In his mid-40s, Simon Boas was diagnosed with incurable cancer – it had been caught too late, and spread around his body. But he was determined to die as he had learned to live – optimistically, thinking the best of people, and prioritising what really matters in life.

In A Beginner’s Guide to Dying Simon considers and collates the things that have given him such a great sense of peace and contentment, and why dying at 46 really isn’t so bad.

And for that reason it’s also only partly about ‘dying’. It is mostly a hymn to the joy and preciousness of life, and why giving death a place can help all of us make even more of it.

In Love

By Gary Littman

(Back Cover)

In the 1960's a rock group called The Youngbloods produced a song titled "Get Together"-the content of this book is a reflection of a lyric within that song-the words are: "We are but a moments sunlight fading in the grass."

No words can better describe the lives of two people falling in love and going through life's journey experiencing both good times and tragedies. This book is an amazing story of true and enduring love. Life is like a book with a beginning, middle, and ending, and this story has all of those elements.

For those people who are in love or are about to fall in love, this book is a way to find out what it means to be truly In Love. It is a view into the minds of two people who, through their "baby boomer" time line, build family, careers, friendships, and battle unforeseen events that change and rock their world. It is a way to show how love, devotion, and caring can make life worth living even through the roughest times.

For those who have already read this book, the reviews have been ones of emotion, self-reflection, and revelation.

Comments have been:

A must read for the Baby Boomer Generation.

Fantastic.

An accurate time line covering forty years,

I couldn't stop crying.

My life is similar to yours.

I didn't know love could be so wonderful.

How did you get through life with all the bombs going off around you?

Although this book discusses events from the 1960's through the present, the story told crosses all generations, past, present, and future. The theme of love is timeless and the people in the book can be you, relatives, or neighbors.

George Jonas is a larger-than-life businessman with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. He and his wife, Despina, have been living an idyllic life on Hilton Head Island for five years. But when his spirited, middle-aged wife suddenly falls ill the morning after Mother's Day and lies before him-motionless and radiantly beautiful-George is overcome with a foreboding feeling. His life is about to change forever.

Despite the doctor's valiant attempts to save Despina through a complicated surgery, she lapses into a coma. Still full of hope despite the insurmountable odds that hover over his wife like a dark cloud, George's grief is boundless when Despina eventually dies, even as his children, John and D'Ann, rally around him. After thirty years with his wife, he finds himself desperately alone, haunted by his memories, and wracked with guilt. As he blindly embarks down an emotional path of grief that leads him from denial to rage to eventual acceptance of the inevitable, George learns more about himself-and his inner strength-than he ever could have imagined.

"Good Morning, Morning Glory" shares the tale of one man's intense and powerful journey of self-discovery as he moves from the depths of despair within hospital corridors to joyful heights atop Mexico's pyramids.

"When It's Time To Say Good-Bye," is a beautiful story of life, love, perseverance and the will to survive even when all seems hopeless. It will grace you with the understanding and significance of each and every breath we take. It will hopefully give you the courage to take chances as you will be introduced to the beast we all know as death and you will confidently learn to embrace its threat without fear. You will share in the laughter as well as the tears that cascade our lives each and every day. However, the author's true desire is that once you read her story, you will walk away with a belief. It doesn't matter what or who you believe in - just that you believe in something - anything at all - so that when it comes time for you, yourselves to have to face the task of saying good-bye, that your passage may be graced with contentment and peace as you all enjoy the journey of life - and follow that yellow brick road

The title indicates that the book is primarily about love. It begins with the funeral of the author's husband, who was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia and died in his early forties. But this is not a morbid tale tale of suffering, nor a predictable book on illness and death.

On a structural level the author's voice is complemented with excerpts from her husband's diary as well as e-mails to friends and her own dreams. The book also integrates conventional practices and new age ideas in such a way that it appeals to people with various viewpoints.

The second half of the book describes several examples of her communication with the deceased, as well as the significance of the numbers 1 and 9 in their marriage. After his death, Marthie travels to Peru to follow the Inca trail. This literal journey is a metaphor for the spiritual journey that unfolds within her and she finds answers to existential questions.

The final image of the story is in the colour of Red, which is the colour of life, love and passion. In Peru, on tour with South Africans and Americans, Marthie is told, via a channel, that Derik wants her to buy herself a present, from him. It had to be something to wrap around her shoulders, it had to be red, and she had to buy it in Peru. The item turns out to be a Red Pashmina. The significance of this, as the closing image, is that the story is about life, about passion and about energy. The need to experience life in all its facets, and to grow.

In times of family crisis, medical emergency, or death of a loved one, there are many questions that must be answered and obligations that must be met. These are troubling times. Having pertinent personal, family, and financial information along with a record of all obligations readily available will help answer questions and ease the confusion and chaos. This is the who, what, where, when, and why of personal organizers, keeping information readily available at a moment's notice. Do you know who to immediately contact in case of emergency? Do you know what obligations your loved one has committed to? Do you know where pertinent records and items of importance are kept? Do you know when to take care of particular obligations? Do you know why it is important to keep these records? If you can't answer yes to all these questions and many, many more, gathering important personal details in one place is an essential step to take. My Life Personal Organizer is specifically designed to put important information and contact information at your fingertips in times of trouble. It can help to ease the transition of responsibilities and obligations when you lose or must care for a loved one.

For the Parents, Siblings, Family members, and close friends who have come to known the overwhelming sadness after the loss of a child, the road ahead will prove to be the most difficult travel of a life time, knowing your lives have changed forever. Within this book, the authors kind and impathetic ways will hold a promise that everyone will quickly discover, that first, you're not alone, secondly, that we will recover with a new perception as all will ask the number one question "WHY." Grief will begin to evolve to a healthier self. The daily responsibilities will become less problematic as each and everyone we be reminded that you life must continue, all you need do is look within the eyes of a loved one; there you will recognize that there are so many others who will need you, depend on you for support, and guidance. The same guidance the author relates by providing you with the tools to dissect your human emotions, and then into faith and healing.