3 X 5's: Index Card Wisdom from Best of Books

MEDJUGORJE Wayne Weible (1989). Medjugorje: The Message. Weible has a bachelors degree in journalism and was a newspaper publisher and columnist before traveling to Medjugore in Yogoslavia in 1985...Weible was a Lutheran and eventually became a Catholic in 1991...he writes of his experiences in Medjugorje and his life in the US in the first person, eventually authoring several books and touring as an international speaker on Medjugore. According to Weible, the Blessed Mother appeared to 6 teenagers in 1981 in a village in Medjugore, and 3 of them continue to have daily apparitions (vision and auditory) of the Blessed Mother as of September 2026 (ongoing daily for 45 years!) while the others have yearly apparitions (some on their birthday, some at Christmas). The visionaries have been studied by a number of groups, including scientists and psychiatrists, testifying that they are not mentally ill, and in the early years, that they were "normal" healthy teenagers. The Vatican (...

OPT OUT Erin Loechner (2024). The Opt-Out Family:  How to Give Your Kids                                                                                              What Technology Can't Loechner has an undergraduate degree from Ball State University, and public records don't indicate a field of study, nor any graduate degree. Writing online since 2001, 10 years later she had 1.4 million followers and a 6 figure influencer income...she gave it all up to start "opt out family.com"--this is her story. Loechner takes the tec principles she used as an online influencer and flips them on their head by applying them to tec free family living...each chapter starts with a succient tech playbook principle turned in...

DIGITAL WELLNESS Caitlin Krause (2025). Digital Wellbeing. Krause has an MFA in Fine Arts and has presented/consulted/collaborated on digital wellbeing projects for over a decade. The book is a conversation about digital wellbeing that includes interviews with experts in the field, lots of questions for consideration, and novel ideas for exploring. Overall, the writing is short on practice and pragmatics...i kept writing "HOW?" in the margins...there is also an underlying assumption that people have access to the software and hardware for these new technologies like VR, AR, MR...there are many exaggerated claims that need qualification (the long term benefits of digital wellbeing remain to be tested)  parts were surprisingly hard for me to read, i kept asking, "SO WHAT?"...most/many of the digital wellbeing outcomes can be had for FREE without digital devices, e.g., noticing walk, actively notice new things to increase mindfulness--i don't need an app or virtual...

PLAYING THE ODDS Nora Roberts (1985). Serena: Playing the Odds, &                                             Caine: Tempting Fate. Roberts is a high school graduate (having attended Catholic school with nuns prior to that) with no formal college education. She worked as a secretary and clerk before raising 2 sons. With this background, she became one of the most prolific and famous women novelists of all time.  These two novels are part of Robert's MacGregor series rooted in the war for Scottish freedom...these novels are set in modern day America. Justin Blake (casino owner) meets Serena MacGregor (from a wealthy family, working as a card dealer on a cruise ship)..."love, she realized, was the ultimate adventure"...poker, odds, betting, gambling are themes...in love, you risk it all. Diana Blade (Justin's younger sister--a Harvard lawyer) meet...

PRAGMATIC William James (1907). Pragmatism. James earned an MD in 1869, yet he is most well known for his writtings in psychology, philosophy, and religion. The book is a compilation of 8 lectures on pragmatism which are highly philosophical and intellectual--ironically (given the title "pragmatism"), the lectures have little concrete practical advice for everyday living which i found disappointing...i was so frustrated part way through reading the book that i took to reading only topic sentences...his book, Principles of Psychology , may have been a better choice for finding something pragmatic...i was fooled by the title. i turned to ChatGPT to extract something practical from the lectures and came up with (edited from chat): if two different beliefs have no important/meaningful differences in the actions they imply, then cease debating about which belief is better! for any advice or belief, ask: what changes in how i would live if i would enact this advice/belief? if nothi...

VOLUNTARY CONTROLS Jack Schwarz (1978). Voluntary Controls:                                               Exercises for Creative Meditation. Appears to have a Doctor of Naturalpathy associated with the Aletheia Foundation  (no public documents verifying his degree, no formal degrees), was involved in legitemate mind-body research experiments, especially with the Meninger Foundation. No teachers or formal dogma...he relies on his own experience and suggests that one must be active in experimenting with life, that we are the ultimate judge if an activity/practice/method is helpful for us...if the activity fits/aligns/benefits, fine, if not, change it to suit your particular needs, or drop it. practices projection screen...run your upcoming day as a movie on a screen from beginning to end (can also review at day's end in reverse to discover areas ...

1 THING DIFFERENT Bill O'Hanlon (1999). Do One Thing Different. O'Hanlon has an MS in Family Studies and has written over 30 books at the time of this writing. This is a pragmatic book that provides principles and examples of how to apply them based on "solution-oriented" therapy. Some of the practices: *if what you're doing isn't working, do 1 thing different that moves you in the direction of the desired outcome, evaluate the results, if not working, try something else, if working, keep doing that and/or improving on that...experiment with doing something different right before the "problem" begins. in personal relationships, when experiencing a "problem," accept what is going on (doesn't mean you like or agree with it), do not blame the other person, ask for what you want using action language treat the behavior part of sexual relationships like back scratching, direct the other person to scratch the itch...risk telling them what fee...

PARTY PANTS Loretta LaRoche (2003). Life is Short--Wear Your Party Pants . LaRoche has a BA in Speech Therapy and Communication, and an honorary doctorate for all her work in consulting and lectures/workshops on laughter and positive living. LaRoche provides practical advice for living the good life, citing research and supporting her ideas with entertaining stories from her own life. Some of the best advice (practices): find the source of stress and deal with it celebrate with your party pants/hat/attitude slow down, savor...this moment is life, feel and live it learn and grow from mistakes get inspired by good movies, poetry, books, music, art... accept what is, then try to improve on it be playful, exaggerate a situation until it becomes ridiculous, find the funny and laugh create a hat collection to change things up and elevate your mood turn the volume down and make space for quiet time invite your neighbors to coffee (or tea) at your house, find out about their life, how can you ...

THE FIELD Lynn McTaggart (2008). The Field:                                                    The Quest for the Secret Force                                                    of the Universe. McTaggart earned a BA in 1973 before becoming a well-known journalist. The book is based on interviews and the books/manuscripts of 75 credible scientists...McTaggart interprets their research as supporting a universal "field of consciousness" that connects everyone and everything...some of the claims are backed by well-accepted science, some are more speculative (e.g., implications of quantum physics for human biological processes). i wish she had an update of the book...as of this writing i...

CLASSROOM CONSCIOUSNESS Christopher Bache (2024, orig. 2008). The Living Classroom:                                                                              Teaching and  Collective                                                                         Consciousness. Bache (PhD, Brown university in religious studies) has been a professor of religion at a state university of 13k students for 33 years at the time of this writing. He also has been on a spiritual journey most of his life, including a lengthy psychedelic journey which eventually was replaced by a long term meditation practice. ...

LAUGH! Madan Kataria (2018). Laughter Yoga:                                                Daily Practices for Health and Happiness. Kataria is a medical doctor that began laughter yoga in the park with a handful of people...over time, yoga of laughter has grown into a worldwide organization with live in-person and on-line zoom groups that meet daily/weekly Karatria presents a strong case (with research evidence) for the mental, physiological, and emotional benefits of laughter, and laughtger is free...to receive the full benefits takes 15-20 minutes a day. The key attitudinal shift is expanding our conventional idea of laughter as spontaneous natural laughyer resulting from a humorous stimulus in our everyday life to intentionally choosing to laugh for no particular reason, faking the laughter until it turns into genuine laughter ...several activi...

LOST MOTHER Susanne O'Leary (2023). The Lost Mother of Ireland. 6th book in the Sandy Cove series set on the Atlantic coast of the village of Kerry in Ireland...story of Laura the nurse who inherits one of the star light cottages in sandy cove from an older patient who she used to take care of...she moves in and fall in love with the village and the baker Gino who lives on the hill overlooking the wild rose bay...the side story is about a painting that Laura inherited from the same patient that died and the mystery of finding the rightful owner which involves the "lost mother of Ireland" some quotes: never mind all that. These are just things (p. 232) we have a saying in our home, "people over things"--no thing is more important than any person have fun girls, and if you can't be good...well, you know. We'll be careful...(75) friend of my Uncle Ves, Larry Bowen, used to say goodbye with the words, "Be good, and if you can't, be careful" onl...

MAGIC Dean Radin (2025). Science of Magic:                                          How the Mind Weaves the Fabric of Reality Radin has a PhD in psychology and over 300 papers (including original research in peer reviewed journals) and 5 other books. This book provides ample evidence for the reality of magic which include psi (psychic) phenomenon...the effects are "weak" but statistically significant in controlled laboratory settings which over the last 50 years have improved considerably to account for most known methodological issues using double blind studies with valid and reliable measures and often very creative designs...thus, magic is real and can be used for posivite purposes in everyday life. part 4 of the book is the pragmatic part on "doing magic" but only 32 of 275 pages...there are references to other books and websites for those that want to learn m...

LOST LETTERS Susanne O'Leary (2022). The Lost  Letters of Ireland. This is the 5th book in O'Leary's starlight cottage series set in the coast of modern day Ireland. Edwina, a socialite from Dubline, buys and refurbishes the starlight cottages, with the financial help of her mother Pamela, also a socialite...she gets to know and eventually marry Shane, the local doctor...the lost letters refer to a letter in a bottle that Edwina found on the beach near the cottages from Pearse who is longing for a girl that returned to the states...part, but not all, of their story is revealed. lesson: failure of a big project (the original plans for modern renovations of starlight cottages due to the construction company going bankrupt) turns out to be a blessing, as the new renovations are more modest, more in keeping with the style of the local village, more in line with their budget, and Edwina and Shane are able to buy and live in one of the cottages. practice: how might you downsize y...

GRAVITY HABITS Joan Vernikos (2011). Sitting Kills, Moving Heals Vernikos has a PhD in pharmacology and worked at NASA as a research scientist and director of multiple programs for over 30 years...her research focuses on astronaut health Research shows a suprising similarity in the negative effects of lack of gravity for astronauts and those earthlings who have seditary lifestyles, especially those that sit a majority of their day (e.g., office and white collar work at computers, students sitting in classrooms) and those confined to beds (e.g., those in hospitals or those homebound that are confined to a bed) including: DECREASED bone density, muscle mass, growth hormone, heart output, balance, immune response, and sleep... all of the negative effects can be reversed with GRAVITY HABITS throughout the day, especially postural shifts (e.g., as simple as moving from sitting to standing many times a day..."Every time you stand up, the body initiates a shift in fluides, volume, and ho...

CREATIVE MEDITATION Jack Schwarz (1978). Voluntary Controls:                                             Exercises for Creative Meditation. Schwarz has no formal educational degrees...he developed some of the techniques in a Nazi concentration camp before founding the Aletheia Foundation in 1958 which as of this writing in 2026 has a website (aletheiaheart.com)...Schwarz is self-taught with no teacher, guru, or formal religions/spiritual affiliation...he realized at age 9 that he could put his hands on people and heal them...he was tested by scientists like Elmer Green on his abilities such as being filmed inserting a knitting needle through his bicep with no bleeding or significant changes in heart rate or brain waves...this is what he calls "voluntary control" Learnings: the most important idea is to trust yourself, your inner voice, your intution...ta...

MEMORIES Susanne O'Leary (2021). The Lost Promise of Ireland. This is book 3 in O'Leary's Sandy Cove Starlight Cottages series set in modern-day Ireland. Maggie lived in Sandy Cove during the summers in one of the Starlight Cottages her family owned, and at 18 fell in love with Paul, an American visiting...they promised to write and be together always, but Paul stopped writing soon after their summer departure...Maggie is now renting the same cottage that her family used to own as a divorced adult mother of two grown children, rekindling the memories with Paul, and through unusual circumstances, they meet up again, but Paul is not the same person and has a hidden business agenda of turning the small village into a tourist area...Maggie ends their relationship and realizes that Brian, a vet who had a crush on her during those summer visits of her youth, is her real love, and they eventually get together through their mutual love for animals, the village, and friends. practic...

ANGELIC Julie Ryan (2017). Angelic Attendents:                                       What Really Happens as We Transition                                         from this  Life into the Next . Ryan holds no academic degrees...she invented surgical devices and founded many successful companies...she now identifies as a psychic and medical intuitive that is able to remotely see anyone's medical condition, including their stage in the dying process. Ryan presents anecdotal evidence including confirmation of what she "sees" via doctors and families, i.e., she first reports what she sees, then seeks and receives confirmation. from her experiences, she posits 12 phases in the dying process that everyone goes through; however, the time in each phase varies ...

WILDBUILT Becky Chambers (2021). A Psalm for the Wildbuilt. Chambers has a BA in Theatre Arts and published several science fiction novels. This story takes place on a moon in the land of Panga where robots of an earlier era have gained self-awareness and live in the wilderness apart from humans doing whatever they wish while humans live in sustainable villages..."sibling Dex" (the main character) is disenchanted with his comfortable life and becomes a "tea monk" traveling in a makeshift coach, setting up temporary shop in different villages to listen and serve tea (his listening skills help him determine what tea to serve)...Dex meets a robot named Mosscap on the outskirts of the villages, in the wild, and they strike up a friendship and travel together, the robot wanting to know what do people need and how it can help them. there are philosophical points throughout the story, AND one main practice that we can all do is LISTEN with full attention to another's s...

SECRET OF IRELAND Susanne O'Leary (2021). The Lost Secret of Ireland. O'Leary has no formal degrees that i could verify...with 30+ novels to her credit, she is a prolific author. This is the 2nd of a series of novels set along the Irish coast in a place called Sandy Cove where the Starlight Cottages (a former coast guard station) are...each book in the series explores the life of another character that lives/visits one of the cottages. In this story Ella, an artist, recovering from an accident, is visited by 85-year-old Lucille (best friend of her mother who recently died) who aids in her recovery with positive, go get em, zest for living attitudes...In time, Ella falls in love with Rory, one of Lucille's sons, and the big secret is revealed: one of the former Starlight Cottage residents was convicted of a minor crime, sent to an Australian penal colony, and after serving their time, started a prosperous business and became involved in politics, and now has returned to Irel...