Lightweight spiritual encouragement for confident Christian women.
A Christian devotional, specifically aimed at a female readership.
Carpenter’s (Come Go with Me, 2017) definitively personal approach sets this book apart from others in its genre. Many devotionals are highly didactic or dependent upon the stories and thoughts of others, but each entry in this work speaks directly to readers themselves. For instance, in one entry, the author writes, “Please come with me for just a moment. Just stop whatever you are doing and drop those busy hands to your side.” Few devotionals narrow the divide between writer and reader to such an extent. Throughout, Carpenter speaks from her own worldview, telling of how she awakens before dawn, does chores, works with horses on her farm, and studies Scripture. However, this sense of familiarity may be as off-putting to some readers as it is endearing to others; the book’s ideal audience would be one of energetic, positive, and self-assured women, ready for like-minded Christian messages. For each day, the author offers a particular lesson, or simply a dominant thought. Entries are organized by monthly topics, such as “Memorable Christian Leaders” (February), “Women of the Bible” (August), “Jesus’ Miracles” (September), and “Not-So-Famous but Extraordinary Women” (November). It’s not unusual for Carpenter to reference the larger culture, mentioning chef Julia Child or basketball coach Jimmy Valvano, for example, with as much ease as she references Scripture. Rounding out each day’s message and lesson is a brief Bible quotation and an accompanying prayer, written by Sherry Shaw. Overall, this book is endearing and heartfelt. However, readers who are unsure of their faith or looking for deeply spiritualist resources may want to look elsewhere.
Lightweight spiritual encouragement for confident Christian women.Pub Date: July 30, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5127-0513-3
Page Count: 350
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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
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