An inspiring, effective kick-starter to personal growth.
In this advice guide aimed at young adults, a debut author discusses how focusing on positive decisions and behavior will foster a truly fulfilling life.
Kilpatrick admits, “Perhaps the hardest part about being young is realizing how much time and hard work it takes to be successful when you want everything now.” While he acknowledges this frustration, he quickly shifts to warning about “the illusion of shortcuts tempting you to make poor decisions” and how “there are real answers available.” Kilpatrick then offers pointers via his set of 12 principles or steps by which to “focus on positive decisions and behaviour, and then dare to dream.” Each step gets its own chapter: Be a Giver, Develop Confidence by Avoiding False Self-Esteem, Realize Energy Out = Energy In, Increase Financial Wealth, Appreciate Pressure, Understand Drugs and Alcohol, etc. His discussion encompasses key individual actions, including how being a giver and balancing your ego builds healthy relationships, and larger societal issues, touching on how bullying, violence, and substance abuse damage not only the self but the world as a whole. Kilpatrick consistently emphasizes engendering the energy of good karma and concludes his guide with a way to rate your “self-karma” on a five-point scale regarding relationships, finances, and more. After all, as Kilpatrick notes, “My total karma is my responsibility.” Debut author Kilpatrick has written a cleareyed yet uplifting guide to navigating the challenges of life that will remind readers of M. Scott Peck’s The Road Less Traveled (1978). While this slim primer doesn’t provide much insight into the author’s background or his authority in deriving this set of principles, Kilpatrick’s narrative is nevertheless coherent and well-organized, containing many illuminating concepts, including how you should “feel worthy not special.”
An inspiring, effective kick-starter to personal growth.Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1460232736
Page Count: 136
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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