Words of solace and inspiration ready to be put into action through your devices or a guiding Christian hand.
Lane presents a year’s worth of pithy reflections and advice with a strong Christian inflection.
This book moves along as a diary/journal; each page is given over to a day of the year with Lane tackling some aspect of life’s progress with a few considered sentences and then leaving ample empty page space for the reader to jot down their thoughts. Many of the subjects are touched upon time and again—character, vulnerability, motivation, choice, blessings, curses, love, trust, honesty and acceptance. The hope is for prevention, to gain some insight into behavior and take corrective measures before the 12-step program is in order. The Christian cast to the proceedings is never in question—“Only one relationship redeems us because God is making us into His image and His best for us is who He has revealed Himself to be in Jesus Christ,” and “[t]he character of Jesus is the perfect role model”—but even those readers without Lane’s beliefs will find thoughtful, frank comments on such qualities as patience, honesty, awareness, generosity, goodness, encouragement, self-healing, decency and responsibility (“each person is still responsible for his own choices in life, reaping his own blessings and curses”). The days proceed apace and gather a motivational momentum as considerations build upon one another; vulnerability is built upon acceptance and honesty, character builds upon change. There are instances when Lane can be runic—“It’s like gouging out an infected eye, but if Christ is Lord then it isn’t even about the pain or what He can do, but it’s about who He is in the midst of it all”—and contradictory—“memory can be selective and pain is gone, just like that,” versus “Once you experience something, you never forget”—but she is never anything less than bighearted and optimistic.
Words of solace and inspiration ready to be put into action through your devices or a guiding Christian hand.Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2011
ISBN: 978-1453677513
Page Count: 367
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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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