This Month's Book Reviews

WE ARE THEIR HEAVEN:
Why the Dead Never Leave Us
by Allison Dubois,
Simon & Schuster, 2006. 211 pages. $24.00

Fans of the hit television series Medium will enjoy this new book by Allison Dubois, the real-life medium who inspired that show. Last year Dubois wrote a book about her experiences as a medium, Don’t Kiss Them Goodbye (see phenomeNEWS, Book Talk, July 2005). That work focused on better understanding of mediums and what they do.

Dubois’ new book has a different perspective. This one focuses on the experiences of people who have had readings from Dubois in which they make contact with loved ones who had passed on. The persons receiving the readings share their perception of the experience and Dubois then gives her side of the experience. From this double-focus readers gain insights into the after-life and of the intentions of those who have passed over.

Dubois’ purpose seems to be to help us all understand that those who have passed are “constantly with us, providing comfort, love and support.” For everyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one, this idea is comforting. Dubois encourages everyone to accept that even if they never have a “reading” with a medium, their loved ones are lovingly present and supportive to those still on Earth.

Dubois organizes this book around the loss of various loved ones: spouses, parents, children. It also “addresses some of the various ways in which people die, for example by suicide or accident and the different ways in which they show us that they remain.” A main point for Dubois is: “They willingly stay with us to share in our emotion and to help teach us what we need to learn.”

Another very human aspect of the book comes from the insights into Dubois’s own daily struggles with her life and her “gift.” Much like the character in the television series, the real-life Dubois exudes good intentions, sincerity and an innate desire to be helpful to others. Readers also learn that her husband, Joe, is much like his television depicted character, as are her three daughters, who also are all exhibiting the same psychic abilities that Dubois has.

As in Dubois’s first book, husband Joe writes a chapter, in this book the “Introduction.” He says, “I try to thoughtfully and rationally come to terms with the very interesting things that happen around my house.” He also notes, “I have learned by being married to Allison that we are here on this earth to live and love one another.”

Ever encouraging of those who grieve for loved ones, Dubois offers loving advice: “Your loved ones don’t want you to suffer for the rest of your life, paying homage to them through your tears... Allow peace to enter your heart, take a deep breath and ask them to let you know they’re with you. They will find a way... Your passed love one can feel your pain and wants you to release it.” From her many experiences communicating with those who have passed on, she has many insights to share with readers.

A very poignant chapter describes Dubois’ visit to a hospice to visit a dying friend. Here again, she shares her own difficult experiences and the wisdom she gains from them. “When people are dying, it’s crucial that they have people with them who can reminisce with them and hold their hand... Death allows us to perform those last acts of love for the person who’s passing on.”

For Dubois, readers are sure to see that she only wants to serve others. Her kind, loving personality and soul come through on every page. This book is very easy to read. It can be a very helpful work for all who have lost someone dear to them – and that is certainly all of us.

Dubois has conducted over 2,000 personal readings and is booked several years in advance. She donates her time to missing and murdered persons and criminal agencies across the country. She helps find missing and murdered people and assists in jury selection for district attorneys’ offices. “Each of these activities is a means for her to give back to the world for being so blessed.” Dubois’s website is www.allisondubois.com.

Reviewed by Gayl Woityra

Let Your Goddess Grow:
Seven Spiritual Lessons on Female Power and Positive Thinking
by Charlene M. Proctor, PhD.
The Goddess Network Press, 2005, $19.95, 262 pages.

“After considering what women have openly shared with me, I know this for certain: right now, women need the goddess to think positively and feel empowered,” says Charlene Proctor.

To be divine means to orchestrate our own realities. Women certainly do this and the book aims to help them remember and add to their identification with the divinity of women, through greater awareness of ancient goddess principles.

It seems simple. If you are creating, then you are part of the Creator. Women create all the time in their daily lives – whether it’s making school lunches, developing new products or building new companies – so identifying with divinity should be easy. But it seems women often get caught up in the doing and can benefit from a reminder that creativity is power. “Remember, we can survive,” says Proctor, “but we can always do better than that: we can create reality.”

The book’s seven lessons offer exercises to help women boost their goddess identity. Each lesson winds up with an opportunity to inventory, affirm, plan and share what they are learning.

“Whether Sophia, Shakti or other representations of the divine mother such as Kuan Yin, Tara, Isis or Kali, what we really recognize is the sacred feminine in ourselves, in the form of a promise. She is the vehicle through which we achieve a state of being. We are Her at the same time we are spirit/consciousness.”

Let the Goddess Grow aims to nurture women’s image of the divine feminine – and therefore themselves – as a vital component of their concept of Creator and in this way claim their creative power and achieve balance in their lives.

One of the biggest challenges of our time is living in the daily awareness of ourselves as spiritual beings and there are many sources available to help us. This book is one of them.

Reviewed by Sally Kimbel

The Right Weigh:
Six Steps to Permanent Weight Loss
Used by More Than 100,000 People
by Rena Greenberg.
Hay House, 2005, $14.95, 183 pages

At age 25, Rena Greenberg faced a serious health problem. Although she was only about 20 pounds overweight, she had the heart of an 80-year-old. She had to be hospitalized and have a permanent pacemaker implanted in her chest.

After she got out of the hospital, she decided to change her old habits. She began learning many healing methods and eventually created the Right Weigh program, the basis of this book. The focus is life change to a happier, balanced state of mind. Coming to your right weight is one of the benefits of this change.

“The Right Weigh will teach you how to harness the power within your deeper mind, heart and spirit to help you achieve the health and body that you deserve to have and stop using food to fill a void,” says Greenberg.

The book lays out basic information about what to eat and how to deal with food cravings and addictions. Then she summarizes the six-step plan, which is designed to be covered in about 40 days – the time needed to change habits by replacing them with new behaviors. The book includes practical and spiritual exercises, as well as many bits of wisdom from someone who has changed her own life and helped many others do the same.

Greenberg believes that finding the weight that’s right for you is not about complicated diets or fitness centers. It’s about accessing your greatest strength and reclaiming your life.

“It’s your soul’s longing to live life fully,” says Greenberg.

Greenberg’s style is easy to read and understand and so is her message that weight and health are important threads, but the fabric is our lives.

Reviewed by Sally Kimbel

Count Your Blessings:
The Healing Power of Gratitude and Love
by Dr. John F Demartini,
Hay House, 2006, $14.95, 240 pages.

Dr. Demartini was taught from a young age to be grateful and count his blessings. As he has practiced this himself over the years and brought these teachings into his healing work, he has seen the strong link between gratitude, love and healing.

“Sickness and suffering actually function as hidden blessings because they smash our complacency concerning the fictions we’ve developed about our lives and force us to be present in our lives,” says Dr. Demartini.

In Count Your Blessings, he tells stories gleaned from his healing work about how a change in perspective leads to a change in physical and emotional health, leading us in the direction of unconditional love and gratitude.

“Gratitude attracts more gratitude, just like ingratitude attracts more ingratitude,” says Dr. Demartini. “In other words, the more we focus on our blessings, the more blessing we have to focus on and the more grateful we become.”

Each chapter ends with a distillation of a major life theme, reflections, realizations and affirmations. Through the 25 chapters, you can be inspired and put yourself through your own metaphysical healing course by practicing the exercises given.

The lessons illustrated in each chapter contain simple, unvarnished wisdom. In this wonderful book, Dr. Demartini has distilled them through his own experiences, giving us a helpful reminder in these times of great change, as well as a pathway to the light at the end of the tunnel.

Reviewed by Sally Kimbel

Past phenomeNEWS Book Reviews