bookshelf

A DEED IN YOUR DAY

Name: A DEED IN YOUR DAY
Author: Scribbler II
ISBN: 978-1-5127-5478-0

by Scribbler II ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 12, 2016

An uneven religious memoir with some uplifting stories about the power of prayer.

bookshelf

A retired schoolteacher reflects on the many answered prayers throughout her life.

Debut author Scribbler II grew up in a poor family in rural Arkansas. “Families like ours didn’t have insurance in those days and tried to care for their sick children at home,” she writes. She remembers the numerous times that she and her siblings would fall ill, and her father would pray by their bedsides: “It was the Creator, Jesus, who paid for my healing.” Scribbler II writes of many small moments throughout her life where prayer seemed to intervene to the benefit of her entire clan. A bridge that carried family members to safety in severe flooding, the strength to deal with dangerous snakes on their property, and shelter in the event of tornadoes: “God was our refuge in all these cases,” she writes. The presence of God continued for Scribbler II into adulthood as she felt her marriage falling apart. While struggling with divorce, she experienced a dream that revealed to her the name of the woman her husband had begun dating, giving her a reason to move to Dallas on her own and begin a new life as a schoolteacher. Despite many setbacks, she always relied on the counsel of her pastor and the strength of prayer to be comforted through finding places to live, continuing her work, and learning Spanish to maintain her outreach in new communities. While Scribbler II concludes her book with practical advice for how she approaches prayer and some of her favorite sermon topics that Christian readers may find helpful, many of her stories vary in their effectiveness. Even though we learn many facts about her life, the author never stays with one time period or event for too long, leaving her own reactions and personality vague to readers beyond an insistence that prayer can fix all situations. While some of her tales show the force of positive thinking and perseverance, such as her struggles with divorce, others, like her vague reference to a terrible breakfast, feel as if she is trying to find miracles in rather ordinary events.

An uneven religious memoir with some uplifting stories about the power of prayer.

Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5478-0

Page Count: 176

Publisher: Westbow Press

Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2017

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION | GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

THE ART OF SOLITUDE

by Stephen Batchelor ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 18, 2020

A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.

bookshelf

A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.

“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.

A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.

Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0

Page Count: 200

Publisher: Yale Univ.

Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019

Categories:

BODY, MIND & SPIRIT | PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)