The Book Report by Rebecca Traver - Our Online Bookshop Curator
Beloved Reader,
I know how precious your time is and I am beyond grateful that you are choosing to grant a measure of it to The Book Report. Shall we proceed, then?
I’m so pleased to announce September’s Author of the Month – the brilliant Julia Cameron! I can’t recall how or when I was first introduced to her work, but I do vividly remember how it felt…deeply resonant and evocative. I trust that you will be as moved by her as I am.
Next comes a mix of New + Newly Discovered books chosen to support + inspire + inform you; some back-to-school books for Young + Young at Heart readers, and a couple of ‘Just Because + Just for Fun’ offerings.
Author of the Month – Julia Cameron
“Spirituality can release blocks, lead you to ideas, and make your life artful. Sometimes when we pray for guidance, we’re guided in unexpected directions.
We may want a lofty answer and we get the intuition to clean our bedroom. It can seem so humble and picky that you don’t necessarily think of it as spiritual guidance.”
~Julia Cameron
Floor Sample: A Creative Memoir is the much anticipated memoir of how Julia developed and used her tools for her own creative self-expression and personal growth. This is the story behind her richly creative life – detailing her years in New York, her time as a writer for Rolling Stone, her turbulent marriage to film director Martin Scorsese, and her painful struggle with alcohol, which ultimately led her to recovery and the methods that would form the backbone of The Artist’s Way.
The Complete Artist's Way: Creativity as a Spiritual Practice is a beautiful cloth-bound edition that includes The Artist’s Way, Walking in the World, and Finding Water. In her introduction, Cameron reflects on the artist’s journey and provides deep insights into how readers may set about cultivating a more creative and spiritually rewarding existence by using the principles she shares in these books.
The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity is one of those must-have books for anyone looking to develop a deeper quality of life experience and creative fulfillment. This is a revolutionary twelve-week program for furthering personal renewal; helping you to get back on track if you’re feeling lost, rediscover your passions, and take the steps you need to evolve your life.
The Artist's Way Workbook is a perfect user-friendly companion for your creative journey and includes more than 110 Artist’s Way tasks, more than 50 Artist’s Way check-ins, a new introduction with fresh insights, and new and original writings on Morning Page Journaling and the Artist’s Date (two of the most important Artist’s Way tools).
It's Never Too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond directs the reader’s attention to a segment of the population that, ironically, while they have more time to be creative, are often reluctant or intimidated by the creative process. Cameron shows readers that retirement can, in fact, be the most rich, fulfilling, and creative time of their lives.
In Seeking Wisdom: A Spiritual Path to Creative Connection Cameron returns to the spiritual roots of The Artist’s Way in a 6-week program which explores creative prayer, which she believes is a key facet of the creative life. Included is a mindful collection of prayer practices designed to open and support our creative souls. As you journey through each week of the program you’ll explore prayers of petition, gratitude, creativity, and more. This book is a strong invitation to engage with your creative process, fully connected to your heart and soul.
The Listening Path: The Creative Art of Attention is a transformational journey into becoming better listeners – to our environment, the people around us, and to ourselves. In each of the six weeks of this program readers will be challenged to expand their ability to listen in a new way, beginning by listening to their environment and culminating in learning to listen to silence.
For more Julia Cameron, click here!
“The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.”
~Julia Cameron
New + Newly Discovered
In keeping with the spirit of Julia Cameron’s work, I invite you to consider The Creativity Cure: How Finding and Freeing Your Inner Artist Can Heal Your Life by Jacod Nordby that includes a foreword by Julia Cameron. This is a call for a revolution, fostering change where all change must begin – from within.
And then there’s Jessica Swift’s new book - Art for Self-Care: Create Powerful, Healing Art by Listening to Your Inner Voice. Here we discover the healing power of making art – learning how to process feelings of stress, change, uncertainty, grief and fear. As we learn to strengthen our relationship with our inner voice our lives begin to change, one piece of art at a time.
Letting Magic In: A Memoir of Becoming by Maia Toll is the enchanted story of her own magical awakening; a journey from Brooklyn to Ireland that will inspire readers to uncover and trust their own inner magic.
African American Magick: A Modern Grimoire for the Natural Home from artist and bestselling author Stephanie Rose Bird is a beautiful and powerful herbal guide to natural living with ancient techniques, remedies, and rituals from around the world centered on the rhythms of the seasons. Drawing upon her own ancestral heritage, as well as other cultures and those who have influenced her, Bird offers a lifetime of wisdom and expert botanical knowledge while sharing her path to a holistic and magickal life.
The Sirens' Song: Divining the Depths with Lenormand & Kipper Cards by Carrie Paris and Toni Savory is an invitation into a fantasctical deep-sea world presented as a set of two complimentary oracular decks, to be used in combination or on their own. Traditionally, a Lenormand deck deals with the outer world and Kipper decks with the interpersonal. Are you ready to take a voyage of discovery and inspired insight?
Midnight Magic: A Tarot Deck of Mushrooms by Sara Richard features dark and dreamy illustrations of the beautiful fungi of the forest, reflecting the themes and archetypes of the traditional tarot. Here you’ll find 78 unique tarot cards based on the mysterious world of mushrooms. Whether you’re an avid mushroom hunter or you just want to add some earthy magic to your tarot practice, this deck is for you.
How to Say Goodbye by artist-in-residence at the Zen Hospice Project Guest House in San Francisco, Wendy MacNaughton presents a thoughtful guide to how and when to say goodbye to our loved ones at the end of their lives. She shows us that just as there is no one right way to live a good life, there is no one right way to say goodbye. Whether we’re confused, scared, or uncertain, this book provides a solid place to start your process.
For more New + Newly Discovered titles, click here!
Back-to-School Books + Supplies for Young Readers
Time for School, Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle with illustrations by Jill McElmurry is the delightful story of Little Blue Truck and his new friend Toad as they share a first day of school adventure.
Long Goes to Dragon School from Helen H. Wu, illustrated by Mae Besom, is a fantasy tale wrapped in Eastern and Western dragon lore in celebration of perseverance, cultural inclusion, and self-discovery.
A Funny Thing Happened After School... by Davide Cali with wonderful illustrations by Benjamin Chaud is an action-packed, entertaining tale about trying to get your homework done, whether you’re in – or out – of this world! I swear – it all makes sense as you get into this sweet and funny story.
Back to School, Backpack! by Simon Rich, illustrated by Tom Toro, is a hilarious, yet reassuring, back-to-school picture book in which a backpack deals with first-day-of-school nerves and feeling out of place.
El Cucuy is Scared, Too! from Donna Barba Higuera with illustrations by Juliana Perdomo tells the story of young Ramón whose fears of a first day at a new school are softened when he learns that ‘El Cucuy’, the monster who lives in his cactus pot is scared too!
Back to School Spirit: Write and Draw Journal for Kids by Agnieszka Swaitkowska-Sulecka is a perfect way for 5 – 8 year old kids to write and draw about their school experiences and practice their budding creative and language skills.
Bright Ideas Colored Pencils is a lovely addition to any kid’s (of all ages) back-to-school supplies. This set of 10 pencils are pre-sharpened and packaged in a sleek and sturdy case.
For more back-to-school books + supplies click here!
For more books for young readers click here.
Para libros para lectores jóvenes en Español haga clic aquí.
Just Because + Just for Fun
Footnotes from the World's Greatest Bookstores: True Tales and Lost Moments from Book Buyers, Booksellers, and Book Lovers by New Yorker cartoonist Bob Eckstein is a collection of 75 paintings and stories from some of the world’s most cherished bookstores. Included are stories from David Bowie, Deepak Chopra, Philip Glass, Terry Gross, Neil Gaiman, Ann Patchett, Dave Eggers, and more. Page by page, Eckstein perfectly captures our lifelong love affair with books, bookstores, and booksellers.
The Screaming Goat is one of those weirdly irresistible and hilarious creations in the world. Your new goat companion is 3 inches and sits on a tree stump base. When you give him a gentle press, he lets go with a scream. Bring a little quirky humor into your life!
“Laughter is an instant vacation.”
~Milton Berle
For more gift ideas to inspire, delight & amuse click here.
Please visit our online Bookshop to see our full selection of lists and titles.
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