Beginning ~ with transformation

Beginning (introduction)

The motivation to write this book certainly comes from the desire to help the many people we have seen suffering from depression.  But this is not just a book about getting rid of your depression.  Our more earnest hope is to give you tools to help you transform your life.  Transformation doesn't happen by merely getting rid of a problem.  Transformation occurs when you have the capacity to greet the problems in your life with an open awareness and a keen interest.  Learning how to be open to life and face painful problems is at the heart of our interest in exploring how mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy can be tools of transformation.

Peaceful Mind: Using Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioral Psychology to Overcome Depression ~ by John R. McQuaid, Ph.D., and Paula Carmona, RN, with Foreword by Zinder V. Segal, 2004, cognitive psychology, 200 pages

Recent reports indicate that depression is the most common psychological disorder in the US, affecting as many as 17 million Americans.  This book integrates the spiritual practice of mindfulness with psychological techniques for changing negative thoughts and behaviors into a powerful and proven-effective program for coping with this serious and distressing condition.

Current statistics suggest that as many as 17 million Americans suffer from depression; further research states that less than 25 percent of these receive adequate treatment for the disorder.  In clinical trials, treatment approaches that incorporate spirituality with psychology have proven to be dramatically effective at countering depression.  This book is co-written by a leading specialist in the treatment of depression and a clinical nurse who, as a Zen practitioner trained with Charlotte Joko Beck and Jon Kabat-Zinn.

A concept grounded in the practice of certain forms of Buddhism, mindfulness is the conscious, uninvolved awareness of the present moment.  Western psycholo-gists have recently learned that this state of mind is particularly conducive to the accomplishment of cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT:  an active mode of psychological treatment that attempts to recognize and counter negative thoughts and behaviors before they lead to debilitating symptoms like depression.  As statistics confirm again and again that depression is the single most common psychological problem affecting Americans, the refinement of psychotherapy through the integration of spirituality-based techniques has generated consider-able interest among psychology professionals.  This approachable and easy-to-use book makes these powerful techniques available to the general public.

The book is built around a compelling series of specific, step-by-step interven-tions that provide readers with an understanding of the thoughts that lead to depression.  They learn how to find the motivation to confront depressive feelings.  By sitting with painful emotions and allowing them to pass, you will find that you can reduce the frequency of depressive episodes.  Using meditation practices for observation and awareness, develop the ability to recognize cog-nitive, physiological, and environmental triggers that can lead to aggravated periods of the disorder.  When you change how you approach your day-to-day life, your daily activities, the choices you make, and the way you cope with life's ups and downs you strengthen the skills you need to move beyond depression and develop lasting peace of mind.

Bonnie's Note:  Although I'm not depressed, this book was donated to our small Crown Center library, and I've decided to read (or at least skim through) to see what it has to say about having a "peaceful mind."  In other words, I'm intrigued.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Jodi Picoult recommends a big book that is not yet published

Bad Words ~ by Rioghnach Robinson, 2026 (October), literary fiction, 400 pages

Parker Navarro’s debut novel was meant to define his career — until critic Selina Chan’s blistering review made it the flop of the decade.  Four years later, his new book is his shot at redemption; for Selina, reviewing him again is a professional risk she can’t refuse.  When her second takedown ignites a viral feud, both their fortunes shift overnight.  But as the literary world feeds on their public sparring, a quieter dialogue begins — one that challenges everything they thought they knew about success, sincerity, and each other.

Both incisive and tender, Bad Words lays bare the costs of creation — the pull between ambition and integrity, the vulnerability of being seen, and the unexpected closeness that can grow in the space between critique and care.  When words can make or break us, how do you stay true to what matters most?

Bonnie's Note:  When my favorite author recommends a book, I leave myself a note to be sure to read it when it is published.  I have to wait until October, not quite half a year.

Musing about a library book

Illuminated Prayers ~ by Marianne Williamson, illustrated by Claudia Karabaic Sargent, 1997, spirituality, 103 pages, 10/10

"I think of prayer as a spiritual lifeline back to where I most want to be," Marianne Williamson writes in this book of universal prayers.  Prayer is a powerful force that can lift spirits, guide journeys, and heal the heart.  Illunimanted Prayers is a small volume of spiritual wisdom to bring the power of prayer into our daily lives.

Illustrated in the manner of an illuminated manuscript, Illuminated Prayers offers a treasured keepsake of the power and enduring relevance of Williamson's message:  Prayer illuminates our souls, and with prayer we can change the world.

Shared summer reading at my library

Mississippi Solo ~ by Eddy L. Harris, 1988, memoir, 256 pages

Eddy Harris, the author of Mississippi Solo, is a St. Louis native. The book blends memoir, travel narrative, and cultural insight as it explores life along the river.  In this exciting classic, readers follow an adventurer whose lifelong dream is to canoe the length of this mighty river, from Minnesota to New Orleans.

The trip's dangers were legion for a Black man traveling alone, paddling from "where there ain't no black folks to where they still don't like us much."  Barge waves loom large, wild dogs roam the wooded shores, and, in the Arkansas dusk, two shotgun-toting bigots nearly bring the author's dream to a bloody end.

Sustaining him through the hard weeks of paddling were the hundreds of people who reached out to share a small piece of his challenge.  This is an unforgettable story of a man testing his own limits.

Week in Review

• My Monday post featured cats, HERE.
• Cats and water may not mix, but my next post, HERE, was about a boat sinking into the water.

Hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz,

we bloggers gather at separate computers in different time

zones — to share what we have been doing during the week.

Beginning ~ with water reaching your bed

Beginning

You wouldn't know it was happening until the water reached your bed.

     Something this big doesn't go down fast, like a beer can to the bottom of a pool.  Density, buoyancy, mass, and fiberglass — I'm not getting into that with you.

     Trust me.  It takes a very long time.  Overnight, for example.  And I'm telling you, if you're asleep after you've had a few, you're not going to notice.

Salty ~ by Kate Myers, 2025, humorous fiction, 320 pages

Captain Denise is more comfortable facing down a stingray than a party guest, though she’s punched both in recent memory.  After spending half her life at the helm of yachts across the Caribbean, she’s risen through the ranks thanks to one rule:  never, ever mix with the owners.

Her sister, Helen, is a walking HR violation, one of many reasons the two haven’t seen each other in years.  Recently fired after burning all her bridges, Helen returns home to work for Denise.

The clashing sisters’ first charter is for the Falcon family, shady real estate developers who mowed down Helen and Denise’s childhood home to build condos.  But then the latest Falcon building collapses — and a dead body turns up beside it.  Helen and Denise comb through the wreckage to uncover just how low the Falcons will sink in order to stay afloat — before the big storm wipes out the evidence.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Short stories about cats

The Private Life of the Cat Who . . . (Tales of Koko and Yum Yum, Book 3 of 3 of Cat Who Short Stories) ~ by Lilian Jackson Braun, 2003, cozy animal mysteries, 144 pages, rated 5 stars (out of 5) by 71% of reviewers on Amazon

James Mackintosh Qwilleran is a journalist who wrote for metropolitan newspapers from coast to coast before relocating to Pickax, four hundred miles north of everywhere.  These excerpts from his journal include memories, thoughts and ideas from the "Qwill Pen" column — altogether a drama starring two feline celebrities.  So there are 22 short stories about cats "by" the journalist-character in this book for us to enjoy.

How I got my hands on this book is another story.  I left our Circle@Crown Café and went to our library to shelve books.  Another resident got off their elevator, saw me, and said, "I've got something for you."  Reaching into the bag on her Rollator, she pulled out a gift-wrapped object that looked suspiciously like a book.  Of course, it was a book!  After opening it, I asked her specifically if she meant it's for me personally or for me to add to the library collection.  No, she said she knew I liked cats and wanted me to have this book.  Thank you, Alice.

A true-crime thriller that took place in St. Louis

Evidence of Murder ~ by Bill McClellan, 1993, true-crime thriller (St. Louis), 246 pages

This thorough (but frustrating) true-crime tale concerns Ed Post, a model family man and affable realtor in New Orleans, who was accused and convicted of drowning his wife, Julie, in a St. Louis hotel bathroom in 1986.

Bill McClellan is a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  In this book, he reconstructs the complex investigation: 

Post claims the death was an accident, but police found his statement exhaustive and therefore suspect.  Investigators learned that the couple argued regularly, that Ed faced rising debts and that Julie's insurance policy had been increased.  But there was countervailing evidence:  the Posts regularly upgraded their insurance; the medical evidence was inconclusive; and Julie's brother Bobby Thigpen, who claimed his sister feared her husband would kill her, failed a polygraph test. 

McClellan's detailed account of Post's trial borrows a lot from the transcript, showing how lawyers attempted to shade the evidence.  After jurors found Post guilty of murder, his conviction was overturned because of misconduct by deputies regarding the jury.  Post's family and friends, formerly his staunch defenders, then began to doubt his innocence, and testimony from Post's elder teenage daughter helped lead to another conviction and a life sentence.  Though Post, who still claimed his innocence, cooperated with McClellan, maybe the author should have probed his subject's psyche more deeply.

Week in Review

• On Friday, my book was about what people shared, HERE, when the author saked them, "What has life taught you?"
• My Saturday Stuff included a quote and Snoopy balanced on top of his doghouse, but in a very unusual way, HERE.

Hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz,

we bloggers gather at separate computers in different time

zones — to share what we have been doing during the week.