A thoughtful, well-researched guide that may appeal to equestrians and nonequestrians alike.
A self-help book that focuses on mindful awareness involving horses and humans.
Geriatric psychiatrist Shreyasi Brodhecker and her husband, Frank Brodhecker, a social worker, combine their love of horses with their commitment to mindfulness practice in this elegant, informative new work. Drawing on the therapeutic practices of their Mindful Mare Wellness program, based in Alberta, Canada, they outline a comprehensive approach for readers to “discover alternative ways of being with their horses and to complement their current understanding of horses.” But although it’s geared primarily toward equestrians, they say, “you don’t have to ride horses to benefit from and carry out most of the exercises in this book.” Its first section, “Laying the Groundwork,” begins with an accessible description of “what it means to be mindful” and how it relates to what they call the “unique consciousness and emotional awareness” of horses. The authors cite several experts in each field—such as renowned mindfulness practitioner Thich Nhat Hanh and equine behaviorist Karen Scholl—and include a variety of resources for further reading. The second sectiondetails 12 mindfulness exercises that one can do while spending time with one’s horse, such as “Watching—Truly seeing your horse” (“When you practise noticing them without letting expectations influence what you see, you notice things more accurately in the present moment”) and “Grooming your horse mindfully.” Each exercise includes an introductory section along with potential modifications. Overall, the authors write with graceful accessibility as they describe ways to thoughtfully engage with horses: “Calm your horse by talking in a calm, soft voice, blinking slowly and using soft eyes, relaxing your body purposefully, yawning and stroking the withers, and/or getting the horse moving.” The book also includes gorgeous photography and original artwork by various artistsdepicting the authors, their animals, and their staff at Mindful Mare, all of which complements the approachable prose.
A thoughtful, well-researched guide that may appeal to equestrians and nonequestrians alike.Pub Date: July 15, 2021
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.
A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.
In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression.” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593536131
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Some of Avant’s mantras are overstated, but her book is magnanimous, inspiring, and relentlessly optimistic.
Memories and life lessons inspired by the author’s mother, who was murdered in 2021.
“Neither my mother nor I knew that her last text to me would be the words ‘Think you’ll be happy,’ ” Avant writes, "but it is fitting that she left me with a mantra for resiliency.” The author, a filmmaker and former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, begins her first book on the night she learned her mother, Jacqueline Avant, had been fatally shot during a home invasion. “One of my first thoughts,” she writes, “was, ‘Oh God, please don’t let me hate this man. Give me the strength not to hate him.’ ” Daughter of Clarence Avant, known as the “Black Godfather” due to his work as a pioneering music executive, the author describes growing up “in a house that had a revolving door of famous people,” from Ella Fitzgerald to Muhammad Ali. “I don’t take for granted anything I have achieved in my life as a Black American woman,” writes Avant. “And I recognize my unique upbringing…..I was taught to honor our past and pay forward our fruits.” The book, which is occasionally repetitive, includes tributes to her mother from figures like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton, but the narrative core is the author’s direct, faith-based, unwaveringly positive messages to readers—e.g., “I don’t want to carry the sadness and anger I have toward the man who did this to my mother…so I’m worshiping God amid the worst storm imaginable”; "Success and feeling good are contagious. I’m all about positive contagious vibrations!” Avant frequently quotes Bible verses, and the bulk of the text reflects the spirit of her daily prayer “that everything is in divine order.” Imploring readers to practice proactive behavior, she writes, “We have to always find the blessing, to be the blessing.”
Some of Avant’s mantras are overstated, but her book is magnanimous, inspiring, and relentlessly optimistic.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9780063304413
Page Count: 288
Publisher: HarperOne
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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