Coming Out of the Trees (excerpts from my therapy journal)

These are the books I have read recently or am currently reading. If a book makes it onto this page, you can assume that I recommend it. Only if I like a book will I finish reading it, keep it in my personal library or mention it here.

Since my interests are varied, the subjects are diverse — and they often don’t have anything to do with this blog. The information about each book is largely quoted from the covers of the books themselves (so, they aren’t my own words).

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CURRENTLY READING FOR THERAPEUTIC PURPOSES:

The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (1994 third edition) by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis
Psychology/Self-Help — This book is an inspiring, comprehensive guide that offers hope and encouragement to every woman who was sexually abused as a child — and those who care about her. Although the effects of child sexual abuse are long-term and severe, healing is possible. The authors weave personal experience with professional knowledge to show the reader how she can come to terms with her past while moving powerfully into the future. They provide clear explanations, practical suggestions, a map of the healing journey, and many moving first-person examples of the recovery process drawn from their interviews with hundreds of survivors. [Table of Contents]

Portrait of a Praying Mantis by David Panevin
(flickr: david_panevin)

The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook: A Guide to Healing, Recovery, and Growth (2000) by Glenn R. Schiraldi, Ph.D
Psychology/Health — Trauma can take many forms, from the most disturbing circumstances such as witnessing a murder or other violent crime to the subtle trauma of living with the effects of abuse or alcoholism. Deep emotional wounds often seem as if they will never heal. However, with this book, Glenn Schiraldi offers a remarkable range of treatment alternatives and self-management techniques which shows survivors that the other side of pain is recovery and growth. [Table of Contents]

The Body Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment (2000) by Babette Rothschild
Psychology — It is now thought that people who have been traumatized hold an implicit memory of traumatic events in their brains and bodies. That memory is often expressed in the symptomatology of posttraumatic stress disorder – nightmares, flashbacks, startle responses, and dissociative behaviors. In essence, the body of the traumatized individual refuses to be ignored. While reducing the chasm between scientific theory and clinical practice and bridging the gap between talk therapy and body therapy, Rothschild presents principles and non-touch techniques for giving the body its due. [Table of Contents]

Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror (1997) by Judith Herman, M.D.
Psychology/Recovery — This book represents the fruits of two decades of research and clinical work with victims of sexual and domestic violence. It also reflects a growing body of experience with many other traumatized people, particularly combat veterans and the victims of political terror. This is a book about restoring connections: between the public and private worlds, between the individual and community, between men and women. It is a book about commonalities: between rape survivors and combat veterans, between battered women and political prisoners, between the survivors of vast concentration camps created by tyrants who rule nations and the survivors of small, hidden concentration camps created by tyrants who rule their homes. [Table of Contents]

Praying Mantis by Eric Bégin
(flickr: Eric Bégin)

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CURRENTLY READING FOR PLEASURE:

This Thing Called You (1948) by Ernest Holmes
Spiritual psychology — The great contribution of Ernest Holmes to modern thought is the specific form of meditation and prayer by which a person can control outward conditions of his life instead of permitting conditions to control him. Based soundly and thoughtfully upon the teachings of Jesus and other great spiritual leaders and philosophers, this book is an outline of the practice of Faith by which problems of every kind may be solved by every man and woman, directly, simply, and effectively.

The Seasons of Beento Blackbird (1996) by Akosua Busia
Fictional novel — This is the story of Solomon Wilberforce, a magnetic and brilliant man who writes bestselling children’s books under the name Beento Blackbird and who has dedicated himself to educating the far-flung children of African descent about their glorious heritage. And it is also the story of the three women who love him: Miriam, the Caribbean midwife who delivered him into the world when she was nine years old; Samantha, his beautiful, talented, and utterly modern New York book agent; and Ashia, an innocent woman-child who awaits him in her native village in Ghana.

Solmon spends one season a year with each of these very different women. But when a family tragedy brings him to New York out of season, he finds that the neat compartments that once separated Miriam, Sam and Ashia begin to fold in on one another. In a life that was once ordered by the cadence of nature itself, suddenly nothing is certain — and Solomon and the women he loves will never be the same again.

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Praying Mantis on Blue by Charlie J (flickr: char1iej)

HAVE FINISHED READING:

The Decline of Representative Democracy: Process, Participation, and Power in State Legislatures (1998) by Alan Rosenthal
Politics — This book does an admirable job of providing a comprehensive yet interesting view of the current state of state legislatures, as well as a compelling argument for why they find themselves in their current state. Rosenthal is to be commended for making abstract notions about representation relevant [to readers] by tying them to the actions of state legislators, and by bringing into the discussion the move toward expanding mechanisms of direct democracy.

Ask . . . The 244 Most Important Questions You Can Ask Yourself (1996) by John L. Mason
Philosophical Questions — You’re where you are today because of the questions you’ve asked yourself. In order to get where you want to be, you have to ask yourself the right questions. The difference between successful people and those who aren’t is that successful people ask better questions and therefore get better results. What are the questions that are shaping your life?

Apples of Gold (1962), compiled by Jo Petty
Quotable Quotes — The material in this book has been collected over a long period of time. Many of the original sources are unknown to the compiler. The compiler wishes to acknowledge the original authors, whoever they may be, but has confidence that they would urge, with her, “Do not inquire as to who said this, but pay attention to what is said.”

Praying Mantis by Lucy Bold
(flickr: ljpixie75)

[Curiously, I (Marie) received this book from a cousin as a high school graduation gift in 1986 but did not read it until now. The book came in a gold box (like the box a guest book would come in) and I have kept it in the box. I only opened the box and read the book now because I was looking for wise quotes to place on my blog. The box is very ratty after years of being hauled all over the country in moving boxes, but the book is in pristine condition . . . how fun to find such a treasure right under my nose after 23 years!]

Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Box (2000) by The Arbinger Institute
Business/Psychology — What is self-deception? How does it kill performance? What can you do about it? This book shows how most personal and organizational problems are the result of a little-known problem called “self-deception.” Through an entertaining and highly instructive story, this book shows what self-deception is, how people get trapped in it, how it undermines personal achievement and organizational performance, and — most importantly — the surprising way to solve it.

A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There (1948 original text with 1987 introduction) by Aldo Leopold
Non-fiction collection of essays — Aldo Leopold was one of the foremost conservationists of last century. This is some of the finest nature writing since Thoreau, with an outspoken and highly ethical regard for America’s relationship to the land. He records his observations and expresses his respect for the wildlife surrounding him on a daily basis. He then moves into essays challenging the reader to value land and wildlife and to protect their futures.

Praying Mantis by Erik Nielsen
(flickr: eriknielsen)

Alex Haley’s Queen (Reader’s Digest Condensed Books, 1994) by Alex Haley
Fictional novel — This generational saga was woven from extraneous material Alex Haley gathered during his research for Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1976). As the dark clouds of the Civil War gather, Jass Jackson, heir to one of the great plantations in Alabama, rides off to defend the Confederacy, leaving behind the love of his life – the strong-willed slave Easter – and their spirited daughter, Queen. By the time the war ends, the world they all know will be gone. In its place will be a new order – one filled with villainy and heroism, and the challenges of hard-won freedoms.

The Kite Runner (2003) by Khaled Hosseini
Fictional novel — This book tells a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love. Both transform the life of Amir, Khaled Hosseini’s privileged young narrator, who comes of age during the last peaceful days of the monarchy, just before his country’s revolution and its invasion by Russian forces. But political events, even as dramatic as the ones that are presented in this book, are only a part of this story. Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence — forces that continue to threaten them even today.

Enlightened through Darkness (2000) by Kelly S. Hartmann
Non-fiction — ‘Possession’ and ‘Exorcism’ — two words the Hartmann family came to understand well: “This is a true story, written from a place of love that came about because of the exorcism of our six-year old son. Because our family has walked through this dark valley, we stand in ‘the light’ and present this, our message of hope for anyone facing the perpetual struggle of good and evil. In reading this book, you will experience our fear; you will understand the courage we discovered within ourselves; you will share the faith we held onto as we emerged into our new place of ‘knowing’ — an incredible walk from darkness, into the light, only because of the ultimate love of our Creator, and the guidance of Judy Goodman. This is our message of hope for each of you!”

Mantis Smile by Mike McCaffrey (flickr: mccaffry)

I wonder if mantises consider themselves handsome . . . ??