by Roy Vale ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 11, 2017
A lively, hands-on manual to clearing away the cobwebs and seizing a new program for living life to the fullest.
A debut guide encourages readers to look at all of life’s possibilities.
In his book, Vale attempts to concentrate on seven key “inflection points,” critical aspects of life where unclear thinking can lead to poor choices: relationships, careers, health, money, the past, emotional pain, and faith. These are the crucial problem areas, and, as the author writes, everybody reaches them in due time: “Good or bad, all of us eventually come to a special meeting with ourselves.” The goal of the personal and spiritual advice (the book wears its religion comparatively lightly but is nevertheless targeted to Vale’s fellow Christians) in the ensuing chapters is to offer optimistic and organized help in building the “new you” the author envisions for each reader. In a series of short, vividly written chapters, Vale lays out his proposal for constructing that new you, predicated on the assumption that all of his readers want to make changes in their lives. He dubs his program “The SB-33 System” (cleverly coined to stress that it’s the opposite of any “BS” plan) and asks readers to give it a try by applying eight strategies over the course of 33 days. The SB method boils down to a very self-conscious revamping of a personal regimen, from diet and exercise to aspirational and emotional facets, with an emphasis on record-keeping and personal accountability (the energetic book includes ample space for readers to do their own writing). This all centers on a TEA strategy: target, environment, and approach. Vale’s prose is extremely self-effacing and jovial; this may be the friendliest self-help book ever written. His nostrums can be all-purpose to the point of blandness, and some of his contentions may leave nonbelievers scratching their heads (he tells his readers, for instance, that “fog, lightning, the wind, the galaxies, volcanoes” entail both energy and “mystery”). But the overall message is one of ringing belief in human improvability.
A lively, hands-on manual to clearing away the cobwebs and seizing a new program for living life to the fullest.Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5462-0643-9
Page Count: 218
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Glennon Doyle ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2020
Doyle offers another lucid, inspiring chronicle of female empowerment and the rewards of self-awareness and renewal.
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More life reflections from the bestselling author on themes of societal captivity and the catharsis of personal freedom.
In her third book, Doyle (Love Warrior, 2016, etc.) begins with a life-changing event. “Four years ago,” she writes, “married to the father of my three children, I fell in love with a woman.” That woman, Abby Wambach, would become her wife. Emblematically arranged into three sections—“Caged,” “Keys,” “Freedom”—the narrative offers, among other elements, vignettes about the soulful author’s girlhood, when she was bulimic and felt like a zoo animal, a “caged girl made for wide-open skies.” She followed the path that seemed right and appropriate based on her Catholic upbringing and adolescent conditioning. After a downward spiral into “drinking, drugging, and purging,” Doyle found sobriety and the authentic self she’d been suppressing. Still, there was trouble: Straining an already troubled marriage was her husband’s infidelity, which eventually led to life-altering choices and the discovery of a love she’d never experienced before. Throughout the book, Doyle remains open and candid, whether she’s admitting to rigging a high school homecoming court election or denouncing the doting perfectionism of “cream cheese parenting,” which is about “giving your children the best of everything.” The author’s fears and concerns are often mirrored by real-world issues: gender roles and bias, white privilege, racism, and religion-fueled homophobia and hypocrisy. Some stories merely skim the surface of larger issues, but Doyle revisits them in later sections and digs deeper, using friends and familial references to personify their impact on her life, both past and present. Shorter pieces, some only a page in length, manage to effectively translate an emotional gut punch, as when Doyle’s therapist called her blooming extramarital lesbian love a “dangerous distraction.” Ultimately, the narrative is an in-depth look at a courageous woman eager to share the wealth of her experiences by embracing vulnerability and reclaiming her inner strength and resiliency.
Doyle offers another lucid, inspiring chronicle of female empowerment and the rewards of self-awareness and renewal.Pub Date: March 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0125-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
by Matt Haig ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 2016
A vibrant, encouraging depiction of a sinister disorder.
A British novelist turns to autobiography to report the manifold symptoms and management of his debilitating disease, depression.
Clever author Haig (The Humans, 2013, etc.) writes brief, episodic vignettes, not of a tranquil life but of an existence of unbearable, unsustainable melancholy. Throughout his story, presented in bits frequently less than a page long (e.g., “Things you think during your 1,000th panic attack”), the author considers phases he describes in turn as Falling, Landing, Rising, Living, and, finally, simply Being with spells of depression. Haig lists markers of his unseen disease, including adolescent angst, pain, continual dread, inability to speak, hypochondria, and insomnia. He describes his frequent panic attacks and near-constant anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure. Haig also assesses the efficacy of neuroscience, yoga, St. John’s wort, exercise, pharmaceuticals, silence, talking, walking, running, staying put, and working up the courage to do even the most seemingly mundane of tasks, like visiting the village store. Best for the author were reading, writing, and the frequent dispensing of kindnesses and love. He acknowledges particularly his debt to his then-girlfriend, now-wife. After nearly 15 years, Haig is doing better. He appreciates being alive and savors the miracle of existence. His writing is infectious though sometimes facile—and grammarians may be upset with the writer’s occasional confusion of the nominative and objective cases of personal pronouns. Less tidy and more eclectic than William Styron’s equally brief, iconic Darkness Visible, Haig’s book provides unobjectionable advice that will offer some help and succor to those who experience depression and other related illnesses. For families and friends of the afflicted, Haig’s book, like Styron’s, will provide understanding and support.
A vibrant, encouraging depiction of a sinister disorder.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-14-312872-4
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Penguin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
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