Storm, in her self-help debut, presents a complete program to help people eat a healthy diet, get fit and change their body—and their life.
In 1991, a car accident forced Storm to give up her career as a professional dancer. Debilitating pain led her to put on more than 50 pounds, and she despaired of ever returning to her former fitness level. But Storm’s spirit was undaunted, and she eventually found her way back to health and happiness as a champion in-line speed skater. In this book, she shares tips on how readers can transform themselves. Using a personable, if tough-love, approach, Storm walks readers through the steps required to “regain control” over their bodies. They include adopting a new attitude about fitness (“think yourself thin”), embracing a healthier approach to eating (“living within your jeans”) and sticking to an exercise program. She also covers sleep habits and personal hygiene. Throughout, the author encourages readers to set realistic goals and to focus on overall health, not just on losing weight. She’s also careful to point out that people have different body types and fitness levels and should tailor their regimen to their specific needs. The book includes easy-to-read charts and callouts, with plenty of space for readers to record their body measurements and goals. Storm provides mental exercises to help readers adopt new attitudes about their bodies and fitness (such as “Wash Away the Ugly”), as well as straightforward advice on deciding what to eat while following a “booty budget.” Storm’s relentless perkiness may not appeal to some readers, with quips such as, “if you change your mind, you will change your life.” Occasionally, her tips are obvious; is advice on how to take a shower really necessary? Overall, however, Storm offers healthy, holistic strategies for getting fit that offer an alternative to fad diets and unachievable goals.
An enthusiastic and sensible approach to getting in shape.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-1479131983
Page Count: 238
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: HEALTH & FITNESS
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An expert popular science account of human speech.
In his latest, New Yorker staff writer Colapinto provides an intensely researched, tightly focused, lucidly written story that is long but not too long. As the author points out, to call human speech a “miraculous feat” understates the case. All other animals “use their voices to make in-the-now proclamations about immediate survival and reproductive concerns, including expressions of fear, anger, hunger and mating urges.” Evolved perhaps 200,000 years ago, human language allows us to refer to events in the past or future and to make plans that we share with others, “to build the villages, towns, cities and nations that have given us primacy over the Planet and everything on it.” Even before birth, infants listen, their brains absorbing a dazzling array of tone, phonetics, syntax, patterns, and rules. Despite what early experts taught, language is not pre-installed in the brain at birth; babies learn it, usually accumulating a “mental dictionary” of 60,000 words by age 18. They achieve this because words are not random assemblages of digits. They carry meaning, and we are a species that craves meaning. Midway through the book, Colapinto moves from the mechanism of speech to its purpose. Darwin compared the changes languages undergo to natural selection, but the author disagrees. Over time, he maintains, changes in articulation, accent, and vocabulary have not increased but hobbled their efficiency, creating a Babel of incomprehensible tongues that pushes us apart. Observers claimed that the spread of media, from radio to the internet, would homogenize American speech, but the opposite occurred. Instant communication has combined with bitter ideological, economic, and cultural clashes to accelerate the creation of new American speech patterns. In the final chapter, Colapinto discusses political oratory, which has united Americans in the past. He gives high marks to the rhetoric of presidents such as Lincoln, Kennedy, and Reagan; however, like the majority of Americans, he considers Trump a divisive force.
A rich trove of science and contemporary culture.Pub Date: Jan. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-982128-74-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
Categories: PSYCHOLOGY | SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | BODY, MIND & SPIRIT | HEALTH & FITNESS
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A cleareyed, concise look at current and future affairs offering pertinent points to reflect and debate.
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Examining issues both obvious and subtler, Zakaria sets out how and why the world has changed forever. The speed with which the Covid-19 virus spread around the world was shocking, and the fallout has been staggering. In fact, writes the author, “it may well turn out that this viral speck will cause the greatest economic, political, and social damage to humankind since World War II.” The U.S., in particular, was exposed as woefully unprepared, as government leadership failed to deliver a clear, practical message, and the nation’s vaunted medical institutions were caught flat-footed: "Before the pandemic…Americans might have taken solace in the country’s great research facilities or the huge amounts of money spent on health care, while forgetting about the waste, complexity and deeply unequal access that mark it as well." While American leaders wasted months denying the seriousness of Covid-19 and ignoring the advice of medical experts, other countries—e.g., South Korea, New Zealand, and Taiwan—acted swiftly and decisively, underscoring one of the author's main themes and second lesson: "What matters is not the quantity of government but the quality.” Discussing how “markets are not enough,” the author astutely shoots down the myth that throwing money at the problem can fix the situation; as such, he predicts a swing toward more socialist-friendly policies. Zakaria also delves into the significance of the digital economy, the resilience of cities (see the success of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taipei in suppressing the virus), the deepening of economic inequality around the world, how the pandemic has exacerbated the rift between China and the U.S. (and will continue to do so), and why “people should listen to the experts—and experts should listen to the people."
A cleareyed, concise look at current and future affairs offering pertinent points to reflect and debate.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-393-54213-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
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