This is a novel about someone who is so miserable that she has decided to end her life. But after she overdoses to kill herself, he finds herself in a library filled with books, each of which contains her history from alternative lives she is living simultaneously in the multiverse. She gets to try a great many of them on — including ones that she believed would have brought her life greater success and meaning, plus a lot more happiness — before she decides whether to go ahead and die as originally planned, or go back to the “root” life she had been living. ‘Nuf said. It’s a good’un!
Summary and Analysis of Atomic Habits I chose to get the summary of ATOMIC HABITS instead of the book (for monetary reasons and because I seem to remember reading the book years ago). Based on the insightful summary, I know the book must be terrific, too.
Untamed Untamed is the true story of a former high-profile evangelical woman with a successful Christian speaking career built on showing others how she had, despite struggles and roadblocks, secured and insured what she felt was a happy family and home life with her husband and their three children. Her story is riveting and powerful. Shortly before the book launch that would deliver her tale of triumph to her avid followers, she discovered that her husband had been cheating on her and her carefully-crafted fantasy came crashing down around her. During one of the book signing tours, she was with ten other writers, one of whom was a celebrity sports figure who had written a book. When their eyes met, they both fell head over heels for each other. Both were women.
The book discusses their relationship and their relationships with the author’s growing children. It’s a real page turner. Talk about character development! For the author, it was a revelation. For her kids, it was an education and a blessing. She is a feminist now and has shed the patriarchal and racist notions that were instilled in her as a child by her family and by society at large. She is truly untamed and I felt an immediate kinship with her. (She gets it wrong about cheetahs, though.Cheetahs are the Perry Comos of the wild cat family, as are servals. They do not attack unless they’re cornered or harassed. Wild cheetahs in Africa have been known to jump on Land Rovers and tour buses, lay down, and fall asleep with people sitting nearby.)
The next book on my reading list is this one:
The Untethered Soul:Journey Beyond Yourself
UPDATE: Although the title immediately above came highly recommended, I found it tedious, like “mansplaining” (on steroids) the same basic theme repeatedly ad nauseum. Essentially the message is, “Don’t believe everything/anything you think:” it’s your internalized, societally-indoctrinated thoughts about things that bring you (psychic, emotional, and sometimes even physical) pain.
Recognize the thinker beyond the thought, the soul beyond the static. That’s YOU, and that you is loving, peaceful, and holy.
That’s the gist. If this summation doesn’t ring as being true for you, then read the book. Or any other about Zen, Tao, or the source of psychic suffering. There are many more interesting ways to explain this than the author did in this one, sorry to say.
