A wonderfully illustrated collection of thoughts about the wonders of Christmastime.
Alexander offers a day-by-day look at popular American Christmas traditions.
The author, an actor, TV personality, and self-described lover of Christmas, here provides readers with a series of reflections on some of the season’s most familiar rituals. She relates her thoughts on such things as Christmas trees, manger Crèche scenes, wreaths, and the Christmas carol “Silent Night”—one subject for each day of the month of December, leading up to and including Christmas Day. About Charles Dickens’ ever-popular A Christmas Carol, she writes, “We can strive to live out everything the Christmas season offers, bless others with the spirit of gratitude and generosity, and fully dive into Christmas, as Ebenezer Scrooge did one life-changing Christmas morning.” Accompanying these observations are dozens of bright, colorful photos of instantly recognizable holiday staples like happy children, snowy small town Main Street shops, and stills from various productions of The Nutcracker (in addition to smiling shots of the author herself). Alexander’s project culminates on Christmas Day, about which she makes the somewhat silly declaration that “When we dig deep, we see that the Christmas season is rich in spiritual significance.” This emphasis on the spiritual is consistent throughout the text, as when the author notes that the fruit baskets that are so popular as gifts during the season “remind us of God’s abundance and blessings.” Some readers may be disappointed by the superficiality of such platitudes, as the author seldom delves past the surface of any of her topics; readers curious about, for instance, the actual publication of A Christmas Carol won’t find it here. Still, many fans of Christmas will find this enthusiastic celebration of the season precisely to their liking.
A wonderfully illustrated collection of thoughts about the wonders of Christmastime.Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780829458978
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Loyola Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A frank and funny but uneven essay collection about neurodiversity.
An experimental, illustrated essay collection that questions neurotypical definitions of what is normal.
From a young age, writer and comedian Myers has been different. In addition to coping with obsessive compulsive disorder and panic attacks, she struggled to read basic social cues. During a round of seven minutes in heaven—a game in which two players spend seven minutes in a closet and are expected to kiss—Myers misread the romantic advances of her best friend and longtime crush, Marley. In Paris, she accidentally invited a sex worker to join her friends for “board games and beer,” thinking he was simply a random stranger who happened to be hitting on her. In community college, a stranger’s request for a pen spiraled her into a panic attack but resulted in a tentative friendship. When the author moved to Australia, she began taking notes on her colleagues in an effort to know them better. As the author says to her co-worker, Tabitha, “there are unspoken social contracts within a workplace that—by some miracle—everyone else already understands, and I don’t….When things Go Without Saying, they Never Get Said, and sometimes people need you to Say Those Things So They Understand What The Hell Is Going On.” At its best, Myers’ prose is vulnerable and humorous, capturing characterization in small but consequential life moments, and her illustrations beautifully complement the text. Unfortunately, the author’s tendency toward unnecessary capitalization and experimental forms is often unsuccessful, breaking the book’s otherwise steady rhythm.
A frank and funny but uneven essay collection about neurodiversity.Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9780063381308
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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