An elaborately structured and consistently intriguing set of codes to make the most out of life.
A debut guide offers a system of prompts and processes designed to discover readers’ potentials.
“It’s easy to become locked into the drudgery of everyday existence,” Hillyer and Barahona write in their highly detailed manual, “but the abundance codes will help you to become unlocked, and then you can achieve success in a way you’ve always wanted.” In the service of this goal, the authors have devised a system of 52 codes that unlock nine keys to that personal transformation, and in laying out the schemata, the authors stress that their advice is grounded in reality. “There’s no need to put on a white robe,” they assure their readers, “light a candle, burn some incense, and start chanting Bible verses or whispering your prayers by your bedside at night.” Instead, their “nine keys to life” are energetic areas that must be opened to experience abundance: health, mindset, emotion, relationships, passion, wealth, purpose, spirituality, and contribution. The authors’ beautifully designed book breaks these keys down in a modular fashion that rewards both a straight-through reading and a random picking and choosing of chapters. The keys also have “accelerators” that facilitate their implementation. Balancing this modular approach is a series of far more conventional insights the authors offer at regular intervals. They periodically remind readers of healthy personality basics like attitude: “You could be working extremely hard and accomplishing many things, but if your mindset isn't properly aligned, you will still face significant challenges, and it will be difficult to sustain abundance.” Even the book’s point-by-point method is deftly tempered by the authors, who stress that their program is a lifestyle rather than a quick fix: “Remember, you cannot just read about the codes and activate them once to realize the full benefits of them. That’s why a daily ritual is so important.” The guide’s sectioned and segmented layout has a curiously clarifying effect; readers will find a good deal of bracing food for thought in these pages.
An elaborately structured and consistently intriguing set of codes to make the most out of life.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-5445-1332-4
Page Count: 328
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Those wanting a fleshed-out argument will be disappointed.
A collection for truth-seekers that covers subjects from Catholicism to Salinger.
Palmer makes a case for faith, not religion, in this collection of writings about a hodgepodge of topics. “Religion is not faith,” he says. “Religion is a group of people doing something together that hurts other people…Faith, however, is belief in God in spite of the clergy or the scientists.” He also alludes to recently published books on atheism by writers Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, whom he calls “pop-atheists,” likening them to science-fiction or fantasy writers. Palmer’s premise is interesting, and if he followed up this thesis the book would be a worthwhile read. However, what follows is a mishmash of quoted material. The quotes aren’t woven into his writing; he aligns them against each other to make a point and often doesn’t bother to extrapolate upon them. He quotes Marx, Darwin, Camus, Dorothy Parker, the Bible, Orwell and Malcom Gladwell, among others. Interspersed within the quotes are sweeping grandiose statements about the human condition, such as “people don’t want freedom,” but he doesn’t use his material to explain why individuals huddle together and use religion as a shelter. Or, if he does, he offers platitudes. The book feels pasted together, rather than a well-developed argument on his thoughts and feelings about faith. Palmer spends a chapter interpreting the Catcher in the Rye and another chapter ruminating to his great-granddaughter about the state of the world. He makes an impassioned argument for Catholicism being the one true religion, but it’s only followed-up in snippets. Perhaps if the book were redefined as a collection of his essays it might work, but it may not be entirely clear what he thinks of faith itself. It’s too buried under the quotes of others.
Those wanting a fleshed-out argument will be disappointed.Pub Date: March 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-9811-9800-2
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Genuinely uplifting and inspiring.
An honest, heartbreaking memoir that chronicles a pattern of tragedy and confusion.
The book begins with Parker’s recollections of father’s mental breakdown and suicide attempts, which she witnessed at the age of 11. Soon afterward, the author discovered a family history filled with dark secrets, including an uncle kept secret from the family and an aunt who was brutally raped and eventually committed suicide out of despair. As her world became increasingly complex and difficult, Parker did her best to maintain a sense of well-being, despite observing tragedies with which she was too young to comprehend. The author and her family turned to their Christian faith to guide them through the many rough patches they endured. However, they found others’ interpretations of their faith to be ill-matched with their own, and their churches and denominations were in constant flux as they searched for a fitting interpretation. Parker spent her college years using binge-eating as an emotional crutch and developed a serious case of bulimia, with which she struggled for years. The memoir’s last third is by far the most truthful and endearing segment, as readers meet the now-41-year-old mother Parker, in the process of a messy divorce triggered by the discovery that she is gay. Even in the face of endless challenges, the author remains optimistic, looking toward her spirituality to guide her through dark times. She shows a gift for storytelling, and as a result, the book is compelling and enthralling. Parker examines her psyche–and the mistakes and tragedies that mar her life–with endearing bravery. Through her honesty, Parker makes a successful argument both for faith and spirituality while somehow avoiding the pitfalls of sappiness and overt sentimentality. This is thanks in part to her sharing her beliefs, rather than preaching them.
Genuinely uplifting and inspiring.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-893067-10-7
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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