BREAKFAST WITH BUDDHA * HOTEL IRIS * ARE YOU THERE VODKA? IT'S ME, CHELSEA

Breakfast With Buddha by Roland Merullo - Reading Breakfast With Buddha is like reading a fictional account of The New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. The main idea is don't hurt don't hurt don't hurt, and don't anger don't anger don't anger. A pure distillation, and if you couple it with what I thought was the essence of this book, a statement about how to live your life,

"At some point.....you'd be asked to believe in some possibility that transcended newspaper headlines and TV shows and the opinions and assumptions of your friends. And how you responded to that would have a greater impact on your life than anything else you'd ever decide to do, or refrain from doing."

the story gives you all you need to live happily. It's really up to each person, and has nothing to do with anyone else. It's about believing in possibility not impossibility. It's about being positive not negative. It's about smiling not frowning. It's about kindness not excess. It's about simplicity not complication. I try, and I hope others will read the book and try, too. Desire to believe, makes it easier to believe. I'm still unsure about pure meditation as something for me, and know that I will probably never be a yoga person, but after reading Breakfast With Buddha, I began to "get" both yoga and meditation. For me, for now, be happy.

Hotel Iris by Yoko Ogawa - This was quite a story. From the author of The Housekeeper and the Professor, (which I loved) this is her version of 9 1/2 Weeks. I didn't really mind it, though. It's a great read, but not for the faint of heart, or those who read very literally. It's told by a 17 year old girl who lives with her overbearing mother in a small hotel they own in a seaside resort town in Japan. She meets a much older man, a translator, and you go from there..... I will definitely continue to read Yoko Ogawa.

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler - There's something about Chelsea that I can't watch every single night, but I do like her spin off, After Lately, and my friend Sue recommends her new sit com. I could barely get through one night of her friend Whitney, who was too over the top for me, but the book is good. Chelsea is very funny and really irreverent, and she'll say (or write) anything. It's a light read for laughs.