you take care book review

You Take Care: Lessons in looking after yourself; for every body

Laura henshaw , steph claire smith.

256 pages, Hardcover

Published February 28, 2023

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YOU TAKE CARE

Subtitle Lessons in looking after yourself; for every body

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Wednesday 4 January 2023

Review: i'll take care of you.

A seed needs love and care from the elemental forces. Then a bird needs love and care from the apple tree that has grown from the seed. Then the bird’s hatchling spreads the apple’s seeds with love and care, and so the cycle begins again.

All the while, a young reader absorbs the idea of caring for others and of being taken care of, through immersion in this cyclical story and glorious, vibrant illustrations. A combination of collage and acrylic painting bring I’ll Take Care Of You to life in the most adorable and unexpected of ways. Caring is the essence of the story.

Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.

I love this book with more than just my eyes and my brain. I could almost feel my heart expanding as I read it and pored over the magnificent, vibrant, joyous illustrations.

Physically, I’ll Take Care Of You is a little larger than most and it has the added lushness of a dustjacket.

But mostly it’s just a stunningly beautiful and unique picture book.

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The care and keeping of you: the body book for younger girls, common sense media reviewers.

Helpful American Girl guide for girls starting puberty.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Explains breast development, menstruation, hair gr

Focus on what your body can do, not what it looks

Depicts girls with a variety of skin shades, hair

Parents need to know that The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Younger Girls, published by American Girl, is a thorough, practical head-to-toe handbook to help girls handle everyday hygiene and manage the physical and emotional changes of early puberty. Author Valorie Lee Schaefer walks…

Educational Value

Explains breast development, menstruation, hair growth, and other changes that come with puberty. Packed with practical tips: how to shave, use sanitary pads, get gum out of your hair, cope with swimmer's ear, eat healthfully, choose a bra, avoid athlete's foot, get rid of warts, warm up and cool down when you exercise, and much more.

Positive Messages

Focus on what your body can do, not what it looks like. Be kind to yourself and others. Instead of lashing out or isolating yourself when you're angry or unhappy, try to talk it out. Anger can be helpful when it leads to change. There's no reason to be ashamed about your body. Strong emphasis on confidence and being true to yourself. Warns against drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. Includes some negative messages about appearance, weight and dieting, in the form of questions girls may be asking themselves about their appearance and weight, that could be damaging for young girls.

Positive Role Models

Depicts girls with a variety of skin shades, hair types, and body shapes cheerfully taking care of themselves and bringing concerns to caring adults.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Younger Girls, published by American Girl, is a thorough, practical head-to-toe handbook to help girls handle everyday hygiene and manage the physical and emotional changes of early puberty. Author Valorie Lee Schaefer walks girls through the basics of puberty, including how girls' bodies change, how to choose a bra, and what menstruation is and how to manage it. It also discusses basic self-care from good sleep habits to exercise and nutrition, and discusses issues surrounding body image, including some negative messages about weight and dieting that could be damaging for young girls. Illustrations depict breast development and how to use sanitary pads. The book does not cover sexual activity.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say (3)
• Kids say (11)

Based on 3 parent reviews

Great start for "Mature" Audiences

Read with your daughter before school teaches it, what's the story.

THE CARE AND KEEPING OF YOU: THE BODY BOOK FOR YOUNGER GIRLS is geared toward girls who are nearing -- or just beginning -- puberty. It covers all the basics of self-care, such as keeping hair clean and tangle-free, using sunscreen, cleaning teeth with braces, coping with acne, pampering blisters, and treating a sprain. One chapter focuses on changes in the pubic area and getting your period: what it is, what to do when it first begins, how to choose supplies and how to use them, and how to deal with PMS. The final chapter offers advice on navigating emotional ups and downs and maintaining good relationships.

Is It Any Good?

This empowering self-care manual is targeted to young girls who are on the brink of growing up -- and trying to figure out how to embrace these major changes with competence and confidence. Valorie Lee Schaeffer's mostly positive language and Josee Masse's cheerful illustrations help strip away self-consciousness children might have about discussing puberty or personal hygiene. It is important to note that while informative, this book does include some negative messages about body image and dieting that could be damaging for young girls.

Schaeffer offers tons of practical tips for solving problems girls might not even think to ask their parents about. She also urges girls to ask trusted adults for help and more information; parents may want to preview the book before handing over to kids, and then check in and make themselves available for questions. Older girls -- or girls who've already begun their period -- may appreciate the companion book, The Care and Keeping of You 2: The Body Book for Older Girls .

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about body image and confidence in The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Younger Girls . Are you happy with the way your body is changing? What messages in this book were most helpful to you?

This book gives a lot of attention to girls' concerns about body image . Do you think there's an ideal body type? Do you compare yourself to other girls, or models, or actresses?

Do you have questions this book didn't answer? If so, ask a trusted adult.

Book Details

• Author : Valorie Lee Schaefer
• Illustrator : Josee Masse
• Genre : Body Awareness
• Topics : Great Girl Role Models
• Book type : Non-Fiction
• Publisher : American Girl Publishing, Inc.
• Publication date : March 26, 2012
• Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
• Number of pages : 104
• Available on : Paperback, Kindle
• Last updated : November 3, 2017

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Best New Music

By Ryan Dombal

Cash Money / Young Money Entertainment / Universal Republic

November 14, 2011

In 1976, Marvin Gaye holed up in his Hollywood studio and began recording Here, My Dear , a brutally candid album-length dissection of his divorce from wife Anna Gordy. The soul great found beauty within the wreckage, and the album doubled as an emotional exorcism that pushed out pain, anger, regret, spite, vengeance. "Memories haunt you all the time/ I will never leave your mind," he threatens on a song called "When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You" . Reviewing the album upon its release in 1978, critic Robert Christgau wrote, "Because Gaye's self-involvement is so open and unmediated... it retains unusual documentary charm."

The same could be said of Drake , whose unrepentant navel-gazing and obsession with lost love reach new levels on his second proper LP, Take Care . Running with Gaye's ghost, Drake offers a profane update of his forebear's twisted heart: "Fuck that nigga that you love so bad/ I know you still think about the times we had," he sings on the insidious hook of "Marvins Room" , a song recorded in the same studio where Gaye originally exposed his own unedited thoughts more than three decades ago.

In this age of reality television, 24-hour celebrity news, and second-to-second documentation-- where behind-the-scenes sagas mix with what's on screen and on record, creating an ever-morphing, ever-more-self-aware new normal-- Drake is an apt avatar. Naturally, he knows this, too. "They take the greats from the past and compare us/ I wonder if they'd ever survive in this era," he contemplates on the album, "In a time where it's recreation/ To pull all your skeletons out the closet like Halloween decorations." We can thank Kanye West for legitimately kicking off this open-book hip-hop era, and it's increasingly apparent that Drake is the most engaging new rap star since Ye. While fame causes some to withdraw and cling to what little privacy they have left, this 25-year-old Canadian's penchant for poetic oversharing has only been emboldened by his success. When he's not making the most epic drunk-dial song in pop history with "Marvins Room", he's openly pleading with former flame Rihanna on the record's title track, or duetting with Twitter wife Nicki Minaj on "Make Me Proud" only to call out such publicity-baiting "relationships" two tracks later, where he raps, "It look like we in love, but only on camera." With its startlingly frank talk and endless heartbreak, Take Care often reads like a string of especially vulnerable-- and sometimes embarrassing-- Missed Connections.

This time around, Drake has a better grasp on his own notoriety and the mind-fucks that come with it. While he expressed wonderfully wounded trepidations about his sudden rise on Thank Me Later , he's learning to embrace it more here. "They say more money more problems, my nigga, don't believe it," he raps on closer "The Ride". "I mean, sure, there's some bills and taxes I'm still evading/ But I blew six million on myself, and I feel amazing." And on "HYFR (Hell Ya Fucking Right)", he all but gives away his hand, turning his sadness into strategy: "What have I learned since getting richer?/ I learned working with the negatives could make for better pictures." And while he claims "I think I like who I'm becoming" on "Crew Love"-- about as ringing an endorsement you'll get from a guy so bent on exposing his own disappointments-- he's still more interested in contradiction than triumph. Even when staring at a pair of unnatural breasts, he highlights the incision rather than the size: "Brand new girl and she still growing/ Brand new titties, stitches still showing/ Yeah, and she just praying that it heals good/ I'm 'bout to fuck and I'm just praying that it feels good."

Just as his thematic concerns have become richer, so has the music backing them up. Thank Me Later banked on a sonic tableau that was slow and sensual and dark-- equal parts Aaliyah and the xx -- and  Take Care takes that aesthetic to an even more rewarding place, spearheaded by Drake's go-to producer Noah "40" Shebib, who gets a writing and production credit on almost every song. While the bombastic style of producer Lex Luger's work with Rick Ross and Waka Flocka Flame threatened to turn the tide on Drake and 40's moody atmospherics last summer, the pair stick to their gut here and delve further into smooth piano and muffled drums, fully committed to the idea of doing more with less. This is sensuous music that breathes heavy somewhere between UGK 's deep funk, quiet-storm 90s R&B, and James Blake -inspired minimalism. (Drake reportedly had a vinyl copy of Blake's debut LP on display in the studio while recording Take Care .) Its subtlety is a direct rebuke to the rash of in-the-red Eurotrance waveforms clogging up radio dials. Even the more upbeat tracks take pains not to rely on a simple thump. "Take Care" features Rihanna and a four-four beat, but the singer shows off her little-heard whispering delivery and the instrumental comes courtesy of the xx's Jamie xx , who nimbly tailors his remix of  Gil Scott-Heron 's "I'll Take Care of You" for the occasion.

Drake's worked on his own technical abilities, too, and both his rapping and singing are better than ever here. Notably, he only brandishes the hashtag flow he quickly became famous (or infamous) for over the last few years, turning it into a knowing knock on copycats: "Man, all of your flows bore me/ Paint drying." And he breathlessly runs through the opening verse on the vicious "HYFR" at a speed that would likely garner respect from Busta Rhymes . And then there's "Doing It Wrong", a brilliant, barely there slow jam that borrows some lyrics from an unlikely source (Don "American Pie" McLean's twangy 1977 track "The Wrong Thing to Do") and features an unlikely guest in Stevie Wonder . Fitting the album's classy, unshowy demeanor, Wonder is tapped not to sing but play harmonica-- and uncharacteristically downcast harmonica at that-- for the track's crushing denouement. The song has Drake chronicling the conflicting emotions of a difficult breakup and giving us his finest singing to date. His words are simple, universal, true: "We live in a generation of not being in love, and not being together/ But we sure make it feel like we're together/ 'Cause we're scared to see each other with somebody else." Elsewhere, André 3000 references Adele 's unimpeachable "Someone Like You" in one of the album's many well-placed guest verses; "Doing It Wrong" deserves to follow that song as pop's next Great Heartbroken Ballad.

The cover of Take Care shows its star sitting at a table, dejected and surrounded by gold, like a hip-hop Midas. Considering some of the money-doesn't-buy-you-happiness sentiments inside, the picture is apropos enough. But it's much too obvious to truly represent what Drake and his crew have done here. A better image would be the grainy, amateur photo he released with "Marvins Room" when he originally leaked it in June , which shows the rapper walking away from a group of private jets, his face obscured by a puff of smoke making its way up to an overcast sky. It lets his reality do the heavy lifting while Drake stands by, taking it all in.

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When You Care

The unexpected magic of caring for others.

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Table of Contents

• Rave and Reviews

About The Book

About the author.

Elissa Strauss has been a journalist, essayist, and opinion writer for the past fifteen years. Her work has appeared in The New York Times , The Atlantic , Glamour , Elle , Allure , The American Prospect , and elsewhere. She’s been a contributing writer for CNN where she covered the culture and politics of parenthood, as well as at Slate , where she wrote on feminism and motherhood. From 2011–2017, she was the coartistic director of LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture in New York City, and in 2020, she launched a hub in the Bay Area, where she is currently the artistic director. She lives in Oakland, California, with her family.

Product Details

• Publisher: Gallery Books (April 23, 2024)
• Length: 320 pages
• ISBN13: 9781982169275

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Raves and Reviews

"What an urgent and necessary book. Strauss understands care as labor that has been unremunerated, unrecognized, made practically invisible by a culture that fetishizes independence. She works to correct this undervaluation, elegantly arguing that the care we take of others is the very stuff of life, that it shapes the way we love, the space we take up in the world, our relationships with those we love and with ourselves. Would that our policy makers read and truly absorb this deeply researched, thoughtful and persuasive book." —Rebecca Traister, New York Times bestselling author of All the Single Ladies and Good and Mad

"In this brilliantly argued and timely book, Elissa Strauss takes on centuries of theology, philosophy, science, economics and the pervasive cultural attitudes that have for too long diminished care as a woman’s burden, offered shallow praise, or erased care entirely from our history. Instead, she calls for a total reimagining of care, one that demands we see that it is in our relationships to one another, the way we give and receive care, that we are all able to be most fully human. And rather than keep care tucked in the margins, it is time to acknowledge, celebrate and support how central care is to life itself." —Brigid Schulte, award-winning journalist, author of the New York Times bestselling Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time , and director of The Better Life Lab at New America

"A deeply researched—and deeply felt—exploration of the beautiful truth about care: that we find, feed and know ourselves through our relationships. When You Care is a pleasure to read: bold, brave, and exquisitely written." —Judith Warner, author of And Then They Stopped Talking to Me: Making Sense of Middle School and the New York Times- bestselling Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety

“In When You Care , Elissa Strauss has written an essential book. Although she writes it from the perspective of a mother, it’s not only for mothers but for all of humankind. A revolutionary, she doesn’t deliver her message in loud and hectoring tones, but instead in beautifully sensitive prose brimming with warmth and compassion. She’s not only showing us the way to the next stage of feminism but to humanism—the full recognition of what it means to take responsibility not only for our lives but also for one another.” —Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of Plato at the Googolplex: Why Philosophy Won’t Go Away and recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and the National Medal of the Humanities

" When You Care is a fascinating, expansive exploration of care—the boundless forms it takes, the depth of what it means to care, and care as both a foundation and a call to action. Bursting with intricate research and thoughtful stories, this book examines and centers care in ways that are both profoundly stirring and deeply necessary." —Rainesford Stauffer, author of An Ordinary Age and All the Gold Stars

“ When You Care is destined to be a modern classic. It presents a long overdue and urgent case for why embracing care is the key to unlocking our potential as a society. Strauss has made the invisible work of care visible and argues brilliantly for its value. A must read." —Eve Rodsky, New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play

“In a world that values independence, [Strauss] asserts that caring for others has become largely underrated. But what if we looked at caring as an opportunity to bring meaning and purpose into others' lives? What if there were financial and emotional help for caregivers? [...] Strauss presents a convincing case for valuing and aiding in this vital task, as well as appreciating the lessons it teaches. This would be overdue recognition for many overworked and underpaid caregivers.” —Booklist

“A deep exploration of caregiving’s potential to shape individuals and societies in positive ways…Specific, frank, refreshing observations about the impact of care.” —Kirkus

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My daughter and I had the classic scalp massage and Muse absolutely did not disappoint! It was our first time and we will definitely be back! The ambiance the scents the warm water and the technique is top notch! You leave with dried hair too! Ani is so nice and professional, if you want to be pampered Lucy or Arleen will take care of you! Like everything about our experience! See you soon !

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'A Man in Full' review: Tom Wolfe Netflix series is barely a glass half empty

Don't judge a book by its cover, but can you judge a TV show by its A-list pedigree ? Don't bet on it.

Netflix's new Atlanta mogul miniseries "A Man in Full" certainly looks like it should be the next big thing to take over our binge-watching hours. Created by David E. Kelley and directed partly by Regina King , "Man" has all the makings of prestige television: Movie stars as the lead characters. A literary tome (Tom Wolfe's 1998 novel) as its source material. Topical storytelling. Lots of profanity.

But looks can be deceiving. "Man" (now streaming; ★ ½ out of four) is that rare disappointment that adds up to less than the sum of its parts. The series is half-formed, a rough draft for something better down the line. And all the fake Southern accents from the likes of Jeff Daniels, Diane Lane and Lucy Liu can't magically create deeper characters, better scripts, or a fuller world to immerse yourself in. It's the fast fashion of television: Trendy, pretty, but very easily falls apart.

Interview: Jeff Daniels loads up for loathing in 'A Man in Full' with big bluster, Georgia accent

Charlie Croker (Daniels) is the favorite son of Atlanta. A Georgia Tech football hero turned real estate mogul, he has everything a man of distinction could want: Money, power, a beautiful young second wife (Sarah Jones) and the adoration of high society. Except one of those things is only a facade: Croker's companies are nearly a billion dollars in debt, and the bank has come calling. That charge is led by mousy Raymond Peepgrass (Tom Pelphrey), a middle manager whose hatred of Charlie goes beyond professional rivalry, and Harry Zale (Bill Camp), an alpha male wannabe out to beat Charlie in the financial arena.

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In chaos and about to lose everything, Charlie turns to his chief counsel, Roger White (Aml Ameen), a man with a strongly ingrained sense of justice, who tries to keep his hands clean amid the dirty dealings in Atlanta. Roger is currently being hounded by his old fraternity brother and incumbent mayor Wes Jordan (William Jackson Harper, "The Good Place") for help digging up dirt on his conservative opponent. And Roger is trying to help Conrad (Jon Michael Hill), a Black man who has been arrested after a racially fraught run-in with law enforcement.

Rounding out the already unwieldy story is Martha Croker (Lane), Charlie's ex-wife with plenty of hate for her former spouse, and her best friend Joyce Newman (Liu), who is trying to keep part of her past a secret amid the politicking in the city's elite.

It's a lot, and Kelley and the writers are never clear about who the star of this story really is. Is it Charlie, an Ozymandias-type king doomed to fail under his own hubris? Is it Raymond, the Iago channeling his insecurities into war with a stronger opponent? Is it Roger, a Black man torn up on the inside, a Don Quixote unsure about the realities of the world?

I'm using a lot of high-minded literary references because "Man" fancies itself a high-minded work of art, all metaphor, allegory and foils, the language of Wolfe's novel. But these devices are so weak they blow away in the wind.

The series misses the building blocks of good storytelling in pursuit of the cherries on top of the sundae. The characters aren't nearly deep enough, and it's impossible to discern most of their motivations. That's especially true of Harry, who hates Charlie for no good reason, and Martha, who has no personality that isn't related to her ex-husband. Joyce is a plot device dressed in fashionable high heels, and Charlie's wife Serena marks a criminal underuse of Jones, who proved herself deeply skilled in "For All Mankind."

Atlanta is the setting but it's meant to be more than that. It's meant to be the context of every scene and sentence of dialogue. It should be as deeply drawn as a fictional world like Westeros or Middle Earth. But other than Daniels' accent and the racist judge that Conrad faces, "Man" could be set in any major city in America. And that's not good enough.

Speaking of that accent, Daniels slathers it on his performance like too much gravy on biscuits. He seems to ooze rather than act. He's a cartoon character, which would work if the series was purely a soap opera. But it's trying. (and failing) to be more important than a soap. In one moment you see two horses mating and in another, a Black man is being swallowed whole by a legal system designed to ruin his life. The two halves don't mesh together.

There's a sense that Netflix was attempting to cash in on the lifestyles of the rich and famous schadenfreude from HBO's hit "Succession," which ended last year. But "Man" fails to achieve the scope or satire that made "Succession" so successful. There's a watchable quality you can find in any of Kelley's series. But the sheen wears off quickly. It's not addictive or delicious, no "Big Little Lies" or "Ally McBeal" drama to keep you wanting more.

Charlie can wax poetic about loyalty and goodness and masculinity all he wants, but at a certain point, "Man" becomes too easy to tune out.

And at that point, you might as well turn it off, too.

Here is what Stormy Daniels testified happened between her and Donald Trump

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Porn performer Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday in the hush money case against former President Trump, who looked on as she detailed their alleged sexual encounter and the payment she got to keep it quiet.

Prosecutors allege Trump paid Daniels to keep quiet about the allegations as he ran for president in 2016. Her testimony aired them very publicly as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee seeks to win the White House again.

Trump denies having sex with Daniels , and his lawyers unsuccessfully pushed for a mistrial midway through her testimony.

It was a major spectacle in the first criminal trial of a former American president, now in its third week of testimony in Manhattan.

Here are some takeaways from Daniels’ testimony:

Who is Stormy Daniels?

The case centers on a $130,000 payment to Daniels from Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, in the final weeks of Trump’s 2016 campaign. Prosecutors say it was part of a scheme to illegally influence the campaign by burying negative stories about him.

Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump in occasionally graphic testimony

The porn actor’s testimony, even if sanitized and stripped of tell-all details, has been the most-awaited spectacle in Donald Trump’s hush money trial.

May 7, 2024

His lawyers have sought to show that Trump was trying to protect his reputation and family — not his campaign — by shielding them from embarrassing stories about his personal life.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, told jurors that she started exotic dancing in high school and appearing in adult films at age 23, eventually moving to direct more than 150 films and winning a roster of porn industry awards.

World & Nation

Key players: Who’s who at Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial

Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial shifts to opening statements Monday, followed by the start of witness testimony. Who’s who in the case?

April 21, 2024

Meeting Trump

Daniels testified she first met and chatted with Trump at a 2006 Lake Tahoe celebrity golf outing where her studio was a sponsor.

He referred to her as “the smart one” and asked her if she wanted to go to dinner, she said. Daniels testified that she accepted Trump’s invitation because she wanted to avoid dinner with her co-workers and thought it might help her career. Trump had his bodyguard get her number, she said.

When they met up later in his penthouse, she appreciated that he seemed interested in the business aspects of the industry rather than the “sexy stuff.” He also suggested putting her on his TV show, “The Apprentice,” a possibility she hoped could help establish her as a writer and director.

She left to use the bathroom and was startled to find Trump in his underwear when she returned, she said. She didn’t feel physically or verbally threatened but realized that he was “bigger and blocking the way,” she testified.

“The next thing I know was: I was on the bed,” and they were having sex, Daniels recalled. The encounter was brief but left her “shaking,” she said. “I just wanted to leave,” she testified.

Stormy Daniels alleges in new documentary that Donald Trump cornered her the night they met

‘I have not forgiven myself because I didn’t shut his a— down in that moment’ in 2006, the adult filmmaker says in ‘Stormy,’ premiering March 18 on Peacock.

March 7, 2024

Payments for silence

Daniels was asked if Trump ever told her to keep things between them confidential, and said, “Absolutely not.” She said she learned in 2011 that a magazine had learned the story of their encounter, and she agreed to do an interview for $15,000 to make money and “control the narrative.” The story never ran.

In 2016, when Trump was running for president, Daniels said she authorized her manager to shop the story around but did not initially receive interest from news outlets. She said that changed in October with the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump bragged about grabbing women sexually without asking permission . She said she learned that Cohen wanted to buy her silence.

Former tabloid publisher testifies about scheme to shield Trump from damaging stories

Trump is back in a New York courtroom as his hush money trial resumes. In D.C., the Supreme Court considers if he should be immune for actions while president.

April 25, 2024

Mistrial push

Midway through her testimony, Trump’s lawyers moved for a mistrial.

Defense lawyer Todd Blanche argued that Daniels’ testimony about the alleged encounter and other meetings with him had “nothing to do with this case,” and would unfairly prejudice the jury.

The judge rejected it, and he faulted defense attorneys for not raising more of their objections while she was testifying.

Before Daniels took the stand, Trump’s lawyers had tried to stop her from testifying about the encounter’s details, saying it was irrelevant in “a case about books and records.”

Prosecutors countered that Daniels’ testimony gets at what Trump was trying to hide and they were “very mindful” not to draw too much graphic detail. Before Daniels took the stand, they told the judge the testimony would be “really basic,” and would not “involve any details of genitalia.”

While the judge didn’t side with Trump’s lawyers, he acknowledged that some details were excessive. The objections could potentially be used by Trump’s lawyers if he is convicted and they file an appeal.

News analysis: Why Putin is raising the specter of nuclear weapons again

Russia announces plans to hold drills near Ukraine simulating the use of battlefield nuclear weapons.

May 6, 2024

Cross-examination

Trump’s lawyers tried to attack Daniels’ credibility, suggesting she was motivated by money and that her account has shifted over the years.

“Am I correct that you hate President Trump?” defense lawyer Susan Necheles asked Daniels at one point. Daniels acknowledged she did.

“And you want him to go to jail?” the lawyer asked.

“I want him to be held accountable,” Daniels said. Pressed again whether that meant going to jail, she said: “If he’s convicted.”

The defense pressed Daniels on the fact that she owes Trump hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees stemming from an unsuccessful defamation lawsuit, and on a 2022 tweet in which she said she “will go to jail before I pay a penny.” Daniels dug in at times in the face of pointed questions, forcefully denying the idea that she had tried to extort money from Trump.

Trump whispered frequently to his attorney during Daniels’ testimony, and his expression seemed to be pained at one point as she recounted details about the dinner she says they shared. He shook his head and appeared to say something under his breath as Daniels testified that Trump told her he didn’t sleep in the same room as his wife.

On the way out of the courthouse, Trump called it “a very revealing day.” He didn’t address Daniels’ testimony explicitly but claimed the prosecutors’ case was “totally falling apart.”

With oil funds and Formula One, Saudi Arabia steamrolls its way onto sports’ hallowed grounds

Saudi Arabia’s oil riches have rocked soccer, golf, even esports, and the autocratic kingdom is expanding in Formula One car racing. What’s behind the push?

May 2, 2024

Jarring split screen

Trump’s appearance in court Tuesday, like all other days he’s stuck in the courtroom, means he can’t be out on the campaign trail as he runs for president a third time. It’s a frequent source of his complaints, but Daniels’ testimony in particular might underscore how much of a distraction the trial is from the business of running for president.

While Trump was stuck in a Manhattan courthouse away from voters and unable to speak for much of the day, President Biden was attending a Holocaust remembrance ceremony and condemning antisemitism .

It’s an issue Trump has sought to use against Biden in the campaign by seizing on the protests at college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war .

Associated Press writer Price reported from New York, Whitehurst from Washington. AP writers Michael Sisak, Jennifer Peltz, Jake Offenhartz and Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this story.

More to Read

Litman: Did Stormy Daniels’ testimony help or hurt the case against Trump? It’s complicated

May 8, 2024

Trump’s hush money trial week in review: hurricanes, Hulk Hogan and a blockbuster recording

May 4, 2024

Hope Hicks, ex-Trump aide, testifies in hush money case on 2016 firestorm over ‘Access Hollywood’ tape

May 3, 2024

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YOU LIKE IT DARKER

by Stephen King ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 21, 2024

The disturbing stories in King’s latest collection will seep into your psyche and haunt you.

A dozen tales from the master of creepiness.

Do you like your short stories on the dark side? Enjoy having eerie images and unsettling plot points turn your dreams into nightmares? Take pleasure in jumping at shadows and feeling your heart beat faster after nightfall? If so, this beefy new collection is for you. In a dozen stories—some considerably longer than others—spanning about 500 pages, King gives the reader a host of things to fear: deadly snakes, ghoulish ghosts of long-dead children, man-eating alligators, stealthy serial killers, plummeting airplanes, mad scientists, mistaken identity. Along the way, he also offers insights about, among other things, the fickleness of talent, the power and pathos of unrealized dreams, the pain and pleasure of relationships, and the meaning and meaninglessness of life and, of course, death. In “Two Talented Bastids,” the son of a famous writer seeks out the source of his father’s success as well as that of his father’s best friend, an artist—and confronts his own limitations. In “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,” a man’s dream about a dead body turns into a living nightmare of suspicion and disbelief. “The Answer Man” explores the value of knowing your future; “Rattlesnakes,” a sequel to King’s bestseller Cujo (1981), the importance of reckoning with the past. And while the book is not without an occasional misstep (“Red Screen,” about a cop with a nitpicking perimenopausal wife, say), King’s conversational prose, relatable characters, and knack for knowing precisely what you are afraid of will draw you in—page by page, horror by horror—and hold you fast.

Pub Date: May 21, 2024

ISBN: 9781668037713

Page Count: 512

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024

SUSPENSE | THRILLER | PARANORMAL FICTION | SUSPENSE | SUPERNATURAL THRILLER | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | GENERAL FICTION

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BOOK REVIEW

by Stephen King

A CONSPIRACY OF BONES

by Kathy Reichs ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020

Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.

Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.

A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Showboat Medical Examiner Margot Heavner makes it clear that, breaking with her department’s earlier practice ( The Bone Collection , 2016, etc.), she has no intention of calling in Tempe as a consultant and promptly identifies the faceless body herself as that of a young Asian man. Nettled by several errors in Heavner’s analysis, and even more by her willingness to share the gory details at a press conference, Tempe launches her own investigation, which is not so much off the books as against the books. Heavner isn’t exactly mollified when Tempe, aided by retired police detective Skinny Slidell and a host of experts, puts a name to the dead man. But the hints of other crimes Tempe’s identification uncovers, particularly crimes against children, spur her on to redouble her efforts despite the new M.E.’s splenetic outbursts. Before he died, it seems, Felix Vodyanov was linked to a passenger ferry that sank in 1994, an even earlier U.S. government project to research biological agents that could control human behavior, the hinky spiritual retreat Sparkling Waters, the dark web site DeepUnder, and the disappearances of at least four schoolchildren, two of whom have also turned up dead. And why on earth was Vodyanov carrying Tempe’s own contact information? The mounting evidence of ever more and ever worse skulduggery will pull Tempe deeper and deeper down what even she sees as a rabbit hole before she confronts a ringleader implicated in “Drugs. Fraud. Breaking and entering. Arson. Kidnapping. How does attempted murder sound?”

Pub Date: March 17, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9821-3888-2

Page Count: 352

Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020

GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | SUSPENSE | THRILLER | DETECTIVES & PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS | SUSPENSE | GENERAL & DOMESTIC THRILLER

More by Kathy Reichs

by Kathy Reichs

DAUGHTER OF MINE

by Megan Miranda ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 9, 2024

Small-town claustrophobia and intimacies alike propel this twist-filled psychological thriller.

The loss of her police officer father and the discovery of an abandoned car in a local lake raise chilling questions regarding a young woman’s family history.

When Hazel Sharp returns to her hometown of Mirror Lake, North Carolina, for her father’s memorial, she and the other townspeople are confronted by a challenging double whammy: As they’re grieving the loss of beloved longtime police officer Detective Perry Holt, a disturbing sight appears in the lake, whose waterline is receding because of an ongoing drought—an old, unidentifiable car, which has likely been lurking there for years. Hazel temporarily leaves her Charlotte-based building-renovation business in the capable hands of her partners and reconnects with her brothers, Caden and Gage; her Uncle Roy; her old fling and neighbor, Nico; and her schoolfriend, Jamie, now a mother and married to Caden. Tiny, relentless suspicions rise to the metaphorical surface along with that waterlogged vehicle: There have been a slew of minor break-ins; two people go missing; and then, a second abandoned car is discovered. The novel digs deeper into Hazel’s family history—her father was a widow when he married Hazel’s mother, who later left the family, absconding with money and jewels—and Miranda, a consummate professional when it comes to exposing the small community tensions that naturally arise when people live in close proximity for generations, exposes revelation after twisty revelation: “Everything mattered disproportionately in a small town. Your success, but also your failure. Everyone knows might as well have been our town motto.”

Pub Date: April 9, 2024

ISBN: 9781668010440

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Marysue Rucci Books

Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024

SUSPENSE | THRILLER | PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | SUSPENSE

More by Megan Miranda

by Megan Miranda

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Page title It’s Okay to Not Be Okay: Tips and Resources for Mental Health Awareness Month

It’s May, so just checking in… “How is everybody doing?”

In case you missed it, Sesame Street’s lovable Elmo posed that very question on social media earlier this year – and the responses came flooding in. From relationship problems to financial troubles, and feelings of exhaustion, angst, loneliness, and disconnection, people shared their struggles. At last count, Elmo’s post had garnered more than 217 million views, 15,000 reposts, 165,000 likes, and 45,000 responses on one social media platform alone. What this helps reveal is that many of us are NOT okay – and it’s important to acknowledge and address that, and make sure people know that help is available. SAMHSA has several supports and resources that can help.

Mental Health Conditions Can Affect Anyone

May is Mental Health Awareness Month , a good reminder to focus on the importance of mental health and its impact on our well-being. Mental health conditions can affect anyone, regardless of gender, age, race, ethnicity, or income level. Recent data (PDF | 622 KB) help underscore that our nation is facing an unprecedented mental health crisis among people of all ages and backgrounds, including young children and older adults. To put this into perspective, if you were standing in a room full of people, at least one out of every five of those people likely experienced anxiety, depression, or other mental health conditions in the last year.

The good news is… mental health conditions are treatable. As illustrated by the many athletes, entertainers, and prominent public figures who have spoken openly about their experiences, people living with mental illness can — and do — lead happy and productive lives. And this includes serious mental illnesses , such as bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and schizophrenia, which can interfere with someone’s life and ability to function. Similar to medical conditions like diabetes, with early and consistent treatment, people with serious mental illnesses can manage their conditions, overcome challenges, and enjoy meaningful, productive lives.

At SAMHSA, we are committed to increasing access to mental health services and supports nationwide. We understand that many Americans may feel reluctant to reach out for help or to seek care; we want you to know that we see you, we hear you, and we support you. We believe that with the right care, anyone affected by – or at risk for – a mental health condition can achieve well-being and thrive. And if you take care of yourself, you might also be a support for others -- a lifeline for someone else.

Language Matters When It Comes to Mental Health

The more we talk about mental health together, the more normalized these conversations become – ultimately empowering people to seek the help they need. And fortunately, more people are now talking about and prioritizing their mental health, just as they would their physical health. They are also embracing self-care to improve overall well-being. This is critical because when you take care of your mental health, your physical and emotional health also improves, and you’re more likely to learn and work productively, and effectively cope with life stressors. However, self-care looks different for everyone. Exercise, sleep, and a balanced diet might be the strategy for some, while others might benefit from joining a support group, or seeing a mental health professional. It’s important to identify what works best for you.

Just like you might share tips with friends about maintaining a healthy weight or improving blood pressure, consider taking the opportunity this month to share your experience of how you are caring for your mental health. Help enforce the message that “it’s okay to not be okay,” and encourage people (PDF | 98 KB) to seek help when they need it. And, as you have those conversations, think about the words that you use: language is powerful, and your choice of words can help break down misconceptions, or contribute to them. One of the most impactful ways to communicate about mental health is to use person-first language to put the person before their diagnosis, disability, or other characteristics. For example:

• Instead of saying, “John is schizophrenic…or bipolar,” say “John is a person who has schizophrenia…or who has bipolar disorder.”
• Instead of describing someone as “suffering from a mental illness,” say “experiencing or living with a mental illness.”

It’s also important to use language that promotes inclusivity and respect. When we use open, compassionate, and equitable language around mental health issues, we empower ourselves and encourage others to find the help they need.

Take Action

SAMHSA will host several “Mental Health Awareness Month” events for partners and grantees throughout May. Details on any virtual events open to the public will be available on our Mental Health Awareness Month webpage .

Mental Health Action Day is May 16, providing an opportunity to take the next step from awareness to action for yourself, a loved one, or your community. This could be as simple as adopting a positive “mental health habit” like eating a balanced diet, getting a good night’s rest, or exercising, or offering support to a friend or family member who is struggling. Here are some additional strategies to consider on Mental Health Action Day.

• Practice gratitude: Think about what you’re thankful for – like supportive family and friends, a safe home, or even a beautiful day. Or find something to celebrate, like a recent accomplishment. Consciously practicing gratitude may reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.
• Volunteer: Participating in community organizations and finding opportunities to help others can provide a positive boost and sense of purpose.
• Engage in random acts of kindness: Buy a cup of coffee for the person in line behind you, hold the door open for a stranger, or make food for a neighbor or colleague. There are many small acts that can brighten someone else’s day.
• Practice mindfulness: Take a few minutes to meditate, take a yoga class or do some breathing exercises to promote relaxation and reduce stress.
• Seek Help: Whether it is for yourself of someone else, seek help through SAMHSA’s resources. Recovery is possible.

Show Compassion – and Be a Lifeline to Others

In addition to focusing on your own self-care this Mental Health Awareness Month, consider checking in on loved ones.

• Parents/Kids: If you are a parent or caregiver, talk to your kids about their mental health. Getting help during the early stages of mental illness, or at the first signs of mild behavioral health symptoms, can help those symptoms from developing into more serious conditions.
• Older Adults: If you know an older adult who may be experiencing bereavement, illness, or isolation, watch for clues and ask how they are doing during visits. CDC data shows that suicide rates are on the rise, especially among adults ages 65 and older – so it’s critical to recognize the warning signs so we can offer help.
• New Mothers: If you know someone who is pregnant or recently gave birth, check to see how they’re feeling. About 1 in 8 women report symptoms of postpartum depression in the year after giving birth – so it’s quite common and nobody should feel embarrassed or hesitant to reach out for help. But if left untreated, maternal mental health issues can lead to devastating consequences, including pregnancy-related deaths, such as suicides, drug overdoses and other unintentional injuries.

These are just a few examples of how you can serve as a lifeline to others this month and beyond. Simply listening, and providing support, can make a significant – and even lifesaving – difference to someone living with mental illness.

To quote Elmo’s heart-felt follow-up post , “Elmo is glad he asked! Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing.” Consider heeding that advice. By encouraging others to seek or access help, or simply by being there for someone when they need us, we instill hope in ourselves and those around us.

SAMHSA Resources

SAMHSA’s 2024 Mental Health Awareness Month resources, including a digital toolkit , can be found on the Mental Health Awareness Month webpage . To learn how to get support for mental health conditions, visit FindSupport.gov . If you’re looking for treatment services in your community, visit FindTreatment.gov . If you or someone you know is in in crisis, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for help 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Additional SAMHSA Wellness and Recovery Resources

• Recovery and Recovery Support
• Resources for Older Adults
• Parent and Caregiver Resources
• School and Campus Health
• Resources for Families Coping with Mental and Substance Use Disorders

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Make Your Workday Work for Your Mental Health

• Alice Boyes

From building habits to being purposefully unfocused, you can schedule time to take care of yourself.

When you’re struggling with your mental health, getting through your workday can feel a lot harder than usual. It’s not always the quantity or type of work that is making your anxiety, depression, or other mental health difficulties worse — sometimes it’s that your workday is structured in a way that’s at odds with your natural rhythms or your mental health challenges. You can take steps to structure your workday, using your self-knowledge, doing some experiments, and balancing your needs with your job responsibilities. By building strong habits around when you do focused, deep work; creating routines to make progress on tasks with vague or long-term deadlines; and building in times to let your mind wander to take advantage of unfocused recovery time you’ll boost your mental health — and your productivity.

When you’re struggling with your mental health, getting through your workday can feel a lot harder than usual. If your workload is making your anxiety, depression, or other mental health difficulties worse, it’s not always the quantity or type of work that’s the culprit. Sometimes it’s that your workday isn’t structured in a way that suits your natural rhythms or your mental health challenges.

• Alice Boyes , PhD is a former clinical psychologist turned writer and the author of The Healthy Mind Toolkit , The Anxiety Toolkit , and Stress-Free Productivity .

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Read Your Way Through Montreal

Montreal is a city as appealing for its beauty as for its shadows. Here, the novelist Mona Awad recommends books that are “both dreamy and uncompromising.”

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By Mona Awad

Read Your Way Around the World is a series exploring the globe through books.

Montreal is an island unto itself. An architect’s paradise. A foodie’s dream, where a pastry will make you weep. It’s a city of extremes. The grandiose maximalism of Cirque du Soleil and Arcade Fire. The gritty punk scene and the thriving diner (casse-croûte) culture. Hot bacchanalian summers that never sleep, and cold brooding winters that draw you underground and inward. Perhaps that’s why it’s also a city of great style.

It’s where I grew up and when we had to move I never thought I would get over leaving. In many ways, I haven’t. It’s still, after all these years, the city of my heart. Playful, sexy, strangely celebratory and, above all, beautiful. Strolling through the city’s iconic neighborhoods — the Plateau, Mile End or Old Montreal to name a few — you see it everywhere you look: the impulse toward aesthetic pleasures, visual harmony. That desire to make everything, be it a bagel or a bookstore, a celebration of itself.

But there is, of course, a dark side to every great city. The literature of Montreal is both dreamy and uncompromising in its depths. It aspires to beauty, but it never forgets its shadows. There, the Wildean axiom “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” is viscerally felt — and it’s a sentiment that pulses through the cultural blood of the city.

What should I read before I pack my bags?

Many classics of Montreal literature evoke place through a multitude of colorful local characters. “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz,” by Mordecai Richler, is a quintessential comic Montreal novel of the late 1950s (also try his last novel, “Barney’s Version” ). “The Favorite Game,” by Leonard Cohen, is his autofictional exploration of growing up as a young Jewish boy (try also his collection of poems “The Spice-Box of Earth” ). Short story master Mavis Gallant’s “Varieties of Exile” was originally titled “Montreal Stories ” in Canada for good reason. Consider also Gabrielle Roy’s “The Tin Flute” and Michel Tremblay’s “The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant,” both empathetic portrayals of working class life among French speakers. “How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired,” by Dany Laferrière, is another ground breaking exploration of Montreal life from the perspective of a Haitian immigrant.

For a little mystery, try Louise Penny’s popular “Three Pines” detective series . Though set in a fictional town in Quebec, her novels often feature Montreal (“ Glass Houses ” in particular.) Kathy Reichs unearths the bones of the city in her thriller “Déjà Dead.” And Montreal’s rich queer culture is captured in the coming-of-age novels “The Geography of Pluto,” by Christopher DiRaddo, and “Bottle Rocket Hearts,” by Zoe Whittall.

Perhaps nothing will get you more excited to travel to Montreal than the dazzling work of Heather O’Neill. In novels like “Lullabies for Little Criminals” and “The Lonely Hearts Hotel,” O’Neill captures both the darkness and the dreaminess of the city in shimmering colors. O’Neill’s latest, “When We Lost Our Heads,” is a dizzying confection, offering a 19th-century glimpse of Montreal’s Golden Square Mile neighborhood with a sharp eye.

What stories provide a glimpse into modern Montreal?

Among more contemporary books, there is an abundance of literary gems: “Our Lady of Mile End,” by Sarah Gilbert, a collection of short stories set in the neighborhood of the same name; “Ru,” by Kim Thúy, a gorgeous Vietnamese immigrant story woven out of poignant vignettes; and “The Wagers, ” by Sean Michaels, which evokes both the quotidian and magical elements of the city.

What books will take me behind closed doors?

A host of brilliant Montreal novels both evoke place and showcase the underbelly experiences of those who, for any number of reasons, live in the margins. In the vitriolic symphony that is “Cockroach,” by Rawi Hage, a struggling Lebanese immigrant imagines himself to be a literal cockroach. “Bone and Bread,” by Saleema Nawaz, explores the tumultuous lives of two orphaned sisters who grew up in a Hasidic community in Mile End. For a dark depiction of the working life (and Montreal loves a dark depiction of the working life), consider “The Dishwasher,” by Stéphane Larue, which was adapted into a film, or the fiery and incantatory “Whore,” by Nelly Arcan.

What literary landmarks and bookstores should I visit?

Librairie Drawn & Quarterly is a beautiful independent bookshop in the heart of Montreal’s Plateau area. It’s also an internationally renowned publisher of comics, including work by Kate Beaton, Adrian Tomine, Lynda Barry and Chester Brown, among many others. The bookstore’s idiosyncratically curated selection of titles and its gorgeous and singular interior make this a must-see. Other lovely English-language bookshops to visit along the way: Librairie Saint-Henri Books , Argo Bookshop (Montreal’s oldest indie), The Word .

Any restaurants I should visit?

In a gastronome’s playground like Montreal, it would be remiss of me not to mention some food stops. As the daughter of a woman who worked in Montreal delis for nearly all of the ’80s, I’m perhaps biased in putting forth that a smoked meat sandwich is its own quintessential experience of the city. I’d recommend Schwartz’s Deli , an institution unto itself that is approaching its centennial. There’s also Moishes Steakhouse , an institution frequented, in its heyday, by none other than Leonard Cohen (presumably before he became a vegetarian).

And nothing evokes Montreal for me (and many other Montrealers) quite like a bagel fresh from the fire. St-Viateur Bagel , located in the historic Mile End neighborhood (and featured in “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz” ), has been “defining the art of bagel making since 1957,” according to its website. To eat one of their bagels just out of the wood-burning oven is to taste my childhood. But even if it’s not a Proust’s madeleine for you, the baked good — like Montreal itself — is well worth the voyage.

Mona Awad’s Montreal Reading List

“The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz” and “Barney’s Version,” Mordecai Richler

“The Favorite Game” and “The Spice-Box of Earth,” Leonard Cohen

“Varieties of Exile,” Mavis Gallant

“The Tin Flute,” Gabrielle Roy

“The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant,” Michel Tremblay

“How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired,” Dany Laferrière

“Three Pines” series (including “Glass Houses” ), Louise Penny

“Déjà Dead,” Kathy Reichs

“The Geography of Pluto,” Christopher DiRaddo

“Bottle Rocket Hearts,” Zoe Whittall

“Lullabies for Little Criminals,” “The Lonely Hearts Hotel” and “When We Lost Our Heads,” Heather O’Neill

“Our Lady of Mile End,” Sarah Gilbert

“Ru,” Kim Thúy

“The Wagers,” Sean Michaels

“Cockroach,” Rawi Hage

“Bone and Bread,” Saleema Nawaz

“The Dishwasher,” Stéphane Larue

“Whore,” Nelly Arcan

Mona Awad is the author of several novels, including “ Bunny ” and, most recently, “ Rouge ,” which is set partially in Montreal.

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