An actionable approach for perfectionists looking to lead less stressful and more fulfilling lives.
Author and therapist Taosaka aims to relieve anxiety, reframe negative thought patterns, and reveal the mind of the high-achiever with this self-help book.
Though the highly motivated, highly successful, and highly adept individual may seem like to have everything figured out, such individuals, per Taosaka, actually face a mountain of hidden struggles that their peers don’t perceive. As the author explains, “Welcome to the high-achiever’s dilemma - the paradox of being outwardly successful yet inwardly exhausted, mentally drained, and constantly chasing the ever-moving finish line.” High-achievers often struggle with overthinking, perfectionism, and imposter syndrome (the feeling that they don’t belong, or haven’t earned their place); Taosaka helps this cohort confront these issues by examining the “why” behind harmful thought processes and outlining techniques to combat stress. These exercises (commonly added at the ends of the chapters in sections titled “Ease Into It”) are “soft, actionable prompts” that include breathing techniques, journaling ideas, and mindfulness practices. In addition to discussing relevant research, differing philosophies, and various helpful strategies, Taosaka peppers success stories throughout each chapter—mostly those of celebrities (Albert Einstein, Oprah Winfrey, and Stephen King, to name a few)—who have confessed to struggling with the issues covered here. (Of Winfrey, the author writes, “By training her mind to focus on simplicity rather than fear, she learned to trust her intuition and make decisions from a place of assurance, rather than anxiety.”) The text also contains nutrition tips and explains the science behind emotional regulation without becoming overwhelming. Each chapter is graspable for any reader, with enough action items to get one started on a path to undoing harmful overthinking. As Taosaka reminds his readers, in order to start this journey, “You don’t need to be fearless. You need to be willing.”
An actionable approach for perfectionists looking to lead less stressful and more fulfilling lives.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9798289436153
Page Count: 243
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 23, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Sedaris at his darkest—and his best.
In which the veteran humorist enters middle age with fine snark but some trepidation as well.
Mortality is weighing on Sedaris (Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002, 2017, etc.), much of it his own, professional narcissist that he is. Watching an elderly man have a bowel accident on a plane, he dreaded the day when he would be the target of teenagers’ jokes “as they raise their phones to take my picture from behind.” A skin tumor troubled him, but so did the doctor who told him he couldn’t keep it once it was removed. “But it’s my tumor,” he insisted. “I made it.” (Eventually, he found a semitrained doctor to remove and give him the lipoma, which he proceeded to feed to a turtle.) The deaths of others are much on the author’s mind as well: He contemplates the suicide of his sister Tiffany, his alcoholic mother’s death, and his cantankerous father’s erratic behavior. His contemplation of his mother’s drinking—and his family’s denial of it—makes for some of the most poignant writing in the book: The sound of her putting ice in a rocks glass increasingly sounded “like a trigger being cocked.” Despite the gloom, however, frivolity still abides in the Sedaris clan. His summer home on the Carolina coast, which he dubbed the Sea Section, overspills with irreverent bantering between him and his siblings as his long-suffering partner, Hugh, looks on. Sedaris hasn’t lost his capacity for bemused observations of the people he encounters. For example, cashiers who say “have a blessed day” make him feel “like you’ve been sprayed against your will with God cologne.” But bad news has sharpened the author’s humor, and this book is defined by a persistent, engaging bafflement over how seriously or unseriously to take life when it’s increasingly filled with Trump and funerals.
Sedaris at his darkest—and his best.Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-39238-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
PROFILES
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