by Renee Di Pietro
assistant features editor
“More Letters from a Nut” by Ted L. Nancy
He writes to Sara Lee Cakes to inform them that he found someone who doesn’t like Sara Lee, which goes against the Sara Lee slogan “nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee.” He writes to Coca-Cola introducing his beverage kiet doke, asking if it will interfere with their beverage, diet coke. He writes to the Ritz Carlton reservation desk addressing his problem of eating the bedding while he travels. The letters are laugh out loud hysterical.
Ted Nancy is a citizen of Thousand Oaks, California, and writes silly letters to corporations, government offices, correctional facilities, celebrities and more. More Letters from a Nut is the second collection of Nancy letters.
It is rare you will read one of his letters and say, “wow, I’ve always felt that way too,” but it is a guarantee that that you will be greatly entertained in the short amount of time it takes to get into the book.
“The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz
On the inside cover of many books there is a description of the book’s life-changing qualities and how you will never be the same after… Welcome to one of those books without the self-proclamation all over the cover. Don Miguel Ruiz, the author, is far more than a writer, he is a teacher of Toltec wisdom and of life’s simplest lessons. By the end of the book, the spiritual road traveled will have you loaded with the complete amount of puzzle pieces to piece together a transformation of your life into freedom, true happiness and love. He teaches us how to heal our emotional wounds and to avoid being hurt again. His enlightening lessons include being impeccable with your word, not taking anything personally, not making assumptions, and to always do our best. Toltec knowledge is not a religion but it does embrace the spirit and describe a way of life that many are amazed by. After Ellen DeGeneres read this book, she told Oprah, and then Oprah told the world and now I tell you because not everyone gets a chance to hear Oprah’s word.
“The Illustrated Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho
Following your intuition and your dreams in learned in this magical fable. Beautifully illustrated by the artist Moebius, a widely acclaimed creator of western, science fiction and fantasy art, this mystical story becomes encouraged to a variety audience. The main character, Santiago, is an Andalusian shepherd boy who has a recurring dream of a young child leading him away from his sheep to the Egyptian Pyramids to find a worldly treasure. Though Santiago is uncomfortable with asking a gypsy to interpret his dream, he decides it would be interesting and stops on him way to the market. He sits through her interpretation and is told that he must go to the Pyramids to search for a treasure. From his home, Spain, Santiago embarks on his path to fulfill his personal legend.
We begin to meet a melting pot of characters through Santiago and sit back in awe as Santiago links the omens set before him. Just as he step by step learns the language of the world, how to listen to his heart and how to follow his dream, we also move right along with him learning.
During these years, confusion pops up frequently for students on what path to take or to follow, this book helps teach you to listen to what you truly want.
