Ash's Picks
The Spiritualist
(In no particular order)
Reading Style
I enjoy books that make me a better person, that help me grow in a positive way, or show me a situation from another perspective.
Literary Likes
01
Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives by Dan Millman
Genres: Autobiography, Self Help, Spirituality, Philosophy
Way of the Peaceful Warrior is based on the story of Dan Millman, a world champion athlete, who journeys into realms of romance & magic, light & darkness, body, mind, & spirit. Guided by a powerful old warrior named Socrates & tempted by an elusive, playful woman named Joy, Dan is led toward a final confrontation that will deliver or destroy him. Readers join Dan as he learns to live as a peaceful warrior. This international bestseller conveys piercing truths & humorous wisdom, speaking directly to the universal quest for happiness.
02
Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives
Genres: Nonfiction, Spirituality, Psychology, Memoir
The true story of a prominent psychiatrist, his young patient, & the past-life therapy that changed both their lives. As a traditional psychotherapist, Dr. Brian Weiss was astonished & skeptical when one of his patients began recalling past-life traumas that seemed to hold the key to her recurring nightmares & anxiety attacks. His skepticism was eroded, however, when she began to channel messages from the space between lives, which contained remarkable revelations about Dr. Weiss' family and his dead son. Using past-life therapy, he was able to cure the patient & embark on a new, more meaningful phase of his own career.
03
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
Genres: Nonfiction, Autobiography, Spirituality, Philosophy
This acclaimed autobiography presents a fascinating portrait of one of the great spiritual figures of our time. With engaging candor, eloquence, & wit, Paramahansa Yogananda narrates the inspiring chronicle of his life: the experiences of his remarkable childhood, encounters with many saints & sages during his youthful search throughout India for an illumined teacher, ten years of training in the hermitage of a revered yoga master, and the thirty years that he lived & taught in America. Also recorded here are his meetings with Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Luther Burbank, the Catholic stigmatist Therese Neumann, & other celebrated spiritual personalities of East & West.
spirituality, education, 1st person perspective, autobiographies, positivity, comedies, self help
Literary Dislikes
scary, space travel
What's on my bookshelf
Books on deck to read next
As a Man Thinketh by James Allen
04
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Sports
Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. Born to Run is that rare book that will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.
05
Eastern Wisdom for Western Minds by Victor M. Parachin
Genres: Spirituality, Religion-Buddhism, Religion-Christianity
From Awareness to Zen – an A to Z handbook to understanding the benefits of Eastern spirituality for Christian living. The purpose of this book is to enrich the faith that is already there. Christians especially can benefit from the principles and practices from the East that are universal & applicable to everyday life.
06
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Travel Literature, Chick Lit, Spirituality, Romance
A celebrated writer's irresistible, candid, and eloquent account of her pursuit of worldly pleasure, spiritual devotion, & what she really wanted out of life. Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want—a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy & fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, & confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, & the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be. To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time & space to find out who she really was & what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, & undertook a yearlong journey around the world—all alone. An intensely articulate & moving memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment & stop trying to live in imitation of society’s ideals.
07
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Genres: Historical Fiction, Cultural, Classic Literature
This is the unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies. A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.
08
The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care by T.R. Reid
Genres: Nonfiction, Health / Health Care, Politics, Medicine
In his global quest to find a possible prescription, Reid visits wealthy, free market, industrialized democracies like our own – including France, Germany, Japan, the U.K., & Canada – where he finds inspiration in example. Reid sees problems too: He finds poorly paid doctors in Japan, endless lines in Canada, mistreated patients in Britain, spartan facilities in France. In addition to long-established systems, Reid also studies countries that have carried out major health care reform. The first question facing these countries – and the United States, for that matter – is an ethical issue: Is health care a human right? The Healing of America lays bare the moral question at the heart of our troubled system, dissecting the misleading rhetoric surrounding the health care debate: Is health care a human right?