Books are NOT dead. Books are NOT dead! All of the following entries were passionate advocates for books and the life lessons we learn from them. Some radically changed how people felt themselves and the world. Some continue to be inspiring and intersting to their readers even to this very day. From holistic orchards to the placenta as a forgotten chakra, meeting authors to wild plants, many of these books have been added to my 'must read' list. I'm also reminded to step away from the internet every now and then and curl up with a book - this week I've been reading Pema Chodron, and the lessons and messages that filter from her words into my soul have been affirmations that the written word is important to inform our healing journeys. As Hive account@chireerocks noted in his poem, sometimes life experiences are a kind of book in themselves - absolutely - but I do believe our life experiences can be enriched and informed and added to by books. Go forth and read, darling Steemfolk - books are most definitely NOT DEAD!

Entries this week:

The Holistic Orchard Tree Trips for Tree Keepers by Hive account@nateonsteemit
The Foxfire Book Old Time Homesteading by Hive account@nateonsteemit
Spagyrics and Other Alchemical Texts Important to My Development by Hive account@alchemage
A cookbook and resource all in one by Hive account@porters
Placenta the Forgotten Chakra by Hive account@trucklife-family
One Generation Departs and Another Generation Comes but the Earth Forever Stays by Hive account@briarch

Week One posts were as follows:

Healing Hands of Light by Hive account@nainaztengra
Acupressure for emotional healing by Hive account@artemislives
Embracing My Introverted Nature by Hive account@plantstoplanks
The Celestine Prophecy - My Life After by Hive account@kaerpediem
Getting There Without Drugs by Hive account@hippiewithagun
The book That Began a Lifelong journey for Truth by Hive account@steelborne
Healing Hands of Light by Hive account@nainaztengra
Acupressure for emotional healing by Hive account@artemislives
Embracing My Introverted Nature by Hive account@plantstoplanks
The One Book that Will Not Leave My House by Hive account@porters
The Wild World - Studying and Documenting Wild Plants by Hive account@walkerland
Hive account@porcheberry wrote a REAL book - check it out here
Yoga and the Subtle Body by Hive account@riverflows
Three Books, Three Wisdoms by Hive account@riverflows

The Winners

Yeah yeah, I say EVERY wrap up post that it was hard to judge, and it totally is, every time. This was even harder, because I was trying not to let my personal interest in books influence my judgement. Some books here I wouldn't read in a million years, but that's not a criteria for assessment. Instead, I looked at passion - how did these books really feed into the reader's passions for self improvement, healing, and those revelations about life that change our outlook, our direction, our understanding of ourselves and the world?

And so, I awarded the prizes as following, giving 6 steem to each selected winner and 3 steem each to runners up - plus a little SBI.

Hive account@steelborne's passion for books has come across in the Natural Medicine Discord over the last few weeks, and we've really appreciated their enthusiasm and desire to share with us. Their post was thoughtful and reflective, reflecting on their beginnings as a reader and how books have informed their journey.

Hive account@alchemage presented a video here and I have to say I was a little biased - the subject of alchemy fascinates me personally. However, the discovery of alchemical texts totally transformed his life and set him on the path he is on now, where he's about to study to be a naturopath. I just loved listening to his enthusiasm. I think I'm definitely going to order one of the books he talked about.

Hive account@kaerpediem, in addition to winning 1 steem for the first week, also wins 5 steem to a total of 6 steem for his post on the influence of the Celestine Prophecies on his life. For many of the posts I read, it was the desire for knowledge that made these books an important focus on people's lives. Hive account@kaerpediem says:

In my teens, I started having all these questions. Questions the nuns couldn’t answer, the Bible couldn’t answer, the more religious of my relatives and friends couldn’t answer. The more questions I asked, the more non-answers I got and that got me looking for answers outside that inner circle. It was not easy as I was riddled with guilt but the need to understand got the better of me.

Hive account@hippiewithgun's post was really cool because he got to meet the author too!

Hive account@plantstoplanks post on being intoverted and finding out through a book that there was absolutely nothing wrong with that at all also warmed my heart - plus, check out that cute pic of her and her sister.

Hive account@trucklife-family's post on the placenta as a forgotten or secret chakra also blew me away! Hive account@nateonsteemit's passion for permaculture also resulted in two posts, and Hive account@nainztengra also wrote passionately about her healing book - each of these posts are awarded 3 Steem each.