A highly conversational self-help book that successfully documents how many have made positive decisions in their lives.
A collection of anecdotes about making life changes that focuses on shifting one’s habits and finding new routes to success.
McManus (co-author: Ten Traits for Top Performers, 2006) and Skidmore (co-author: Rock Your Life, 2017) collect a large series of personal stories in this self-improvement book, including tales of career changes, improved diets, family decisions, and romantic relationships. Each chapter begins with an essay about the importance of change in a particular area of life and illustrates it through real-life accounts of struggle and triumph. For example, in one section, a woman reflects on her decision to separate from an abusive mother; this painful process, she learned, was crucial to her ability to lead a healthy, productive, stable life. In another chapter, a man discovers that he must change his diet in order to prevent health problems compounded by years of unhealthy, sedentary behavior. The stories vary in depth and severity, making this a great book for readers looking to improve either large or small areas of their lives. Choice, the authors explain, is the most important tool that one has to design one’s own existence. Although the book does take on a repetitive rhythm, with each new theme followed by short examples, the stories are varied enough to keep things fresh and engaging. One chapter, for instance, discusses deepening one’s social connections by having in-depth conversations with the people one meets in such settings as volunteer organizations or educational classes. Specifically, the authors suggest straying from the topic that brought you together with others in order to find out more about their lifestyles and interests. It’s only through such fearless exploration, the authors assert, that bonds can grow. Although not every chapter will speak to every reader, the book supplies something for everyone.
A highly conversational self-help book that successfully documents how many have made positive decisions in their lives.Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-938015-82-3
Page Count: 206
Publisher: CKCGlobalmedia
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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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