An intriguing prescription and road map for relationship success.
A life coach makes the case to balance feminine and masculine energy for better connections with others and oneself in this debut self-help guide.
The author, in an increasingly sexless marriage with “Mr. Beige,” came to realize that “while my masculine energy served me extremely well in my business life, it did not really serve me in my personal life.” In this guide, she outlines particularly for women (although she notes that her concepts apply to both sexes) the need to consciously balance and harness one’s male and female energies to attract a desired romantic and sexual partner. Women should be aware they’ll likely need to have “polarity” of energies with a man, that “carrying…masculine energy into the quest to find a loving relationship will make it virtually impossible for them to attract a masculine man.” She details the distinctions of masculine and feminine energy, at one point noting, “Masculine energy focuses on doing, feminine energy is all about being and feeling.” She offers tips for women on how to lead with their feminine energies while trying to meet a romantic partner (including to be joyful, positive, and vulnerable) and how to handle the balancing act required to maintain a relationship and in deciding to end one. She cautions women against assuming a man’s preoccupation means problems with the relationship instead of perhaps another concern on his mind. She concludes her useful commentary with the contention that greater self-awareness of one’s preferences and tendencies in these energies will aid in the realization of one’s “true self.” B., a successful entrepreneur who’s also certified in neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and as a life coach, brings a relatable if not always fully explained personal story (what exactly is her relationship status with her new “Mr. Big”?) in offering advice to women struggling to find success in their personal lives. While her perspective may seem antifeminist at times, she makes a convincing argument for “polarity” in relationships and offers many helpful cognitive exercises, including to leverage NLP-type “anchors” of clenching one’s left or right fist to consciously tap into and assert female or male energy as the situation warrants.
An intriguing prescription and road map for relationship success.Pub Date: June 28, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-925471-05-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
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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