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HABIT THAT!

HOW YOU CAN HEALTH UP IN JUST 5 MINUTES A DAY

A bright, perky, and artfully executed lifestyle guide.

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A self-help debut that aims to encourage healthy habits.

Hope, an emergency room doctor based in the Detroit area, offers an informative, conversational book that’s built around easy-to-adopt “small, sustained daily efforts” to improve one’s well-being. Although some readers may find her stated platform of “five minutes a day…to create a healthy habit” a bit simplistic, it effectively establishes an approachable tone. Part I lays groundwork with some basic psychological concepts, such as how to overcome obstacles, set goals, and become motivated to develop healthy routines. Hope employs an informal, direct style, combined with relevant examples, to help readers find their reason (or “real why”) for wanting to change. She emphasizes easy-to-accomplish “quick wins,” such as drinking more water, but she also recognizes that making lasting change is a long-term process. Along the way, Hope introduces four fictional patients: Sarah, Bill, Mary, and George. Each represents a different life stage—a mom in her 30s with elderly parents, an entrepreneur in his 40s, an empty nester in her 50s, and a retiree in his 60s, respectively—and these neatly define the book’s intended audience. The patients are useful in demonstrating how to apply “the four pillars of health”—“eat,” “sleep,” “burn” (via exercise), and “release” (of stress)—detailed in Part II. Hope has a knack for writing in everyday terms, whether she’s explaining portion size, the effects of sleep deprivation, practical approaches to exercise, or how to de-stress. To keep things flowing, she cleverly inserts a “Nerd Alert” when more technical detail is necessary. Her self-deprecation regarding the inclusion of these sidebars is charming: “I’m a huge nerd, and I couldn’t be happier about it,” she writes. “Sometimes I can’t help but throw down and geek out on some science.” The four pillars themselves are nothing new, but Hope doles out authoritative advice regarding each. The fictional patients nicely provide “top ten” lists of tips at the ends of their chapters, and the book’s conclusion is strongly positive and encouraging. There are also five helpful appendices, including one that lists “five-minute health-ups,” such as writing down one’s food goals.

A bright, perky, and artfully executed lifestyle guide.

Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-5445-1262-4

Page Count: 382

Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing

Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019

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NUTCRACKER

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

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

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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