A holistic, practical approach to self-improvement that may be too far-out for some readers.
A self-empowerment workbook for personal transformation.
In this self-help book, Greer draws on his experience as a Jungian analyst, clinical psychologist, and shamanic practitioner. The first section focuses on accessing and interacting with “hidden wisdom,” defined as “insights from the unconscious or even the collective unconscious.” Dream interpretation, “journeys” (or guided visualizations), and dialoguing with symbols, figures, or feelings are suggested as exercises to unearth hidden wisdom. The author also encourages journaling about “archetypal energies” that live in the unconscious, such as the “Everyday Person” who follows a predetermined path or the “Adventurer” who thrives on new experiences. Greer prompts readers to examine the roles they play and rewrite their personal narratives. The second section explains how to identify values and priorities, and to set goals that align with them. The author advocates pausing for mindfulness and observance, like looking at the sky and asking, “What if this were the last sunset I would see?” Greer asserts that healthy habits create momentum and can move people from struggle to success. The author uses martial arts concepts like kime (“the right force, at the right place, at the right time”) and maai (“right distance”) as strategies for conflict resolution. He promotes being creative, breaking up routines, and imagining possibilities to manifest a better future. Greer’s approach is actionable and customizable; readers receive ample opportunities to reflect, brainstorm, and track their progress. Rather than solely focus on areas of improvement, Greer also stumps for positive reflection, prompting readers to list “Five things that are working about [their] life and what [they’re] doing to contribute to how well they’re working.” However, the metaphysical aspects of the book may not resonate with more empirically minded readers likely to bristle at lines like, “ritually cleanse your energy field by waving a feather to brush away unwanted energies.” Some dialoguing examples also go into unusual territory, such as, “Hello, broken bicycle that appeared to me when I set an intention to dream about my relationship with my mother. What insights do you have for me?”
A holistic, practical approach to self-improvement that may be too far-out for some readers.Pub Date: March 5, 2025
ISBN: 9781685035334
Page Count: 230
Publisher: Chiron Publications
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A frank and funny but uneven essay collection about neurodiversity.
An experimental, illustrated essay collection that questions neurotypical definitions of what is normal.
From a young age, writer and comedian Myers has been different. In addition to coping with obsessive compulsive disorder and panic attacks, she struggled to read basic social cues. During a round of seven minutes in heaven—a game in which two players spend seven minutes in a closet and are expected to kiss—Myers misread the romantic advances of her best friend and longtime crush, Marley. In Paris, she accidentally invited a sex worker to join her friends for “board games and beer,” thinking he was simply a random stranger who happened to be hitting on her. In community college, a stranger’s request for a pen spiraled her into a panic attack but resulted in a tentative friendship. When the author moved to Australia, she began taking notes on her colleagues in an effort to know them better. As the author says to her co-worker, Tabitha, “there are unspoken social contracts within a workplace that—by some miracle—everyone else already understands, and I don’t….When things Go Without Saying, they Never Get Said, and sometimes people need you to Say Those Things So They Understand What The Hell Is Going On.” At its best, Myers’ prose is vulnerable and humorous, capturing characterization in small but consequential life moments, and her illustrations beautifully complement the text. Unfortunately, the author’s tendency toward unnecessary capitalization and experimental forms is often unsuccessful, breaking the book’s otherwise steady rhythm.
A frank and funny but uneven essay collection about neurodiversity.Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9780063381308
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
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