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TRUTHLIES

Name: TRUTHLIES
Author: J. Craig
ISBN: 978-1460251270

LIFE LESSONS FROM THE PERSON WHO KNOWS YOU BEST

by J. Craig ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 6, 2014

Well-worn advice repackaged for personal success.

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A debut guide to help achieve success in life by discovering and living your personal truth.

“To thine own self be true,” Polonious famously advised in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. So too was the advice of Craig’s grandfather, his most influential mentor. Building on his grandfather’s wisdom, Craig offers a guide to finding one’s own truth using strategic mentors. After all, he writes, “one man’s truth may be another man’s lie,” something he calls “truthlies.” In Part I, Craig devotes a chapter to each of the five components that can “help you live your best life.” First, he defines “lifeline” as those personal beliefs which guide an individual through life, adding, “you will always do what you believe.” With that in mind, it’s essential to “find out what you believe.” The second key is “mental disposition,” or attitude. A positive attitude marked by gratitude and kindness leads to tranquility, Craig says. In Chapter 5, the author describes “passion action” as doing what one loves, and he suggests that individuals give themselves a “core score” by deciding whether their personal beliefs, attitude, and life-work are in alignment. If they are, one may then define how to live and pursue his or her version of a good life. In Part II, Craig offers practical applications of the truthlies approach, with common self-help platitudes: “start with your core purpose; the ideal is not real; and begin with the end in mind.” Much of this material may be familiar within the self-help genre—think Robert Schuller, Wayne Dyer, Stephen Covey, etc.—and the truthlies concept, like the word itself, seems somewhat forced, but there are still valuable lessons here worth hearing again. The text is well-written, a bright spot being Craig’s “seminars in a sentence”—e.g., “God first, others second, yourself last,” “It might be their personality, so don’t take it personally”—based on his belief that “you can live your life off a sentence.” Of course, that’s a truthlie readers will have to discover for themselves.

Well-worn advice repackaged for personal success.

Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2014

ISBN: 978-1460251270

Page Count: 256

Publisher: FriesenPress

Review Posted Online: May 7, 2015

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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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.