Evolving Toward Peace: Awakening the Global Heart, by Jalaja Bonheim

Most of us want to find some semblance of peace in our lives, a way to shut up the chattering voice of doubt, anger and/or dissonance in our lives. In Evolving Toward Peace: Awakening the Global Heart, Jalaja Bonheim attempts to lead us toward gaining that peace, while building toward "a peaceful global community" (from the back cover).

While the book's introduction is a little long, it helps give the reader some background on where Bonheim is coming from, both physically and emotionally. My main concern with the intro came from its New Age-y feel, which almost made me put the book down. Bonheim also introduces us here to her idea of "circlework," in which people gather in circles to strengthen their "capacity for heart-thinking." This circlework is her method of helping people find peace.

Near the end of the intro, Bonheim writes, "...Together, we can move...from violence to peace" (page 23). She also recommends that the reader "not try to absorb whole chapters in a single gulp." I found this to be good advice, as it is too easy to become overwhelmed. Much of what is written in Evolving Toward Peace seemed repetitive, making the reader possibly want to skip over sections while missing some of what Bonheim has written.

The body of the book is broken down into four main parts, each with several chapters to read through. Each chapter is filled with anecdotes from Bonheim's observations, as well as quotes from a wide variety of people, places, books and points of view to help drive home the point that each chapter is trying to teach. The chapters then end with several exercises for the reader to do, and which are described fully in Appendix II.

In the end, while much of what Evolving Toward Peace: Awakening the Global Heart has to offer is relevant to helping better one's self, the idea of a "global movement" may be a difficult undertaking with one book, and the New Age-feel may be a turn-off to many of those Bonheim is trying to reach. That said, I would advise a potential reader to check out a copy, as there are portions that, even among skeptics, can help one's understanding of one's self.

Disclaimer: I received this book as part of Goodreads' giveaway program. (Thank you!)

Fox Tracks: A Novel, by Rita Mae Brown

Fox Tracks: A Novel by Rita Mae Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I received Fox Tracks: A Novel, by Rita Mae Brown from Goodreads' Giveaway program.

There's an adage that a writer should write what he or she knows. Rita Mae Brown has taken that advice to heart. In her latest "Sister" Jane novel, Fox Tracks, Brown has Sister Jane still living in Albermarle County, Virginia, and reigning over the local hunt club. An equestrian who lives in Virginia and who rides with a hunt club, Ms. Brown has many of her books firmly set in Virginia, with characters noted for their strength and indepence. Brown's Miss Murphy mysteries - my first foray into Ms. Brown's writings - also take place in Virginia, as do many of her non-series books.

In Fox Tracks, Sister Jane and members of her hunt club gather with other hunt clubs for their annual event in Manhattan. The festive mood, however, is dampened with the murder of a local tobacco shop owner. Later, another murder takes place in Boston. Of course, this is not the end of the trail of murders. Even the beloved Sister Jane becomes a target, hunted with more zeal than a hunt club hound chases a fox. Does she smoke out the killer or killers before she becomes a victim? Read this quickly moving book to find out.

There are a few things that bothered me with Fox Tracks, all of which are relatively minor. There are times when Ms. Brown's wording seems a little stilted, with a slightly strange syntax. On page 17 of Fox Tracks, Ms. Brown writes, "Hailing from Lexington, Kentucky, where she was Master of the Woodford Hunt, Jane Winegardner walked across the ballroom straight toward Sister,..." It would have made more sense if "Jane Winegardner, the Master of the Woodford Hunt in Lexington, Kentucky, walked across the ballroom..." Meanwhile, on page 18, we learn that Jane "wave[d] at Lynn Lloyd, MFH, from Red Rock in Nevada." Adding the MFH seems to slow down the flow of the words a little. There are several other places where the writing is a little off, but not so much to where the reader would want to walk away from the book.

One thing that Brown does that I have found helpful, both in the Miss Murphy books, as well as Fox Tracks, is the habit of giving a list of characters at the beginning of the book. For a new reader in either the Sister Jane or Miss Murphy series, it helps to know who the characters are we'll encounter along the way. Readers who have followed each series from the start will be able to get a quick idea of how far the characters have come from the previous book, as well as any new characters who might either be a new permanent addition, or simply here for the current book.

Despite the slight quirks in Ms. Brown's writing, Fox Tracks is as enjoyable as other Rita Mae Brown novels and worth the read. Fans will thoroughly enjoy this book, and first time readers may become fans after this novel.

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