Shari Creates

Books, languages, things I make and notes from everyday life.

Category: Books

  • Tell yourself a better lie

    Tell yourself a better lie

    Tell yourself a better lie cover
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    Tell Yourself a Better Lie is a book that teaches you how to change the bad and limiting stories you tell yourself, and make them good and empowering instead. The book is based on ten real stories of people who did RTT sessions with Marisa, and how they changed their lives by changing their stories.

    I discovered Marisa Peer from a mindvalley video on youtube, where she explained how to heal your body and mind. I was intrigued by her approach and decided to check out her book if she had any and found  “Tell Yourself a Better Lie”. I searched for her work on Everand and was grateful to have found the audiobook. The audiobook was narrated by Carlyss Peer, who is Marisa’s daughter and a trained RTT therapist herself. I enjoyed listening to her voice, as she has a beautiful, crisp, and clear British accent. I find it rather soothing.

    Tell Yourself a Better Lie is a book that teaches you how to change the bad and limiting stories you tell yourself, and make them good and empowering instead. The book is based on ten real stories of people who did RTT sessions with Marisa, and how they changed their lives by changing their stories. The book also has audio guides for each story, which you can listen to online.

    The book has three parts: The first part tells you what RTT is and how it works better than other kinds of therapy. The second part shows you the ten stories, each one about a different problem, like depression, eating disorders, weight loss, fears, and addictions. The third part gives you the main lessons and tips from the book, and some exercises you can do to use RTT in your own life.

    The book was really interesting as she used lots of examples through real stories of patients who had successfully overcame their traumas. Though the stories and people were different but somehow it felt a bit repetitive. However, Marisa seems to be very sympathetic, kind and supportive, and she also shares her thoughts and experience. I feel that the book is not only informative, but also inspiring and motivating. It shows you how you can change your life by changing the way you tell the story to yourself (hence telling yourself a better lie), and how RTT can help you do that quickly and effectively.

    The book is good for anyone who wants to feel better about themselves, more confident, happier, and healthier. It is also useful for therapists, coaches, and anyone who wants to learn more about RTT and its benefits. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars, and I would suggest it to anyone who wants to tell themselves a better lie.

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  • Is it worth it? Everand,Scribd & Slide share – Unveiling the Ultimate audiobooks,ebooks, documents and presentation haven.

    Since June, I’ve been on a digital journey with Everand, Scribd, and Slideshare. These platforms have become my go-to for everything from reading to sharing docs and jazzing up presentations. Let me share why this trio is my internet happy place.

    Everand is my not-so-secret weapon for diving into ebooks and audiobooks without burning a hole in my pocket. From classics to the latest releases, my Everand subscription, at just $9.99 a month, gives me access to a world of stories without breaking the bank

    Scribd, the sibling of Everand, is like the chill spot for documents. It’s not just official papers; it’s where the community shares all kinds of reads. Scribd keeps it down-to-earth, making the document-sharing scene feel like a laid-back hangout.

    Slideshare, the funky cousin in this trio, is all about presentations and visuals. Whether you’re a student, a pro, or just into pretty slides, Slideshare is the visual party that’s part of the gang. And hey, it’s all bundled up under the same subscription.

    Let’s talk subscription smarts. Everand, Scribd, and Slideshare are all under one subscription, and at $9.99 a month, it’s like having a backstage pass to the whole show. Now, here’s the cool part—I’ve decided to switch to a yearly plan at $84.99 next billing cycle. Why? On top of having unlimited ebooks and audiobooks, that’s a saving of $34.89 a year. Simple as that.

    Oh, before you go, here’s a little gift for you! Dive into Everand, Scribd, and Slideshare with a 60-day free trial. Just click here to unlock the doors to this digital wonderland

    Everand, Scribd, and Slideshare aren’t just websites; they’re like my digital hangouts, each bringing its own vibe. Whether I’m lost in a book, sharing docs with pals, or jazzing up my presentations, this trio’s got my back. Here’s to more digital adventures and discovering the wonders of this content-packed crew! 🚀✨

  • Simple Hungarian – Fifty Topic For Beginners.

    Simple Hungarian – Fifty Topic For Beginners.

    SimpleHungarian

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    From Goodreads: The title of the series is Simple Hungarian, for the stories are told in simple, everyday colloquial style.

    I have to admit that I got this book a while back and started reading it long ago only to put it aside for a long time. I began to read the book again since I started to brush up on my Hungarian. I just need something else to read other than the text books that I am using.

    If you are learning Hungarian like myself you would know that there aren’t many study resources out there for this language compared to other languages; say Japanese or Spanish. So when I saw this book I was glad.

    Well, despite what the title says, “Simple Hungarian”. There is nothing simple about Hungarian. 😀 But just like everything the more you expose yourself to it the easier it gets. I find that the book is good for learning new words and also helps you remember the basic concepts and words usage as they are repeated a lot. It kind of ease you into the language.

    The book is divided into 2 parts – Simple present and simple past. Each part comes with 50 short articles or topics. The topics are about common things that you would use in your daily life with topics like – family, friends, siblings, work, hobbies etc. The topics were actually repeated in both parts but  as I mentioned earlier, one is presented in simple present and the other in simple past. And at the end of each topic there are questions based on it. Also the translations of both the articles and questions are provided as well. So you can use the questions to try to repeat what you’ve read by memory.

    This book is not something you can use as a textbook for sure but definitely something you should consider getting as a supplement for language learning.

    “Jó tanulást!”

     

     

     

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  • Dear Hank Williams

    Dear Hank Williams

    Bookcover Dear Hank
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    From Goodread: It’s 1948 in Rippling Creek, Louisiana, and Tate P. Ellerbee’s new teacher has just given her class an assignment–learning the art of letter-writing. Luckily, Tate has the perfect pen pal in mind: Hank Williams, a country music singer whose star has just begun to rise. Tate and her great-aunt and -uncle listen to him on the radio every Saturday night, and Tate just knows that she and Hank are kindred spirits. Told entirely…

    I finished this book about a week ago. I just didn’t have the time to write my thoughts on it. I am a fan of ‘letter writing’ or ‘journaling’ story telling. Not surprising that one of my all time favorite books “daddy long legs” by Jean Webster. You kind of get into the head of the characters and it can make them seem much more real.

    It took me a few hours to go through this book. I love reading stories from the perspective of a child. Innocent ,funny and refreshing. The story is based in the late 1940 post II world war period and the story was told through letters sent by an 11 year old girl named Tate P. Ellerbee to her idol, Hank Williams. I have to confess that every time she mentioned a song, I had to look it up and listen to them while reading the book. It was well written that I could imagine rather vividly how it was to live as a child in the 40s. How much more simple and complicated it was at the same time. Now when I wanted to listen to a song I could just google it or look it up on ‘spotify’ or ‘Tidal’ and chances are I would find them there. But for a child in the 40s who wanted to listen to songs of their favourite singers, they would have to make time to tune it to the radio at certain time of the day with the entire family. If you missed it, you miss it. You just have to wait for the next day or week for the program to come up again on the radio. I suppose something that we modern people would not have to go through – everything is instant gratification these days.

    Anyway, it all started when her teacher decided that they should all start writing to penpals. And Tate, after listening to Hank Williams for the first time on the radio, had a good idea of who her penpal should be – which is Hank Williams himself,  and nothing her teacher told her could convince her otherwise. From then on she started to relate the daily going ons in her life religiously through letters – without getting a reply of course other than the occasional autographed photos.

    As I mentioned earlier, the letters were well written, peppered with childish humor,  and curiosity. It is a story about love, family and grief. I conveyed in the end of how a grieving child might see the world. It reminded me that nobody is safe from the harsh reality of living. Not even a child. But love and hope conquers all and makes it easier what ever hardships life throws at us.

    With this I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it for sure.

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  • Emily Of New Moon trilogy by L.M Montgomery

    Emily Of New Moon trilogy by L.M Montgomery

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    One of the lesser known works of L.M Montgomery compared to Anne of Green Gables, but according to her,  Emily was closer to her own heart. Like Anne, Emily is a strong-minded, gifted, imaginative child, left alone and unprotected in a harsh world, who is taken in by adults who are at least initially cold and unloving. Both girls grow up amid the beauties of Prince Edward Island, both keenly sensitive to natural splendors and…

    The last time I read one of Ms Montgomery’s books, I was still a teenager. I loved all the books with Anne as the heroine – from Anne of Green Gables to Anne House of dreams. The books were magical for me. Anne, Diana, Gilbert were like real people that you’ve got to know more about them. Despite my love for those books it sure took a while for me to get a hold of the less popular books by Ms Montgomery. I suppose that was it, because it was less known, I barely could see these at bookstores back in Malaysia years ago when the internet was not that widely used.

    In fact, I got these books for free to be read on my ipad. You can find great bargains and even free classical books on Amazon Kindle once in a while. So the books in order which they are supposed to be read: Emily of New Moon, Emily climbs and Emily’s Quests.

    I read all three books within 3 days. I am at the moment sleep deprived for sure but I just couldn’t help myself, it was not easy to put them down once I started reading during the night.

    I decided to just do one review for all three books as to me it is like one whole story of Emily. It just won’t be complete to just read one or two books out of the series. This is one of those stories that you simply got to read one book at a time and not skip any.

    So here is what I thought of the books. They were good. Obviously as to how it was difficult for me to put them down. 🙂  But not as good as the Anne of Green Gables series and I could not help but to compare. This series seems to be a bit darker with a touch of paranormal, pedophilia, emotional incest and rather not as cheerful as Anne of Green Gables series. Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride characters kept on popping up when ever Emily’s uncles and aunts were in the picture.  The Murrays ( Emily’s maternal family) just infuriates me sometimes with their judgmental nature with one Aunt Ruth for example always suspecting Emily as being sly at all times and questioned everything she did as having a bad underlying motive simply because of what her mother did in the past. But I suppose that is what real life families are at times – annoying pain in the ass lot.

    I don’t know why it is, but somehow I felt it was rather rushed at the end. Maybe because it was only planned for 3 books and no more, or simply she just got tired of writing it towards the end. Some characters had more attention than some other important ones. I mean, there was Teddy Kent who was supposed to be a love interest for Emily and we barely know anything much about him. With Anne of Green Gables each character’s personality was well built so much so you feel like you yourself know them all your life – like Ruby Gillis, and heck even Charlie Sloane. Now with Emily of New moon this lack  some how left me with a feeling of slight dissatisfaction.

    All in all they were worth the read. Believe it or not there were positive take aways from the books for me personally. So I gave the books 4 out of 5 stars. Looking forward to read more of L.M. Montgomery’s other works soon.

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  • BR: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.

    BR: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.

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    Andy Dufresne, a banker, was convicted of killing his wife and her lover and sent to Shawshank Prison. He maintains his innocence over the decades he spends at Shawshank during which time he forms a friendship with “Red”, a fellow inmate.

    Yesterday being a rather gloomy and rainy Sunday, we decided to stay indoors and watch a movie. And that movie was Shawshank Redemption. I had watched it like 4-5  times now perhaps. It never gets old.

    Though I’ve watched the movie that many times but it never occurred to me to actually read the book of which the movie was adapted from. Yesterday afternoon, right after the movie I decided to look for the book and remedy that.

    I was surprised that the book was actually a short read – less than 120 pages. From the over 2 hour movie I expected something more. But I am not complaining – I love short books with substance.

    The movie didn’t follow the book to the “T” but to be honest I was hoping that it wouldn’t. As I was looking for a different end for the crook in the book. A better payback than the mere hours or maybe days before he ended up ‘making it easy’ and pulled the trigger on himself. The ending for the man Sam Norton indeed differs from the movie, not satisfying enough but I settled for it.

    I sat down and finished the book in a couple of hours and enjoyed every bit of it. What I love about the movie and the book is that it teach us to continue to hope. Something nobody can take away from you if you don’t let it. And where persistence, patience and grit would lead you.

    “Remember that hope is a good thing, Red, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

    Great book, totally, totally worth the read.

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  • Ikigai – giving everyday meaning and joy.

    Ikigai – giving everyday meaning and joy.

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    Ikigai is a traditional Japanese concept that embodies happiness in living. It is, essentially, the reason that you get up in the morning. This book is about finding your ikigai – identifying your purpose or passion and using this knowledge to achieve greater happiness in your life. Your ikigai doesn’t have to be some grand ambition or highly noble life’s purpose – it can be something simple and humble, like tending your garden or walking…

    It is not a new idea that we all need some sort of ‘motivation’ or passion in order to get up in the mornings feeling alive and motivated. The question is how to find it? Usually we were told it is supposed to be related to what you do as a job. But according to the author, it can be anything and not necessarily limited to just one’s career – it could be taking care of your family or enjoying your hobby. I particularly love the example of the cleaners of the Japanese trains. How they take pride on what they do and how they are appreciated by the Japanese society. Most societies’ perception would be that as cleaners they are at the bottom of the career chain. They are not appreciated, and who would wake up happy everyday if only to get up to a thanklrss  job? But for these Japanese cleaners, the passengers’ comforts seem to be their ‘ikigai’. They maintain a high standard of cleanliness, so that the passengers can travel to work or school in comfort and they, in return, will be able to contribute back to society through what ever they do.

    Other than the story of the Japanese train cleaners, I don’t find anything else that is interesting or extremely inspiring . My biggest qualm about this book is that, she only interviewed those people who were already deemed to be ‘successful’ and one of those lucky ones who already know what they want and need to do in their lives from a very young age. If only she could have included interviews from  those people who were ‘lost’ and actually found their ‘ikigai’ by chance or from Zero to Hero sort of story. That would have been more inspiring and more interesting.

     

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  • Frostblood – Elly Blake

    Frostblood – Elly Blake

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    Seventeen-year-old Ruby is a Fireblood who has concealed her powers of heat and flame from the cruel Frostblood ruling class her entire life. But when her mother is killed trying to protect her, and rebel Frostbloods demand her help to overthrow their bloodthirsty king, she agrees to come out of hiding, desperate to have her revenge.

    When I first got this book, I wasn’t really sure what I would be reading. I chose it based on the title instead of reading the synopsis. From the title, I was expecting it to be something like the “Game of thrones”. However, after reading the book till the end, it isn’t exactly that but it was a bit more of an Avatar’ish sort of fantasy story. With people gifted to wield an element of nature. In this first book of the series, there are mainly 2 tribes, which is the Fireblood, those who can wield the power of fire and the Frostblood, those who can conjure ice and frost.

    Other than an interesting story line, in order to enjoy a book I have to like the characters. Ruby, the Fireblood didn’t make me feel like rolling my eyeballs – no foot stomping, or demanding this and that. Instead of simply born to be good at something, just like the rest of us mere mortals, she had to really work hard to learn to bring up her powers and and control it. She had her moments when she wanted to just give up but she went back to it. I suppose, she is relatable.

    Her love interest, a Frostblood called Arcus is not your typical dashingly handsome hero. His face was badly burnt and scarred, a constant reminder for him as a survivor of a  Fireblood attack. So he didn’t have and entirely beautiful face,  but his rare to smile, brooding, fiercely loyal, hard working sort of personality made him ‘handsome’ and likable. He disliked her at the beginning and so did she because of their differences – obviously since one is a Fireblood and one is a Frostblood. But they had to fight a common enemy, therefore they had to put animosity aside. For Arcus it was to save his people and for her it was for revenge.

    Now, though enjoyed the book as it was written well, but I have to say that the storyline is okay-ish as I felt it was too predictable.  If you read the book, most probably you will know what I mean. Will I be reading the sequel? I am not sure. The first book was good enough on it’s own but it didn’t leave me wanting to know more about what will happen to the shadow for example or whether Arcus will ever marry Ruby etc.

    So I will skip the sequel for now and concentrate on other books or series first.

     

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  • Goodbye Things – Fumio Sasaki

    Goodbye Things – Fumio Sasaki

    Goodbye Things
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    Fumio Sasaki is a writer in his thirties who lives in a tiny studio in Tokyo with three shirts, four pairs of trousers, four pairs of socks and not much else. A few years ago, he realized that owning so much stuff was weighing him down – so he started to get rid of it. In this hit Japanese bestseller, Sasaki explores the philosophy behind minimalism and offers a set of straightforward rules – discard…

    This is the second book I have read on Minimalism so far this year and the best yet. Written through personal experience, the author explained to us as to why and how he became one of the maximum minimalist by choice in Japan if not in the world.

    It is not simply a  How to book but  it is a story of a journey of the author’s own experience – his struggles and triumphs in letting go of his attachments to material possessions. I found myself chuckling many times and able to relate to myself and those I know, as he explained what his thoughts were and how others may think as well when it comes to throwing ‘junks’ that we take as treasures or items that we save up for our unborn grandchildren. We are different and yet the same. The more I read on I understood as to  why he did what he did – to throw away and not even store anything of ‘might be useful someday’  just made sense. To move out of one apartment to another in just 30 minutes? Or to have more time doing what you like instead of doing chores? In fact he said that doing chores is even more enjoyable as it became less of a hassle and his living area calms the nerves.

    With a bit of story telling he also gave us about 55 ways  or tips on how you can condition yourself emotionally to make it easier to say goodbye to things that no longer serve your daily life. Those greeting cards and arts and crafts given to me by kids whom I cared for during my Kindergarten working days went into the recycling bin day before. I took photos of them as suggested. I suppose it is a fear of no longer seeing something that brings me the feeling of nostalgia that made me kept them. I had piles and piles of notebooks that are waiting to be used. Simply taking away more storage and more of my living space. I packed them up and told my daughter to give them away for her friends to use. I’ll finish using the ones I am using and once I’ve utilized them I can get more then. Buy things only when I need or I really use on a daily or even monthly basis. I don’t strive to be a minimalist but I do aim for a bit more simpler life with less things that only taking up space.

    I only took a few tips and I feel that I am actually making more progress in getting my life to be less cluttered. Minimalism as he puts it is a journey and you don’t have to do it in a day or weeks. It could be years. As I remember him saying that it took him about 5 years. Get rid of the real junk out first and go on from there. Would I recommend this book? Totally. Especially if you are hoping to seek some guidance or are thinking about downsizing your worldly possessions.    

     

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  • A Court of Thorn and Roses – Sarah J. Mass.

    A Court of Thorn and Roses – Sarah J. Mass.

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    Feyre’s survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price …

    I downloaded the book months back and forgot about it. In my effort to catch up with my book reading challenge on Goodreads, I sieved through my unread books and found it. I didn’t even remember why I downloaded it. Perhaps it was a recommendation in Goodreads. In any case, I decided to finish reading it over the weekend. Finished it I did and these are my thoughts on it.

    It is a fantasy novel with a girl called Feyre (Fayruh) as the protagonist. She came from a family that once lived in the lap of luxury but fell from grace, and the onus of keeping her family alive laid on her shoulders from a very young age. She had made a vow to her mother on her deathbed to care for the family, so she worked her fingers to the bone and hunt to provide for her family. It was during one of her hunting trips that she met an enchanted wolf and killed it, only to find out that it was in fact one of the High Faes of Prythian. For this mistake, she was taken away from her family, by the High Lord Fae, Tamlin, to live with him as a replacement for the one she murdered.

    Since I didn’t read the synopsis of this book nor reviews before I read this book I didn’t know what to expect and after reading a few chapters of this book I realized that it reminded me of “Beauty and the Beast”. Surely enough, Tamlin, who had taken Feyre as a prisoner, was under a curse. Not only his powers were curbed and controlled by an evil Fairy but he and along with those belonging in his domain were tricked and  doomed to wear half face masks for as long as the curse had a hold on them.

    I have to admit that the first few chapters of the book was a bit too slow for my taste that I almost gave up. I am sure it was just a build up so that what ever happens at the end would all make sense. The story was told rather well that after the initial boring pages and when things started to pick up pace, it was tough to put the book down. 

    Now, I enjoyed the story enough to read the book till the end in just a couple of days. But I can’t help to have mixed feelings about it as I am not sure I like the heroine of this book, Feyre.  I do like my “tsundere’ or strong female characters. However, Feyre annoys me. She was taken as a prisoner by Tamlin in exchange for killing one of his own men. She should be punished for this yet she was treated with mercy and kindness and her family was taken cared well back in the human domain. For someone expecting punishment she is rather self entitled and proud.  Perhaps also, I felt that she got it easy to just fall in love with an attractive guy with just a mask on instead of a real ugly beast. 🙂 With that sort of character, I doubt she would fall for an ugly beast. In any case, her saving grace is her loyalty to people she cared for and the trials that she had to go through had redeemed her in my eyes somewhat. Though, her pride made it more difficult to make myself to like her the way I liked Belle from Beauty and the Beast. 

    So, I would say if you like stories where the girl needs to break the curse on a mysterious and sexy prince charming, this is for you. Will I be reading the sequel? Perhaps yes, when I can forget how I disliked the main character. 🙂

     

     

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