Secrets of the Monarch: What the Dead Can Teach Us about Living a Better Life [Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Allison DuBois (Author), Renee Raudman (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 3, 2007

In her newest book, Allison DuBois explains that the lives of people aren't much different than those of monarch butterflies-that we wouldn't be the people we are, make the choices we do, and, in essence, live the lives we lead without the friends and family members that came before us and have passed over to the other side.If you want to understand life, you must understand death. In Secrets of the Monarch, DuBois shows how communicating with the dead has taught her important lessons about life and how listeners can apply those principles to their own lives.Although we are all products of our predecessors, DuBois stresses that every person's life is part of a bigger story, stretching past family and friends to neighbors, community members, and society as a whole. By making the most of your life now, DuBois says, you can positively affect that story. It is your legacy to pass the fire in your eyes and heart to your children, your siblings' children, and your friends' children.After all, if you already know that the story will end, why not make the content a true masterpiece?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In her new book, author and spiritual medium DuBois (who inspired the NBC television series Medium) looks to those who have passed—whom DuBois can sense, contact and communicate with—for lessons on how to live, following the example of monarch butterflies who take "several generations... to secure the survival of their future families." Using personal stories of family and work—speeches, book tours, consulting and meeting one-on-one with people and their dead relations—DuBois attempts to demonstrate the very real power that the dead hold over the living, and vice-versa. Unfortunately, for every fascinating story or innovative idea—assisting on a serial murder case, "living two or three lifetimes in one"—there's any number of pointless tales ("For example, I appeared on a game show called 1 vs 100 on NBC..."), stale observation ("taking risks is what legends are made of") and hoary clichés ("Don't spin your wheels," "remember what the road to hell is paved with"). The conversational style is easy to read but employs lots of cute rhetorical florishes; though it will probably please DuBois devotees, and provides some sound material for those interested in the life of a professional ghost whisperer, anyone else will find this meandering memoir less than inspiring.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

The life of Allison DuBois, an author and medium, is the basis of the television show Medium. She uses her psychic abilities to help law enforcement agencies across the country solve crimes and also works as a jury consultant. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, she has worked as an intern at the district attorney's office in Phoenix, and she received her B.A. in political science from Arizona State University. She is the author of Don't Kiss Them Goodbye and We Are Their Heaven: Why the Dead Never Leave Us. Renee Raudman is a multi-award-winning audiobook narrator. She has earned a number of AudioFile Earphones Awards, including for The Last Secret by Mary McGarry Morris and Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien, as well as a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award for Joe Schreiber's Chasing the Dead. She has also performed on film, TV, radio, and stage, including the recurring roles of Jordon on ABC's One Life To Live, Phyllis on NBC's Passions, and guest-starring roles on prime-time TV. She has been heard in cartoons (The Simpsons, Billy & Mandy), videogames, and on the E! channel. Her narration of Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper was selected by Library Journal as one of the best audiobooks of 2009, and her reading of Marthe Jocelyn's Would You was selected by the ALA as one of the best young adult audiobooks of 2009.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Tantor Media; Unabridged,MP3 - Unabridged CD edition (December 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400155800
• ISBN-13: 978-1400155804
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,141,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Allison Dubois's unique story, the inspiration for the hit NBC TV series Medium, started during her senior year at Arizona State University while she was interning at the D.A.'s office. Soon after, researchers at the University of Arizona validated her ability through a series of tests. Allison continues to support research as a medium, as a member of the Veritas Research Program Mediums Committee, and as a member of the Forever Family Foundation's Medium Advisory Board. In her short career, Allison has conducted over 1,200 personal readings. Allison donates her time to missing-persons and criminal cases for agencies across the country.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars spirits in the afterlife share, December 14, 2007

By 

E. Dodd "Nutritionmom" (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Secrets of the Monarch: What the Dead Can Teach Us About Living a Better Life (Hardcover)

My take away from Allison's book is that once we die and enter another dimension, we can experience regret just as we do in human bodies on earth. I found this facinating and worrisome at the same time. My hope was that death would bring a blissful afterlife with only love, joy, happiness...with nothing to regret, no "negative" emotions!

Allison's first hand experience with people who've passed to the otherside helped me realize that we have so many reasons to do it "right" in this earthly lifetime and that every decision we make here is important, however trivial.

That said, I've a renewed sense of responsibility to myself, my husband and children, and to the world in which I live. That means helping people whenever the opportunity arises and treating Mother Earth with great respect.

In this book we learn that our relationships matter dearly and don't end with death. So we should invest in ourselves and our loved ones now, TODAY! Because it's not about life till you die, but literally, eternal life. A bit scary and overwhelming to me but it seems to be the common theme in all the spiritual/self-help/medium-inspired books these days!

This is a wonderful read. Simple, meaningful and useful for someone exploring his or her connection to deceased loved ones or to God and the afterlife in general. And if you've read Allison's other books as I have, I think you'll find this just as enjoyable.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hate to be the oddball......., November 24, 2007

By 

WigglyMum (DE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of the Monarch: What the Dead Can Teach Us About Living a Better Life (Hardcover)

I didn't like this book as much as I did the others. I almost felt as if Allison was repeating what was said in her other books. I breezed through her 2 other books and was really looking forward to this one being just as enjoyable. To me I thought it was interesting but repetitive. I felt like I was reading more of a self-help book rather than one about Allison's gift. I do recommend it and I'm very glad I bought it but I hope that her next book, and hopefully there will be a next book, will mirror her other books.

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun and interesting, October 6, 2007

By 

Ronna M. Marwil (Idaho Falls, ID United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secrets of the Monarch: What the Dead Can Teach Us About Living a Better Life (Hardcover)

Allison DuBois' third book "Secrets of the Monarch" is a wonderful read. Though Allison has become a celebrity since inspiring the TV show "Medium," you wouldn't know it from this book. Her voice is casual and full of pep and vigor. She is in no way sanctimonious. This is a woman who includes crashing a wedding on her list of things to do before she dies, and has a teenager who rolls her eyes at her. Even so, her spirituality and love shine through. In her straightforward way, she gives us her thoughts on what we can do to have the kind of life we won't regret once it's over.

The stories of her connections with the other side are compelling, heartfelt, and at least to me, present convincing argument for the fact that love and relationships continue after death.

It's also fun to read the foreword written by Allison's husband Joe Dubois, who writes, "Many people ask me how I do it, how do I live with Allison? At first this offended me. I would think, how could I not live with Allison?" It's obvious, Joe sees Allison's gift as a blessing. So do I.

Highly recommend.