This review could be really short:  If you’ve ever wanted to do something and then didn’t do it… you need The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield.

That’s all I need to say.  Skip the rest of this review and go get a copy of The War of Art.

Here’s why you need it:

I don’t care if you came to a complete halt before you even began the project, this book contains the uncomfortable, bedrock answer to what stopped you.

Writers often talk about mid-book slump.  That’s something that hits any creative project, whether it’s a book, a diet (that infamous “plateau”), a relationship, or finally cleaning out the garage.

And then, near the end of an important project, there’s that deer-in-the-headlights moment.  It might be fear of failure or fear of success, but we suddenly come up with a bazillion reasons not to complete whatever-it-is.  The following are typical:

• The book needs another edit.  And, it’ll take more time & focus than you’ll have for the next week or two. Or three. Or five.
• You’re too busy to keep exercising, or you absolutely have to eat everything in sight during the upcoming holiday/party/Star Trek marathon.  Then you’ll get back to your diet.
• You can’t get rid of the clutter in the garage without asking your parent, spouse, sibling, or your child who moved out and left his discards behind, oh, about ten years ago.

No matter where you’re stuck or why, you need to own a copy of The War of Art.  It needs to be next to your reading chair, or your bed, or whatever physically represents the faltering project.

This is the kind of book you can pick up, open it to any page at all, and see what’s really holding you back… staring you in the face on that page.

It’s one of those very rare books I give five stars to.

Rating:

My very best advice is to go through Steering by Starlight first, to find your authentic goals and dreams.  Then, keep The War of Art next to you at all times, along with your “perfect life” notes from Steering by Starlight.

That’s the combination that totally changed my life for the better.

See larger image The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles (Paperback) By (author) Steven Pressfield List Price: $12.95 USD New From: $7.75 In Stock Used from: $5.77 In Stock

The Celestine Prophecy, by James Redfield, was the beginning of a series of books.  Some are better than others.

I was not impressed with the writing style of the initial novel, The Celestine Prophecy. Even on the first reading, it seemed trite, dated and fairly tedious.  More than once, I muttered, “Get to the point!”

The plot devices seemed contrived and, at times, even downright silly.

So, you’re probably wondering why I’m bothering to review this book at all.  It’s more than ten years old, it’s written like something from the 1970s, and I didn’t enjoy much of it.

The answer is simple: The brief sections of the book that were good… they were (and still are) brilliant, timeless, and a breath of fresh air.

In my opinion, it’s worth struggling through the rest of the book just to get to the good parts.

Most of the “insights” were good but not great.  However, by the time the story built up to the concluding insights, my attitude towards the book improved.

Since you can find a used copy of this book for under $1, and your public library probably has a copy, I recommend reading this book… if only as a foundation for the better books that followed it.

That said, I still remember the recognition I felt when Redfield described a garden in The Celestine Prophecy. He was talking about something I fully understood, and it was one of the first times anyone had represented that kind of experience with such clarity.

It’s okay to skim the boring parts.  As long as you have a general understanding of what’s going on at each step in the story, the important, concluding sections will still make sense.

When you reach the part of the book that rings authentic, and if you’re like me, you’ll be glad you didn’t give up on the book altogether.  The Celestine Prophecy’s delightful moments of brilliance, though few and far between, make the rest of the journey worthwhile.

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See larger image The Celestine Prophecy (Paperback) By (author) James Redfield List Price: $14.99 USD New From: $7.50 In Stock Used from: $0.01 In Stock

If I could only recommend one self-help book, it might be Steering by Starlight by Martha Beck. The subtitle, The Science and Magic of Finding Your Destiny, is an understatement.

For me, the magic was a real surprise.  This has completely transformed how I start my day and the kinds of surprises and serendipity — often pure magic — that show up.

I did all of the exercises in the book. I think that’s important.  However, I was a little loose with a couple of them and it didn’t seem to significantly impact the results.

I’m still a little stunned at how well this book works.  In fact, the magic part baffles me.  It’s like a science fiction movie or a fairy tale, in which the road magically appears just a few steps ahead of you, always extending just a little further with each step.

When I finished each exercise, I almost always found myself in the middle of exactly what the next chapter addressed… even when it seemed pretty distinct and non sequitur from whatever Ms. Beck was about to talk about.

Be prepared.  It’s not an easy book to go through.  Some of the self-examination can get messy.  It is very likely to shake up a lot of what you thought you wanted out of life.

However, the clarity of vision you’ll gain… it makes the difficult truths worth facing.

One small note: If you’re LDS (Mormon), you may find some of Ms. Beck’s comments a little snide or harsh.  Given her past, I think her attitudes are understandable.  I just wouldn’t want those few comments to detract from your experience, or even put you off reading this book.

All in all, this is one of the best self-help books I’ve ever read.  I recommend it 100% and — except for the comments about Utah — I’d give this five stars.

Rating:

See larger image Steering by Starlight: The Science and Magic of Finding Your Destiny (Paperback) By (author) Martha Beck PhD List Price: $15.99 USD New From: $5.69 In Stock Used from: $2.59 In Stock Release date June 9, 2009.

Busting Loose from The Money Game by Robert Scheinfeld is a love-it-or-hate-it book for most people.

It’s correctly subtitled, “Mind-blowing strategies for changing the rules of a game you can’t win.”

“Mind-blowing” is an understatement.

Even if you finally land in the “love it” category, you may first spend days, weeks or even months scratching your head, wondering if the author is on the level.

Author Robert Scheinfeld takes you step-by-step through the process of deciding if life is really a game… in recent Star Trek terms: a huge, complex, and very impressive holodeck. (Or, if you’ve thought that your life may be something like The Truman Show, this book will confirm it.)

If you’re ready for the possibility that nothing is really real — it’s all virtual — few books present that case more methodically and clearly than Busting Loose from The Money Game.

Removing yourself from the “victim” role in the game can be tremendously empowering.  To get there, you need to know how to change the rules of the game.

This means completely dismissing almost everything you believe is true.  Scheinfeld talks about this as the “Phase Two” part of the game; in Phase One, you got the idea that your powers were limited, and almost everything’s a trade-off.

In Phase Two, the gloves come off, you take everything less seriously, and you step back into your true sense of power.  It’s like saying, “Okay, that was fun. Now let’s get to the high-powered exhilaration I was expecting from this game.”

If you felt let down by The Secret, “Busting Loose…” will explain why that’s a Phase One approach.  The Secret won’t work if you want true Phase Two abundance.

If you can suspend disbelief (and I am struggling with that), you may agree with Jack Canfield (author of the “Chicken Soup” book series), “This book will show you a joyful new way to create and experience total abundance.”

My opinion? This book is either total genius, or it’s a textbook study of dissociative disorders.  I’m not sure there’s any halfway point between those two interpretations.

Just in case author Robert Scheinfeld is right, I recommend reading this book.

If he is right, most of our planet is edging towards Phase Two right now.  To make the most of it — and prevent the panic, depression and frustration that can accompany this kind of shift in reality — Busting Loose from The Money Game is a book to own.

Ordinarily, I’d recommend reading a copy from the public library.  However, this book is so wacky and so disturbing, you’ll read about half a page of it and put it back on the shelf.

The quirky thing is: If you give the book half a chance, you’ll probably want to keep a copy on your bookshelf.

It’s a book you’ll keep returning to, and each time you’ll wonder a little more seriously, “What if he’s right…?”

Pros

• Concepts presented gradually and logically.
• Author seems wholly committed to this belief, and has been through the process himself and with clients.
• Using an “Easter egg” approach, the reader can transform his or her reality at a fairly comfortable pace.

Cons

• The premise is difficult to accept: Almost nothing is real… not as you’ve thought about it, anyway.
• The book seems to start out excessively slow, until you’re at the edge of the precipice and ready to reject the whole thing.
• Most people will need to re-read the book several times over a period of months before they digest these extreme ideas.

Summary

If you’re seeing weird patterns and flaws in the “reality” around you, and you’ve begun to wonder if this is all a holodeck, this is the book you’ve been looking for.

However, if you reject the concept that life may be a game and only a game, you’ll probably reject this book, too.

I’m not rating this book because I can’t make up my mind if it’s a no-star book or a five-star book.  There is no in-between rating I can give it.

As Alice might have said if she’d read this book, “Curiouser and curiouser…!”

Available at Amazon.com

See larger image Busting Loose From the Money Game: Mind-Blowing Strategies for Changing the Rules of a Game You Can't Win (Hardcover) By (author) Robert Scheinfeld List Price: $26.95 USD New From: $10.05 In Stock Used from: $4.05 In Stock

Simple Spells for Success by Barrie Dolnick is sort of “witchcraft lite.”

If you’re a witch or a practicing Wiccan, this book distills the basics into a fast, usable format.  It’s like a beginner’s recipe book listing all the supplies you’ll need (usually household items), when to cast the spell for the best results, and the exactly what to do and say.

If you’re not a witch and magic makes you a little uncomfortable, this book doles out a hefty dose of common sense (the kind we often overlook), so it’s also a self-help book.

However, if your spiritual beliefs reject anything related to witchcraft, even “white” magic, this book is not for you.

From the front flap of this book:  “As any successful person knows, magic is the art of getting results… The most important part of any spell is belief and intention.  By identifying your goal or wish and casting a spell, you more your attention out from everyday life and its complications to the belief that there is a higher power.”

In other words, this book takes basic magic and spells into the light, and makes them more of a meditation with accessories.

I tried some of the basic spells in this book.  The results seemed fast and impressive.  A noisy neighbor happily found another place to live.  An unexpected cheque showed up — nothing huge, and it may have been sheer coincidence — and that made me pause.

If you’ve thought about trying magic, this book is a fine introduction.  Even experienced witches may like the ease of these spells for business opportunities, personal power, and — of course — money.

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Available at Amazon.com