Category Archives: Martha’s Bookshelf

On Martha’s Bookshelf: If You Knew Me You Would Care

This month I’d like to recommend a book that carries an almost indescribable amount of psychological and spiritual power. If You Knew Me You Would Care is a combination of stories and photographs that capture the experience of women who have survived wars and atrocities in some of the most devastated parts of our planet. I don’t - Continue Reading

On Martha’s Bookshelf: Proof of Heaven

You may have noticed the kerfuffle of attention around a new book called Proof of Heaven, by Dr. Eben Alexander. The author was an academic neurosurgeon who taught at Harvard Medical School for fifteen years and published scores of articles in medical journals. He had heard some of his patients describe “near-death experiences” and was quite sure - Continue Reading

On Martha’s Bookshelf: Busting Loose From the Money Game

One of my Montana friends, a brilliant and eminently sane lawyer, lent me a book that at first glance did not appeal to me at all. It’s called Busting Loose From the Money Game by Robert Scheinfeld. I was thrilled to receive it, though, because lately I’ve been quite preoccupied with the issue of helping people make - Continue Reading

On Martha’s Bookshelf: The Night Circus

The book I’m recommending this month is a delicious read, and also has educational components for any wacky tribe members. It’s called The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. The author has a delicious time creating magical realism—painting pictures with words but, paradoxically, creating a wordless response in the reader. The world Morgenstern dreams up is a place - Continue Reading

On Martha’s Bookshelf: Books I’ll Never Give Up

Books have been sacred to many of us for a long time. They were the avenues through which we could communicate with wise friends we would never meet in the flesh, many of whom lived long ago. But as I de-cluttered my home, I realized that the Internet really truly is not going away. I - Continue Reading

On Martha’s Bookshelf: The Better Angels of Our Nature

I’m in the middle of Steven Pinker’s delicious book The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence has Declined. In case you think violence is not declining, you are perhaps basing your generalizations on television news reports, rumors, and your personal experience of fear and pain. In fact, while violence will always be part of the - Continue Reading

On Martha’s Bookshelf: The Great Animal Orchestra

One of the books I’m reading right now is The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World’s Wild Places. Acoustics expert Bernie Krause was a sound man for the movies when he first began going into nature to collect sounds for his customers. He traipsed through forests and deserts, seashores and mountains - Continue Reading

On Martha’s Bookshelf: The Firestarter Sessions

First of all, I want to shout out to the many people who have been giving me books by mail and in person. It is always an honor to receive a heartfelt book and I seem to attract that honor at a level that has now outstripped my reading speed. If I have not contacted - Continue Reading

On Martha’s Bookshelf: Philip Pullman

This month, as usual, I’ve read a lot of self-help, brain research and random manuscripts given to me by hopeful coaches. The books that impacted me most, though, were recommended by my dear South African friend Kate Groch, who is not only a genius, but also one who understands enjoyment and enchantment. She recommended Philip Pullman’s trilogy - Continue Reading

Martha’s Bookshelf: Marriage Rules

This month’s book is a fresh offering from one of my favorite authors in psychology, Dr. Harriet Lerner. The book is called Marriage Rules: A Manual for the Married and the Coupled Up. Those of you who have read Dr. Lerner’s various books such asThe Dance of Anger and The Dance of Intimacy will be happy to hear that - Continue Reading