Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: love

  • The Passengers

    The Passengers

    As the title suggests, this book looks at journeys. Not only the physical trip from country to country, but the journey people make as they grow up in a certain time, in a certain place, and with their own thoughts and background. Sarah is an elderly lady now, and we look back in time at her life and decisions she has made. She is travelling home to Australia with her granddaughter, Hannah, with whom she has a close bond.

    As the cruise ship they are on will take some time to arrive, Sarah wants to tell Hannah her life story. We follow her journey, discovering that she grew up on a dairy farm, with two brothers. Everyone worked seven days a week, hand milking the cows, then the children rode a horse to school. Finally, Father was forced to leave the farm, settle in Sydney, and start a delivery service with his truck. Theirs wasn’t a joyful family. Mum was unwell a lot of the time, and Dad was a harsh man. The war broke out and both of Sarah’s brothers enlisted. Sarah became a typist, met an American soldier, and married him before he went to New Guinea.

     We follow Sarah’s journey as she sails to America after the war, meanwhile, her granddaughter, Hannah, has a journey of her own. She is keeping quiet about the fact that she has anorexia, and is becoming more anxious about her control over herself after she sleeps with one of the sailors. But as Sarah’s story continues, and facts are told which were never revealed to any of the family before, Hannah can see she is not the only one who has faced enormous battles.

    Sarah’s life in America on a tobacco farm is less than idyllic. Her husband was wounded in the war, and they can never have children. But the dour, unhappy family, with whom they lived, creates a life of misery and unhappiness. She faces the decision to stay and spend the rest of her life there, or to leave, and start again. Meanwhile, the ship draws closer to Australia, and Sarah prepares to meet her last remaining family member, her brother. Hannah realises that this is a huge moment in her grandmother’s life, and places her own needs behind her.

    This is such an interesting read. The story is of a time where not a lot is known about the fate of the hundreds of war brides. How did they settle? It is also a look into the life of the Australian outback, and the descriptive writing evocative of the bush. “How is it a place can speak to you? The way the bark on the tree catches the light, the sound of kookaburras laughing at dusk….” Sharing thoughts with a person whose journey with anorexia is confronting, but fascinating. This is a most engaging story.

  • The Way of The Lover

    The Way of The Lover

    Your task is not to seek for love.

    But to seek and find the barriers within yourself

    That you have built against it.

    Rumi (1207-1273)

     These words where written, or rather spoken by Rumi, a Persian poet who created some incredible works of poetry, establishing the culture known as the Sufi, based on and in the true and wonderful meaning of love: love of self, love of life, love of fellow man, and mankind. Rumi’s works are still revered, enjoyed and quoted today, and are still as profound in today’s world as they were when first created.

    In this work Ross Heaven shares his immense knowledge, based in years of practicing as a psychologist, Sharman and Healer to introduce the seeker to what is True Love, not sexual love, but something far deeper, far greater, far more long lasting and permanent than instant gratification.

    Based in and on the many aspects of spirituality, Sufi practice and Spirit medicine this is a course in discovering, or rather rediscovering ‘self’, the love of self and the wonderful, powerful knowledge that to love and be loved is the ultimate goal in being happy.

    The work is laid out in a lovely, comfortable manner, illustrated with segments of poetry, case studies, and explanations which will encourage, guide and offer extensive knowledge based on the pathway chosen to explore.

    There is much to read and understand, some of it will resonate immediately, some will need to be considered and contemplated, as each of sections deals with an aspect of human expression and feeling; each dealing with the fundamental truths embedded within us all, such as fear, myths, power, relationships and self-knowledge.

    Not to be undertaken in a single read, although it is tempting, rather the chapters should be enjoyed, one at a time, the information used to reflect upon, to contemplate and allowed to begin to make a change.

    As Heaven says in the closing chapters, ‘Love is action not words’, it is so very much more, it is belief in the innate wisdom we have at birth but so often lose in today’s world.

    Rumi suggested that words were not essential, to discovering love, that love is there within us all, all we have to do is listen and let it happen, but in the meantime, while discovering this innate love,   you could do far worse than to use The Way of The Lover, as a guidebook for your journey.

  • I Love You, Stick Insect

    I Love You, Stick Insect

     Every so often a lovely feel good story comes along, that delights the heart and brings with it a lovely warm smile. This is such a book, written and illustrated by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros, as he has a tilt at the wonderfulness of that very funny, often times amusing thing called love.

    Stick Insect has fallen in love with the girl of his dreams. He is wooing her with everything he has in heart, thinking up wonderful things they can do together, places they can go and the happiness that will be theirs.

    They can dip their toes into the sea, join a big noisy brass band, surf the ocean waves and fly away like the birds.  The list of wonderful things they can do together is endless. The love and joy they will have together is immeasurable.

    His friend Butterfly is trying to tell him something, but he is so in love he is simply not listening to anything Butterfly has to say about his true love. That is, until he does finally figure out that perhaps this love thing could be nothing more than a one way street!

    Totally enjoyable, with lovely, happy, large format illustrations, this is a story that will delight reader’s young and old and definitely become a firm favourite to be read time and time again.

     

  • White Gum Creek

    White Gum Creek

    Nick Langtree had lost what he considered the lot in a devastating bushfire which killed his wife and unborn child, laying to waste much of his farm, the livestock, and his reason for living.

    Six long years have passed since the tragedy and he is only now, with the help of long-time friends and the community, beginning to emerge from his reclusive lifestyle. There are times when he needs to leave his self-imposed lifestyle on Winters Hill, but he does this grudgingly, paying scant regard to the townsfolk who try to engage him in conversation, wanting to encourage him to begin to return to being an active member of the community once again.

    When in town, he often goes into the Gumnut Bakery, an institution in the town that has seen a re-emergence under the new direction of brother and sister team Natasha and Alex Duroz, grandchildren of the original owners; Tash simply can’t help trying to make a little difference in Nicks life, and he is finding that with time and a little help, he is beginning to want to re-join the world; at least a very little piece of it.

    It is not until things begin to go slightly amiss at Winters Hill, he begins to believe he is being targeted by group of vandals, but why. The level of vandalism and a raft of very strange occurrences keep being repeated, eventually escalating to the point where it can no longer be ignored. After much soul searching, Nick realises that there is more to this than kids having a go at him.

    He also realises that his sanity is not at stake and begins to want to know more about what, and who, is behind what appears to be this senseless series events. When Tash gets run off the road by a truck on her way to Nick’s place, the serious of the situation is recognised and he realises someone is playing for real, and in deadly earnest.

    New love, fresh beginning and the overwhelming gift of friendship and love, all come together in this warm and delightful tale from Nicole Hurley –Moore, just when you needed a fresh dose of feel good reading.

    Enjoy

  • Six Ways to Sunday

    Six Ways to Sunday

    Rilee Summers is a girl who has got her life under control. She has faced up to many challenges in her life, studied and worked hard to become a Naturopath and is looking to start up her own clinic in Sydney, working at what she loves to do most, help people.

    That is until she meets Dan Kincaid, a farmer from Pallaburra, a remote town in New South Wales, at a buck’s night at her friend’s pub, where she often worked to earn a little extra cash, and falls madly, passionately in love, with this ruggedly handsome man from the outback.

    After many rushed trips to Sydney by Dan, they decide to marry, which has taken some serious consideration from Rilee, as although she realises Dan is her one and only love, giving up her dream of opening her own clinic when is it so near to becoming a reality, is a big ask.

    Although she realises Pallaburra is not Sydney, she truly believes she can open a clinic in the rural town and make a real go of it, until she runs headlong into a raft of prejudices, realises that her beloved Dan’s family are so set in tradition it is painfully, heartbreakingly challenging, and that her desire to champion a change of attitude in the town toward the spate of teen pregnancies, has caused a complete schism within the hide bound community.

    Things finally reach a head when Dan refuses to support her and she takes time out to visit her parents on their property in Queensland, where they grow a range of herbs used in healing, that she has to make some serious decisions about what she holds dearest. She finds the soothing nature of digging the soil and working out amongst the herb beds relaxing which allows her time reflect on the testing and difficult first months of her marriage.

    In this latest summer read from the much love Karly Lane she has captured the essence of young woman who will not back down from what she believes is right; a young woman who is not afraid of a challenge, a young woman who is prepared to put her love on the line for her convictions.

    In Six Ways to Sunday, Lane has captured the reality of small town country living where much of the social structure was laid down generations ago, ease of access to health professionals and community facilities are not readily available and social issues, such as teen pregnancy rates, poor and education standards are an everyday occurrence.

    Rilee Summers stands up for what she believes in and by doing so helps to make a positive change within her community.  Perhaps we all should take a leaf out of this feisty heroine’s book and by doing a little, a lot may, somewhere in the remote communities of Australia, change for the better.

  • Valensteins

    Valensteins

    Fran, who looks very much like a miniature version of Frankenstein, is the main character in this Children’s Picture Book. It has many scary looking characters, including a mummy, a witch and a vampire. The front cover shows a dark background with two people inside a cut- out love heart, because this is really a love story. The end pages are black and the background colour of each page is dark.

     It was a good night for going out and scaring people, but Fran was busy cutting out something. Vladimir wanted to know what was happening and discovered that Fran was cutting out a shape. The others tried to guess what he was doing. They thought he was cutting out a nose, or a mask, or a paper butt, but then someone saw the date and realised it was Valentine’s Day. EEEEEK! Isn’t that to do with love? ….What is love? “That’s when two people feel mushy about each other.’”

     EWWWWW! The horror of that thought has the other characters reeling. They begin discussing what it feels like to love someone, and how mushy that could be, and what behaviour the couple might engage in. The looks of repulsion are very humorous, as are the howls of anguish. All are agreed that they will never fall in love, while Fran goes outside to sit in a tree. That is where he is met and reminded that love doesn’t have to be mushy.

     Humour is certainly the carrier of the messages and themes in this book. The illustrations themselves are clever, and the ending gentle and satisfying. The dark pages give a distinct feel to the story, but despite cobwebs and spooky trees and prickly plants, this is a romance.

     In a lovely way, we see just how maturity changes a person’s thoughts and feelings. Fran was ready to explore why his heart felt happy when he was with someone special. Despite his friends calling him a “Weirdo”, Fran was happy just sitting and staring at the moon with his friend.

     The dark pages bring immediacy to the story, only the characters exist with their thoughts, but, for the most, dark writing on dark pages is difficult to read. A true love story, which will make you smile.

  • Diving for Pearls: The Wise Woman’s Guide to Finding Love

    Diving for Pearls: The Wise Woman’s Guide to Finding Love

    Maggie has led an amazing life, one full of awareness and devotion to Buddhism and the truth. She became ordained in the Buddhism path and she spent her years gaining inner wisdom, and understanding herself. The author has chosen to share her life story with us, elaborating on the methods to use to find what you are looking for, therefor the book describes in-depth methods for ways to achieve peace, meditating and gaining inner wisdom, as well as her own story.

     Meditation became enormously important to Maggie after the death of her father. She describes the importance of breath awareness and the experiences that true meditation brought to her. She developed the art of being able to ask any question, from “Where should I park, or How do I find love?” and to know the correct answer from the voices or thoughts she would have, discovering the answer correct answer would feel open and expansive, and would come from love not fear.

     There is a large chapter on inner wisdom.  The author considers it to be beyond intelligence, a combination of the head and the heart making decisions. She discovered that it is absolutely necessary to let go of your own thoughts and needs, to surrender to the unknown and to think and live ethically. By doing this, it felt like losing control, but Maggie discovered, it can begin to feel comfortable in the unknown.

     Maggie describes to us how the loss of her beloved father, and her first love affected her wellbeing. She moved into a safe house, where she could grieve and heal. At that time, she was depressed and it was some time before she could resurface to accept a new job. The author suggests that there are ways of helping yourself when you are feeling under pressure. Accept yourself when you are feeling sad, and don’t resist the urge to dismiss unhappy feelings.  She then has quite a long list of things to do when bad times do arrive.

     Eventually, Maggie fell pregnant and was ecstatic to give birth to a baby boy. Her relationship with the child’s father had been a kind and friendly one, but not that of a long and lasting love. They lived together and co-parented for some years, but when an opportunity came for Maggie to move to the country, her partner went as well and so the family unit was still close, but not in the same house.

     Later, true love has come Maggie’s way, and she believes she now has the answer to finding your soul mate. Her pearls of wisdom are inspirational, and as gentle as the manner in which she has written this book.

     

  • Hexes for the Modern Age: Contemporary Curses for the People Who Irritate You the Most

    Hexes for the Modern Age: Contemporary Curses for the People Who Irritate You the Most

    A little or a lot of irreverence, particularly when it comes to work wind ups for the year and family gatherings, will help keep things stay balanced. Val Brains is considered as an irreverent humourist, which is exactly what is needed at this terribly fractious time of the year.

    In Hexes for the Modern Age, she takes no prisoners with her targets and hits the mark every time because as she says, modern times call for modern ways to make terrible, embarrassing, shameful things happen to people who sadly, do irritate!

    But as with all things magical, the hexee needs to also be a little careful to ensure they are not on the receiving end of a return hex or two, so be very careful at whom you aim your next hex.

    As you turn over the pages looking for the perfect revenge, the chuckles will increase, perhaps the desire for revenge will decrease, but whatever is taken from the pages will certainly be enjoyed. There is something there for every occasion, beginning with finding a date or your perfect match, or not, the workplace which is full to the brim of people who do irritate, allowing plenty of targets to be found, family of course rates well, with some seriously funny, but definitely undesirable outcomes to be achieved.

    Hipsters are also included and have their own chapter which for those who are not into nor able to understand this modality, is definitely educational!  Of course, Weddings and Events provide fallow fields and even getting dressed allows for much creativity when thinking up a suitable hex.

    Perhaps Personal Hygiene and Roommates should go together as both could be considered as serious candidates for some dedicated hexing.

    Wrapping up this creative collective is a lovely section on technology, which everyone who has ever had anything to do with computers, cables or any aspect of modern technological requirements, will definitely resonate, but it has the underlying concern that perhaps this modern style of hex has been around far, far, longer than very, very recently.

  • Peanuts for the Soul

    Peanuts for the Soul

    Charlie Brown and his unshakable logic is back again to help start the New Year and sooth the Christmas beast, with he and his great friends answers for everything that may trouble the soul, or the psyche.

    It is hard to believe that some 50 years on Peanuts is still a firm favourite with the older generation, as well as the of the younger who have followed on to enjoy the sometimes often whacky logic.  Created as a comic strip, Peanuts reached out to everyone with its simple home-grown logic, canny characters and often basically brutal solutions.

    In this annual offering, once again the basic tenants of life are addressed over seven chapters, beginning with Life, Love, Family, Friendship, Back to School (something that inevitably has to happen when you are having fun), At Play and finally Happiness.  

    In Family, Sally comes to a final conclusion on a Maths problem, stating categorically that she has the correct answer as, and ‘her brother told her!’ – It kind of says it all! And then there is the issue of playing a game of dice and the possibility of maybe becoming a ‘compulsive gambler’.

    Falling in love is also dealt with when the girl of his dreams will not even speak to him, and Charlie Brown is left wondering why falling in love does not make him happy, when he thought it should!

    Somehow, as you wander through the pages your day becomes a little brighter, and regardless of how you are feeling, Charlie Brown almost has the last word, except that Snoopy eventually does, when he and Linus are having one of their deep and meaningful conversations, where Linus asks Charlie Brown if he is afraid to be happy. Charlie Brown’s answer is to ask, ‘what are the side effects’!

    Even while it brings a slightly ironic smile to your face, it also makes you wonder at the true meaning of life. Monty Python could not work it out, but perhaps Charlie Brown and his friends have!

     Grab a copy and be kind to yourself, take to heart some of the advice offered, and enjoy Peanuts for the Soul.

  • High Love – Still Connected

    High Love – Still Connected

    When Andrew Bentley lost the love of his life, Winnie in 2013, he felt he had been torn in half. They were the other half of each other, and truly and irrevocably and believed this had been the case over many, many lifetimes. That she could be taken due to an inoperable brain tumour was shattering, not just for Andrew but for the many people who had come of love, cherish and enjoy her warmth, caring and love.

    Winnie was a highly-respected woman who was a perfectionist in all she undertook, whether it was her work, her family or her friends. She set high standards for herself, living them on a daily basis.

    Her love for Andrew was what she considered her love of a lifetime and was there for ever. But what happens when one side of such a love is taken away: what happens to the one left and how do they learn to rebuild in a completely different world to the one before.

    This was the dilemma faced by Andrew, as it is with many in similar circumstances, but in Andrews’s life, a range of every simply little message began to appear to him, his daughters and mother –in-law in the most unexpected places and always at the most appropriate times.

    The first little ‘message’ appeared when Andrew was looking at some of Winnies’ books on the Afterlife and Spirituality. In a sketch book he came across a drawing done by her of a heart and her name. He placed this in the kitchen in an appropriate place; the next little message was a heart shaped tag that had been attached to her keyring, appearing on the floor by the cat flap.

    This was just the beginning of many instances of heart shapes appearing in many different places.

    After seeking advice from a well-respected Medium he realised that this was something very special, this was Winnie reaching out to say ‘I love you’, and always will.

    Andrews’ journey has been written in order to reach out to offer comfort, hope and strength to people who have faced the loss of a loved one and to reflect, as many do and will, that their loved ones are still a part of their lives; that often when unexpected things occur it is your loved one reassuring you their spirit is still living on.

    A beautiful paragraph by Andrew makes a fitting conclusion when he says:

    ‘Recognising that we all endure both light and darkness in our lives, it’s so important to cherish all we have, to live in the moment, to rise in the sunshine, to strengthen us for the times of shadows.”

     

    All personal proceeds of this book will be donated to charity.