Metaphors We live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson This is a very interesting book, which explores the role of metaphors in the English language and argues that the majority of communication is done in metaphors. In particular the authors explore space and time metaphors which makes for some rather interesting insights to how American culture handles space and time. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys linguistics or wants to explore how language use impacts everyday life. This is a dense read, so you'll need to spend some time working with it, but you'll get a lot out of it.
5 out of 5
The Dance of Life by Edward T. Hall
In this book Hall explores how different cultures approach and integrate the concept of time into their lives. He explores in depth how the cultural differences can impact peoples interactions with each other, as well as how we can be more aware of the cultural differences as it pertains to temporal awareness. I felt that this book wasn't as dynamic as his previous works. I still got a lot out of it, but it did seem like he was rehashing a lot of his earlier work. I'd still recommend it, because he a lot of interesting perspectives to raise.
4 out of 5
Eyes Wide Open by Marianna Caplan
This book raises some tough questions about cultivating spiritual discernment for your own spiritual journey as well as what questions to ask your spiritual teachers. The author's experiences with the various forms of spiritual charlatanry that occur with teachers is evident in how she explains the symptoms and issues to look out for. I found this book very useful for analyzing my own spiritual journey and looking at how I've presented myself to others in a spiritual context. It gave me some valuable tools for evaluating my own journey as well as evaluating people who might claim to have spiritual authority.
5 out of 5