This is the first book I've read specifically about the Anasazi, and I really enjoyed it. Roberts takes us along on his personal search for answers to the mysteries of the Anasazi through his interviews of leading experts, his camping and hiking expeditions throughout the region, conversations with living Native American Hopi and Navajos, and his research of the modern day archeological history which started with an amateur rancher in the 1880's.

I found this a fabulous read. It's told in an entertaining way, as though we're along for the ride with Roberts as he follows his own curiosity into the world of the Anasazi.

I was impressed with how he presented the mysteries surrounding the Anasazi. He raises many questions which baffle current archeologists, and leaves the final conclusions up to the reader.

Roberts also does a good job of bring up different sides of issues such as how much to allow the public into delicate significant sites - what is the proper role of government agencies to balance preservation with access to the public? Also through his informal interviews he exposes the balance between the archeological practice of digging up bones and pots from ancient sites versus leaving them in their natural state as more of a natural museum.

Roberts is a contributing writer for Outside Magazine, has an inherent interest in the Anasazi, and spent years hiking and camping throughout the Four Corners region where the Anasazi lived until about 700 years ago.

I had a good time taking this trip with the author through the past and am now encouraged to learn more about the Ancient Ones who inhabited our West for so long before we arrived.

This book is filled with stunningly beautiful photos from beaches all over the world. The brief text is also interesting, but the images will make you crack this open when you want to remember the magic that happens when the ocean meets the land. I don't know exactly what is different here but the photos look especially vibrant and kind of jumped out at me.

From Antartica, to Cape Cod, to Tahiti, Indonesia and Newport Beach to name a few you'll see all the different elements of beaches around the globe. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't love having this book around. This would also make a great gift.

I used to live in Capitola on the sand and looking through this reminded me of all the reason I love the beach. It's obvious that the authors must have the same passion. Also the book cover and pages are high quality and physically look and feel great.

I read this slowly, picking it up now and then, going through one brief
chapter at a time. I always found a smile on my face and a bit of
wisdom in my soul. This is an eloquent, poetic book that I would
highly recommend.

Muller starts with some history of what the Sabbath
has meant in the Jewish and Christian religions and how it has been
practiced through the centuries. But this is not dogmatic reading at
all. The author uses the word Sabbath as a metaphor for rest in our
lives - whether it's an actual day, morning ritual, or simply a few
moments alone during a busy day. He reminds us that there is a reason
that this Sabbath concept has been such a strong component of life in
our past, and warns us against the modern trend towards constant
activity.

Chapters are filled with personal experiences, stories of
others, poems, and suggestions for incorporating mindful rest into our
lives.

I look forward to rereading this numerous times in the future.

Frankl tackles a lot of ground in a short space, looking deeply into the profound question of meaning in our lives from the perspective of a Nazi concentration camp survivor.

The first half of this book is a recounting of the authors' experiences as an inmate in various Nazi death camps. My skin crawled reading about the brutality and inhumanity he tells us of. I've heard and read a lot about the concentration camps before, but this first hand experience was very powerful. Frankl had already developed his psychological theory before the internment, so he tells us how his experiences essentially confirmed his view that humans have a need to find personal meaning. He recounts numerous stories from the camps of how hope for the future kept him and his comrades alive. Frankl describes how the prisoners were able to create dreams and plans for the future in order to stay sane and keep their will to live in an environment where it was very easy to give up. What I got out of his recounting of the horrors of the death camps was that even though the Nazi's took away almost all of the basic human necessities we are used to in life, and brutalized their prisoners, they weren't able to control the minds of those imprisoned. We each have the ability to control our own thoughts no matter what the situation - this is our power.

The second half of the book delves into Frankl's formal psychological theory he terms "Logotherapy". He says traditional psychotherapy looks into our past to find cures for current psychological problems. His Logotherapy on the other hand he says helps people through finding hope for the future by getting in touch with the meaning in their lives. I felt his argument was in some ways simplistic in that he suggests those who are depressed and/or suicidal have lost a personal meaning to life - and that they need to find it. That much is probably already evident to the suicidal patient - they already know they have nothing to live for. Telling them to "go find meaning to your life" is surely good advice, but kind of obvious. How do you do it? Frankl does have some suggestions however.

I felt that overall this was a compelling read that challenges the reader to consider what role personal meaning has in their life.

Reading this concise book I had the feeling that I was glimpsing real wisdom, not psychobable or "self-help".

Don Miguel Ruiz takes his interpretation of Toltec wisdom explained beautifully in his previous work "The Four Agreements" and applies these concepts to the realm of human relationships. Ruiz has an easy writing style that is very accessible and a joy to read numerous times.

This is a book you can finish in an afternoon sitting, yet it's simple truths have the potential to alter profoundly how you view loving relationships as well as your relationship with yourself. There's a lot here. I've read this twice and it's spoken directly to me in ways beyond what I can explain in this review.

Don Miguel teaches through parable and direct suggestion the transforming power of self-love. He says that all relationships start with you, and how you feel about yourself. You will allow just as much abuse and what he calls "emotional poison" as you inflict upon yourself. A truly loving relationship requires self love - which is so lacking in most of us. Ruiz compares the ideal relationship to the one we have with out pet - say our dog. The relationship with our dog is perfect because we get exactly what we expect from our dog. We never wish that our dog would be better at being a dog, and we love it freely just as it is. Yet with our mate we tend not to accept them as they are, we expect them to be different, to act in ways they would not naturally act. Then we are unhappy with them. We think we are in love with them, but really we're in love with how we want them to be. He says that we do not truly accept this person we say we love because we don't accept ourselves.

Ruiz tell us that humans hunt for love because we don't have it. We don't have it within ourselves. We hunt for love from other humans who also don't love themselves and are also on the love hunt. Then we are surprised and upset that we don't get the love we want from them, and they feel the same. So true! Other people don't have the love we need, only we do.

Don Miguel ends the book with a guide to healing our "emotional body" and also prayers for ourselves.

Meditation is new to me. I've been kind of doing my own thing and meditating the way I imagined you should do it without any direction (I had in mind that the point was to get away from direction!). I ran across this small book at Whole Foods and am happy to say that I would recommend it as a straightforward guide to what meditation is and different ways to practice it. Within the first 20 pages or so you'll get the basics and be ready to get going.

It's great. I have read this twice, and given it to a number of friends who have also enjoyed it. Prager takes a hard look at what causes happiness in a number of short chapters which grew out of speeches he's given in the past. He differentiates between true happiness which can permeate a life and fun which is temporary and immediate. Most all of us say that we seek happiness yet we seldom give it as much real consideration as we do choosing a new kitchen tile. Prager looks first at what happiness is, then what prevents it, and finally what produces it. This isn't a fluffy "feel good" read by any stretch. He says that true happiness is the result of sometimes difficult life decisions. Chapters include "Happiness is a Moral Obligation", "Accept Tension", "Develop Self-control", "Happiness is a By-product", "Life is tragic", "Comparing Ourselves with Others", and "Seeing Yourself as a Victim" among others.

This material is direct and to the point. A number of concepts have stuck with me and changed my outlook and behavior. I see this as a must read for myself numerous times in the future.

After buying this book you'll have no excuse not to be happier.

(FYI - Reading this book encouraged me to investigate Prager further and I discovered that he is a clear thinker on a range of subjects.........

Flow is a concept Csikszentmihalyi developed to describe his observations of human's happiest states. Flow he says is more or less being heavily involved in an activity - be it work, a hobby, sex, music etc. - in which you've tuned out to everything else. I saw this as sort of zen-like living in the present through immersion in an action.

I immediately identified with this concept, and he did an excellent job of showing the connection between flow and happiness in all areas of life. This is a very clear writer with an easy style. However I was left feeling that I can now identify past flow experiences I've had but can't exactly find in this book the key to increasing either the frequency or quality of those experiences in the future. That seems to be the trick. But maybe true happiness doesn't come easily.

I would certainly recommend this to any thoughtful reader.

Flow is a concept Csikszentmihalyi developed to describe his observations of human's happiest states. Flow he says is more or less being heavily involved in an activity - be it work, a hobby, sex, music etc. - in which you've tuned out to everything else. I saw this as sort of zen-like living in the present through immersion in an action.

I immediately identified with this concept, and he did an excellent job of showing the connection between flow and happiness in all areas of life. This is a very clear writer with an easy style. However I was left feeling that I can now identify past flow experiences I've had but can't exactly find in this book the key to increasing either the frequency or quality of those experiences in the future. That seems to be the trick. But maybe true happiness doesn't come easily.

I would certainly recommend this to any thoughtful reader.

I read this book about a year ago, and still regularly think of it and apply it's concepts in my life and business.

I have worked in sales for years, so I am very familiar with the 80/20 concept as relates to business. Simply stated in my field of real estate it's a proven fact that in different markets of the country and over time 20% of the agents make 80% of the income. This is true in other types of sales as well. Of course the flipside of this is that the large 80% of the agents only make 20% of the income. Basically a small number of people make most of the money. Why this is has been debated, but it seems to be a consistent rule that holds.

Koch points out how 80/20 is seen in other areas. For example 20% of taxpayers account for 80% of IRS revenue. What Koch does then is expand this rule to all aspects of life. He says that the 80/20 rule holds for all kinds of activities. He says that 20% of your work activity is responsible for 80% of your productivity on the job. And that 20% of your leisure time is responsible for 80% of your happiness. When I read this I just knew intuitively that it is true. So the next step is to figure out what the 20% activities are that are paying off the 80% returns in your work, or personal life, or anything. And then devote your energy into those activities and receive huge returns. He says that we're better off focusing on our strong suits where we're most effective rather than focusing our attention on the areas where we think "we need to improve". This idea alone is priceless.

This is practical, useful material that you can put to use today in your business and personal life. Koch has some seemingly offbeat ideas about playing with time unconventionally, boosting happiness, productivity through being "intelligent and lazy", and more that I loved. It really opened my mind to a range of possibilities.

Koch is a successful businessman who says he researched and could find no other books written on this subject.