East Bay Pilates’ Resources

PILATES

• El Auténtico Método Pilates. El Arte Del Control (Mr Practicos)
     by: Esperanza Aparicio
• Return to Life
     by: Joseph H. Pilates
  One of two Pilates originals : Joe’s 1945 book is a must read for any Pilates enthusiast.
• The Body Biz: The Pilates Story
     by: Joan Breibart
  A quick read with part of the story behind the Pilates World today.
• The Joseph H Pilates Archive Collection
     by: edited by Sean Gallagher, P.T. and Romana Kryzanowska
  A must have, but sadly out of print. Grab one if you find it!
• The Pilates Body
     by: Brooke Siler
  The contemporary definitive Pilates book. The third must read.
• The Pilates Method of Physical and Mental Conditioning
     by: Gail Eisen and Philip Friedman
  The first and definitive book written about the Pilates method (aside from those written by the originator). Another must read.
• Your Health
     by: Joseph H. Pilates
  One of two Pilates originals : Joe’s 1934 book is a must read for any Pilates enthusiast.

PILATES, THE HUMAN BODY

• A Handbook of Anatomy for Art Students
     by: Arthur Thomson
• Relax Your Neck, Liberate Your Shoulders: The Ultimate Exercise Program for Tension Relief
     by: Eric Franklin
• The Complete Writings of Joseph H. Pilates: Return to Life Through Contrology and Your Health - The Authorized Editions
     by: Joseph H. Pilates
  The two books by Joseph Pilates in one edition. A must read for anyone sincerely interested in a long term study of his method.

THE HUMAN BODY

• Atlas of Human Anatomy
     by: Frank H. Netter
• Loving What Is
     by: Byron Katie
  An excellent read on how to harness the power of our minds.
• Pelvic Power: Mind/Body Exercises for Strength, Flexibility, Posture, and Balance for Men and Women
     by: Eric Franklin
  An excellent resource for building awareness and function of the pelvic region. Remember, if you can control your pelvis you can control your entire life.
• The Chair: Rethinking Culture, Body, and Design
     by: Galen Cranz
  An interesting perspective on the activity that most of us spend so much time doing: sitting in chairs. Galan Cranz is an Alexander Technique practitioner and a sociologist working in Berkeley's school of architecture.
• The Female Pelvis: Anatomy & Exercises
     by: Blandine Calais-Germain
  An excellent read for all women. Rather technical, but very useful. Especially in preparation for childbirth and recovery.
• The Melt Method
     by: Sue Hitzmann
  Another must have guide for self care.
• The Merck Manual
     by: Robert S Porter
  A general household reference to help interface with Western Medical Practitioners.
• The Power Behind Your Eyes
     by: Robert Michael-Kaplan, O.D.
  A Solid Introduction to Integrated Vision Therapy
• The Psoas Book
     by: Liz Koch
  An excellent book all about the psoas muscle, our ultimate core muscle.
• The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief
     by: Clair Davies
  The self-care book that no home should be without.
• vagina
     by: Naomi Wolf
  A must read for all women. Seriously.
• Wild Feminine: Finding Power, Spirit & Joy in the Female Body
     by: Tami Lynn Kent
• Woman: An Intimate Geography
     by: Natalie Angier

GENERAL HEALTH

• Between Heaven and Earth
     by: Harriet Beinfield
• Cortisol Control and the Beauty Connection: The All-Natural, Inside-Out Approach to Reversing Wrinkles, Preventing Acne and Improving Skin Tone
     by: Shawn Talbott
• You Can Heal Your Life
     by: Louise L. Hay
  One of the original books about healing our relationship to our bodies.

THE FOOD WE EAT

• Full Moon Feast
     by: Jessica Prentice
  A beautiful read, rich with centuries of wisdom and contemporary insight.
• In Defense of Food
     by: Michael Pollan
• The Botany of Desire
     by: Michael Pollan
• The Omnivore’s Dilema
     by: Michael Pollan

COOKBOOKS

• How to Pick a Peach
     by: Russ Parsons
  includes excellent recipes for preparing so many vegetables.
• The Frog Commissary Cookbook
     by: Steven Poses
  For some really delicious meals that are just a little out of the ordinary.
• The Greens Cookbook: Extraordinary Vegetarian Cuisine from the Celebrated Restaurant
     by: Deborah Madison
  When you cook by ingredient because you have a CSA box, garden, or farm.
• The Joy of Cooking
     by: Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker
  Basic Kitchen reference
• The New Vegetarian Epicure: Menus--With 325 All-New Recipes--For Family and Friends
     by: Anna Thomas
  Chock full of great staple recipes

MOTHERING

• Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Year: A Guide to Health and Comfort Before and After Your Baby Is Born
     by: Elizabeth Noble
  My favorite fitness book for expecting moms. Full of practical and down-to-earth information, if a little "rough around the edges".

PARENTING

• Amazing Babies
     by: Beverly Stokes
  A great read for parents who wish to understand and nurture the healthy development of their baby. This book will enable parents to benefit from the developmental process too, what could be better than that?
• Amazing Baby
     by: Desmond Morris
  A really lovely book for new parents who are eager to enjoy their new baby. This book gives lots of information about babies without any instructions, which helps us to simply enjoy our wee ones in their fleeting infancy.
• Creating a Beautiful Mess: Ten Essential Play Experiences for a Joyous Childhood
     by: Ann Gadzikowski
• How Children Fail
     by: John Holt
  A must read for anyone interested in supporting and nurturing children. Pair with How Children Learn.
• How Children Learn
     by: John Holt
  A must read for anyone interested in supporting and nurturing children. Pair with How Children Fail.
• How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk
     by: Adele Faber
  A must read for all parents.
• Raising Cain
     by: Dan Kindlon, PH.D. and Michael Thompson, PH.D.
  A must read for mothers of sons and wives of men.
• The Best Old Movies for Families: A Guide to Watching Together
     by: Ty Burr
  If you want your child to develop an appreciation for good movies, check out this reference book.
• The Magic Years: Understanding & Handling the Problems of Early Childhood
     by: Selma H. Fraiberg
• The Read-Aloud Handbook
     by: Jim Trelease
  Another must read for anyone who spends time with kids.
• Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason
     by: Alfie Kohn

CREATIVITY: WHEN WE SHINE BRIGHTEST

• The Jazz Ear
     by: Ben Ratliff

DOMESTIC BLISS

• Better Basics for the Home
     by: Annie Berthold-Bond
  Keep your Home Clean naturally!
• Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up
     by: Marie Kondo
• The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
     by: Marie Kondo
  Positive Thinking applied to every last thing in your home (and anywhere else you keep stuff)

FOR TRAVELING THE ENLIGHTENED PATH

• Falling Out of Grace: Meditations on Loss, Healing and Wisdom
     by: Sobonfu E. Somé
• How to Win Friends & Influence People
     by: Dale Carnegie
  I wish I’d read this book when I was 14 and kept reading it over and over again - such practical wisdom for living in our world!
• Radical Forgiveness
     by: Colin Tipping
  A really cool self-help book. This book helps us to frame our earthly experiences in the spiritual sense which frees us from anger, blame, and victimhood.
• Spiritual Cannibalism
     by: Rudi
• The Art of Happiness
     by: H.H. Dalai Lama
• The Spirit of Intimacy: Ancient Teachings In The Ways Of Relationships
     by: Sobonfu E. Somé
  A very informative book about the fundamental characteristics of the Dagara people of Burkina Faso, Africa.
• The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
     by: Sogyal Rinpoche

JUST FOR FUN

• The Lost Symbol
     by: Dan Brown
  Pilates and Body Enthusiasts will dig this one if they can suspend disbelief at particular moments, fun with some familiar ideas.

INTELLECTUALLY STIMULATING AND INSPIRING

• A Christmas Carol
     by: Charles Dickens
  A classic tale of redemption
• By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
     by: Paulo Coelho
• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
     by: Bryan Stevenson
• Quiet
     by: Susan Cain
  The book of introversion of our time. An excellent read for everybody, since introverts are everywhere!
• Sula
     by: Toni Morrison
  Just plain good.
• The Alchemist
     by: Paulo Coelho
• The Complete Sherlock Holmes
     by: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Good Thief
     by: Hannah Tinti
• Veronika Decides to Die
     by: Paulo Coelho

INTELLECTUALLY STIMULATING AND ENTERTAINING

• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
     by: Mark Twain
• A Walk in the Woods
     by: Bill Bryson
  I woke my husband up from a dead sleep laughing as I read this book. We were in separate rooms. I was laughing so hard that he thought I was crying.
• All Creatures Great and Small
     by: James Herriot
• All Things Bright and Beautiful
     by: James Herriot
• All things Wise and Wonderful
     by: James Herriot
• Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
     by: Ross King
  A great historical reference for the profession of architecture and the power of human ingenuity
• Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment
     by: Deepak Chopra
• Cannery Row
     by: John Steinbeck
• Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer
     by: Novella Carpenter
  The contemporary version of an age old story, and right here in Oakland California no less.
• Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment
     by: Deepak Chopra
• Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe
     by: Bill Bryson
  for when you want to travel but can’t
• New and Selected Poems, Vol. 2
     by: Mary Oliver
  Every bookshelf should have at least one volume of poetry.
• New and Selected Poems, Volume One
     by: Mary Oliver
  Every bookshelf should have at least one volume of poetry.
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
     by: Mark Twain
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
     by: Mark Twain
• The Ender Quartet
     by: Orson Scott Card
• The God of Small Things
     by: Arundhati Roy
• The Kite Runner
     by: Khaled Hosseini
• The Lord God Made Them All
     by: James Herriot
• The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl
     by: Issa Rae
• The Prince and the Pauper
     by: Mark Twain
• The Return of Merlin
     by: Deepak Chopra
• Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
     by: Cheryl Strayed
  How an advice column should read
• White Teeth
     by: Zadie Smith

FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOKS

• All the World
     by: Liz Garton Scanlon
• Bertie’s Escapade
     by: Kenneth Grahame
  Before The Wind in the Willows….
• Caps for Sale
     by: esphyr slobodkina
  Monkey Business
• Charlotte’s Web
     by: E.B. White
• Christmas Carol
     by: Charles Dickens
• Demolition
     by: Sally Sutton
• Doodle Flute
     by: Daniel Pinkwater
• Fire Truck
     by: Peter Sis
  For anybody who loves Fire Trucks
• Gnomes: Thirtieth Anniversary Edition
     by: Rien Poortvliet
• Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site
     by: Sherri Duskey Rinker
• Harold and the Purple Crayon
     by: Crockett Johnson
• I Saw Three Ships
     by: Elizabeth Goudge
• It’s Only Stanley
     by: Jon Agee
• James Herriot's Treasury for Children: Warm and Joyful Tales by the Author of All Creatures Great and Small
     by: James Herriot
• Just So Stories
     by: Rudyard Kipling
• Little Blue and Little Yellow
     by: Leo Lionni
• Mary Poppins
     by: PL Travers
• Mary Poppins Comes Back
     by: PL Travers
• Mary Poppins From A to Z
     by: PL Travers
• Mary Poppins In the Kitchen
     by: PL Travers
• Mary Poppins In the Park
     by: PL Travers
• Mary Poppins Opens the Door
     by: PL Travers
• Mother Earth and Her Children: A Quilted Fairy Tale
     by: Sibylle von Olfers
• Mother Goose in Prose
     by: L. Frank Baum
• Nothing
     by: Jon Agee
• Paddington Classics Box Set
     by: Michael Bond
• Peter Pan
     by: J.M. Barrie
• Pinocchio
     by: Carlo Collodi
• Roadwork
     by: Sally Sutton
• Roald Dahl Box Set
     by: Roald Dahl
• Robinson Crusoe
     by: Daniel Defoe
• Terrific
     by: Jon Agee
• The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3)
     by: Philip Pullman
• The Animal Family
     by: Randall Jarrell
• The Annotated Secret Garden
     by: Frances Hodgson Burnett
  The annotations give us the context in which this heartwarming and beautiful book came to be. Truly an inspiring read for all ages.
• The BoxCar Children Box Set
     by: Gertrude Chandler Warner
• The Chronicles of Narnia
     by: C.S.Lewis
  must read the entire series!
• The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1)
     by: Philip Pullman
• The Hundred Dresses
     by: Eleanor Estes
• The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
     by: L. Frank Baum
  The definitive Biography of Santa Claus
• The Mysterious Howling
     by: Maryrose Wood
• The Ruby in the Smoke: A Sally Lockhart Mystery
     by: Philip Pullman
• The Shadow in the North: A Sally Lockhart Mystery
     by: Philip Pullman
• The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, #2)
     by: Philip Pullman
• The Tiger in the Well: A Sally Lockhart Mystery
     by: Philip Pullman
• The Tin Princess: A Sally Lockhart Mystery
     by: Philip Pullman
• The Tyger Voyage
     by: Richard Adams
• The Unmapped Sea (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, #5)
     by: Maryrose Wood
• The Unseen Guest (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #3)
     by: Maryrose Wood
• The Velveteen Rabbit
     by: Komako Sakai
• The Velveteen Rabbit
     by: Margery Williams
• The Wind in the Willows
     by: Kenneth Grahame