An engaging, if sometimes technical, guide that will help young women reach their potentials.
A self-help book focuses on Generation Z women.
Mistry, a teacher, believes that all people are born confident, resilient, and fearless and have a right to reclaim those attributes as they mature. She begins with “Brain Basics 101,” outlining the essential functions of the limbic system, frontal lobe, and amygdala. The author juxtaposes the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of insecurity (such as envy, low self-esteem, and defensiveness) with the traits of security (self-love, appreciation for constructive criticism, and setting boundaries) in detailed, bulleted lists. She encourages readers to emphasize “What I Think” over “What Other People Think” and to adopt a self-motivational slogan. To challenge negativity, she asks readers to identify their positive traits and to compile an arsenal of inspirational quotes. A discussion on brain chemicals that contribute to happiness (like oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin) follows, as does a checklist of activities, such as exercising or volunteering, that stimulate those chemicals. She advocates embracing emotions and challenging fixated thoughts. She breaks down positive and negative stress, unpacking how to use the former for momentum and how to cope with the latter. Tips for caring for the body with a healthy diet, sufficient sleep, and physical activity are presented, as are pointers on communication and financial literacy. Individual chapters highlight the importance of friendship and love in young women’s lives. Mistry wisely refrains from preaching and instead encourages readers to take an active role in their self-improvement, using dynamic tools and thought-provoking prompts. The useful self-reflection journal activities encourage introspection. Her holistic approach deftly considers both physical and mental health as well as how the two interact. The author ensures her writing is accessible to tech fans by including Instagram-sharing instructions and digital exercises. She also uses slang when appropriate and references current events like the Covid-19 pandemic. But several of the chapters, such as those on brain anatomy and the menstrual cycle, can be quite technical, and myriad readers may find the material daunting. Some readers may also question her emphasis on social media as an empowerment tool given the current research regarding the damage it can do to young people’s mental health.
An engaging, if sometimes technical, guide that will help young women reach their potentials.Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-03-911012-0
Page Count: 150
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
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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