Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed

Gather the Daughters is about a small community that lives with no electricity or modern conveniences on an island. They have a church made of stone that sinks into the ground and a holy book written by “the ancestors.” These ancestors are saint-like founders who, according to tradition, fled the wider world to preserve the human race during an apocalypse.

Traditions are dark and strange on the island, but not questioned because they were written by the ancestors.

The tale is told from the viewpoint of four girls: Vanessa, Caitlin, Janey and Amanda.

“From the fires of wickedness we grew forth, like a green branch from a rotten tree,” he reads. “From the wastelands of want came the hardworking men of industry and promise. From the war-stricken terror came our forefathers to keep us safe from harm.” Like everyone else, Vanessa mouths the words along with him. loc 122, ebook.

Because of the small number of people on the island, everyone has an assigned job- that they keep for life. Reproduction, meetings and courtships are also controlled by tradition.

Sometimes the way things are done seem irrational or cruel, but the community does not change. Take the perpetually sinking church: “Every ten years or so, when the roof is almost level with the ground, all the men on the island gather to build stone walls on top of it, and the roof becomes the new floor. Vanessa asked Mother why they couldn’t just use wood, but Mother said it was tradition, and it would be disrespectful to the ancestors to change it.” loc 229, ebook.

Similar to The Handmaiden’s Tale, Gather the Daughters is ultimately about what happens when society dictates and controls relationships, sexuality and education through religious doctrine. It is also examines the male/female balance of power.

Gather the Daughters is a gripping read. But not mysterious. It was fairly clear in my mind from the start where this story was headed, but I cared about the main characters. They have heart and I couldn’t help but want them to live in a better world than the one they were born into.

I could see this being a great choice for book clubs. There’s plenty to talk about, especially with character motivations and the structure of society.

Reader warnings: survivors of childhood sexual abuse could be triggered by this read. There are also some domestic violence scenes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for a free advance reader’s copy of this book. Reminder: the short quotations that I pulled for this review may vary in the final printed version.

Thanks for reading!

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin

Seth Godin draws on his experiences in business and life to convince the reader to be a linchpin rather than a cog in the machine of work.

He says it better than I did: “This book is about love and art and change and fear. It’s about overcoming a multigenerational conspiracy designed to sap your creativity and restlessness. It’s about leading and making a difference and it’s about succeeding.” pg 2

You have our attention, Godin. What do we do?

Through a series of blog-like sections, Godin explains that there is no road map or simple answer. “Our world no longer fairly compensates people who are cogs in a giant machine. … Leaders don’t get a map or a set of rules. Living life without a map requires a different attitude. It requires you to be a linchpin.” pg 19

Essentially, you have to embrace the uniqueness and drive that is inside of you. You have to create a platform of work rather than a resume. You have to decide to discard mediocrity.

“The very system that produced standardized tests and the command-and-control model that chokes us also invented the resume. … Great jobs, world-class jobs, jobs people kill for- these jobs don’t get filled by people e-mailing in resumes.” pg 72

That’s so outside the usual paradigm of work, for most of us, that it can sound scary.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

“Often, when people hear about my radical ideas for how you should train for a career, as well as the best way to present yourself, they object. They point out that not fitting in is certainly going to be an ineffective way of getting one of these average jobs. … If you need to conceal your true nature to get in the door, understand that you’ll probably have to conceal your true nature to keep that job. … The linchpin says, “I don’t want a job that a non-linchpin could get.” pgs 78-79

It seems like he’s asking a lot, but the alternative is to give up and conform. Godin says that this mindset isn’t impossible: “My fundamental argument here is simple: In everything you do, it’s possible to be an artist, at least a little bit.” pg 94. We can do that, right?

I didn’t agree with everything in Linchpin. I thought that Godin was far too hard on journalists… it is easy to look at an industry, or any situation really, from the outside and criticize the people in the thick of it.

News agencies know that they have to embrace the future or die. Just how to do that is up for grabs and adding Godin’s toolbox of how to excel at work couldn’t hurt. I don’t think that reinvention or evolution is an impossible task. It’s just tricky because, as Godin noted, “there is no roadmap.”

Recommended for people who may be bored with where they are and can see a glimmer of where they want to be- but aren’t sure how to get there. Also recommended for those who work in the newspaper business because we clearly need more linchpins.

Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms by Ethan Gilsdorf

Ethan Gilsdorf carried angst about his gaming habits for various reasons for years. This book could have been a healing for him, but he doesn’t seem to take that leap.

It made me sad. Yes, perhaps the start of his DnD experience coincided with his mother’s illness, but I think that was not the only reason why he entered the world of fantasy.

Some people are born wanting to see worlds beyond this one. Why that is, I don’t know. I just know that it is so. Ethan suggests, in Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks, that it takes trauma to send a person in that direction, I disagree. I think some of us were born that way. 🙂

The content of the book is excellent. He travels from the UK to New Zealand and everywhere inbetween to find people who are engaging in LARPS, SCA, Tolkien, gamer conventions, Worlds of Warcraft, EverQuest, and more.

I loved his interviews with the man/woman on the street. He’d ask why they were doing whatever it was they were doing and they’d answer with conviction. There’s something very satisfying in reading personal statements by passionate people.

The enthusiasm nearly drips from the pages. I loved that.

I was hoping that Ethan would learn from all of these people who absolutely loved what they were doing with no regrets. But, he seemed to go to his default mode of judging and self-pity rather than expansion.

Ethan made some steps towards self realization at the end of the book, but I wish he had gone further.

If you enjoy this book or topic, may I suggest Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It. It’s a non-fiction read about Dungeons and Dragons. It lacks the comprehensive nature of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks, but David Ewalt carries none of the emotional baggage of Ethan Gilsdorf so it feels more light-hearted.

Thanks for reading!

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1) by C.S. Lewis

This is the story of four siblings who stumble through a wardrobe into a different world. They discover magic, monsters and their destiny.

One Christmas, when I was 11 or 12, my mother gave me The Chronicles of Narnia. It ignited a lifelong love of fantasy fiction and reading.

“Peter! Susan! It’s all true. Edmund has seen it too. There is country you can get to through the wardrobe. Edmund and I both got in. We met one another in there, in the wood.” pg 40.

I get the criticisms of this series- that it is heavy handed with its symbolism.

But, when I read it as a child, all of that slipped right over my head. All I knew, was that this was an adventure and I loved it.

The White Witch is one of the best villains in children’s literature: “As for you,” said the Witch, giving Edmund a stunning blow on the face as she re-mounted the sledge, “let that teach you to ask favour for spies and traitors. Drive on!” And Edmund for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone besides himself.” pg 113.

She opposes Aslan, a great golden lion and the ruler of Narnia, who hasn’t been seen for an age: “And now,” said Aslan presently, “to business. I feel I m going to roar. You had better put your fingers in your ears.” And they did. And Aslan stood up and when he opened his mouth to roar his face became so terrible that they did not dare to look at it.” pg 161.

The film did a solid job capturing the magic of this story, but nothing compares to the book.

“Once a King in Narnia, always a King in Narnia.” pg 186.

In fact, just writing up this review makes me want to read them all again.

I’ll see you on the other side of the wardrobe…

Thanks for reading!

Across Time And Death: A Mother’s Search For Her Past Life Children by Jenny Cockell

Jenny Cockell retained memories of a former life. In these memories, she died young and left children behind. Across Time and Death documents her acceptance of the memories and her search to find her previous family.

In childhood, my dreams were swamped by memories of Mary’s death. … All this, however, seemed inconsequential beside my fear for the children I was leaving behind.” pg 1.

In the religion of my childhood, reincarnation was neither taught nor accepted. But, as I’ve read different books, I’ve come to believe that it’s true.

I was so curious about it, in fact, that I participated in a past-life regression therapy session. The recording of it is mildly interesting, but mainly traumatic. I saw abuse, a lifetime of servitude and then a death that was penniless and alone in the dark.

The therapist can be heard on the recording, murmuring niceties about being “safe and secure.” There was a lot of, “let it go into the light” and “breathe in and out, slowly.”

Still, I walked out of that session and haven’t gone to another one since. I most likely never will.

If we do indeed live again and again, perhaps there’s a reason that we retain no memory of it. That’s my two cents. Back to Across Time and Death.

As a child, Jenny understood her past life memories more clearly than when she was an adult. “I had no cause to doubt that these memories were real. I assumed that memories of this kind were normal, and I expected everyone else to have them too.”pg 12.

Culture has such power to shape our worldview. Isn’t it true that part of the process for choosing the next Dalai Lama is that the candidate has to recognize the previous Lama’s belongings?

Jenny’s experience with regression through hypnosis seemed to echo mine. “Hypnosis is a strange experience even without the element of regression. All sorts of memories which have been hidden deep within the subconscious and cannot ordinarily be reached can be brought to the surface. This is double edged – both a wonderful and a disturbing experience at the same time.” pg 34. Yes.

When Jenny is finally able to overcome all of her doubts and fears, she then has to consider what the, now grown, children are going to think of her. “I needed to ask for help because I was beginning to panic. I wondered if I had any right to disturb Mary’s children or, conversely, if I had the right to keep my story from them.” pg 107. Which is a legitimate concern.

I’d recommend this book for people who are on the fence or just curious about reincarnation. If your mind is completely made up one way or another, I don’t know that Jenny’s testimony will mean as much to you.

Thanks for reading!

Acceptance (Southern Reach, #3) by Jeff VanderMeer

Acceptance answers any lingering questions that the reader may have concerning Area X. I found it much more satisfying than the second entry. But, I don’t think that either the second or third book approached the brilliance of the first.

Beyond the revelations about Area X, this book also explains some of the relationships between characters. “Sometimes.. other people gave you their light, and could seem to flicker, to be hardly visible at all, if no one took care of them. Because they’d given you too much and had nothing left for themselves.” pg 60.

The reader discovers some major surprises. I won’t say anything else because… no spoilers!

Jeff VanderMeer’s descriptive passages are beautiful, something that all three books shared: “Soon after the storm, the trail they followed wound back to the sea along a slope of staggered hills running parallel to the water. The wet ground, the memory of those dark rivulets, made the newly seeded soil seem almost mirthful. Ahead lay the green outline of the island, illumined by the dark gold light of late afternoon.” pg 108.

And Area X is as mysterious as ever: “In the lengthening silence and solitude, Area X sometimes would reveal itself in unexpected ways.” pg 178. And also: “Never has a setting been so able to live without the souls traversing it.” pg 241.

I am glad that I took the time to read all three books. I think that VanderMeer’s entire concept of Area X is brilliant.

The series as a whole is strange but wonderful. Admittedly, the second book is the weakest and I barely made it through it. But, in hindsight, it fills in some blanks that contribute to the bigger picture.

Recommended for readers who like their science fiction with a large side of horror/suspense.

Thanks for reading!

Journeys Out of the Body: The Classic Work on Out-of-Body Experience by Robert A. Monroe

A ground breaking work into the mystery that is the out-of-body experience by a leading researcher in the field.

Ultimately, Journeys Out of the Body left me with more questions than answers, but, for the most part, I enjoyed the ride.

Charles Tart’s introduction is excellent: “… OOBE’s are a universal human experience, not in the sense that they happen to large numbers of people, but in that they have happened all through recorded history, and there are marked similarities in the experience among people who are otherwise extremely different in terms of cultural background. One can find reports of OOBEs by housewives in Kansas which closely resemble accounts of OOBEs from ancient Egyptian or oriental sources.” pg 8.

That statement reminded me of the near death experiences described in Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences: How Understanding NDEs Can Help Us Live More Fully by Penny Sartori. OOBEs like NDEs are a human experience rather than a cultural one.

Munroe points out a curious habit of society that I’ve noticed:“Many (in spiritual and occult circles) have deep professional jealousy for each other, and often are inclined to be suspicious of techniques and theories propounded outside their particular activity. They may even subtly deride or look with tolerant, superior amusement at results unrelated to their specialty.“ pg 37.

Why can’t we all just get along? I bet we’d learn more that way.

Munroe’s thoughts on the “natural” home for what he calls the “second body”, astral body, or body of light: “The Second Body is basically not of this physical world. To apply it to visits to George’s house or other physical destinations is like asking a diver to swim down to the ocean bed without scuba gear or pressure suit. He can do it, but not for long, and not too many times.” pg 75-76.

That was why Munroe believes that out of body experiences are so hard to substantiate. When explorers are looking for evidence from the physical world, it isn’t the natural place for that consciousness to be.

Munroe talks about going to an alternate dimension in his explorations. He quotes a college professor about the possibility of this: “Dr. Leon M. Lederman, professor of physics at Columbia University, has stated: “Basic physics is completely consistent with the cosmological conception of a literal antiworld of stars and planets composed of atoms of antimatter, which is to say negative nuclei surrounded by positive electrons. We can now entertain the intriguing idea that these antiworlds are populated by antipeople, who antiscientists are perhaps even now excited by the discovery of matter.” pg 100

I think that would make a great science fiction novel. Has anybody written anything like that?

I had imagined that learning about out of body experiences would be empowering and uplifting but parts of Munroe’s account didn’t really leave me feeling that way.

Take this journal entry in which he describes aliens and the loss of his belief system: “Then they seemed to soar up into the sky, while I called after them, pleading… By this time, it was getting light, and I sat down and cried, great deep sobs as I have never cried before, because then I knew without any qualification or future hope of change that the God of my childhood, of the churches, of religion throughout the world was not as we worshiped him to be- that for the rest of my life, I would “suffer” the loss of this illusion. Are we, then, just leftover laboratory animals? Or perhaps the experiment is still “in process.” pg 262.

Very, very bleak and, it just didn’t feel right to me. However, Munroe believes this is true and I felt very sad for him.

If you are interested in more information about OBEs, you may want to read Soul Traveler: A Guide to Out-of-Body Experiences and the Wonders Beyond by Albert Taylor or Multidimensional Man by Jurgen Ziewe.

If you want more one-on-one experiences with aliens, try The Key: A True Encounter by Whitley Shrieber.

Thanks for reading!

Summer Knight (The Dresden Files #4) by Jim Butcher

“Harry Dresden has been down and out in Chicago. He can’t pay his rent. He’s alienating his friends. He can’t even recall the last time he took a shower. The only professional wizard in the phone book has become a desperate man.”
-Goodreads

“Summer Knight” is the fourth entry in the delightful “Dresden Files.” If you’re looking for a fantasy soap opera starring a male lead and a cast of colorful, non-human characters, look no further.

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

Harry Dresden, a wizard-for-hire, is in the thick of it. He’s started a war between the vampires and wizards and the White Council is not happy about it. And, there’s the small matter of his former girlfriend, Susan, who’s been infected with vampire blood.

Can he save her from a terrible fate? Can he save himself?

Then, there’s Karrin Murphy, the head of the supernatural department at the Chicago PD. She’s suffering from nightmares caused by the last adventure that Harry brought to her doorstep. Will she be able to pull herself together long enough to help the wizard save the world?

Add to these troubles vengeful fairies, a handful of changelings, pizza-loving pixies, werewolves and, of all things, Dungeons and Dragons! The Summer Knight is a rollicking entry in The Dresden Files.

My one complaint: more Bob. That is all.

Recommended for urban fantasy readers, MMORPG players and people who believe or want to believe in fairies.

Thanks for reading!

Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences: How Understanding NDEs Can Help Us Live More Fully by Penny Sartori

An extraordinary book by Penny Sartori who was a nurse, now doctor, and worked for years in the NHS.

She realized that with end life issues, there are many categories of experiences that are not discussed in medical educations but that happen often enough to be tacitly understood by practicing medical staff. Dr. Sartori compiled this book with the aim of helping other medical professionals understand near-death experiences and their potential effects on recovering patients.

Refreshingly, Dr. Sartori writes simply enough for a lay-person (like me) to completely understand the text and I found first-hand account after account fascinating, uplifting, and educational.

I’ve read about many near-death experiences and I’ve always gotten the feeling that there was something more there. As if, in reading the account, I was viewing a light behind a veil. Dr. Sartori calls this, “Ineffability.” “Ineffability: When people try to make sense of the (near-death) experience or try to verbalize it they find that words fail them. They have experienced something with which they have nothing to compare, and to try to find words to describe it is impossible.” pg 9

It’s nice to be able to put a word to that feeling.

At the end of the chapter about international near-death experiences, she has this to say: “It is evident that NDEs are worldwide phenomena and it has therefore been suggested that they are merely the effects of a dying brain. However, some cultures report components that are not present in other cultures, which would rule out materialist explanations. As some components are interpreted according to culture then it is reasonable to construe that the components may be interpreted symbolically through each individual’s cultural filter. This could suggest an underlying collective consciousness, as discussed by Carl Jung.” pg 83.

Most of the books I’ve read on this topic have had little to say about the commonality of NDEs among the world’s population. This is a good introduction to it.

About the power of love: “Hospice and palliative-care consultant Dr. John Lerma has reported that 70 to 80 percent of his patients waited for loved ones to leave the room before dying. He also remarked that he had witnessed patients who had been certified dead return to life as the pain of their loved ones had pulled them back from a place of peace and love.” pg 103 Mind blown.

Love literally brought people back from the dead.

About the science of spirituality and how that relates to religious texts: “Texts such as the Books of the Dead have many similarities to NDEs. For many thousands of years these have been reduced to myths but now they appear to be ‘maps of the inner territories of the psyche encountered in profound non-ordinary states of consciousness’. Maybe this is what is needed to reintegrate our spiritual roots with our huge advances in technology.“pg 191 I think that this may be true too.

And finally: “One thing I’ve come to realize over the past few years is that heaven is not a location – it is a state of mind and is within us all. We just have to go within and find it.” pg 191 Absolutely, Dr. Sartori.

If you enjoyed The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences, I would suggest reading, The Map of Heaven by Eben Alexander. You may also enjoy Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives by Michael Newton- a hypnotherapist explores between life/past life consciousness with his patients to heal current issues.

Also, if you want to explore the idea that heaven is inside of us, you may want to check out What if This is Heaven by Anita Moorjani.

Thanks for reading!

The Help Desk Book Blog

Sharing reviews and deep thoughts about life.

Tag: book

Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1) by C.S. Lewis

Across Time And Death: A Mother’s Search For Her Past Life Children by Jenny Cockell

Acceptance (Southern Reach, #3) by Jeff VanderMeer

Journeys Out of the Body: The Classic Work on Out-of-Body Experience by Robert A. Monroe

Summer Knight (The Dresden Files #4) by Jim Butcher

Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences: How Understanding NDEs Can Help Us Live More Fully by Penny Sartori

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