BOOK REVIEW [An Ode... by F. Renee Hamilton]

Poetry published in the 21st century has pretty high standards to live up to, and unless a poet has a specific audience to market to, then most poetry books are simply personal accomplishments for the author. I received a copy of An Ode... by F. Renee Hamilton for my honest review. Heartbreak, bad relationship and unfulfilled desires have been themes in poetry for centuries, so to read a poetry book about failed love relationships doesn’t stimulate my metaphysical antennas with hope of learning something to grow in life with. 

At the start, An Ode...’s cover is completely boring and speaks to nothing in the book. The best thing about it is the author’s picture on the back, she’s cute. Out of the twenty-three poems, I found one quotable line; yep, just one. “I am a healer... but...When will I find the healer whose purpose is to make me whole.” The poems are the typical woman being the fool in love, giving too much, not getting that call back, giving up the goodies too soon and not appreciating or being appreciated in the relationship. 

I do like the layout where the title of the poem has its own page announcing the poem to follow. Also, it was a quick read. I’m feeling blue, rejected and foolish was the primary theme. If was the author’s intention was for the reader to wallow in self-pity, then the book is perfect. After reading this book, I had to reset my vibration with some Rumi and Shel Silverstein.

Unless you need some company for your misery, I recommend skipping An Ode... 1 ankh.

K. Akua Gray

May 23, 2020

Houston, TX

BOOK REVIEW [Buddhism for Kids by Emily Griffith Burke]

OMG, Buddhism for kids is a beautiful book for little ones of all ages. I home school my grandchildren and we added this to our morning routine after our good morning song. We finished the book in a little over a month. We absorbed the activities and enjoyed all of the stories. The precepts were easy and the children loved saying them by memory.

The activities were presented very well with variety and our three favorites were Little Critters, Shadow Tracing and Mandala Drawing. The stories and activities easily held the attention of both my 6-year-old and my 4-year-old. They also learned the nice word of “metta” which they used often when referring to sharing love and positive energy.

Although we did not do all the activities, mainly those for bedtime. Just a couple of activities were too advanced for my little ones. We will continue to add what we learned to our school routine.

We are not Buddhists, but we will live by metaphysics principles so these activities fit right in with our family values.

I highly recommend this book. It is a great value and virtue activity book for the little ones. 5 ankhs from me on this one. Great job, Emily Griffith Burke. I received a free copy of this book from the Callisto Publisher's Club for my honest opinion.

K. Akua Gray

May 10, 2020

Houston, TX

You are welcome to use my affiliate link to order your copy of Buddhism for Kids at a great discount price. Thank you for your support.  https://amzn.to/2RU7vdF

BOOK REVIEW [Simplify Your Life from the Inside Out by Mark Wayne Smith]

“Without knowing it we’ve surrendered our inner selves to the control of others around us.”

A journey of learning to live, is the best way I can describe Simplify Your Life from the Inside Out: The 7 Keys to Finding Inner Peace by Mark Wayne Smith, a simple journey of awareness. Beginning with the simplicity of the cover, it speaks volumes. The window is anybody’s window, it could be on the house of a small cottage or a big mansion, this plainly says all are welcome on this journey. The window opens onto pristine meadow that immediately gives a connection to the subtitle 7 Keys to Finding Inner Peace.

Mr. Smith opens like he is talking to an old friend who understands him and that he can be free with. It is just good plain talk. Although it becomes evident early in the book that the author is a novice in metaphysical thoughts, I think that his intended audience will appreciate the common information on mind, body, and spirit. The introduction is very heartfelt, and it makes you want to keep reading.

The author starts off strong dropping timeless jewels of wisdom and sayings that are perfect for self-reflection pertaining to honesty, moving on, about at least trying, and keeping progress as your focus when you are trying to change. There is also a nice summary of the 7 keys before you get into the thick of the book. Being an advocate for peace, I thoroughly enjoy the quotable peace lessons in Chapter 1: The Beginnings. One of my favorites reiterates that peace is our natural state of being.  Chapter 4 is is another good chapter that gets you thinking about why you even have to stress over anything. “Things are the way they are because they got that way”.

The author is a Christian, so inevitably, religious beliefs are sprinkled throughout the book, not overwhelming but if you are not a Christian and don’t care for the dogma, you’ll find yourself skipping over some parts. There are however good chapter summaries and action steps that one can take into the practice of “finding inner peace”. Chapter 8 on expectations has the best exercise on how to check yourself when feeling disappointed or angry about somebody who does not do what you expected.

There are some confusing parts and some parts that are debatable in their truthfulness and this can be due to the author being new to writing self-help books. The author keeps the closing of the book lighthearted. I received a free copy of this book from the author for my honest opinion and I will give Simplify Your Life 3 ankhs, it is great for beginners and very motivating. 

K. Akua Gray

April 30, 2020

Houston, TX

You are welcome to use my affiliate link to order your copy of Simplify Your Life from the Inside Out at a great discount price. Thank you for your support.

https://amzn.to/2yyXICM

BOOK REVIEW [We Can Sign by by Tara Adams]

I have been teaching my grandchildren sign language for two years and I’m always excited to find new resources for teaching ASL that is child friendly. We Can Sign by Tara Adams is an okay book for learning some basics of the language.

The text starts off strong with alphabets and numbers up to 100, then goes into introductions, but after that the structure became unappealing as she broke the signs up into categories of just one-word illustrations. I was excited about the complete sentences at the beginning of the book which were also easier for me to pass along to the children. We quickly got bored and put the book aside for more ASL videos.

Things I like about the book include the excellent information on “deaf culture” and the many variety of beautiful faces of the children from around the world. Ms. Adams also gives a very touching introduction. We will hold onto this free copy of this book and use it as a reference if needed. Overall, it is a good book just not for my 4 and 6 year old. I give this book 4 ankhs and recommend it for those seeking introduction to ASL.

K. Akua Gray

April 20, 2020

Houston, TX

You are welcome to use my affiliate link to order your copy of We Can Sign at a great discount price. Thank you for your support.


https://amzn.to/2RU7vdF

BOOK REVIEW [CRYSTAL RESONANCE 1, 2 AND 3 by Kerry Welson Selman]

It has taken me some time to review these books because the information was so dense and captivating. The Crystal Resonance series of books by Kerry Nelson Selman is a fine addition to the world of crystal therapy literature. Being a master student of this very beautiful and intriguing part of our planet, I am excited when innovative thoughts on the subject of crystals is manifested.

Ms. Selman has clearly taken her time to give a special energy and  into this compilation of familiar stones. In the three volumes, she only highlights a total of 40 crystals but she uniquely merges their vibrational energy with herbs, essential oils, chakras, flower essences and spiritual energies that most lovers of crystals can relate to. Her gentle nature is evident in the very topics and resources that she chose as subject matter in the books such as affirmations, meditations and overall reminders of dwelling in synergy in wellness work such as this.

I do like the books but of course as a professional publisher also, it is evident that these are low budget books because the covers lack creativity and do not do the content justice. Another low budget mistake that was made is not having a full color interior. I couldn’t have imagined a book on crystals with such a wealth of information not having color pictures, especially of the crystals. Crystals in black and white, not a good choice.

Aside from the above, the books are magnificent. I highly recommend this series of books for any crystal lover’s library. My rating is 4¹/₂ Ankhs. I received copies of this book from the author for my honest opinion.

K. Akua Gray

April 10, 2020

Houston, TX

You are welcome to use my affiliate link to order your copy of Crystal Resonance at a great discount price. Thank you for your support.

https://amzn.to/2y7ZNFW

Holistic Sexuality: The Introduction

BOOK REVIEW [The Origins of Amen: Ancient Knowledge the Bible Has Never Told by O. Kwame Osei]

Captivating – Culturally arousing and historical must read. These are three anthams that I can apply to The Origins of Amen: Ancient Knowledge the Bible Has Never Told by O. Kwame Osei and edited by Jahi Issa, Ph.D. Salim Faraji, Ph.D. I must admit I like correlations of great African pasts finding their way to the children of the African diaspora as a testimony that heritage and culture can live on forever even if those who are the benefactors are not fully knowledgeable of it's influence. Such is the case for the modern day Ghanaian who are the primary subjects of this well document work of history.

The editorial portion of the book is elegantly situated as the first half of the book and serves as the foundation that covers a very important part of ancient Kemetic (Egyptian) history, highlighting their royalty and spirituality. The editors Dr. Issa and Dr. Faraji introduce 3,000 years of history of the “serekh” and how its symbolism was the face and mission of spiritual ascension for every royal from the Kemetic beginning in Nubia all the way through to the time of Alexander the Great and the establishment of Alexandria.

Do you know how many times Amen, the essence of the universe is mentioned from the beginning to the end of the bible? Well, you have to see Appendix A for the answer but I will tell you it occurs in 26 of the books. 

How does this relate to the Ghanaian people today? The Akan were a part of the ancient Nubia migration to the West Africa beginning around 50 B.C.E which is also noted as the time of the rise of the Kingdom of Ghana. It is presented in the book that they still carry a many number of Kemetic names that have been handed down through every Akan generation for the last 2,000 years. For Example:
Amonama – what Amen has given
Ankrah – The living God
Menrenra – time of God
Amenta – Amen touches
Yamhotepe – my creator is of immaculate purity.

Osei documents more than 80 names and words of Kemetic origin that are present among the Akan people today. This information is impressive but it also saddens me because knowing what we know about ancient Kemet today even in its 2,000 years of ruins, the minds, bodies, and spirits that built such and impressive civilization that gifted the world with so much was lost for so long under the veil of the religious ignorance that destroyed it.

The Origin of Amen is not a new book. It was written in 2006 and just as we are still reading Rumi, Gibran, Cheik Anti-Diop and Wallis Budge. It is my hopes that Mr. Osei’s book will inspire scholars many centuries from today. 

5 Ankhs there is not another book like this in the whole world. I was given this book by Dr. Jahi Issa, one of the editors as a gift for my honest review. I loved it. 

K. Akua Gray

January 1, 2020

Central Region, Ghana