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The Future of God

The Future of God by Deepak Chopra is the voice bridging the gap for all seekers who find themselves wandering in the wilderness between the camps of raging atheism on the one hand and empty religion on the other hand--both of which fail to address the nagging sense that something of significance is missing from life.

Chopra spends ample time in the opening two-thirds of the book laying out the arguments made by modern day atheism and science regarding their belief that there can be no God. He also lays open the arguments made by religion that leave educated seekers feeling that something is missing in the dogma of the faith system in which they were raised. I can identify with both of these plights! Having been seminary trained and serving as an ordained Lutheran minister for 13+ years, I know full well the theological underpinnings of Christianity. I also personally experienced the pitfalls and short comings of Christianity's theological dogmas and practices. When I saw the many ways in which the church seemed to miss on connecting to the divine, I could no longer remain a part of it. At the same time, I was being barraged constantly by questions and arguments from both genuine seekers and atheists with their own agenda. These encounters left me an odd mix of excited, exhausted, questioning my own faith, and angry.

Thus the first two-thirds of The Future of God felt a bit slow to me, because I found my own personal issues and struggles being resurrected. It felt as though weights were attached to my feet, with more weight being added and the terrain growing muddier as I read. This was not necessarily a bad thing, however.

Because of the journey I had taken through the beginning of the book, I found myself thinking, "Yes." "YES." "YES!" as I read "Stage 3: Knowing." Reading Chopra's words, "You remember that you are the dreamer who is in charge of the dream," I recalled riding in the back seat of my parents' station wagon as a child, contemplating life and thinking to myself, "What if everything we know as 'life' is really just a dream? And what if death is simply waking up?" The fact that a man from a predominantly Hindu country, who grew up surrounded by the religious thinking and teaching of the world's main polytheistic religion should be proclaiming the truth of Oneness, God in all things, everywhere and nowhere at one and the same time strikes me as profound, authentic and true. I have long harbored the belief that God is much bigger and beyond what any one religious system can capture. Chopra says that the universal truth of God is that God cannot be put (refuses to stay put!) in a box. To this, something within me shouts "YES!" Anything other would not be divine, would not be God.

If you have questions about life's meaning; if you ponder the deeper questions of faith, meaning, purpose; if you sense there may be more to your faith you should read The Future of God. I will recommend this book to those who struggle with questions posed to them by skeptics, atheists, science, and followers of blind faith. Chopra has some answers. He opens possibilities. He restores faith and in doing so, provides hope.

Many thanks to Blogging For Books who supplied the complimentary review copy for this review. From the Publisher . . .

Can God be revived in a skeptical age? What would it take to give people a spiritual life more powerful than anything in the past? Deepak Chopra tackles these issues with eloquence and insight in this book. He proposes that God lies at the source of human awareness. Therefore, any person can find the God within that transforms everyday life.

God is in trouble. The rise of the militant atheist movement spearheaded by Richard Dawkins signifies, to many, that the deity is an outmoded myth in the modern world. Deepak Chopra passionately disagrees, seeing the present moment as the perfect time for making spirituality what it really should be: reliable knowledge about higher reality. Outlining a path to God that turns unbelief into the first step of awakening, Deepak shows us that a crisis of faith is like the fire we must pass through on the way to power, truth, and love.

“Faith must be saved for everyone’s sake,” he writes. “From faith springs a passion for the eternal, which is even stronger than love. Many of us have lost that passion or have never known it.” In any age, faith is a cry from the heart. God is the higher consciousness that responds to the cry. “By itself, faith can’t deliver God, but it does something more timely: It makes God possible.”

For three decades, Deepak Chopra has inspired millions with his profound writing and teaching. With The Future of God, he invites us on a journey of the spirit, providing a practical path to understanding God and our own place in the universe. Now, is a moment of reinvigoration, he argues. Now is moment of renewal. Now is the future.

About the Author . . .

DEEPAK CHOPRA is the author of more than fifty books translated into more than thirty-five languages—including numerous New York Times bestsellers in both the fiction and nonfiction categories. Dr. Chopra is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, adjunct professor at the Kellogg School of Management, and a senior scientist with the Gallup Organization. He is founder and president of the Alliance for a New Humanity. Time magazine heralds Deepak Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century and credits him as “the poet–prophet of alternative medicine.”

Sunday Suppers Worth Lingering Over

They say we eat with our eyes first. It's certainly true of Karen Mordechai's tome which serves up readers a sumptuous feast for the soul!

Mordechai writes in her introduction, "Sunday Suppers is a communal cooking center and food website based out of Brooklyn, New York, whose premise is to bring together food, gatherings, and community. Through inspiration and instruction, Sunday Suppers allows people to gather and cook in their homes, and experience the world's oldest act of community: sharing a meal." This was the impetus for my excitement at receiving my review copy of Sunday Suppers. Fewer and fewer people remember the days of weekly meals shared with family or friends or entertaining dinner parties with colleagues. (In my childhood my parents frequently hosted or attended card parties with neighbors or friends which always began with delicious pot-luck meals which I recall with great fondness. I have heard people bring to mind stories of Sunday dinners at grandma's house with extended family with the same sort of nostalgic happiness.)

As the introduction states, the goal of Sunday Suppers is to "remove much of the fuss and formality of 'entertaining'. The table is set in a modest manner, and the food is honest and straightforward." I found this to be the bulk of the appeal of the photographs, recipes and table presentation suggestions. When I cook for others, especially people I am "entertaining," there are a few simple things at which I aim: tasty, nourishing food which is easy to prepare and the ability to spend time enjoying the people with whom I have gathered. Mordechai's recipe format ensures that even those with little to no experience at putting together dishes and meals for others will succeed. Ingredients are listed in the left-hand column. Step by step preparation instructions are presented in the right-hand column. Extraneous tips on unusual ingredients or techniques follow at the bottom in easy-to-spot print.

I loved that the gatherings and dishes are presented according to times in the day. Several options for breakfasts, lunches (including a birthday gathering and a camping excursion!), and evening meals provide the organization of the cookbook. This strikes me as very user-friendly and intuitive!

Accompanying each gathering (meal) and the individual dishes are some of the most beautiful food and scenic photography I have witnessed in a cookbook. They elevate Mordechai's writing more to the level of a coffee-table book. (Certainly a recipe book I would be worried about splattering up on my kitchen counter during a tragic accident with the hand-held mixer!) It is bound in a linen feel cover and uses luxurious quality paper stock on which to present Mordechai's fabulous recipes, photographs, tips, and suggestions.

Thanks to Mordechai's encouragement that anyone can make delicious food and share it with others, I will be trying many of the recipes from this book! I am thankful to Blogging For Books for providing me with the complimentary copy for this review.

From The Publisher . . .

Rediscover the art of cooking and eating communally with a beautiful, simple collection of meals for friends and family.

With her dinner series Sunday Suppers, Karen Mordechai celebrates the magic of gathering, bringing together friends and strangers to connect over the acts of cooking and sharing meals. For those who yearn to connect around the table, Karen’s simple, seasonally driven recipes, evocative photography, and understated styling form a road map to creating community in their own kitchens and in offbeat locations. This collection of gatherings will inspire a sense of adventure and community for both the novice and experienced cook alike.

About The Author . . .

KAREN MORDECHAI, a photographer and stylist, is the founder of Sunday Suppers, a Brooklyn-based food community and blog that has won many accolades, including a 2013 Food and Wine Digital Award, top food blog by Saveur, and #6 in Babble.com’s Top 50 Design Blogs. Karen’s work is regularly featured in the New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Remodelista, New York magazine, and more. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, New York.

Provence, 1970

Having been born in 1966, most of my childhood memories are from the 1970's. I recall seeing episodes of Julia Child's program on our local PBS channel on a few occasions. I grew up in a family of women who cooked, mostly out of the necessity to make the weekly paycheck stretch as far as possible. My parent's tilled up half of our urban Iowa back yard and grew gorgeous and plentiful vegetable gardens each summer. Eating out was a luxury few in my neighborhood could indulge in.

I have an idea that people like me and my family were a part of the revolution in food that some of those giants in the food scene who gathered in Provence in 1970 had in mind. The shift from French cuisine and technique being the "be all and end all" of the food world to a more open and inclusive (not to mention casual and local) approach to cooking paved the way for things like the Food Network--one of the "go to" channels at my house.

Barr's memoir is written in a very easy, approachable style. Although I only knew some of the food writers/celebrities mentioned on the cover of the book, I felt it was easy to become not only acquainted, but somewhat intimate with each of them by the end of the book. (I had not heard of Richard Olney--despite his being from the same state in which I reside--until this book.) Barr underwent thorough and extensive research through personal letters and archived materials on each of the chefs and gourmands in putting together the events which transpired during that time when there was a shift in thinking in the world of food. It is a very well written book!

I found it interesting to see what sorts of food these "giants" put together when they gathered for social affairs. Menus and wine lists were fascinating, even though I have virtually no knowledge of wine. (Because I do watch a lot of cooking shows and have read a lot of cookbooks, I found the talk about food choices and preparations much easier to follow!)

If you enjoy food, history, celebrity chefs, France, travel, or memoirs....you will enjoy Provence, 1970. I would like to thank Blogging For Books for the free copy of Provence, 1970 in exchange for this review.

From the Publisher . . .

Provence, 1970 is about a singular historic moment. In the winter of that year, more or less coincidentally, the iconic culinary figures James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, Richard Olney, Simone Beck, and Judith Jones found themselves together in the South of France. They cooked and ate, talked and argued, about the future of food in America, the meaning of taste, and the limits of snobbery. Without quite realizing it, they were shaping today’s tastes and culture, the way we eat now. The conversations among this group were chronicled by M.F.K. Fisher in journals and letters—some of which were later discovered by Luke Barr, her great-nephew. In Provence, 1970, he captures this seminal season, set against a stunning backdrop in cinematic scope—complete with gossip, drama, and contemporary relevance.

About the Author . . .
Luke Barr is an editor at Travel + Leisure magazine. A great-nephew of M.F.K. Fisher, he was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Switzerland, and graduated from Harvard. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their two daughters.

A Bowl of Olives

This evocative little book lead me down a fragrant memory lane even as Midda shares her own journey of food-induced memories. What a pleasant stroll! Each page a feast for the eye, A Bowl of Olives by Sara Midda is a cornucopia of lovely little watercolor illustrations, photos, quotes, prose, and recipes.

Food, for many people, is the currency of relationships--the thing around which we gather with family and friends to make memories, celebrate milestones, or dive deeply into the present moment. Simply smelling the fragrance of a remembered dish can unleash an avalanche of images, feelings, tastes, and more from a time long past. Cookies or bread baking in the oven trigger memories of my childhood. A whiff of chicken frying will bring to mind summer picnics. Squash recalls me to fall dinners served which gathered a busy household together if only for an all-too-brief moment at the table.

A Bowl of Olives is my first exposure to Sara Midda's work. What a delight all her petite, delicate watercolor illustrations are! I love the feel of the pages. The color, the layouts provide such pleasure!

Because the book centers on the illustrations, it is a very quick read at only 128 pages. Seasoned with a smattering of quotes, Midda's memories, and recipes (some of them are just the bare bones!) . . . readers will find themselves savoring not only Midda's offerings, but the reflections of meals and dishes past too. I highly recommend this book to all who love food, visual arts, great paper, and books in general!

I am so thankful for the opportunity to review Sara Midda's latest offering, A Bowl of Olives, and thankful to Shelf Awareness for the complimentary copy!

From the publisher...

From the author of the international bestseller In and Out of the Garden and the wondrous sketchbook Sara Midda’s South of France comes a long-awaited treasure of a book. Drawn from the artist’s wealth of impressions and memories, it is a book for lovers of food and art and fine gift books—a book for anyone who, upon arriving in a new town, seeks first the local market, or who believes the best thing to do on a given night is to share a table with friends.

Sara Midda is a watercolorist whose delicate and beautiful paintings shine like jewels, evoking the sweet purple taste of a summer raspberry or the silvery greens and gnarled burnt umber of an olive grove. And she is also a collagist, weaving together photographs, line drawings, her personal swatches—all the hues of a spice cabinet, or the sensations of a picnic, the colors of the breeze, sunshine, laughter, the cooling grass. And a poet, in love with words that sing, like podding and wicker, nettle and snug.

By turns reverent and playful, A Bowl of Olives is a work of pure enchantment, celebrating food—of the seasons, of family, of travel and memory. It is as richly layered as a favorite meal.

The book is cloth-bound, jacketed, and printed on uncoated stock to convey the feeling of an artist’s sketchbook.

About the author...

Sara Midda is an artist who lives in West Sussex, England, and previously lived in the south of France. Her most recent book is Artisan’s children’s activity book How to Build an A.

Life-Changing Magic

Thanks to Blogging For Books who provided me with a free copy of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Konda for this review.

I suspect that Japanese norms for housekeeping and interior design may be regarded as spartan by American standards. Nonetheless, this reader was drawn to Marie Kondo's book because my living space is in need of some serious help as the "stuff" of my 48 years threatens to overwhelm my home.

Kondo's advice for tidying your living space, and subsequently your life is this: forget finding the right storage system. What you really need to do is get rid of most of your stuff.

Perhaps I have oversimplified and slightly exaggerated my summation, however that was my first impression of Kondo's words. (And I will admit I was at once horrified and convinced she had hit the nail on the head.)

The book is uncluttered and neat, streamlined in its advice. As I read Kondo's precise and methodical account of her own discovery of her KonMari method for keeping her living spaces tidy, I frequently looked around at my own living room only to realize I was, in fact, in possession of many items that held little, if any real meaning to me.

According to the book, the standard for deciding what to keep (and thus what you will need to have room for) are those things which bring you joy. Kondo advises actually handling each and every possession, from clothing to books to mementos and asking yourself, "Does this give me joy?" If you hesitate or the answer is "no," get rid of it.

I suspect that many of us are guilty of collecting items for the sake of acquisition only and that many of the items in our homes and lives do not serve to bring us joy. I know that is the case for myself. I suspect that is why so many people have tidied their living spaces only to find themselves surrounded again by clutter within a few weeks or months.

If you find yourself in that position, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up may be the solution you are looking for. You may find it inspiring to hear Kondo say that once you tidy, truly tidy according to her method, you will never have to do it again. (Be warned, it may take up to six months of dedicated effort if your possessions are overwhelming your space!)

I find this succinct little book to offer a promising solution to the clutter accumulating in my home. I am going to re-read Kondo's advice and then I am going to take on the life-changing project of tidying up my home!

From the publisher . . .

This 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.

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this international bestseller featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

About the author . . .

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 featured on more than thirty major Japanese television and radio programs and in the Sunday Times, Red magazine, You magazine, and the Times, who has deemed her “Japan’s preeminent guru of tidiness, a warrior princess in the war on clutter.”

Knockout Knits Packs a Punch!

I was very excited to receive a review copy for Larua Nelkin's Knockout Knits from Blogging For Books. As an avid knitter, I am always on the lookout for new accessory items which knit up quickly, especially as the gift giving season approaches. Knockout Knits not only provides knitters with a wide variety of accessories to knit, it also challenges readers to experiment with new techniques to add an extra element of interest to the experience of knitting and to the final piece.

The book is broken into three main areas of emphasis: wrapped stitches, lace, and knitting with beads. Within each section, Nelkin arranges projects from small and easy at the beginning to larger or more complicated projects at the end. With an introduction to each technique leading off the section, knitters will get a sense of the variety of effects each technique can offer. Even though I had done some basic knit stitches using the wrap/drop technique, Knockout Knits was the first time I saw the variety of ways this technique could be switched up to such different effects for some stunning end results. (Folly Cloche, I'm talking about you!)

Another technique I have always wanted to try but had not had the opportunity is knitting with beads. Nelkin's introduction and step-by-step guidance through the working of patterns with beads has given me the courage to cast on my yarn and go for it!

Patterns in Knockout Knitsare clear and easy to follow. The photographs are eye candy for fiber fanatics and fashionistas. Nelkin provides easy-to-read charts where appropriate. And, as mentioned earlier, the range from easy to progressively more challenging projects provides something that a knitter of any skill level can dive in and accomplish.

If you are a knitter looking for some great holiday gifting ideas, Knockout Knits is a sure hit!

From the Publisher:

An abundance of knitted luxuries--summery lace shawls, warm and wooly hats, a trio of cool knitted bracelets, and stunning beaded gloves--designed to grow your skills.

Who doesn't love to knit accessories? They're fast, often require only a skein or two of yarn, and make amazingly versatile gifts for friends and family. Small knits are also the perfect way to try something new--an unusual stitch pattern, wild multi-colored yarn, or even a touch of sparkle. Laura Nelkin is well-known for designing these fun-to-knit little projects introducing her students and fans to advanced techniques with her signature "You can do it!" enthusiasm. In her first book, she shares her 3 favorite types of knitting using wrapped stitches, lacework, and beads. Each chapter begins with a quick knitted cuff to lay the foundations, then gradually ramps up to more complicated designs. The result is an all-new collection of wearable, feminine knits with a slightly rustic aesthetic. Give them as gifts, stockpile for a chilly day, or dress up a casual outfit--these are knockout projects to enjoy knitting again and again.

About the Author:

Laura Nelkin, a prolific independent knitwear designer, graduated from Cornell with a degree in Apparel Design. A former design director, Laura sells her knit pattern and kit line to yarn stores worldwide and teaches workshops around the country and online with Craftsy.com. Her patterns have been published through Nelkin Designs, and in The Rhinebeck Sweater, Scarf Style 2, Knitscene, and Knitty. Laura lives near Ithaca, New York. Visit her at www.nelkindesigns.com.