Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." --Randy Pausch A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish... (more)

ALWAYS LOOKING UP: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist

ALWAYS LOOKING UP: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist

by Michael J. Fox

There are many words to describe Michael J. Fox: Actor. Husband. Father. Activist. But readers of Always Looking Up will soon add another to the list: Optimist. Michael writes about the hard-won perspective that helped him see challenges as opportunities. Instead of building walls around himself, he developed a personal policy of engagement and discovery: an emotional, psychological, intellectual, and spiritual... (more)

The Alchemist

A Fable About Following Your Dream

by Paulo Coelho

This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. What starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasures found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is an eternal testament... (more)

Gift from the Sea: 50th Anniversary Edition

Gift from the Sea: 50th Anniversary Edition

by A.M. Lindbergh, Anne Morrow Lindbergh

n time for the holiday season--in an appropriate and enticing new format, and with a striking new jacket--a spectacular hardcover reissue of one of the most beloved books of our time. Since it was first published in 1955, Gift from the Sea has enlightened and offered solace to readers on subjects from love and marriage to peace and contentment.

The Power of Now

A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

by Eckhart Tolle

It's no wonder that The Power of Now has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 30 foreign languages. Much more than simple principles and platitudes, the book takes readers on an inspiring spiritual journey to find their true and deepest self and reach the ultimate in personal growth and spirituality: the discovery of truth and light. In the first chapter, Tolle introduces... (more)

Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear

Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear

by Max Lucado

Each sunrise seems to bring fresh reasons for fear. They're talking layoffs at work, slowdowns in the economy, flare-ups in the Middle East, turnovers at headquarters, downturns in the housing market, upswings in global warming. The plague of our day, terrorism, begins with the word terror . Fear, it seems, has taken up a hundred-year lease on the building next door and set up shop. Oversized and rude, fear... (more)

The Shack

Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity

by William P. Young

Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack... (more)

It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life

It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life

by Sally Jenkins, Lance Armstrong

The #1 New York Times bestseller with legs as strong as its author's. Lance Armstrong is one of the most talked about- and inspirational-sports figures of all time. He was Sports Illustrated 's 2002 Sportsman of the Year-and now, after his record-shattering string of Tour de France victories, some are proclaiming him the greatest athlete of all time. This is the book in which he shares his... (more)

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

by Natalie Goldberg

A splendid combination of Zen wisdom and down-to-earth advice about writing.

The Magic of Thinking Big

by David J. Schwartz

SET YOUR GOALS HIGH...THEN EXCEED THEM: Millions of people throughout the world have improved their lives using The Magic of Thinking Big. Dr. David J. Schwartz, long regarded as one of the foremost experts on motivation, will help you sell better, manage better, earn more money, and -- most important of all -- find greater happiness and peace of mind. The Magic of Thinking Big gives you useful methods,... (more)

The Artist's Way

by Julia Cameron, Mark Bryan

NOW AVAILABLE _ Digitally remastered, and on CD for the first time Read by the author

Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling

by Wayne W. Dyer

There’s a voice in the universe calling each of us to remember our purpose—our reason for being here now, in this world of impermanence. The voice whispers, shouts, and sings to us that this experience of being in form, in space and time, knowing life and death, has meaning. The voice is that of inspiration, which is within each and every one of us. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer explains... (more)

A Walk to Remember

by Nicholas Sparks

In the prologue to his latest novel, Nicholas Sparks makes the rather presumptuous pledge "first you will smile, and then you will cry," but sure enough, he delivers the goods. With his calculated ability to throw your heart around like a yo-yo (try out his earlier Message in the Bottle or The Notebook if you really want to stick it to yourself), Sparks pulls us back to the perfect innocence of a first love.In... (more)

Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life

Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life

by Karl Leuthauser, Tony Dungy, Nathan Whitaker

Tony Dungy's words and example have intrigued millions of people, particularly following his victory in Super Bowl XLI, the first for an African American coach. How is it possible for a coach--especially a football coach--to win the respect of his players and lead them to the Super Bowl without the screaming histrionics, the profanities, the demand that the sport come before anything else? How is it possible for... (more)

If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit

If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit

by Brenda Ueland

In her 93 remarkable years, veteran freelance writer, memoirist, and writing teacher Brenda Ueland published some six million words. She once said there were two simple rules that she followed absolutely: to tell the truth, and not do anything she didn't want to do. Such integrity both distinguishes and defines If You Want to Write , her bestselling classic that first appeared in the late 1930s and has inspired... (more)

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey

by Jill Bolte Taylor

The true story of a brain physicist who has a stroke and discovers lessons about brain function from a unique perspective. A wonderful resource for any family that has been affected by stroke.

Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment

Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment

by Steve Harvey

Steve Harvey, the host of the nationally syndicated Steve Harvey Morning Show , can't count the number of impressive women he's met over the years, whether it's through the "Strawberry Letters" segment of his program or while on tour for his comedy shows. These are women who can run a small business, keep a household with three kids in tiptop shape, and chair a church group all at the same time. Yet when it comes... (more)

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

by Richard Bach

This is a story for people who follow their hearts and make their own rules...people who get special pleasure out of doing something well, even if only for themselves...people who know there's more to this living than meets the eye: they'll be right there with Jonathan, flying higher and faster than ever they dreamed.

Zen in the Art of Writing

by Ray Bradbury

"Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a land mine. The land mine is me. After the explosion, I spend the rest of the day putting the pieces back together. Now, it's your turn. Jump!" Zest. Gusto. Curiosity. These are the qualities every writer must have, as well as a spirit of adventure. In this exuberant book, the incomparable Ray Bradbury shares the wisdom, experience, and excitement of a lifetime... (more)

The Witch of Portobello

by Paulo Coelho

How do we find the courage to always be true to ourselves—even if we are unsure of whom we are? That is the central question of international bestselling author Paulo Coelho's profound new work, The Witch of Portobello . It is the story of a mysterious woman named Athena, told by the many who knew her well—or hardly at all. Among them: "People create a reality and then become the victims of that... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: inspiration

by Randy Pausch

by Michael J. Fox

A Fable About Following Your Dream

by Paulo Coelho

by A.M. Lindbergh, Anne Morrow Lindbergh

A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

by Eckhart Tolle

by Max Lucado

Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity

by William P. Young

by Sally Jenkins, Lance Armstrong

by Natalie Goldberg

by David J. Schwartz

by Julia Cameron, Mark Bryan

by Wayne W. Dyer

by Nicholas Sparks

by Karl Leuthauser, Tony Dungy, Nathan Whitaker

by Brenda Ueland

by Jill Bolte Taylor

by Steve Harvey

by Richard Bach

by Ray Bradbury

by Paulo Coelho