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Sacred Prayers to God

Name: Sacred Prayers to God
Author: Mick Pollitt
ISBN: 978-1-4984-6732-2

by Mick Pollitt ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 30, 2016

A prayer journal that lacks polish and an effective presentation.

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Pollitt offers 500 prayers to God in this Christian volume.

With hundreds to choose from, this debut book contains prayers for all manner of situations and times of difficulty. No table of contents or thematic index is present to guide the potential supplicant, however: Pollitt advises readers to pray before opening this journal so that Jesus will help them select the specific invocation they need that day. Each page begins with a prayer, opening, like a letter, with “Dearest Jesus” and ending with “Thank you Jesus, Amen.” The prayers differ in tone, purpose, and language. Some seek to replicate the formal language of the King James Bible: “Show unto me the beauty and hidden fruits of the spirit in all your holy chosen people and bridle my tongue with angels.” Others are composed in a more contemporary register: “You turned the water into wine, four jugs, 200% pure, changed my income.” Some are curiously specific: “Lord Jesus, thank you for your mighty supernatural matchless power, show unto me new stuff at my present family business.” The majority of each page is given over to blank lines, which are marked as “Sacred space to write your visions on how this prayer has blessed or changed your life.” There are enough lines in these sections that most readers should be able to use the prayers more than once before filling up the space. The fact that Pollitt managed to compose so many discrete prayers is indeed impressive. Even so, the categorization of the devotions and the journaling space beneath them as “sacred” feels a bit exploitative considering how lazily the book is formatted (prayers and lines from one page frequently encroach onto the next) and how many typos are present in the text (“Jobe” instead of Job). While the journaling aspect of the book is intriguing, it casts the act of prayer in transactional terms that some religious readers will likely find gauche. Those looking for daily pre-written prayers can certainly find better crafted alternatives elsewhere, either online or published in volumes smaller than a math textbook.

A prayer journal that lacks polish and an effective presentation.

Pub Date: March 30, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4984-6732-2

Page Count: 508

Publisher: Xulon Press

Review Posted Online: July 22, 2016

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.