This room contains reviews of books we recommend, pointers to a limited number of online books, including the complete text of our own - The Truth about Illness, Unhappiness and Stress? - togehter with a variety of other material and resources.

The Book Reviews section contains selected and regularly updated reviews of books that we believe to be vital in the process of self-healing and development. Books are chosen not because they may be new, but because of their content.

The reviews are categorised as follows:

Mind/Body & Remarkable Healing

Reality Creating & Inspirational Stories

Positive Thinking & Self-Development

Other Dimensions & Spiritual Growth

Good Reads!

You may find that you have read many of the books selected — please bear with us and consider also re-reading as you may find a book read 5 years ago holds new meaning for you in the present moment.

Mind/Body & Remarkable Healing

The Healing Path
by Marc Barasch

Barasch was as hard hit as any on hearing that he had cancer. He found himself being rushed through the cancer 'healing' treatments on offer from medicine before he had even time to consider what he was really dealing with. 'The Healing Path' is a book written by someone experiencing cancer and investigating the truths that it often contains. His journalist training results in a fascinating study of cancer in the 1990's including many documented case studies of remarkable healings. His style is very appealing and, because he writes as a layman, there is no getting too bogged down in medical facts and figures. At times he covers difficult ground, but for anyone really wanting a greater understanding of what cancer may mean today, this is an excellent starting point and one that is presented in a very unbiased way.

Remarkable Recovery
by Marc Barasch and Caryle Hirschberg

A follow up to the 'The Healing Path', 'Remarkable Recovery' is a detailed look at the constituents that make up the phenomena which the authors refer to as 'remarkable recovery' (it used to be called spontaneous remission). This is a brilliant presentation of cases that include many really hopeless situations where healing was still found. The conclusions are nothing too outstanding, but the book is again beautifully written. The knowledge and information contained within it can only help to arm someone suffering from serious illness, although they may find they will draw as much hope by selecting some of the inspirational case studies.

Unconditional Life
by Deepak Chopra

This is Chopra at his best. Simple to understand with a logic that is hard to doubt. Anyone who doubts that the mind has any control over the workings of the body must read this book. It will put beyond doubt the myth that illness is a random accident over which we have no control. He argues his case from the strength of being a respected and experienced cancer specialist and this book is a much easier read than 'Quantum Healing', his other excellent study of cancer and the effects of meditation. For anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer (or any other serious illness for that matter), or for anyone who is helping someone go through such illness, 'Unconditional Life' will help to provide the intellect with proof that self-healing is worth taking very, very seriously.

Quantum Healing
by Deepak Chopra

Deepak Chopra was working as a consultant endocrinologist in a hospital in Boston when he began to question the connections between 'miracle' healing, conventional medicine and quantum physics. This book clearly describes his thought processes and the conclusions which have since led him to give up practising medicine and become a 'guru' of holistic practice.

We cannot recommend this book highly enough, but there are some who will not find it an easy read. Perhaps those who require a more scientific, rational explanation of the connections between mind, body and spirit will be the most drawn to this book.

Spiritual Healing In A Scientific Age
by Robert Peel

An uplifting book for anyone searching for more evidence for the power of the mind, but particularly those who are already in the grip of chronic or serious illness.

Robert Peel is a follower of Christian Science but there is absolutely no need to be a Christian Scientist, or even a Christian to receive inspiration from the extraordinary testimonials of healing in this book.

Reality Creating & Inspirational Stories

The Magic of Findhorn
by Paul Hawken

Published originally in 1975 and proof that, like The Prophet, we are not just interested in new books, this is a fascinating account of life at Findhorn in Scotland. Written by someone who only intended originally a brief visit, it captures the essence of what is, undoubtedly, a magical community. So many scientists have failed to explain intellectually the success of the plants and trees that have thrived in nothing but a bit of compost on top of sand, that there is little doubt that another explanation to it all has to be acknowledged. For anyone wanting proof that nature spirits are there to help but for the asking, Findhorn is surely it. The book itself is at times annoyingly adjectival, but the truth contained within is both heart-breaking and heart-warming. A must read for those who are looking...

Mutant Message Down Under
by Marlo Morgan

This may also seem to be a rather baffling recommendation – a book that proclaims itself to be a novel about one woman's journey through the Australian Outback with a tribe of Aboriginals.

In fact it is not a novel, but a true story. In order to protect the identity of her aboriginal friends, the author is legally obliged to call her book a novel – whereas it is in reality a factual account of her experience.

Marlo Morgan gives remarkable insights into the spiritual power of the native Australians and their understanding of the healing arts. She also reveals their profound knowledge of how to live in such complete harmony with nature that they can survive – and survive joyously – in an environment hostile enough to kill any one of us "civilised" humans (we are nicknamed "mutants" by the Aboriginals) within twenty-four hours. It is indeed a reminder of our own capabilities that are just waiting to be awakened.

A Child Of Eternity
by Kristi Jorde & Adriana Rocha

Another remarkable true story. The authors are mother and daughter – the daughter, Adriana, is severely autistic and had never managed to speak or communicate properly. The book concerns the parents' discovery of a new method of communication for people suffering from autism – using a computer keyboard.

Through this keyboard, Adri began to communicate with her mother in a wholly unexpected way – inside this apparently uncontrollably disabled little girl resides a wise and spiritually enlightened being who relates extraordinary information about the meaning of life, disability, reincarnation and the future of Earth itself.

Positive Thinking & Self-Development

You Can Heal Your Life
by Louise Hay

The bible of positive thinking from America. When I first read this book 4 years ago I had to put it down when I got to the chapter on money, because I just couldn't believe that I was responsible for all the lack of money in my life. 18 months later I was ready for it and I realised the whole point was not to blame myself but to change my approach 'in the now'. I've never looked back, no longer 'work' for a living and am fully aware that Louise Hay was an important part of that process. Her language may be a little 'flowery' at times for stiff upper lip Brits, but her approach is so direct (using mainly affirmations) that anyone who lets themselves will be helped by her methods. We have passed this book on to more people than virtually any other in our collection.

The Road Less Travelled
by M Scott Peck

This book has been a consistent bestseller since it was written nearly twenty years ago. Scott Peck was a practising consultant psychiatrist who, like Deepak Chopra, was drawn to take a broader, more spiritual, view of the human condition than was traditionally acceptable in medical circles.

This book is for those who realise that their greatest need is to go within and gain greater understanding of the self. The "Road" of the title refers to the path of self-transformation and knowledge, and reading it can bring about profound changes in one's outlook on life. Dr Peck is particularly good on the subject of personal relationships.

Other Dimensions & Spiritual Growth

Voices In My Ear
by Doris Stokes

This will strike some as an odd choice of recommendation, especially after the above titles of earnest self-help. Why a book by a famous medium, the late Doris Stokes?

Surprisingly perhaps, it is a profoundly healing and inspirational book. The convincingly simple truths contained in Doris Stokes's story can remove a person's fear of death. For those who are sceptical of the evidence of life after death, or the validity of spiritualism in general, it is an essential book and a delightfully entertaining read as well.

The Sacred Mirror - A Spiritual Diary
by Margery Eyre

We are all on an inner spiritual journey. This book, a diary of channeled messages received by Margery Eyre, a mother of four and wife of a barrister and M.P., is taken from her spiritual diaries of the 1950’s. It contains wisdom that is timeless. And whilst it is directed at her from her spiritual teachers, the wisdom itself is of a perennial kind from which everyone can benefit. Her teachers talk of the need for meditation, joy, trust and love. They also tell her how “...in all stages of his life man makes the reality he encounters...”. Hmmm, now where have I heard that before? Overall a lovely, spiritual book written with great clarity and honesty. Well worth hunting out. (Published 1980 by Colin Smythe Ltd, P.O.Box 6, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire).

The Prophet
by Kahlil Gibran

"The Prophet" is a famous poem, but for those who do not know it already we wanted to say that we believe no home should be without a copy. The complete online text is also available at a number of addresses. Try The Prophet on the Many Paths site or The Prophet on Gibran Majdalany's site.

Good Reads

The Celestine Prophecy
by James Redfield

This one really is a novel – the only one in our list of eight. The Celestine Prophecy was the number one bestseller in 1995 in the USA. It is an adventure story, which makes it an entertaining, easy read, even for those who are not seeking deeper meaning from their reading matter.

What makes it so different from the average adventure is that each chapter contains one of nine spiritual "Insights" from a fictional document called "The Manuscript". Through the eyes of the hero of the story we discover and learn the significance of each Insight, which teaches us of the deeper meanings of life and points to a new awakening within mankind in general.

This book makes an excellent starting point for those who are just beginning on the path of looking for something more than the accepted daily realities of the material world.