A bright, perky, and artfully executed lifestyle guide.
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
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
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BOOK TO SCREEN
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Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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