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I Don't Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say by Joyce Shafer is one of the most inspirational and uplifting reads I have had the pleasure of reading.

A.J. sets out on her travels in hopes of finding a man she had met ten years earlier in a small town diner. When she arrives to the same small town, the only thing left from her memory are a small house and the gas station.

When the owner of the gas station appears, she sees a similarity but realizes he is not the same man she seeks. When she asks about "Old Bill" finds she is face to face with his son, Bud.

Bud leads her to where "Old Bill", where A.J. is not faced with the old man but his grave. As she is... More > enveloped with sorrow that she didn't make it back before his death, she becomes confused by the dates on his head stone.

Bud invites her into the house to meet his wife Esther and to hear how A.J. came to know his father.

They settle in at the kitchen table with apple pie and coffee, where a confused A.J. tells her tale.

I Don't Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say really gets you thinking. If you're confused about life, this title is surely going to enlighten you. Full of suggestions on how to change your way of thinking to make life a little easier, learning how to tell the difference between a "reaction" and a "response", you're going to see a straighter path. Shafer did a magnificent job as a life coach and really opens your eyes to a brighter future.

I highly recommend this book and give it ***** (5) Stars.~BK Walker, reviewer for BK Walker Books. Author of "Near Suicide" and "Dares And Dreams". http://bkwalkerbooks.weebly.com < Less

"I just had to post a SECOND review!" When I first read Joyce Shafer's "I Don't Want To Be Your Guru, But I Have Something to Say" I found it to be "an extraordinary book" and I posted a review (see below).

I recently re-read it and found the wisdom within to be even more enlightening as it enabled me to identify an unresolved issue that I need to deal with. That may not sound like much, but if you've ever had the experience of identifying a core issue, you know how profound an experience it can be!

So if you have read this book before, read it again! If you haven't read it yet, do so as soon as you can... and then plan on reading it again... and again... and again until you integrate the wisdom within its pages!

This inspiring book, "I Don't Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say," is a MUST READ! Each time I read it I find more pearls of wisdom that I somehow missed during previous readings. Or maybe I overlooked them because they didn't apply to circumstances in my life at that particular time, but do now. If you haven't read this book yet, you owe it to yourself to meet "Old Bill" and spend a few minutes gleaning some of his down-to-earth wisdom and advice. Way to go, Joyce Shafer. I look forward to your future books, and hope there will be many. Judith LeBlanc of jewelsbyjudith.net.

"Guru" This amazing little book is Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Napoleon Hill and more all rolled into one little treasure. Extraordinarily written and busting at the seems with wisdom. Once you start reading it you'll immediately be glued to every word. I'm a national peak performance expert. I've read over 5000 thousand books on every imaginable topic relevant to life, achievement, psychology and spirituality. I can say that in the current sea of personal development books on the market, few stand out. This one is tops. Buy a copy for yourself and everyone you know, you'll be glad you did.
Jim Fortin, Author/Speaker

"Old Bill - I wish I had met him!"
Reviewed by Narissa Johnson for Reader Views (6/07)

"I Don't Want to be Your Guru, but I have Something to Say" is Joyce Shafer's gift to me. This book, short and easy-to-read, makes me realize that other books, sharing wisdom that I have read, were merely building up to this book. The book could be read in one afternoon, but why would you want to? I took my time reading this book and intentionally did not mark in it, highlight or flag any part of it. I want to read it again before I really pull the lessons out of the text.

Through an easy going conversation in a cafe, lessons about how we view ourselves and the world around us... More > are shared between two people. Each lesson is one which I want to savor - like a delectable amuses-bouche. An amuses-bouche is bite-sized morsel served before the first course of a meal. And its intent is to tantalize (or amuse) the mouth and indeed tease the diner with what the chef has prepared for the following courses. "I Don't Want to be Your Guru" serves up an array of amuses-bouche - each lesson teasing me with the possibility of how my life could be altered, bettered, lifted by integrating these lessons into it.

In "I Don't Want to be Your Guru," the loose story which surrounds these lessons is a young woman named AJ (though I suppose it could be a man, but as I am a woman I suspect Ms. Shafer intended me to view AJ as a woman) who is returning to the site where she had this life-changing conversation with Old Bill. She is returning ten years after the conversation - and I suspect that of everything she learned in her conversation with this "guru," it could take ten years to really integrate and reflect on these lessons as part of your everyday life. And I, for one, can't wait to get started!

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