An intriguing but familiar glimpse into the mysteries of body clocks and sleep rhythms.
A wide-ranging debut book explores the circadian rhythms of the human body.
Hasyim researched the subject of human sleep cycles for half a decade and compiles his findings in this work aimed at improving readers’ quality of restfulness. For those puzzled by why their bodies’ active and lethargic periods occur throughout the day, the author offers explanations and a practical follow-up plan to adjust readers’ circadian rhythm patterns to promote improved productivity and energy. He credits the Lean Six Sigma project, whose core goal is to streamline processes in business, with sparking an effort to maximize his own productivity by making adjustments in his personal awake and sleep routines. The book provides an illuminating overview of how a circadian clock functions and the detrimental effects it can have on the human body when it becomes disrupted. Personally, the writer recalls how much energy he’d had as a boy on a regular schedule living in Indonesia. But when he ventured to college in Singapore, disruptive late-night study assignments and coffee jags entered the picture. Graphs and charts outline the classic synchronous circadian process, including how levels of cortisol and melatonin regulate stress, darkness perception, and sleep drives and how an irregular rhythm can affect metabolism, disease susceptibility, and inflammation. According to one of the many studies Hasyim cites, these factors contribute to causing the sleep deprivation of 51% of American adults. Other chapters stress the integral importance of aerobic and strength training, the monitoring of caloric intake, and the problematic nature of an unregulated “random eating lifestyle.” The author describes this habitual diet in clear detail and in conjunction with healthier alternatives, such as intermittent fasting regimens and fat-loss programs (with particularly good advice for reducing dietary sugars). Finally, he delivers practical guidance on adopting the optimal routine for seeking homeostasis in everyday life. While compelling and encouraging for readers seeking personal improvement, sections of the volume veer away from the circadian subject matter and are overly repetitive. Other areas present facts that are arguably utilitarian and common-sensical (lack of sleep adversely affects mood and productivity; regular exercise promotes increased energy and output). These particulars affect the book’s overall impact but don’t detract from its core message of reminding readers about the importance of regularly reassessing their sleep, exercise, and dietary needs and schedules.
An intriguing but familiar glimpse into the mysteries of body clocks and sleep rhythms.Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-981-14-7038-7
Page Count: 142
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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