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DEVELOP YOUR POWER OF THOUGHT

Name: DEVELOP YOUR POWER OF THOUGHT
Author: Argyro Toumazou
ISBN: 978-9963-9630-3-4

50 STEPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL MINDCONTROL: BIRD'S MILK BOOK SERIES MINDSET

by Argyro Toumazou ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2010

Spry yet serious.

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A self-help book directing readers to think positively and constructively.

Your thoughts are powerful, creative engines, according to the author: “Things that are happening to you do not happen by mere chance or accident. You cause them to happen.” Most of the time, our thoughts are dictated by what is happening in the external world we inhabit. Rather than reactive, the author would like people to be creative. Through a series of linked points, she takes readers through awareness to self-observation where you witness consciousness in action from a third-person perspective, to self-concentration where you focus on a single point without the constant clutter accrued by simple consciousness. This focus allows you to “create your reality,” through inner detachment from the veneer of life. Sow your mind with the seeds of your desires and needs; set and pursue that target. Keep your mental attitude in check, which in turn steadies your response to the external world. Uproot negative thoughts and plant positive ones. Repeat after Toumazou: “I have the ability to think whatever thoughts I desire,” thus fashioning your relationship to the world. This may sound delusional to some, though from a slightly different perspective it could, for example, be seen as the awareness to avoid victimization. Be decisive, own the right of expectation, act accordingly and practice persistence (yes, there will be difficulties and obstacles to attaining aspirations). Toumazou is in the business of creating good habits, though occasionally she drifts. The world isn’t so mechanistic as she suggests with: “we can create our external reality,” nor is it as immaterial as it seems in her giddy statement: “you are a holograph connected to the universe.” She is ultimately a proponent of positive awareness. (The influence of Charles Haanel’s The Master Key System is made clear from the epigrammatic references appended to nearly each of Toumazou’s 50 steps.) If the book’s message feels relentless, that’s because it is. Thinking positively—thinking constructively—isn’t a cakewalk, but it sure beats glum defeatism.

Spry yet serious.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-9963-9630-3-4

Page Count: 64

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: July 8, 2010

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.