This Month's Book Reviews

The Road Less Traveled:
25th Anniversary Edition By M. Scott Peck MD, Simon & Schuster, 2003, $14.00, 317 pages

The Road Less Traveled is one of those classics that bears revisiting, especially in times of great change, such as many people are experiencing today.

“The most common response I have received to The Road Less Traveled in letters from readers, has been one of gratitude for my courage,” says Peck in his new introduction to the 25th anniversary edition, “not for saying anything new, but for writing about the kind of things they had been thinking and feeling all along, but were afraid to talk about.”

In changing times, it’s important to talk about the things we’re thinking and feeling, if only with ourselves, to understand where we are and to illuminate how to move forward.

Peck wrote this book around the major themes of discipline, love, growth and grace, showing us how to progress by giving examples from his years as a psychiatrist. The Road Less Traveled is just as helpful now as it was in 1978, as people continue on the spiral path of growth and spiritual evolution that characterizes the human experience.

When the well-traveled road no longer goes anywhere we want to go, it’s no surprise that we can discover the new life we seek along the unfamiliar way, the way leading to a place we might not otherwise find. Thanks to Peck, we have a map to inspire us toward the courage we need to take those first faltering steps along that less-traveled road.

Reviewed by Sally Kimbel

SunShines: The Astrology of Being Happy: by Michael Lutin
Simon & Schuster, 2007, $16.95, 480 pages

“Happiness comes when it dawns on you who you really are and what in tarnation you are doing here on Earth,” says author Michael Lutin, astrologer for Vanity Fair magazine, in his new book, SunShines: The Astrology of Being Happy.

Lutin starts out by giving an analysis of your astrological sign. “The Sun is everything you want to be. It’s your center of power, the potential you have for health and wealth, and it’s your birthright to pursue your own little bluebird of happiness. It’s everything you could become.”

Then he combines this solar analysis with the year of your birth to reveal not only your big life lessons, but the major life themes that will help you reach into a higher expression of your Sun Sign nature, if you choose to take on the challenge.

No matter which major issues are prominent for you – communication, money, marriage, security, control, recognition, freedom, independence, love, escape, sex or religion – Lutin offers an experienced perspective based on many years of study and practice, and seeing people transform their lives through the use of astrology.

“For everyone, lasting happiness is the ability to make the most of your gifts, reduce your negative traits, and increase your positive ones. And it always comes back to your Sun Sign. Always. It’s the heart and soul of everything you are trying to become and be.”

Reviewed by Sally Kimbel

 

Miracle Prayer: By Susan Shumsky, D.D. Celestial Arts/10 Speed Press, 2006, $14.95, 314 pages

Miracle Prayer is like a cookbook for prayers. Author Susan Shumsky has synthesized the elements of prayer found in many spiritual traditions and offers a simple technique for focusing intentions, then formulating prayers and affirmations, with results in mind.

“This book is about overcoming past habits and creating the life you envision,” says Shumsky. “By realizing your true identity as an unlimited divine being, you can make miracles. You have all the power of nature at your command, and you can wield it.”

Like a cookbook, by using the steps outlined in this book you can learn to go deeper into understanding how prayer works. It gives you a structure to follow as you go. The techniques show the reader what questions to ask and how to organize their thoughts. This book also includes many sample prayers and affirmations.

Miracle Prayer can assist anyone who wants to begin or expand the use of prayers and affirmations in their spiritual practice.

Reviewed by Sally Kimbel
 

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