Rating: 
Summary: Something More - Inspiring Reading
Review: I had already read Simple Abundance (SA) and found that very uplifting. I bought SA for my friends and mother. I just finished Something More and found it a wonderful book too. I was especially moved by SBB's section on the passing of the neighborhood child. Her writing seems so very personal and deeply moving to me. Each chapter and section gave me so much to think about. I loved it and would highly recommend it. Her writing has really changed my life for the better and for what it's worth my deepest thanks and gratitude go out to SBB for sharing the works with me. This book and SA really made a positive difference in my life.
Rating: 
Summary: A disjointed, disappointing book....
Review: I have loved SIMPLE ABUNDANCE, Sarah Ban Breathnach's preceeding book, with a passion. She inspired me, uplifted me and helped me through a sad chapter in my life with her book. Unfortunately, just as Simple Abunandance lifted me up, I found SOMETHING MORE to be depressing, angry and very disjointed. I had a hard time following the author's train of thought. Was she expressing spiritual insights ? Where was she taking all these anecdotes ? Did she have a POINT ?I realize that no one book is going to have all the answers for all people, but I have found this book to start down many fascinating paths, but explore none of them. I also found that the author's divorce was clearly reflected in the way she wrote this book. I heard a lot of anger and bitterness, which while understandable in a grieving woman, is unattractive and difficult to read in a book that's meant to inspire and uplift. One particular anecdote involved a terrible tragedy befalling a family's loss of 6 year old daughter. I found the description of this to be profoundly peculiar and in very poor taste. I was struck somewhere between feeling deep empathy for a young mother in crisis and being disgusted by some make-believe rituals prior to burial. I found there to be a few thought provoking chapters but overall, I simply didn't care for this book. I did find her title appropriate---this book left me wanting SOMETHING MORE !
Rating: 
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: 
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.
Rating:
Summary: Enlightened Self-Interest, not Selfishness
Review: I'm 25 and it was great for me, passed it along to relatives in their 30s and 40s and was loved also. Buy it for all your girlfriends....about love, relationships, family, career, etc.
It covers many issues women go through, I think everyone can relate to some part of it!
It's great to read (with fantastic quotes!) and it's even better when utliize your own journal (as advised in the book) to "excavate your authentic self"...I have only begun, but anm enjoying the journey!
Rating:
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: 
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:
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:
Summary: Some valuable insights, but often frustrating
Review: Something More: Excavating Your Authentic Self is an unusual book. I have never read the author's celebrated Simple Abundance, so I had no basis for comparison with her previous work. Something More is different from most self-help books that I've read in that it's more of a meditation than a specific framework for solving particular problems. The book's intention is to inspire women to search for "something more" in their lives through a collection of the author's personal experiences and examples from lives of other women, both fictional and real. She draws lessons from these assorted stories and presents them in a series of short, often one- or two-page chapters. There are also a number of exercises at the end of six sections of the book, aimed to give the reader an opportunity to rediscover her "authentic self." I found the book to be frustrating at times. First of all, the short sub-chapters are often disjointed and there appears to be very little flow in the development of ideas. Rather, the entire book consists more or less of short meditations, some of which are quite insightful, while others are simply impenetrable. Second, the author was trying to resolve some deep personal issues while working on this book, and this unfortunately taints both the lessons and the overall mood of the book. Recently divorced, she was clearly still very bitter. For this reason, she can often come across as advocating selfishness to women, although I think that this is merely her way of dealing with a personal disappointment and struggling to regain self-confidence. Finally, the exercises that she suggests might be helpful to some (especially people who have saved many mementos from their childhood, since her idea of rediscovering your authentic self involves going through these old items), but they struck me as somewhat contrived and ultimately not very helpful. Nevertheless, I did enjoy reading the book and appreciated some of its insights. Some of the discussion is quite thought-provoking and can certainly help one gain confidence, self-awareness, and resilience, especially in difficult times of one's life.
Rating:
Summary: A rich, rich read
Review: This is one of a handful of books I've read that changed the way I look at myself -- and another on that short list is Simple Abundance which I'm working through for the 3rd time as I write "morning pages" daily. This is NOT a sequel to SA -- in lots of ways it doesn't seem to be written by the same Sarah -- but by a more mature, more worldly wise, more "evolved" one. Repeatedly in my reading of SM, Sarah brought me to tears--because she knows me--and made me see myself much more clearly, made me face some issues I've ignored for 50+ years--and helped me see a path ahead. The margins are crammed with my notes to Sarah, to myself, to my past. A person who thinks this is only a book about how bad most men are couldn't have read with a woman's heart. Is there bitterness? Yes--life has its bitter spots, too. But is there hope? Darned right. And if a reader doesn't see the "gratitude" and "joy" in the message of this one, I'm sad for that reader. It's not a "ruffles and lace" book at all. It's a no holds barred look at life--with lots of real-life examples, many of which aren't pretty. On page 59, she writes, "Could there be anything more important than living without regrets?" I think the whole book is about HOW to live without regrets.
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