A collection of valuable, if predictable, lessons from cute creatures.
Johnsey’s debut tells stories of lessons he’s learned from animals.
The author’s feline companions have helped him climb out of occasional depressions by inspiring him with their crazy antics. In fewer than 100 pages, Johnsey shares lessons he’s learned from his cats and other creatures that have helped him lead a more contented life. For example, the author adopted a huge turtle that he found underneath his car, naming him Ben. He watched the turtle as he roamed the neighborhood daily. Ben always managed to avoid obstacles, and as the author saw the turtle struggle daily to dig his way out of his hole, only to return there every night, he learned the importance of visualizing dreams and pursuing goals. The author also shares the story of Edmund, his 17-pound Siamese cat, who would perch on a fence for an hour before jumping off of it, which inspired the author to slow down and enjoy life more. Although Johnsey mostly offers basic pop-psychology truisms and platitudes, the method he uses here is enjoyable and effective. Indeed, some readers may find this little storybook as enlightening as a book of proverbs. Occasionally, the author draws parallels between animal and human behavior that stretch beyond the ordinary; for example, when Keiko, his seal-point Siamese, became elderly, ill and odorous due to oral cancer which ate away at his jaw, the author found it challenging to show the cat affection—but when he did, the 18-year-old feline purred with joy. Johnsey uses this story to encourage others to look past imperfections and love others unconditionally. When the author watched a flock of baby sea turtles stumble and fall as they tried to reach the Atlantic Ocean in 90-degree Florida heat, he questioned whether humans possessed half of those tiny creatures’ determination. Johnsey even draws lessons in what not to do in a story of Puff, his long-haired gray Persian, and Amanda, a Maine coon mix, who both fought aggression with aggression.
A collection of valuable, if predictable, lessons from cute creatures.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1478200161
Page Count: 88
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Honest messages from one of America's best known women.
A compilation of advice from the Queen of All Media.
After writing a column for 14 years titled “What I Know For Sure” for O, The Oprah Winfrey Magazine, Winfrey brings together the highlights into one gift-ready collection. Grouped into themes like Joy, Resilience, Connection, Gratitude, Possibility, Awe, Clarity and Power, each short essay is the distilled thought of a woman who has taken the time to contemplate her life’s journey thus far. Whether she is discussing traveling across the country with her good friend, Gayle, the life she shares with her dogs or building a fire in the fireplace, Winfrey takes each moment and finds the good in it, takes pride in having lived it and embraces the message she’s received from that particular time. Through her actions and her words, she shows readers how she's turned potentially negative moments into life-enhancing experiences, how she's found bliss in simple pleasures like a perfectly ripe peach, and how she's overcome social anxiety to become part of a bigger community. She discusses the yo-yo dieting, exercise and calorie counting she endured for almost two decades as she tried to modify her physical body into something it was not meant to be, and how one day she decided she needed to be grateful for each and every body part: "This is the body you've been given—love what you've got." Since all of the sections are brief and many of the essays are only a couple paragraphs long—and many members of the target audience will have already read them in the magazine—they are best digested in short segments in order to absorb Winfrey's positive and joyful but repetitive message. The book also features a new introduction by the author.
Honest messages from one of America's best known women.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2014
ISBN: 978-1250054050
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Flatiron View Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An eye-opening glimpse into the attempted self-unmaking of one of Hollywood’s most recognizable talents.
The debut memoir from the pop and fashion star.
Early on, Simpson describes the book she didn’t write: “a motivational manual telling you how to live your best life.” Though having committed to the lucrative deal years before, she “walked away,” fearing any sort of self-help advice she might give would be hypocritical. Outwardly, Simpson was at the peak of her success, with her fashion line generating “one billion dollars in annual sales.” However, anxiety was getting the better of her, and she admits she’d become a “feelings addict,” just needing “enough noise to distract me from the pain I’d been avoiding since childhood. The demons of traumatic abuse that refused to let me sleep at night—Tylenol PM at age twelve, red wine and Ambien as a grown, scared woman. Those same demons who perched on my shoulder, and when they saw a man as dark as them, leaned in to my ear to whisper, ‘Just give him your light. See if it saves him…’ ” On Halloween 2017, Simpson hit rock bottom, and, with the intervention of her devoted friends and husband, began to address her addictions and underlying fears. In this readable but overlong narrative, the author traces her childhood as a Baptist preacher’s daughter moving 18 times before she “hit fifth grade,” and follows her remarkable rise to fame as a singer. She reveals the psychological trauma resulting from years of sexual abuse by a family friend, experiences that drew her repeatedly into bad relationships with men, most publicly with ex-husband Nick Lachey. Admitting that she was attracted to the validating power of an audience, Simpson analyzes how her failings and triumphs have enabled her to take control of her life, even as she was hounded by the press and various music and movie executives about her weight. Simpson’s memoir contains plenty of personal and professional moments for fans to savor. One of Kirkus and Rolling Stone’s Best Music Books of 2020.
An eye-opening glimpse into the attempted self-unmaking of one of Hollywood’s most recognizable talents.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-289996-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
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