pray for yourself. It explains why those areas matter and how it can help you have a better life. The author puts in some things that I would have never thought to pray for myself for. She really puts a new perspective on how to have a deeper understanding of an effective praying life.

When books cross over into real life.

When most people read it is to escape reality and to delve into a good story. However there are some books that propose to provide a richer life out side of books. Flow was such a book. I reviewed it a while ago and one thing has stuck out to me in all of that time. It mentioned that chess players engage in physical activity to strengthen their mind. At first, I was like, how can that help strengthen your brain? My laziness knows no bounds. I will be the first to try and get out of anything resembling purposeful movement.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. My attention was waning and my writers block was so bad that I could hardly write my own name. I had heard of writers and other people say that daily exercise cures both aliments. Of course up until then I never actually listened.Then one month into my writers block, when I despaired of ever writing anything again I decided to give walking a try. It wasn’t the magic cure all but slowly it was as my brain was disengaging itself and starting to function again,ideas began to come and I can focus for more than an hour at a time.

What amazes me is that the more I exercise my body the stronger my brain becomes.And not only that but I have really really realllly bad anxiety and it get in the way of writing also. Walking has helped more than medication has ever did. Plus it does not put me to sleep.

And to think I would have never even thought of adding in walking had I not read a book about inducing happiness first. When people say they dislike reading or do not have the time for it, I always remind them that they will be richer and better off for it. There is so much to learn out there. Even fiction can teach you valuable things through the power of a good story.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

You remember while you was in collage, your friends that majored in something such as business administration talked about books such as this one and how much it has helped them over the years? While you who majored in a liberal arts degree who thought themselves above such books scoffed as such nonsense. Fast forward 5 years later and it is clear who is making more money and stuff and you start to wonder if there were a timeless piece of wisdom in such books, so you finally get it from the library and see what you may have missed.  This was one of those books.

The idea is there are seven principles of highly effective people. By effective it seems getting people to see things your way or as Covey describes it, an agreement that works for both people.

He outlines each step as a stepping stone to true independence which is really interdependence. By completing each step you supposedly become more and more effective at achieving your goals.

The one thing that surprised me was that Covey states in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is he advocates sticking to a principal centered pardagram. I was under the impression that most “business” books was all about getting ahead but I was mistaken.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It not a literary masterpiece but it does have some good advice.

Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

I have a confession to make. I have a secret addiction to self-help books. I am not sure why. Its not like half the books tell me anything new. Like for example; The seven Spiritual Laws Of Success did not say anything that was not also in '”The Secret”.

But I have heard friends tell me Chopra is the best. I had to see for myself. Of its own accord the book to me is just ok. Like I said there was nothing new in there.I have heard people say that it really works but I have not undergone any testing to see. I mean how would you know if it works or not?

It was a quick read. Enjoyable by it’s own merits but not a great work of art or anything like that. On second thought I guess it’s not meant to be.

The basic Idea  is to give you seven laws and if you follow them then you can achieve anything you want.

I would be interested to hear other peoples thoughts on this book. Maybe I am in the minority.

Body Clutter

I have to admit I am a big fan of Flylady. I have heard about  the books and have read From pigpen to paradise and loved it. I follow all her routines and everything. Even a slob such as me can make my apartment look pretty.

Body clutter is all about loving yourself enough to start exercising (blessing your heart) to eating nutritionally sound food. While this may not be new advice they present it in such a way that it comes less about meeting a number goal and more about loving yourself enough to be healthy.

I have to admit that I liked this book more than most others books on losing weight. Other books tell the tale of somebody being a few pounds overweight then they lose a few pounds and tout their way to everyone. While this book does not endorse a certain weight loss plan it only tells the reason why so many of us find it so hard to lose weight. It explains the “mental blocks”. I think the mental blocks are a much bigger hurdle to get through.

It also explains how not to let your routines that you have picked up fall by the wayside but rather incorporate new things into your existing routines.

If you are a fan of flylady you will enjoy this book.