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review 2015-05-06 02:57
Raving Violet by Valerie Gilbert
Raving Violet - Valerie Gilbert

For those of you who have followed Valerie Gilbert on her blog, Raving Violet, you won’t be a stranger to the various essays and stories, ramblings and musings, contained in this book. The collection varies from the humorous to the serious, the ranting to the spiritual, the mundane to the extraordinary. Set in New York over some months in 2011 and 2012, Valerie talks candidly about her life, her friends, her dead parents, and her love life (or sometimes the lack of one).

This book starts with a little forward that explains the author’s acknowledged growth as a writer through these essays and blogging. Initially, she was tempted to cut out some of the earlier works, but in the end, she left them in. As a listener, I could see in the space of this one book how her writing skill grew from start to finish.

There were parts of this book that I thoroughly enjoyed and other parts that didn’t do it for me. First, the good stuff. In general, Gilbert is putting a positive message out there centered around trusting oneself. She shares many stories about her own quest to find this center and learning to trust it. Most of the time, I found these stories amusing, and sometimes insightful. I enjoyed her tales of her pets, of good times with good friends, and of food.

Then there were chunks of the book that were kind of ho-hum for me. The author is very much into seances, mediums, channeling, readings, and various spiritual endeavors, teachings, and workshops. These things hold very little interest to me personally. When these tales were more about the story than the message, they held my interest and some I even found amusing and intriguing. However, there were periods where the narrative got hung up on giving a long, and sometimes rambling, spiritual message along with an explanation of the message. These sections were of little interest to me.

I found some of the spiritual endeavors interesting because human behavior is interesting. First, I was a bit surprised at how many people will pay money for some of these activities, teachings, and workshops. That statement is just me showing my ignorance. After all, people tithe churches, so why not pay for a weekend retreat to learn how to develop your psychic abilities? Then there is also the difference between channeling, being a medium, and simply having psychic abilities or being sensitive to another’s spirit. There are actual definitions and various, certified trainings one can take for each of these. The structure that went into classifying and defining these different abilities was a new thought to me.

Apparently there are many, many famous channelers and mediums and psychics out there. Gilbert walks you through some of her personal experiences with some of these famous folk, such as the hugging lady of India. There was also an Irish guru, who’s style and message weren’t to Gilbert’s liking. While Gilbert focused on the positive experiences throughout much of the book, I often found the not-so-positive more fascinating. The author doesn’t believe every self-proclaimed guru, medium, or psychic. Instead, she cautions that each person should listen to themselves first, and then carefully consider any spiritual messages received from without.

All in all, the book had a few gems that had me chuckling out loud or quirking an eyebrow.

Narration:  NOTE: I listened to an older version of this book. Since then, the author/narrator has re-recorded this book and I gave it a spot listen (you can download the new version free from Audible if you have the old) and it is a quality audiobook with no background noises. Gilbert was enthusiastic about the book, imbuing it with emotion, humor, shock, awe, warmth, etc.

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review 2015-05-06 02:37
Memories, Dreams, & Deflections by Valerie Gilbert
Memories, Dreams & Deflections: My Odyssey Through Emotional Indigestion - Valerie Gilbert

Here is another collection of the life adventures of Valerie Gilbert, mystic, cat lover, cheese aficionado, and native New Yorker. In this particular book, she takes us through the trials and tribulations of her first marriage, the on-line dating scene, chasing after tennis balls, and navigating our complex health care system.

I’m hard pressed to say if I liked this or Raving Violet best. Valerie Gilbert is definitely outspoken about so many things and her life is so very different from my own. I enjoy her talking about her life so plainly and bluntly. I don’t have to agree on every point; I just have to listen and enjoy the show.

Her adventures with on-line dating showed both the sad state of on-line match ups, but she told her encounters with humor. I especially liked the tale of the man who insists there never be cat butt in the bed. Of course such demands probably lost him out on an entirely different kind of kitty in the bed too. If Gilbert is this forward in her books, I can only imagine that she is also as upfront via on-line dating and I hope that New York offers up some like-minded gentlemen for her to meet.

The only dull spot for me was when she went on at length about her marriage, ending it, and then bumping into her ex some time later. It was a bit drawn out and I let my mind wander a bit in the middle. For the most part, she told this section with humor, even if she lingered a bit too long over the topic.

I do applaud her for talking so very frankly about the women’s health issue of fibroids. Ugh! But sooner or later, most women suffer from them. Coupled with this discussion was her wending her way through our government-provided healthcare system and the numerous doctors and examinations she had to go through. I have never had an IUD, but I have heard from other women how uncomfortable the insertion of one can be. Gilbert gives you the full color version and it is as educational as it is cringe-worthy. This is definitely a topic that more women should chat about, and I am glad that that Gilbert was so open on her own experiences.

All in all, it is another entertaining glimpse into another person’s life. Strange and far away, and yet there were touchstones that I resonated with.

Narration:  Valerie Gilbert narrated her own novel and she did an excellent job with this one. She had all the emotion and fire of her first book. The audio production was top notch with this book.

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review 2015-05-06 02:32
Swami Soup by Valerie Gilbert
Swami Soup - Valerie Gilbert

For folks who have enjoyed Raving Violet, Ms. Gilbert returns with more tales of her mystical life in New York city. From quirky neighborhood characters, to her adventures into spiritual education, to commentary on our modern world, she ventures into it all. The book is a mix of humor and awe at the world around us.

Once again, Gilbert entertains us with tales of her adventures through the mystics of New York. I find this part of her books so interesting because it is so very different from my own life. In this book, she focuses on dream symbology and synchronicity and how she applies them to her life. While I am not a believer in either myself, I do find it interesting how she uses both techniques to help guide her in both minor and major decisions.

She also chats about some of the fun characters around her neighborhood, and some of the not so fun ones (like the guy who didn’t like her dog at the local park). She went on at length about a mysterious elderly woman who also frequents the park whose past life seems to contradict with her current affairs. While I felt the author was a little focused and a little harsh on the woman’s looks, I like that she included her in the novel because she is just such a walking contradiction.

At one point the author takes a jibe at George R. R. Martin’s book, A Game of Thrones, which is one of my favorite epic fantasies. But she later redeems herself by waxing eloquent about the film Babette’s Feast, which is an excellent film. She ventures onto Craig’s List for the first time, with near-disastrous results. Through narrating, the author has had to update her skills to successfully operate her home recording studio. Also, it has broadened her reading; since she was in her teens she has pretty much stuck to reading spiritual books or those dealing with mysticism. It’s always good to see people step outside their safe reading zone.

Gilbert is refreshingly honest about her fears of dentists, doctors, and surgery. She speaks bluntly about her medical issues and her deep fears, and how the required surgery forced her to face and conquer those fears. I enjoyed her tackling it with humor.

My one criticism is that on occasion she would get a little preachy. By her own word, she is a mystic. So why I can see why she would want to get the word out about her believes on the spiritual realm and where the human species is headed, my eyes did tend to glaze over a it during these sections. They were sprinkled through out the book instead of being all clumped together. So pretty soon, the book returns to more interesting tales of NYC living.

Narration:  The sound quality on this book was very good. Gilbert gives a god performance with a clear voice and the occasional accent. Her previous two books have a bit more emotion and I think I prefer the slightly more animated narration on those two books.

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