An inspirational how-to manual for ambitious believers who want to get ahead.
A Christian motivational guide to achieving success from Ozuruome.
In this spiritual self-help book, the author investigates the age-old question of “why some people are ‘rich’ and happy, while the majority are ‘poor’ and unhappy.” Like following a recipe, Ozuruome believes that the key to success is to follow the path of successful people. The first roadblock he addresses is worry: He describes the “six most dangerous enemies of humankind” as worry about poverty, old age, ill health, criticism, loss of love, and death. Next, one must identify their Definite Chief Aim, which involves writing down one’s goals, reviewing them daily, and setting deadlines for achieving them. Avoiding procrastination is also key. The author encourages fostering faith in one’s capabilities: “The secret is that you are better than you think you are; for God doesn’t make any junk.” He advocates for a meditation practice and provides parameters for developing one, insisting that it will be “a catalyst that spurs you to your goal.” And because “wealth and riches are your birthright,” one must also develop financial intelligence to manage money properly. Ozuruome urges readers to appeal to others’ self-interest, saying “thank you,” and giving gifts. He also praises perseverance, recommends prayer, and normalizes failure. Additionally, the book offers plenty of memorable phrases, such as “For satisfACTION, get into ACTION,” and the author deftly incorporates both the intellectual and emotional factors of success, reminding readers to maintain a “tough mind and a tender heart.” However, the book’s Christian influence, and the Bible excerpts therein, may turn off secular readers. Occasionally, vague advice like “Don’t worry – think that it is going to work and most of the time it does work” seems at odds with Ozuruome’s otherwise proactive approach.
An inspirational how-to manual for ambitious believers who want to get ahead.Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781038309259
Page Count: 216
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
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