A Preview of New Books, Music, Products and Experiences
What’s New
by staff reports
New poetry: Crowned Compassion is a celebration of love by the poet Zayra Yves, who takes the listener on a soulful ride, a cosmic sojourn through time and space, embracing the spiritual and provincial, exploring the textures of emotion by showing us the truth of reality, as well as the sultry passions. Zayra’s beautiful and mesmerizing voice is accompanied by the musical compositions of two talented and gifted blues and jazz musicians: Allen Ross and Mike Thomas. The track "Free Us From the Claws of Cruelty" was written for and dedicated to the people of Zimbabwe, who have endured the extreme hardships of genocide and starvation. A portion of the proceeds from this CD go to the Seeds of Light organization (www.seedsoflight.org) to benefit the children living in South Africa. Zayra Yves grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1970s, listening to the Beat Poets at City Lights and evangelical preachers on Sundays. She has traveled extensively on pilgrimages to sacred sites around the world and continues to find new ways of expressing her art. Her CD can be viewed and purchased at: http://cdbaby.com/cd/zayrayves
New courage: When Matthew Sanford was just 13, his family’s car skidded off an overpass on an icy Iowa road-killing his father and sister, paralyzing him from the chest down, and changing his life forever. Years later, yoga would dramatically change it again. Now, 28 years later, Matthew chronicles his journey from the intensive care unit to becoming a paralyzed yoga teacher and founder of a non-profit organization in his personal, philosophical and heartbreakingly honest book Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence (Rodale), which takes the reader inside the body, heart, and mind of a boy whose world has been shattered – and follows his path to physical and spiritual wholeness. To learn more about Matthew, you can visit www.matthewsanford.com
Events: Author Matthew Sanford will read and sign his book from 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1, at Barnes and Noble, 1201 12th St. SW., in Rochester. Call (507) 281-7950.
– The author will sign his book from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, at Festival Foods, 2671 E. County Road E, in White Bear Lake. Call (651) 653-8888.
– Matthew Sanford will sign his book from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, at Barnes and Noble, 801 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis. Call (612) 371-4443.
New for women: Gabriele Kushi, founder and president of Kushi’s Kitchen in Minneapolis, a company dedicated to excellence in teaching macrobiotic natural food and lifestyle awareness that support a peaceful world, has written Embracing Menopause Naturally (SquareOne Publishers), a true companion for any woman who wants to nurture her spiritual and emotional growth, educate herself about cutting edge menopausal research, listen to other women’s stories, try out easy kitchen-tested natural food recipes, and enjoy good health before, throughout and beyond the midlife years. The book is available at your neighborhood bookstores or online at www.kushiskitchen.com/books.html
Event: The Book Signing Release Party for Embracing Menopause Naturally will be from 7-9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, at Kingman Arts & Entertainment Studio, 1901 Grand St. NE, Minneapolis. Visit www.kingmanstudios.com for directions. R.S.V.P. gkushi@kushiskitchen
New retreat DVD: Eckhart Tolle, renowned for the simple and powerful truths in his bestselling books The Power of Now and Stillness Speaks, recently led an extraordinary two-day retreat at Findhorn, the famous spiritual community in Scotland. The entire event was filmed and edited into a four-hour video and book package entitled Eckhart Tolle’s Findhorn Retreat: Stillness Amidst the World (New World Library). The book that accompanies the DVD presents elegant nature photographs and captions by Eckhart. The images are interspersed with quotations from some of the peak moments from the DVD. In his Findhorn presentation, Eckhart gives us a profound message of hope and simple tools for transformation – the clear guidance we need to realize the magic of every moment and deepen our awareness of the sacredness of being.
New wake-up call: We live in a society that prides convenience over conscience, ease of use over environmentalism. Although our ancestors may have lived among the muck, never before has humanity produced so much garbage. Each soda bottle, every used battery, the thin plastic used to hold our individually wrapped cheese singles, and even the old sweat socks we throw away end up someplace. But where? The answer will surprise you. In the critically acclaimed Garbage Land (Back Bay Books), now in paperback, Elizabeth Royte embarks on a remarkable journey to find out exactly what happens to the trash we leave behind. Structured around four separate journeys – those of Royte’s household trash, compostable matter, recyclables and sewage – Garbage Land is a literary investigation of the truly dirty side of consumption.
