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29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life
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| List Price: | $19.95 |
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Product Description
29 Gifts is the insightful story of the author’s life change as she embraces and reflects on the naturally reciprocal process of giving and receiving. Many of Walker’s gifts were simple —a phone call, spare change, a Kleenex. Yet the acts were transformative. By Day 29, not only had Walker’s health and happiness improved, but she had created a worldwide giving movement.
The book also includes personal essays from others whose lives changed for the better by giving, plus pages for the reader to record their own journey. More than a memoir, 29 Gifts offers inspiring lessons on how a simple daily practice of altruism can dramatically alter your outlook on the world.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1280 in Books
- Published on: 2009-10-06
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 256 pages
Features
- ISBN13: 9780738213569
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Just a month after her wedding, 31-year-old Walker was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis; two years later, she was bitter, isolated, and addicted to both pain medication and self-pity. In need of help beyond drug detox, Cami takes the advice of a South African healer: give away something every day, for 29 days. Walker soon learns that being mindful of giving also means being open to gifts from others, and that gratefulness and mutual generosity is the key to a better, more rewarding life. Glimpses into Walker's day-to-day difficulties-work, family life, constant therapeutic treatment and addiction recovery among them-crop up among the stories of her daily gifts, grounding the work (based on Walker's Web site) in personal details. But the meat, an admirable reworking of The Secret (in that it should actually help someone, at least gift recipients), speaks largely to those already initiated into the cult of positivity.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
“Glimpses into Walker's day-to-day difficulties…crop up among the stories of her daily gifts, grounding the work in personal details…An admirable reworking of The Secret (in that it should actually help someone, at least gift recipients).”
Blogcritics.org, 9/25 “It reminded me a lot of Michael J Fox’s book, since it was more about the journey rather than the author…29 Gifts is a great read. The author’s tone throughout the book is extremely friendly and upbeat, even while recounting her darkest moments…This is the practical component of The Secret… One of the many things I found great about this book is that while it exudes positivism, the author, Cami Walker, is a realist…The relative simplicity of the 29 gifts movement is refreshing…A fantastic book.”
Boston Globe, 10/4
“Walker’s a plucky writer, and it’s hard not to be inspired by her story…Can ‘29 Gifts’ work? Well, at the very least, it makes you more aware of the good in your life, and it shifts the focus from yourself to others.”
Deseret News UT, 10/10
“29 Gifts stands out among other ‘inspirational’ books because Walker doesn't hold back. She describes her disease and symptoms in vivid detail. And it's that bravery which makes the process ring true. Following Walker's journey, one realizes that most of us give many little gifts each day. But without the right mindset, they seem like little tasks instead…Read all at once or at leisure, 29 Gifts is worth your time. Not only does it put a face on MS, it puts a face on perceptions and the power of the mind to overcome adversity.”
InfoDad.com, 10/29/09
“It’s all very uplifting, potentially of genuine value in teaching people to look outside themselves and the daily grind of their lives.”
Library Journal, 11/15/09
“Walker presents a story that gets to the core of the emotional pain and loneliness that people feel when suffering from a serious disease like multiple sclerosis…Readers will instantly connect with this narrative of her journey…Her story unfolds nicely, and the reader is left with a good picture of what it’s like to live with MS. Walker turns what could have been a book about self-pity into a great read about pain and a creative way to get on with life.”
About the Author
Customer Reviews
A real gem!!
I just received this book yesterday, and while I didn't read it all in one sitting, I thought about it for the whole day until I could come home and pick it up again. In a way, reading this book is like having a best friend trusting you with her deepest, darkest secrets, and you feel honored to be there for her. Cami Walker writes with poignant honesty about her diagnosis with MS, her recurring addictions and depression, and the stress that chronic illness places on marriage. And yet, most amazingly, this book is uplifting! While each chapter title focuses on the gift given that day, the writing style is more memoir and flows seamlessly between "past" (before diagnosis) and present day. There are references to spiritual leaders and healing messages, but they are subtle and "real", not over the top as too often found in books of similiar genres.
The title ("29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life") gives insight into only a small portion of what this book is about -the reminder that gratitude can start in the smallest of places. It is the act of giving, not the gift received, that makes the world a better place. This is not a how to book, it is not a book about unrealistic expectations or what you will get in return, except that I already feel like i have been given a gift, and look forward to passing this book on to others.
From the heart
This is an amazing first book / memior, inviting you in to share Cami Walker's ride back to recovery after receiving a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and subsequent tailspin into anxiety, depression and addiction. Cami teaches us, through the help of her teachers, and searingly honest prose, to give consciously, without resentment, from our abundant selves: to be bigger that we think we are. Her book takes us through each day of her 29 day giving journey and the wonderful change in her mind set, as she stops focusing all her mental energy on her diagnosis, and starts to open up to others through simple, mindful activities. As she does so, the world starts to unfold and give back, buoying her back to better health, restored relationship, and a new path. I didn't put this book down until I reached the 29th day of Cami Walker's journey of giving: a great effort! Thank you for sharing, Cami.
29 Gifts is Powerful AND Inspiring
29 gifts is an amazing book. Writer Cami Walker writes with raw vulnerability, power, inspiration, humor and integrity. This book is about how giving changed Cami's life as well as influencing thousands of people. I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone. If you want to be reminded of the good the world, read this book. If you want to be reminded of miracles in the world, read this book. If you want to know that abundance is in this world, read this book. If you are in a tough place and need inspiration, read this book. If you want to learn how to create new perspective in your life, read this book. And if you just want to feel the humanity in the world, read this book. Thank you Cami for writing this book.
