Book Review - Eye in the Sky

This is one of Philip K Dick's earliest novels (his ninth, in fact), originally published in 1955. As such, it makes for compelling fiction with a science fiction-like twist, but may not be classified strictly as "science fiction". It takes place in the then near-future year of 1957, when eight people are involved in a tragic lab accident that transports them through time and space to a multitude of various worlds and states of consciousness.

The worlds are eventually revealed to be solipsistic manifestations of the inner worlds of some of the book's main characters. Each one embodies the secretly-held thoughts of its creator, trapping the group inside a unique universe with its own set of ethics, rules, and scientific principles. The central protagonist, Jack Hamilton, figures out what is going on and helps the group travel through each world—by the skin of their teeth, mind you.

Although I wouldn't advise a PKD novice to read this as their first book of his to check out, it is a solid novel. The characters are well-fleshed out, the plot is fairly engaging, and the writing makes for a quick and easy read. I am very glad to have finished this one, and I doubt I will return anytime soon. But maybe I will.

3/5 stars. 243 pages.

Book Review - Essence of World Religions

I was fortunate to receive a free copy of Essence of World Religions during a local all-vegan Thanksgiving Dinner that I attended this year. It piqued my interest because it appeared to be a basic introduction to many of the common world religions, some of which I had never even heard of before. A few of friends that were seated at my table mentioned that they had read the book the previous year and found it to be a good overview of the topic and a valuable resource.

The book was originally published in 1994 as part of the JAINA Education Series program, and the edition I received is the Third Edition, published in November 2004. The preface of the book stresses that it is intended to be an introductory resource, stating "The strength of this book is its simplicity." Because of that, many complex and subtle distinctions between the religions have been left out of the book. The main focus is on providing a basic comparative summary of the following religions:

• Religions of India

1. Hinduism
2. Buddhism
3. Jainism
4. Sikhism

• Religions of the Far-East

1. Confucianism
2. Taoism
3. Shintoism

• Religions of the West

1. Judaism
2. Zoroastrianism
3. Christianity
4. Islam
5. Bahä'i

Each religion's section covers the time it was founded, a description of the founder (if there was one at all), the major scriptures that are consulted, any sects that may exist, the number of current adherents, the ultimate goals and beliefs, identifying symbols, and a list of observed holidays. Some religions have additional sections added that are specific to them.

I found this book to be extremely eye-opening, because there is a lot in common between these religions. Of course, there is a lot of different between them as well, but the book primarily focuses on the similarities. I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who is interested in a primer for these religions or spirituality in general.

3/5 stars. 80 pages.

Book Review - The Zen Habit's Beginner's Guide to Mindfulness

In today’s world, especially with the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election’s smoking gun looming just behind us, it can be difficult to stay mindful. To not let our emotions run away with us when we are speaking with others. To be as honest with ourselves and others as we can and communicate our feelings efficiently with others. To not cling desperately to our ideals. To develop patience and learn to deal with overwhelming feelings. To work on developing our focus and changing our habits for the greater good. The Zen Habits Beginner’s Guide to Mindfulness addresses these topics and provides practical advice for working on them in our own lives.

Leo Babauta (the ebook’s author) is the creator of the Zen Habits website, author of many books, and a vegan who spends the majority of his personal time running, reading, meditating, lifting weights, and hiking. He has been an inspiration to thousands of people by helping them simplify their lives and change their habits through his Sea Change membership program.

The Zen Habits Beginner's Guide to Mindfulness was published solely in ebook format, it is fairly short (only 47 pages), and it contains many helpful words that may help you in your own path toward developing mindfulness. However, as the ebook even mentions itself, the true onus is on the reader. There is only so much a book can do to help develop a meditation practice, work toward changing habits, or develop patience. The true work must be done by the reader.

To address this, Babauta includes in each chapter: a description of the issue (including its common causes), a step-by-step method to address the issue, and an exercise that can be practiced during meditation or day-to-day life. The final chapter of the book focuses on how we can get better, which includes practicing nearly daily, reviewing the exercises, and working with whatever arises.

I greatly enjoyed and valued this ebook, and would have loved to give it five stars. However, there were some typos due to some sloppy editing and a few of the chapters were merely slight variations of copied-and-pasted content from previous chapters. Because of those two things, I decided to ding The Zen Habits Beginner's Guide to Mindfulness by one star. However, I would still recommend this ebook to anyone interested in developing their own mindfulness practice. And in case you don't find them valuable, the author even promises a 100% money back guarantee on all of his books! It is definitely aimed at beginners, but serves as a helpful review for those further along the path as well. I plan to read one or two more of Babauta’s books that take the topic a bit further, but I am glad that I started with this one.

4/5 stars. 47 pages.

Click here to buy the book.

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Book Review – No Mud, No Lotus

No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering is a book written by the Vietnamese monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh, which focuses on various aspects surrounding the concept of transforming suffering. The meaning behind the title is that without mud, the beautiful lotus flower could not grow. This is an analogy to life—without suffering, there cannot be happiness. The key is to develop a keen ability to transform one's own suffering, for which Hanh lays out a detailed plan with various helpful techniques.

In the very beginning of the book is a quote and approach which resonated with me that can be used when someone asks a difficult question about suffering that has no end in sight. Hanh explains that during the Vietnam war, when someone would ask when the war would be over, he knew that he could not tell a lie and say that it will be over soon, nor could he say "I don't know", which would only cause the person to despair even more. So he would answer, "Everything is impermanent, even war. It will end some day." I appreciated this advice and will try to put it into practice when addressing others' suffering.

Hanh discusses the question of whether or not the Buddha suffered by saying that since he had a body, feelings, and perceptions (like all of us) he also experienced suffering. Although both physical suffering and suffering of the mind is inevitable, we can suffer much less by "not watering the seeds of suffering inside us." The act of consuming in order to cover up our suffering does not work; we need a spiritual practice to develop the skill and strength necessary to look deeply into our suffering and make a breakthrough.

There are many mantras, meditations, and techniques in the book that can help address suffering. For example, there is the concept of being a mindfulness bell for a loved one—gently squeezing their hand whenever there is something that may trigger their anger or sadness during a difficult conversation with someone else. Or the morning verse for happiness, which is a daily reminder to breathe and become aware that we have twenty-four new hours to live each morning when we wake up.

According to my records, this is the sixth book by Hanh that I have completed. I enjoy his books a lot, and have gotten much benefit from them. However, I do feel that they borrow a lot of content from one another (granted, he has written a myriad of books, so this is to be somewhat expected) and have a lot of overlapping stories and advice between them. I enjoyed this book, although there wasn't much in it that I couldn't have gotten from reading one or two of his other books. I do plan to continue reading Thich Nhat Hanh's works, and I wouldn't hesitate to suggest his books to anyone else. They are very quick and easy to read, and are very helpful. Please do check one of them out when you get a chance.

3/5 stars. 128 pages.

Book Review - Armada

Having read Ernest Cline’s engrossingly-thrilling debut novel Ready Player One several years ago, my expectations were quite high for Armada. It’s difficult to write a spoiler-free review of either book because detailing the plots will undoubtedly ruin the books for some readers, but at its core, Armada is essentially a book about video gamer nerds defending the human race against an alien invasion.

Similar to Cline’s masterpiece, Ready Player One, Armada engages the reader early on—throwing nostalgic pop culture references left and right, introducing compelling characters, and crafting a page turn-inducing plot. Without getting into spoiler-level detail about the book, it’s safe to say that the book will appeal to general nerds, music-lovers, video gamers, and military supporters (or battle aficionados) alike.

With that said, I don’t think that Armada is the same level of quality as Ready Player One (which still remains one of my favorite science fiction novels to date). The plot isn’t as captivating or mind-bending, the characters are somewhat predictable and aren’t as relatable, and the pop culture references got to be a bit too repetitive for my taste. When it comes down to it, Armada is a pretty solid book, but it isn’t one that I’d consider purchasing for my bookshelf (whereas Ready Player One definitely deserves a spot) or even re-reading again.

Cline is clearly a gifted writer and I am going to look forward to following his work into the future. He does have a spot on a very short list of modern, living science fiction authors that I am reading. I’m hoping that he will keep creating content that speaks to me, unlike some other authors that seem to burn too brightly in the beginning of their career and flame out. Only time will tell. Until now, I would advise reading Ready Player One before giving Armada a read, but if you enjoyed the debut novel, you’ll probably enjoy the second book as well.

4/5 stars. 349 pages.