An earnest attempt at providing constructive advice, but its filler intrudes on its more engaging content.
Leaf (Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi, 2016, etc.) offers an eclectic collection of prompts designed to inspire and energize yoga practitioners.
These suggestions cover a range of themes, including not only yoga exercises, but also writing assignments, drawing and coloring activities, and various checklists. In more general prompts, Leaf asks readers perform tasks that seem intended to promote mindfulness in daily life: “Set a timer and spend 3 minutes without talking, looking into the eyes of a friend or partner. How do you feel afterward?” Some are meant to be accomplished in the moment, others during the course of a day or over a longer period of time. The writing exercises ask readers to complete a sentence (such as “I have known for a while now that it is time for me to”), write a list, or answer a question. The blank space provided for the reader, though, seems excessive at times, leaving the book as a whole feeling unfinished. Some prompts ask readers to contemplate his or her answers during their yoga practice and to write a response after completing it. Although only a handful of suggestions specifically call for drawing or coloring, the black-and-white illustrations on other pages call out for readers to color them, too. Overall, though, the quality of the various prompts seems uneven. For instance, some outline a well-defined, actionable task, while others are more indistinct, muddying their goals (such as “Faith is an act of great will. Practice constantly”). Leaf includes many prompts by other authors and yoga practitioners, including well-known names, such as actress Mayim Bialik. These guest-written prompts comprise the most substantial part of the book, providing explicit, practical activities and questions. Also, many pages seem designed to reflect its prompt’s spirit with playful formatting, such as a slanted paragraph structure on a page that encourages readers to “balance this book on your head during tadasana (mountain posture) today.”
An earnest attempt at providing constructive advice, but its filler intrudes on its more engaging content.Pub Date: Nov. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-692-77058-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Free Living Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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