While not earth-shatteringly original, the work offers a wealth of practical, sympathetic guidance.
Sánní offers a self-help book for women to aid personal growth and self-acceptance.
The author invites readers on a “journey of self-recovery where [they’ll] know with every molecule within [them] that [they] are worthy.” Sánní discusses her training in practices like Neuro-Linguistic Programming and her experience working as a personal coach for women. She also details her firsthand experience with challenges like finding oneself in a “self-imposed prison of negativity.” In this work, the author encourages her audience to discover new conceptions of themselves. Readers are advised to examine what types of thoughts they give their time to and to take a look at their pasts through the perspective of an inner child. The journey is not always easy; to embrace one’s inner child, one must “come face to face with her and really see her.” Chapters end with actionable steps, like journaling from question prompts such as, “What are ten things that you love about yourself?” Sánní writes from a faith-based, Islamic perspective—there are occasional quotations from the Qur’an, such as a verse about repentance that acts to remind readers that “past mistakes don’t define us if we choose for them not to.” The text progresses in a friendly, conversational style (the author often addresses the reader directly as “my lovely”). Sánní emphasizes that “you, and only you, have control of your thoughts and feelings; and only you have control over whether you’ll allow your past to define your future.” Self-help readers will have likely encountered some of the book’s advice before; concepts like journaling and learning to say no (even if “saying ‘no’ is a new realm for you”) are standard fare for the genre. Still, the welcoming tone for specifically Muslim women helps to set the book aside from similar works. Ultimately, the author’s warmth shines through as she wholeheartedly guides her readers to new versions of themselves.
While not earth-shatteringly original, the work offers a wealth of practical, sympathetic guidance.Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9781847742513
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Kube Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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