Book Reviews

4.9

H.D. Ronay's independently published children's picture book pairs a loveable, stink-powered cat hero with a surprisingly earnest rescue mission, earning a "Get It" verdict from Kirkus Reviews for winning over even readers wary of its gross-out premise.

Rainbow Gold: Building a Business That's Both the Journey by David Hampson

4.9

Rainbow Gold: Building a Business That's Both the Journey and the Destination is a business memoir and entrepreneurial guide by David B. Hampson, published by MindStir Media on October 17, 2025. Drawing on his own winding path — from running a restaurant in Cape Town, South Africa, to leading Schrager Hampson Aviation Insurance Group in New Hampshire — Hampson builds a case for passion-driven, sustainability-focused entrepreneurship rooted in the "butterfly effect" of small, deliberate choices. Kirkus Reviews calls it "familiar but sound advice on building a business for the long haul," and that verdict captures the book's balance of genuine credibility and real-world limitation: the voice is honest and grounded in lived experience, but readers already steeped in entrepreneur literature will encounter well-worn territory.

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz

4.7

Don Miguel Ruiz's The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom is a self-help book grounded in Toltec teachings that distills a four-part code of conduct — be impeccable with your word, don't take anything personally, don't make assumptions, and always do your best — into a compact guide designed to help readers dismantle self-limiting beliefs and pursue what Ruiz frames as freedom, happiness, and love. Published in 1997 by Amber-Allen Publishing, it spent over a decade on The New York Times bestseller list and has sold approximately 15 million copies in the United States alone, reaching readers in 53 languages. This review is based on published sources and the book's documented record; it does not reflect hands-on use or application of the framework.

Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys by Kate Fletcher

4.7

Kate Fletcher's Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys, published by Routledge in its fully revised second edition, stands as a landmark academic text that systematically maps the lifecycle sustainability challenges of fashion and textiles — and charts credible, design-led paths forward. Structured across eight chapters divided into product- and systems-level thinking, it draws on lifecycle analysis, slow fashion theory, localism, and participatory design to offer fashion and textiles professionals and students a rigorous, pluralistic framework. Endorsed by educators, designers, and publications including Nature and Treehugger, it remains the go-to reference for those serious about embedding sustainability into the practice of fashion.

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Eric Jorgenson

4.7

Eric Jorgenson's The Almanack of Naval Ravikant compiles over a decade of entrepreneur and investor Naval Ravikant's wisdom — drawn from tweets, podcasts, and essays — into a structured guide covering two central pillars: building wealth and finding happiness. Originally published in 2020 and now reissued in a second edition by Authors Equity (September 2025), the book features illustrations by Jack Butcher and a foreword by Tim Ferriss. It is designed to serve as both an entry point and a reference work for readers at any stage of life, translating Ravikant's first-principles thinking into accessible, consolidated form.

Think Like a Cat: How to Raise a Well-Adjusted Cat--Not a Sour Puss by Pam Johnson-Bennett

4.6

Think Like a Cat: How to Raise a Well-Adjusted Cat—Not a Sour Puss is Pam Johnson-Bennett's comprehensive guide to understanding feline instincts, covering everything from kitten selection and veterinary care to litter box management and behavior troubleshooting. Originally published in 2000 and revised, updated, and expanded in a 2011 Penguin Books edition, it is widely regarded as one of the most thorough cat ownership resources available, earning Johnson-Bennett the title "the queen of cat behavior" from author and pet expert Steve Dale. This review covers the book's content and published reception, not hands-on use.

Sho-Time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani by Jeff Fletcher

4.6

Jeff Fletcher's Sho-Time is the most thoroughly reported portrait of Shohei Ohtani available in English, drawing on Fletcher's years covering the Los Angeles Angels beat to trace Ohtani's journey from a snowy childhood in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, to his historic 2021 AL MVP season — though the subject's own guardedness means the book illuminates the phenomenon more fully than the person behind it.

The Beatles: The Biography by Bob Spitz

4.6

Bob Spitz's The Beatles: The Biography, first published by Little, Brown and Company in November 2005 and reissued in paperback in 2006, is a sweeping, 992-page account of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr — built on six years of research, 650 interviews, and access to previously unheard private material. It drew generally favorable reviews from major outlets including The New York Times and The Washington Post, yet also attracted persistent criticism for factual errors and editorial bias, making it an essential but imperfect entry point into Beatles history.

Master Your Emotions: A Practical Guide to Overcome Negativity by Thibaut Meurisse

4.5

Master Your Emotions by Thibaut Meurisse is a self-help guide designed to help readers understand the mechanics of their emotions and apply practical strategies to overcome negativity — a concise, accessible entry point that has found a remarkably wide global audience, selling over 500,000 copies and appearing in more than 30 languages.

Apr 7, 2026

Air Fryer Revolution: 100 Crispy, Healthy, Fast by Urvashi Pitre

4.5

Air Fryer Revolution: 100 Crispy, Healthy, Fast & Fresh Recipes is a cookbook by best-selling author Urvashi Pitre, published by Harvest (an imprint of HMH Books) on October 22, 2019. A follow-up to her hit Every Day Easy Air Fryer, it delivers 100 recipes designed to push the appliance well beyond frozen and breaded staples, drawing on fresh ingredients and Pitre's background in bold, internationally influenced flavors.

Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the Civil War, by Scott Ellsworth

4.4

Scott Ellsworth's Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the Civil War is a narrative history that spans the final, desperate year of the Civil War — from the spring of 1864, when Northern war-weariness made Lincoln's reelection far from assured, to the April 1865 surrender of Robert E. Lee and the assassination of Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. Published by Dutton in July 2025, the book draws on obscure contemporary accounts and long-ignored scholarship to challenge the conventional portrait of John Wilkes Booth as a lone, disgruntled actor, arguing instead that Booth operated in close collaboration with agents of the Confederate Secret Service. Publishers Weekly called it "a passionate and elegant chronicle of one of the most dramatic years in American history, torn agonizingly between triumph and tragedy."

The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of by David Deida

David Deida's The Way of the Superior Man is a long-selling spiritual guidebook for men that addresses career, intimate relationships, sexuality, and purpose through the lens of masculine spirituality; having sold over a million copies, its 20th Anniversary Edition — published by Sounds True / St. Martin's Essentials and featuring a new introduction by Deida — brings its central challenge to a new generation of readers, though its framework of polarity between masculine and feminine energies remains a point of genuine debate.