Living with Intent

LIVING WITH INTENT
My Somewhat Messy Journey to Purpose, Peace and Joy

In the past year of my life, I've thought a lot of Mindfulness.  Fighting depression and anxiety without using medications is a challenge, and most things I've read about Mindefulness says that learning to live more in the moment (and sending out more positive vibes into the world) can help.

So, when I got a chance to read Living with Intent I jumped at it.  The subtitle of "My Somewhat Messy Journey to Purpose, Peace and Joy" appealed to me.

Now, I read non-fiction books much slower than I do fictional ones, no matter how interesting I find the subject matter, so this one took me a little bit of time to get through.  I think next time I read it I'll go through with a highlighter, because I forgot to make marks on what resounded with me.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book is that it was a self help book, written by someone who DIDN'T have all the answers.

Mallika Chopra never said, "My life is perfect, and if you do things this way your life can be perfet to."

In fact it was often the opposite.  She pointed out all the ways that her life WASN'T perfect, which is why she wanted to focus on living with Intent, so that she could put what was most important to her in the forefront.

Even while writing this book she struggled to follow the path of Intent she laid out.  But as she did practice it, she learned things. She also spoke with various people who are living their lives seemingly in bliss. And what she learned she shared with us by writing Living with Intent

WHAT IS INTENT

In Living with Intent, Mallika Chopra lays the definition of Intent out as this:

I - Incubate
N- Notice
T - Trust
E - Express
N - Nuture
T - Take Action

She has a full chapter on each step, telling how you can apply each step of intent to your life, and how she has applied it to hers.

There is an Afterwards written by the authors father, Deepak Chopra as well as pages at the end of the book for you to Express your intent in writing.

MALLIKA CHOPRA

The author of this book, Mallika Chopra, is the daughter of Deepak Chopra.  She has written two other books, 100 Promises to My Baby, and 100 Questions from My Child.

She is also the founder of Intent.com where you can share your Intents with the world, and gather support and encouragement.

BUY IT

Living with Intent is available on amazon in Kindle, Hardcover, paperback and Audible.

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I received a copy of this novel free from Blogging for Books, but all thoughts and opinions on it are my own. 

At the End of the Road - Review

Not all "Coming of Age" novels are full of grand adventure and happy endings.

In At the End of the Road, Grant Jerkins introduces us to Kyle, who is only 10 years old.  Set in rural Georgia in 1976, it tells the story of one summer in Kyles life.

It is a summer full of excitement, following his older brothers and butting heads with ill tempered bulls and equally ill tempered bullies.

It is a summer of discovering familial love.  The love of older brothers who love him but really don't want to --be bothered.  The love of a younger sister who idolizes and wants to please him.

It is also a summer full of horror and dangerous secrets.  Kyle's life, and the life of his younger sister, are changed dramatically that summer when, while riding his bike on a seldom used dirt road, he accidentally causes and accident.

Being 10, and being afraid, he leaves the scene.  Only to find the injured woman and her wrecked car have mysteriously disappeared.

Then after a fire that burns several acres of forest, Kyle finds himself under the control of one of their neighbors.  A man they have seen every day, but is more of a monster than anyone would have ever guessed.

The events that transpire that summer certainly usher Kyle out of boyhood, but certainly not in a gentle and fun filled way.

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This book is dark.  VERY dark.  This book lacks any humor or light moments. Even the "good" parts of the books are only happy in a sad way.

It can also be disjointed.  Mostly you are seeing things from Kyles POV.  But you do sometimes change to the POV of a character we know for most of the novel as "The Reticulated Woman."

You also find yourself bouncing in and out of flashbacks so you might not be sure where you are in the timeline 100% of the time.

All that aside, I could not put this book down.  I wanted to know what the outcome was for Kyle and his sister.  I wanted to see if anyone (his clueless parents, the intrepid police officer, his MIA older brothers) would rescue him from the horror he found himself trapped in.  Or if maybe he would "come clean" expose his secrets and rescue himself.

I would being lying if I said that everyone lived happily ever after, but I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a dark tale.

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At the End of the Road was the 24th book I read in 2016.  See the rest of my 2016 book list here.

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At the End of the Road is available on amazon in Kindle and paperback editions.


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Aftertime by Sophie Littlefield

When Cass Dollar wakes up, she knows it is summer.  But she doesn't remember exactly what happened to her, how she got where she was.  Most imporantly she knew that Ruthie was missing, and she had to get back to Ruthie.

Cass lives in "Aftertime" which is a post-apocalyptic world.  This is a zombie novel, but the zombies are called "beaters" in this one, and we get a small peek into their origin.

Unlike most stories of this type that drop you in the story with little to no explanation, as the novel unfolds and Cass journeys to find her missing daughter, we find out more and more about how the world became the way it is.

Cass ends up getting help from various  groups of survivors, despite having been a loner all of her life.  She finds herself traveling with a man named Smoke, who is one of the few people in Aftertime who knows the secret that Cass is trying to keep from everyone.

Smoke sticks with Cass despite her dangerous secret, and her nearly kamikaze need to get to Ruthie.  This gets them both in serious trouble when they run into the Rebuilders, who know Smoke and have no love for him.

I enjoyed this novel.  I liked the characters and the setting, the civilization that has come to pass after the downfall.  I would have preferred more action with the Beaters, but most Zombie novels focus on the human element more than the "monsters."

However, I was disappointed to find out this was the first book in a series of books.  It was followed by Rebirth then Horizon.

I will see if my library has the next two books, but I would have preferred it to be a stand alone novel.

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Aftertime was the 12th book I read in 2016.  See the rest of my 2016 book list here.

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You can purchse Aftertime on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, Mass Market Paperback or MP3 CD

Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.

Bad Monkey

Andrew Yancy has lost his appetite for resturant food, and would really like to be rescued from his job on "Roach Patrol."  Being a Health Inspector is not a lush gig, which explains why Yancy has a human arm in his freezer.

Sort of.

Yancy thinks that if he can prove this "boating accident" was really a murder, then he would be forgiven a random act of violence and reinstated to the Monroe County sheriffs office.

Unfortunately for Andrew Yancy things, as usual for a Hiaasen novel, begin to go amusingly wrong for him.

This story takes you from Miami to the Bahamas and includes a cast of characters including a voodoo witch, a kinky coroner and, yes, even a Bad Monkey that is the novels namesake.

My favorite part of this novel was actually the sub-plot.  A real-estate agent has optimistically built an eyesore of a building beside Yancy's home.  Driving off the deer that used to feed there and blocking his sunset.

And for some reason that agent is having the devils own time finding a buyer for that home.  It seems to be cursed with bad luck.

Wreck and Order

After I had been reading Wreck and Order for many, many days I realized I was only about a third of the way thought it.

I also realized I would not make it all the way through this novel.

First, I loathed the main character.  She was the dictionary definition of the "poor little rich girl."  She doesn't have to work because her dad casually drops her checks for thousands of dollars at a time.  She's not happy in the relationship she's in, so she travels to places like Sri Lanka in hopes to "get over" a man.

I think the point was that she was looking for, and unable to find, emotional fulfillment, but all I got from it is "the sex isn't good enough."

And there is quite a bit of sex in this novel.  Elsie, (our main character) is very casual with sex, even though she seems to be looking for some emotional meaning.  Most of her sexual encounters seems to end with her being annoyed or angry that she didn't climax.

When she found herself becoming too comfortable in a relationship she did things to sabotage it, and then threw herself a little pitty party when it came (seemingly) to an end.

That  is when I decided to give up on this book.  (somewhere around page 107 of a 290 page novel)

I didn't hate this novel the same way I did A Girl is a Half Formed Thing.  I could possibly pick it up again in the future, picking up where I left off, or starting fresh from the beginning.  But for now, I've just got to move on to the next book in my to be read pile.

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Wreck and Order is available on amazon in Kindle, Hardcover, Audible and MP3 CD.

Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.
Don't have Audible?  Try Audible Now and Get Two Free Audiobooks

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Love to read?  Come Join the Facebook Group: Lets Talk about Books
It is a casual place to discuss books and reading in general.

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I received a copy of this novel free from Blogging for Books, but all thoughts and opinions on it are my own.

Summer Secrets

A compelling story of a woman
struggling with addiction
and seeking forgiveness"
--Booklist

To an outsider it would appear that Cat Coombs is living a glamorous life as a journalist.  But she has a problem.  She feels like she doesn't fit in, and since she was a teen has been turning to alcohol to make her feel like he belongs.

Cat is an alcoholic.

One morning she feels she has had enough, and tells her mother she wants/needs help.

That is when her mother drops a bombshell on her that will change her life forever, in more ways than one.

Summer Secrets by Jane Green takes place in London, where Cat lives, and during summers in Nantucket.

While everyone in Summer Secrets loves the American island, it also harbors many secrets.

This novel follows Cat from her 20s, as a party girl, to her 40s, as a divorced mom of one, still trying to find her place in life.  There are flashback to her teens and childhood, and even a flashback or two before she was born.

This novel centers around Cat's alcoholism, and how it effects her life.  How she battles it and how it continues to affect her life even once she is sober.

This novel is also about family, and about love. It is about the bonds of family, about love found and lost.  Its about distrust and grudges, but it is also about friendship and forgiveness.

 I did enjoy this novel and finished it in just a few days.

There were a couple of jumps in time that threw me off.  There were parts of Cat's life I would like to have seen more detail of, but I guess that wasn't what this book was really about.

I would like to see a second book with the characters who LIVE in Nantucket as the central characters.  I think that would be interesting.

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You can purchase Summer Secrets by Jane Green at Amazon in hardcover, paperback, kindle and audio versions.


Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.
Don't have Audible?  Try Audible Now and Get Two Free Audiobooks

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Lets Talk About Books.

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365 Inspirational Quotes - Review

Available on Amazon as a paperback
or a kindle book.

This 5x7 collection of quotes is a hefty little paperback book, and it should be since it is packed with 366 quotes. (The cover says 365, but they did include one for Feb. 29th, making it 366)  It is over an inch thick.

The title, 365 Inspirational Quotes: A Year of Daily Wisdom from Great Thinkers, Books, Humorists, and More   promises inspirational quotes, and it starts off with a bang on Jan. 1. "This is where it all begins.  Everything starts here, today."

I have not read all of the quotes in this book, but I did read through January to catch up.  I have opened a page here and a page there as well (because you KNOW I had to go see what my birthday quote would be)

Not all of them are "inspirational" to me for example, January 3rd was "If life is a bowl of cherries, what's inside of it?"  I don't see inspiration in that one (because there is nothing but pits in a cherry, so life is the pits? but I guess they must have all inspired the collector to some degree.

The book itself is fun to flip through though.  The quotes are not just black font on white pages.  They have different fonts, different colors.  Each month has its own main color (red, purple, green, blue, orange)

The only negative thing I have to say about this book involves the cover.  It feels waxy and is somewhat unpleasant to hold in my hands for a long time.

Other than that, this book gives you what it promises on the front, 365 (366) quotes to (hopefully) inspire you.

(I received this book free in exchange for my honest review)