An upbeat and gently challenging series of observations about growing older.
A personal, faith-oriented self-help book that offers a new way of looking at aging.
Reflecting on her own life as she approaches her 60th year, Blue, a retired nurse and author of Made With Words (2018), wonders what the future will bring: “Will I continue to be healthy?” she asks. “How much help will my children need? Should I start a new career?” As she takes readers through reminiscences about events from the late 1960s to the present, she reflects on changes in her life and how it’s been informed by her Christian faith. She recalls her grandparents, her childhood, and her years as a geriatric clinical nurse specialist, drawing lessons about aging from every stage, always accompanied by practical advice and insights: “If you’ve been sitting and reading awhile, it's time to turn your head, change positions, do some stretches, or stand up and walk a bit,” she writes in one representative passage. “My nursing language would state I need to balance activity vs. rest.” She also frequently talks about how her faith is a part of her daily life: “My daily challenge is to hear Christ’s voice and not my own.” Each chapter ends with a section of direct interaction with the reader, including discussion questions under the heading “Your Turn,” such as “Who are your role models for aging now? Make a list of your top five. Have they changed over the past ten years?” At every stage of her book, Blue effectively combines a funny, happy-go-lucky attitude toward the aging process with an energetic interrogation of what her readers think about getting old. At one point, she intriguingly asks, “What are you hungry for at the age of sixty or seventy?” which can apply both to actual food—her advice on daily matters, such as food indulgences or staying well-hydrated, run throughout the book—and deeper hungers to stay engaged and motivated in later years. Aging Christian readers will likely feel as if they’re reading the advice of an old friend.
An upbeat and gently challenging series of observations about growing older.Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-63755-055-7
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Mascot Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An incisive, urgently relevant analysis of—and call to action on—America’s foundational ideal.
An examination of how the U.S. can revitalize its commitment to freedom.
In this ambitious study, Snyder, author of On Tyranny, The Road to Unfreedom, and other books, explores how American freedom might be reconceived not simply in negative terms—as freedom from coercion, especially by the state—but positive ones: the freedom to develop our human potential within sustaining communal structures. The author blends extensive personal reflections on his own evolving understanding of liberty with definitions of the concept by a range of philosophers, historians, politicians, and social activists. Americans, he explains, often wrongly assume that freedom simply means the removal of some barrier: “An individual is free, we think, when the government is out of the way. Negative freedom is our common sense.” In his careful and impassioned description of the profound implications of this conceptual limitation, Snyder provides a compelling account of the circumstances necessary for the realization of positive freedom, along with a set of detailed recommendations for specific sociopolitical reforms and policy initiatives. “We have to see freedom as positive, as beginning from virtues, as shared among people, and as built into institutions,” he writes. The author argues that it’s absurd to think of government as the enemy of freedom; instead, we ought to reimagine how a strong government might focus on creating the appropriate conditions for human flourishing and genuine liberty. Another essential and overlooked element of freedom is the fostering of a culture of solidarity, in which an awareness of and concern for the disadvantaged becomes a guiding virtue. Particularly striking and persuasive are the sections devoted to eviscerating the false promises of libertarianism, exposing the brutal injustices of the nation’s penitentiaries, and documenting the wide-ranging pathologies that flow from a tax system favoring the ultrawealthy.
An incisive, urgently relevant analysis of—and call to action on—America’s foundational ideal.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9780593728727
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
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