#22. Breakdown, Breakthrough – The Professional Woman's Guide to Claiming a Life of Passion, Power and Purpose: Kathy Caprino

I didn't really read this book out of choice – it is research for a ghostwriting project I am working on. It's a bit too 'I am woman, hear me roar' for me, and I was embarrassed reading it on the bus. Plus, given that I'm not currently having a breakdown or seeking a breakthrough, it didn't really resonate with me (well, until I got to the middle, when I started to think maybe I could do with a breakthrough too...). Putting all that aside for the time being, if I was a professional woman struggling with questions like, "Is this all there is?", "Why can't I manage better?", or "What do I want to do with the rest of my life?", then I can see it might help. Basically Caprino discusses 12 disempowerment crises, which relate to women's relationship with self, with others, with the world and with higher self. Caprino says she has experienced all 12 crises personally, which to me, suggests she must have been something of a train wreck at various stages. But never fear, she broke through and explains how everyone else can too. Each chapter describes the experience of other women who have been through the particular crisis it is focusing on, therapy-speak on how to identify and get over it, and then a series of action steps and a Breakthrough affirmation (it is a self-help book after all).
Despite the slightly annoying tone, it largely presents common sense, and I think the format would really work for someone feeling overwhelmed and a bit stuck, as it provides a simple way to work through the issues they are facing, perhaps start getting some perspective and move forward towards something better.

#16. Prosperity – Arch Angel

OK, so I actually finished this book before the Bloomberg bonanza, but I wasn't sure I was going to post about it (or add it to my reading list) as I was a bit embarrassed that I had read it. But I did, probably because in the current climate, prosperity seems a little thin on the ground, and it had a rather fetching picture of some angel wings on the cover.
The inside cover explains Prosperity as a practical guide to some simple changes you can make to your life to live abundantly. It is written as a series of ten meetings, between 'Arch Angel' (the author) and Ned and Kate, a pair of materially and spiritually bankrupt young people who need a great cosmic kick up the butt to get their lives back on track. Each meeting contains the dialogue between the three, and includes some 'homework' exercises each week for the reader to try at home, which are the same ones the fictional Ned and Kate experiment with, and report on their results.
While it is hopefully twee and cringeworthy some of the time, if you are interested in the whole Secret/quantum physics/abundance 'thing', it actually explains some of the concepts in a more comprehensible way than anything I have read or seen before, and provides a roadmap to introduce them into your life, if you so desire. Whether they work - who knows? What was also refreshing for me is that it does not only focus on material wealth as the expression of prosperity or abundance, but also considers quality of life, spirituality, and your relationship with and contribution to others - which all seems a lot more sound than just being able to "manifest" a parking space next to the entrance of the shopping centre.
Embarrassing confession over. Next up, Carol Shields. Not sure she would take a second look at a self-help book if she fell over it.