Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings

Rob Brezsny writes a horoscope column in the Shepherd Express newspaper in Milwaukee. That’s how I discovered him. His “free will astrology” is a lot of fun. You can sign up to get his horoscopes by email at his website, http://freewillastrology.com/.

I have just started reading Pronoia. It is too much to read alone, without interrupting it with other books.

So far, it is a fascinating and enjoyable book. It is a mixture of a bunch of different things: stories, reflections, poems, instructions, and so on. I found something thought-provoking in almost every paragraph. That’s why I can’t read it very quickly.

I definitely recommend this book if you want something different to help you look at the world in a new way. Or, you can just start out by signing up for the free horoscopes at his website.

One Day

I was disappointed in this book. The premise was interesting – following the story of a relationship by showing one day out of each year for many years. However, after the great literature I was reading before this book, it was quite a letdown. The story was ok, but the writing was on a par with so-so chick lit. Except that it was more serious than light-hearted chick lit. There were a lot more down days than good days with this couple.

The story kept me interested enough to read it through to the end, but it was not really worth it to me. I give it a grade of C+.

This Is Where I Leave You

Judd Foxman’s father has just died, and his last wish is for his family to sit shiva for 7 days. Since they are all somewhat crazy characters, this becomes quite interesting. Most of the book focuses on Judd and the problems he is having with his marriage. His wife has left him for his no-good boss.

I loved this book because it was really interesting to see vulnerability and loss from a man’s point of view. You really get to know and love all the characters and their very real foibles.

I see that Jonathan Tropper has written quite a few other books. I would like to read more of them.

Dear Strangers

The characters in this book were great. For the most part, I enjoyed the story, but it did get awfully intense for a while. I guess I was expecting some light reading, not the heavy stuff that I found. It definitely kept my interest. I got so involved with the characters that I just had to know what happened.

I don’t want to spoil the story by revealing more.

Postcards from a Dead Girl

Another book with amazing writing. I was lucky to find a few of them lately. The writing is so good that I didn’t even care how it ended, although it turned out that the ending was satisfying as well.

Sid has been getting postcards from all over the world from his former girlfriend. Is she dead or isn’t she?

This is a great book, and I loved it.

Half Life

I loved this book. Aruna is trying to find herself. She runs away from her married life in London, back home to Singapore and her former lover Jazz. She went back to find answers about who she is and to the mystery of what she and Jazz are to each other.

The book is beautifully written and the story is amazing. I highly recommend it.