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Women's Fiction
Something More: Excavating Your Abridged Authentic Self

Something More: Excavating Your Abridged Authentic Self

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This book helped me to find real joy!
Review: This book provided me with real ways to find the joy in my life. I have been blessed in life and this book has shown me how to see my blessings and truly appreciate them. I now have a passion for living- even in the regular routines of life.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Incredibly well written! A must-have for every woman!
Review: Sarah Ban Breathnach very clearly has a God given gift for writing. She writes in such a way that allows the reader to feel she is being personally led by Sarah through this intricate journey of finding her true self. The advice she provides is very helpful in trying to discover the "authentic person" within that may have been buried years ago. If you loved "Simple Abundance,"(which I did) you'll adore "Something More." Last year, I gave many of my close friends "Simple Abundance" for the holidays, and they loved it. This year, I can give them "Something More." Thanks to Sarah Ban Breathnach, my Christmas shopping will be a non-stressful experience :)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A delightfully inspiring book
Review: This book was very inspiring to me and is inspiring to all women, particularly those who tend to have the superwoman complex. The book draws from the her other book, Simple Abundance. She shows you how to teach yourself to quit the self-loathing and get on to self-loving. The self-love is the key to being happy and having others love you back.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not worth the time or money
Review: Although I enormously enjoyed Simple Abundance, I must say I was disappointed with Ms. Breathnach's latest. Something More seemed to rehash a lot of what was discussed in Simple Abundance, and the "field work" seemed a bit too general for my taste. If this is one of the first spiritual "self-help" books you have read it may be worth your time and money, but I would not recommend it if you are looking for something deeper. If you haven't read any of Ms. Breathnach's books yet, I would definitely recommend that you read Simple Abundance, instead of Something More

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Compelling...
Review: Unlike many of the more recent reviewers here, I did not read "Simple Abundance" before I started the sequel. Also unlike many of the recent reviewers, I found "Something More" to be incredibly insightful, wonderfully written and a true gift FROM as well as TO the Soul.

I found the life stories within this book to be beautifully encouraging and inspiring, rather than depressing and anger-filled as several have noted. Life is an adventure, fraught with disappointment and sadness, as well as all the other "cozy" feelings we seek and need. And I, for one, am glad she didn't pull any punches and told things just as they are.

Excavating, searching, looking and definitely *finding* your Authentic Self takes a lot of courage. We all have it. THAT's what this book is all about and it gives us some concrete tools with which to do this. Thank you, Sarah, for daring to speak your Truth and helping so many of us along the way.

Read it. You won't regret it if you listen to your heart along the way.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Should be titled: "Sarah's LJ Blog"
Review: For some reason, I have a problem with a writer who writes in "The Now" and it's obvious they are writing from there. This book is one of them. She pretty much starts the book off talking about how her divorce jilted her into reality and suddenly she was frantically trying to pick up the pieces while trying to understand exactly what had just happened.

And as I'm reading, I see a lot of "I" statements. She is constantly redirecting things back to her and her "Great Tragedy of Divorce". And I quickly realize that Sarah has pretty much gone about repackaging the 5 stages of grief into a pretty woman-speak version filled with all the emotional innuendos and clichés to get me to respond to her plight . Right about now, I'm feeling very cheated. This isn't a book about "excavating your Authentic Self" as it says on the cover! This is someone's personal growth diary of trying to over-come an event that is only life-changing to the author. It has no meaning or bearing on my life what-so-ever. (unless my husband isn't telling me something...)

But it's not a bad read, so I commence with the chapters. She begins talking about marriage and how so many women live in a marriage in quiet despondency. Where they don't live for themselves, but become a slave to the responsibilities that being a wife and mother have. That they sacrifice their true selves for the eternal happiness of those around them and they forever suffer in silence...

Now...hold the phone. I've been married for 8 years. Granted, not a long time, but long enough to realize that there are many things that are parts of me. Some larger than other, but still all a part. Not one thing embodies me, nor can represent me. I am my own person, a wife, a mother and all those things, along with others add up to who I am. So I'm sitting here thinking, "What archaic lifetime is this woman talking about?" Women don't associate themselves to solely their marriage, or their husbands. They may identify with it, they may introduce themselves as So-in-so's wife or mother, simply to make connections easier. But that doesn't mean that's who they think they are total and sum.

So, given that I have realized that this is not a book for just everyone, but more a book for her to vent out how she needs to move on, I figure this must be how she was in her marriage and how she identified herself, because to me, it seems like a very narrow-minded view that she has only supported with text from a diary written by the wife of Tolstoy, back in 1800's, when women *were* actually associated in society by their marriage and their husbands.

I found myself insulted when I read the part where she was talking to her friend who was thinking of cheating on his marriage because he and his wife had lost interest in one another, had grown apart and not reconnected. My thought was, here's a woman who has obviously associated herself with her marriage and now, she is giving advice to someone based on her somewhat already skewed view of relationships and romance? She was encouraging him to break off with his wife of over 25 years, simply because he had lost the reason he had married in the first place. The audacity! Her marriage had fallen apart because she failed to see the discontentment her husband had, leaving her feeling lost, alone and without a purpose, but yet, she felt it was only right, kind and natural for him to break off with his wife (who was in her 50's) so that he could continue the budding affair he had been having behind his wife's back for over a year. It seemed far too hypocritical and blind to me.

While, I find I can agree with her that couples in a marriage often do loose contact with one another and they do fall into a complacent "taking for granted" mode, it does not need to stay this way, and if one feels the need to roam, then what they really need to do is sit down and evaluate those reasons why, discuss them with their significant other, and see if a reconnection can be made, or is even desired. I'm not saying every marriage can be salvaged. I'm saying that many of those that are destroyed because of cheating affairs and romances are often done because the people involved have stopped talking. The communication connection failed and no one tried to make repairs or mend it to see if it just needed a few patches or if it simply needed to be completely replaced.

Breathnach, apparently, didn't get the idea that her marriage was failing simply because she failed to see that there was a problem. At least, this is the idea that is becoming obviously clear while I read. Because, her concept between "finding the authentic self" and being in a marriage or strong relationship greatly clash. She claims that love is the strongest force in the universe, but yet, she seems to not really be willing to open up and traverse the many different paths that love has to travel.

And this is what I dislike about writers who write in "Their Own Now". They are not prepared to write a great book of self-help, because, in reality, they are merely helping themselves. They are trying to make sense of what just happened, and somehow, think they have stumbled upon a "Great Moment of Inspiration!" when, in fact, they are sending all sorts of mixed messages and jumbled ideas that a person who is in the same place may take incorrectly and fail miserably in their attempts at creating a true, strong and potent relationship.

Or, to put it more simply: I wouldn't talk about my unstable relationship with a therapist who's just undergone a very messy and unexpected divorce. Their ideas, thoughts and objectives are not going to be related to my situation. I don't care how well they are trained.

I take Sarah's advice even less seriously, since, before "Simple Abundance", she was a documenter on the Victorian Era Woman. It's easy to see where she got her ideals of marriage from...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: an incredible journey for the soul
Review: I have to disgree that this book is only for the divorced as some have said. I read this book without reading Simple Abundance and it has changed many theories I had on life. I am a 27 year old single mom, never married. I have had both short term and long term relationships. I have tried many different religions and self-help strategies. My view on life is simple. Do my best and always strive to be better. A better mother, sister, friend, girlfriend, etc, etc. I never had time to read much but since I picked up this book, I couldn't put it down. And now that I have read it, I am going to read it again. I even take it to work with me and read it on my lunchbreak. There are so many things that I have learned from this book. The stories are deep and thought provoking. It teaches us to appreciate life more than we do. When to stand up for ourselves and when to just take care of ourselves. I had an ex-boyfriend (now married)show up out of nowhere while I was reading this book and he said all the right things but his actions showed the opposite. We all have been there. When you love someone so much and you want to overlook their faults even when they hurt you. Then that night I picked up the book and I read this quote: Men will treat you badly when they don't love you, but they will treat you worse when they love you and don't want to. -That changed me. I realized that love comes and goes in many forms. So, of course, I didn't take him back. Just because it is love-doesn't mean it's right. There are so many quotes and stories from amazing women throughout history. It's truly inspiring and I am going to buy this book for all my friends!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Refund Please!
Review: It did not take long for me to run back to the bookstore and demand a REFUND.
Obviously Breathnach has chip on her shoulder -- and used this book as a vehicle for its expression!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Uplifting
Review: I'm currently going through a divorce that is my choice not my husbands. My sister-in-law gave this book to me for Christmas and told me how it helped her through her divorce from an abusive husband. Choosing to leave your husband fills you with so many second guesses and fears for the unknown future. Reading this book filled me with confidence and made me feel absolutely sure that I was doing the right thing. After reading the experiences of other women, I was surprised how many had gone through the same thing I was going through. The quotes alone all through the book were enough to be inspiring!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good book for those with more experience in life
Review: I really enjoy this author. Simple Abundance daybook is wonderful. Something More, however, I couldn't really connect with. I read it when I was 18, and am 21 now. It seems geared to older women who have more life experiences. I still got something out of it, though. I am keeping it and plan on reading it again a couple more years down the road.


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