Fine Print – October 2017

As the holidays arrive, customers are looking for solid connections. Make sure you have something for everyone. Needs vary, but the drive to read about others who have found the answers is prime.

Waking Up in Winter: In Search of What Really Matters at Midlife

Cheryl Richardson (ISBN 978-0-06-268166-9) Harper One

www.harperone.com

Having made her way well up the self-help guru/coach mountain, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Louise Hay and Oprah Winfrey, Richardson suddenly came to a dead halt, unable to start a new book. As she perused possible topics, she felt uninspired. She began to feel that she had written everything she had to say. It was her husband (and her love of May Sarton) who pointed out the obvious. The one thing she was still writing was her journal. When she considered turning those personal reveries into an account of her midlife heroine’s journey, her next book seemed to write itself. Part parable, part old-fashioned storytelling, she cuts through a year of her life with a surgeon’s scalpel to lay bare the insight within the process that was unfolding. Sometimes funny, often self-effacing, this is a clear-eyed, lyrical tale of transformation from ambition to self-care by way of connecting. Let your customers know that it’s a page-turner, absent pedantry.

Things That Join the Sea and The Sky: Field Notes for Living

Mark Nepo (ISBN 978-1-62-203900-5) Sound True

www.soundstrue.com

Nepo calls this book a “travelogue of my conversation with the Universe”. It’s common thread is buoyancy, sinking and being lifted, being tossed about and then being held again. It is comprised of brief reflections on resilience, grouped under 17 topics (Unraveling Our Fear, Navigating Trouble, Shedding Our Masks, The Strength of Our Attention). They are snapshots recorded in words. Written with the simplicity of a Koan, they each take on a mystical glow that connects the reader to the updraft that Nepo is describing. The book includes a short guide to daily journaling. Unnecessary. Nepo’s short writings say everything there is to say about recording the hidden wonders of the world around us.

Profitable Podcasting: Grow Your Business, Expand Your Platform, and Build a Nation of True Fans

Stephen Woessner (ISBN 978-0-81-443828-2) AMACOM

www.amanet.org

The days of posting something mildly interesting on the internet and making a splash are over. Everyone is doing that now, but digital marketer Woessner says that there is still room to maneuver in podcasts. Yes, they require more technical expertise, but that’s why the field is not as crowded. He refers to the podcast as the “Trojan Horse of selling”. A well-executed podcast can get you past a company/customer’s “gatekeeper” and give you direct access to the “decision-maker”. And that’s the key to making sales. This book is a business manual first and a technical manual second. Unlike many online webinars, it doesn’t suck you in so it can get you to spend more money for the real information. Woessner wants to help small businesses thrive. The real information is there. Statistics show that podcast consumers are affluent and listening and, according to Woessner, podcasting is still in rapid growth mode. He includes complete descriptions of his mistakes along with inspiring stories of his successes. If you and/or your customers are willing to give it a go, he provides all the information you need, step-by-step, in complete yet comprehensible terms.

It Came From Beyond Zen! More Practical Advice from Dogen, Japan’s Greatest Zen Master

Brad Warner (ISBN 978-1-60-868511-0) New World Library

www.newworldlibrary.com

In this follow-up to Don’t Be a Jerk, Warner continues his interpretation (as opposed to translation)) of Eihei Dogen’s 800-year-old The Shobogenzo. A Soto Zen priest based in LA, Warner was frustrated by the inscrutability of this nearly unknown text which he found to be particularly relevant for the current time. He began putting the teachings into modern language, not just paraphrasing but lightening it up, even adding jokes. He describes himself as unqualified to attempt to understand Dogen, and yet he has successfully put Dogen’s masterwork into words that will engage, inform, entertain, and stimulate very large numbers of modern readers. Ahead of his time, Dogen didn’t offer palliatives, he charted a course that showed the benefits of uncertainty in an insane world. It’s a difficult teaching, nearly lost, that Warner now offers to us all.

Healthy Posture for Babies and Children: Tools for Helping Children to Sit, Stand, and Walk Naturally

Kathleen Porter (ISBN 978-1-62-055640-5) Healing Arts Press

www.healingartspress.com

Aimed at parents, teachers, and health professionals, Porter was careful to write this book in language which kids could understand as well. Lots and lots of photographs illustrate the points she is making with multiple examples. We are facing an epidemic of slouching, which Porter points out coincides with a dramatic increase in autism, learning disabilities, and ADHD. It also coincides with a rising fear of putting babies on their stomachs because that has been linked to SIDS. All of this, Porter suggests has caused children to lose their natural skeletal alignment early in life creating sagging muscles, pain, and disrupted nervous systems. She calls it “Sad Dog” posture.  Extreme exercise, which is so popular now, over develops some muscles, without first aligning the spine, creating “Tense Dog” posture. This book teaches folks of all ages how to create “Happy Dog” posture, whether they are sitting, standing, working at a computer, or sitting on the floor. There is a brief overview of the “Sad Dog” phenomenon, followed by a detailed discussion of each facet of natural body alignment and over all body balance. She ends with a time-friendly, easy-to-do, daily protocol for building new movement habits. I felt years younger after doing it once. Really.

Life Lessons: 125 Prayers and Meditations

Julia Cameron (ISBN 978-0-14-313049-9) TarcherPerigee

www.penguin.com

True artists always walk very close to God, no matter how they choose to define that Divine Force. The author of The Artist’s Way has created 125 simple and direct prayers to help others learn to interact with that Divine Force as well. (Bewildered one, come to us for guidance. Little one, learn to breathe. Noisy one, learn to appreciate silence. Dear one, bring me your troubles. Little one, surrender your sense of urgency.) Each prayer is meant to open a dialogue. Here on earth we tend to ask for things and then not listen for the answer. Cameron is suggesting answers to readers and hoping that they will continue the conversation from there. This gentle, little treasure will make a great gift, especially for those who are struggling emotionally and having trouble putting their challenges into words.

Tokyo Geek’s Guide: Manga, Anime, Gaming, Gosplay, Toys, Idols & More

Gianni Simone (ISBN 978-4-80-531385-5) Tuttle

www.tuttlepublishing.com

Tokyo is ground zero for all things geek! Gianni Simone has been in Tokyo for 25 years and has witnessed the growth of geek culture first hand. He has compiled this definitive guide to geek in Tokyo, taking readers district by cutting-edge district, spelling out the what, where, and how of it all, including shops, nightlife, and eateries. The brightly-colored photographs are full of energy and humor. What you see on these pages will be coming to a neighborhood near you soon. It’s a perfect gift for your trendsetting and wannabe geek friends—or anyone you know with lime green hair.

Plume

Isabelle Simler (ISBN 978-0-80-285492-6) Eerdmans Books

www.eerdmans.com

From the creator of one of my favorite children’s books, The Blue Hour, comes this witty, sophisticated, boldly designed, and absolutely gorgeous counting book. Just to make it interesting, a mysterious black cat guides readers through the pages past eagles, ibises, swallows, parrotfinches, pigeons, kingfishers, and guinea fowl (just to name a few). There are no big numbers on the pages, just an ever increasing number of feathers on each spread. And each feather is a small artistic triumph in its own right.  Children will delight in figuring out where the cat is hiding on each spread. Or did he just leave us tracks to follow? Each bird species, while elegantly stylized, is clearly recognizable. This is one your customers will enjoy pouring over again and again with s special child in their life, as they try and figure out which feather is the best.

Sweet Butter Tea: A Book of Poems

Ten Phun (ISBN 978-0-75-70447-6) SquareOne Publishers

www.squareonepublishers.com

From the creator of one of my favorite children’s books, The Blue Hour, comes this witty, sophisticated, boldly designed, and absolutely gorgeous counting book. Just to make it interesting, a mysterious black cat guides readers through the pages past eagles, ibises, swallows, parrotfinches, pigeons, kingfishers, and guinea fowl (just to name a few). There are no big numbers on the pages, just an ever increasing number of feathers on each spread. And each feather is a small artistic triumph in its own right.  Children will delight in figuring out where the cat is hiding on each spread. Or did he just leave us tracks to follow? Each bird species, while elegantly stylized, is clearly recognizable. This is one your customers will enjoy pouring over again and again with s special child in their life, as they try and figure out which feather is the best.

The Song of Life: Native America Wisdom

Helen Exley (editor), Richard Exley (photographer) (ISBN 978-1-57-324726-9) Conari Press, redwheel

www.weiser.com

With all the natural disasters and man-made destruction, we have been living through recently, the time is certainly right for the release of The Song of Life. Native teachings are powerful. Exley has done a marvelous job of seeking out the best highlights from ancient to modern writings. “Honor age! Even an old blind man may guide you to a rainbow.” —Micmac Proverb. “The death of fear is in doing what you fear to do.”—Sequichie Comingdeer. “May serenity circle on silent wings and catch the whisper of the mind.” — Cheewa James, Modoc. The beautiful cover reflects the special nature of this book. It’s a treasure that can be passed down through generations. “We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.” —Dakota