Category: Non fiction reviews

A review of Inspiring IVF Stories: 24 Men And Women With Strength, Commitment And A Dream edited by Carolyn Martinez

The stories are honest and open, going into a great deal of detail about exactly what the couples had been through – both in terms of their own experience, and in terms of each other. The stories are well-balanced and broad, exploring a wide range of stories from younger couples to older ones, a single parent, parents who struggle with the finances, parents who found IVF reasonably straightforward, and those who continue to struggle with unsatisfying outcomes.

A review of Secret Storms by Julie Mannix von Zerneck and Kathy Hatfield

Every story of adoption and reunion is different, and these two women have provided a book for both the general reader and those who are involved with the adoption triad (adoptive parents, birth parents, adoptees). It gives some insight into the issues that are involved with relinquishing and being relinquished, and most importantly, what a birth mother will go through when she does not want to give up her child.

A review of Finding Inner Peace by Alice Hocker

We have to alter how we perceive ourselves. We need to stay in balance with who we are and our real source. We should also live from a place of gratitude instead of always expecting more and more. When we change our attitude from wanting to gratitude, we will be much happier and much more content. This gratitude will help us to exude more love towards others. And when we give love to others, we will also receive it abundantly.

A review of Finding Your Element by Ken Robinson

One of the main premises of the book is that we can always change, and that we not only deserve to enjoy our lives and live creatively and powerfully, it’s our responsibility to try and do so.  If that seems facile or new-agey, it certainly isn’t.  It’s very easy to go down a specific career path and begin building up an image that is self-limiting and unsatisfying.  Doing the exercises will take readers through a range of life areas including one’s career, one’s social life, one’s financial needs, one’s physical well-being, spirituality, and the community. 

A review of Rodin & Eros by Pascal Bonafoux

Most essays are centred on a particular work, and collectively they cover a period of about 40 years (1871-1911), for Rodin was always working, sketching even at the last. We learn some interesting things: for example, that The Kiss (1899) was inspired by Dante; that Rodin saw Nijinsky dance; of his affinity with Baudelaire, Mirbeau and Flaubert.

A review of Kicking in the Wall by Barbara Abercrombie

Could a full-length novel result from an accumulation of five minute exercises? Maybe an episodic one. Of the seventeen “Student Contributors” whose exercises Abercrombie includes, only two are working on novels; the others are working on memoirs.

A review of The God Argument by A C Grayling

The book is lucid, easy-to-read, and illuminating, even for those who already define themselves as secular humanists. However, at times, despite the warmth and underlying sense of humour that pervades the book, there’s a kind of knowing superiority that can be a little hard to give into wholeheartedly.

A review of The Tao of Walt Whitman by Connie Shaw and Ike Allen

he week by week guide allows the reader to follow in the steps of the author with a daily look at some new topic or experience. The poetry selected by the author helps to build an appreciation of the many ideas considered by Walt Whitman, looking at snippets from his overall work may allow poets to appreciate how thoughtful he was and seek to follow in his steps.