book review~ To the End and Back: Lessons Learned Through Surviving Cancer

I've started this post several times.  A lot has been swirling through my head since I read Aaron Offord's book "To the End and Back: Lessons Learned Through Surviving Cancer".  It was an amazing read for me, and I was at a loss how to describe it to the people who read my blog.  I had promised Aaron I would offer a post and link back to him to allow people to connect, read, and perhaps leave a donation.

Aaron wanted to share his experiences and "aha" moments, in the hope that he could help people to see that there is life after cancer, it isn't hopeless, and that you can take any tribulation in life and turn it into a way to grow and learn, and savor life fully.

I guess that is what meant the most to me.  I had followed Aaron's blog and read about his journey through treatment for acute leukemia.  We had first connected through our mutual love of photography, and I watched his talent and ability take flight online, bit by bit.

Then I read his book, and it all became clear to me.  What life meant to Aaron, and how he turned what could have been seen as a negative experience into something very positive.  One of the first sentences that jumped out at me, a theme that was woven throughout Aaron's writing, was a quote from a book Aaron had read by Viktor Frankl, a neurologist and physicist who survived the Holocaust:

The meaning of life is found in every moment of living.

I saw such a simple truth in this sentence, such a clarity.  As I read on I found many themes and ideas Aaron had discovered that resonated with me in my own life.  Along the way, as I finished reading, a coworker in my organization died suddenly of acute leukemia.  This brought a sudden clarity to my mind, and I went back and reread Aaron's book with new eyes.

I don't want to use a lot of quotes from the book in here, because Aaron has taken his lessons and beliefs and presented them so concisely, so to the point, that I want to encourage you all to download and read it.  I don't do many book reviews, and I don't promote something I don't believe in.

I believe this book will bring you some "aha" moments as it did for me.  Download it.  Read it.  Be prepared to be inspired, as I was.

Then leave a comment on Aaron's blog, and a donation if you are so inclined.  All proceeds from the book will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Click on this link to download To the End and Back: Lessons Learned Through Surviving Cancer

...life is inspirational!~cath
find me @jonesbabie on Twitter

book review: diary of a submissive

The following is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club, but the opinions expressed are my own.

When I signed up to be chosen to read and review Diary of a Submissive for BlogHer, I didn't really expect that I would be chosen.  I'd tried several times to be chosen as a reviewer, and was always just a smidgen too late tossing my name in the hat to be a reviewer.  I saw the announcement, and decided to jump in.  My family and I were headed for a two week road trip to the west coast, and in the back of my mind I figured I would be too late signing up to be chosen as a reviewer.

Wrong.  I got the email, and was thrilled, then realized that the book would be delivered while I was GONE.  I had my daughter in law checking the mail every day, and was going to get her to overnight it to me.  But it didn't arrive in the time frame I needed it to, and so I knew when I got home I would have just three days to read it and write the review.  I hate pressure when reading, but I had committed, and steeled myself to do it.

We got home at midnight on Saturday night.  I decided I would just peek in the book at the first few pages then go to bed.  At five in the morning I was still reading...

And reading.  I was mesmerized, fascinated and could not put the book down.  The book is sexually explicit, but that didn't put me off.  What I found fascinating was the psychological aspect of it.  Sophie Morgan, the author (writing under a pseudonym since this is a true story) takes the reader inside the mind of a submissive, someone who has had an unremarkable, stable upbringing.  Sophie discovers her submissive nature in college, and her book chronicles her journey into the world of domination and submission, of pleasure and pain, a world not for the faint of heart.  It lays out in detail how relationships unfold, change and grow when there is a darker side to the relationship.  Outwardly, Sophie leads a "normal" successful life.  In her private life, she reveals a side of her personality that is anything but a woman in control.

For me personally, I found the book fascinating.  It was impossible to put down until I finished it, and that was in one sitting.  For anyone with a curiosity about alternative lifestyles, and sexual proclivities, who is comfortable with graphic descriptions of sadism and masochism, this book can open your eyes.  Sophie Morgan does an excellent job of making you understand what makes her tick, in an unrepentant way.  Diary of a Submissive is not the first book of this genre to be written, but the fact that it is a true story, written in an insightful way makes it a compelling, interesting read.  I recommend it.

For more information about the launch of Diary of a Submissive, and to follow the discussion, please click here to go to the BlogHer Book Club Page, and join the discussion!


...life is good. ~cath
find me @jonesbabie on Twitter