70 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ JANUARY 27, 2020
Review_NONFICTION
Idiot”). While it probably will not win
over any new fans, this is the perfect volume
for all who proudly rock out to Weird Al.
(Mar.)Wits, Flakes, and Clowns: The
Colorful Characters of Baseball
Wayne Stewart. Rowman & Littlefield, $36
(256p) ISBN 978-1-5381-2521-2
Sports historian Stewart (Remembering
the Greatest Coaches and Games of the NFL
Glory Years) examines larger-than-life
baseball players in this fun and informa-
tive history. Detailing legendary jokesters
and pranksters of the past 70 years, he
lists 135 players and managers who craved
the limelight while goofing off on the
field and in the clubhouse, including
pitcher Rube Waddell of the 1902
Philadelphia Athletics, who “waded into
a Florida lake to wrestle alligators”;
erratic outfielder Ping Bodie of the
Jazz-era Yankees and Athletics, who once
had a spaghetti-eating contest with an
ostrich; and pitcher Dizzy Dean of the St.
Louis Cardinals, who remarked that he’d
had his bruised head x-rayed and nothing
was found. Tug McGraw, father of country
singer Tim, loved to pitch water balloons
from hotel windows, while Sparky Lyle, a
Yankee reliever, occasionally sat on
friends’ birthday cakes in his “birthday
suit.” Other baseball greats who appears
include Yogi Berra, Mark Fidrych, Bryce
Harper, Satchel Paige, Manny Ramirez,
Fernando Rodney, and Casey Stengel.
Stewart wildly entertains in this offbeat
history. (Mar.)Working Well: Twelve Simple
Strategies to Manage Stress
and Increase Productivity
Stephanie Berryman. Manage to Engage,
$12.95 trade paper (314p) ISBN 978-1-
9991708-0-6
In this helpful guide, life coach
Berryman (Nine Strategies for Dealing with
the Difficult Stuff) offers 12 steps for
dealing with stress and finding ways to
strike a more beneficial work-life balance.
Focusing primarily on one’s sense of self-
betterment, she writes: “We aren’t
responsible for everything that happens in
our lives, but we are responsible for how
we respond to it.” Living a happy and
productive life, for Berryman, must
include working a job that aligns withone’s values, having the courage to manage
and alleviate dislikes, and putting one’s
own needs first when in a detrimental
situation. To this end, she provides ques-
tion and “action” sections filled with
prompts and suggestions that will help
readers take personal responsibility,
engage in difficult conversations, and
development mindfulness practices.
Throughout, she emphasizes that
accepting the reality of one’s limitations
and the nature of any given situation
allows one to work toward positive
change. Berryman’s straightforward
outing will help readers looking to
better understand emotional responses
to working life. (Self-published)Dreaming at the Gates:
How Dreams Guide Us
Kathryn Ridall. DreamGate, $18 mass market
(208p) ISBN 978-1-7331373-0-0
Ridall debuts with a genial exploration
of how dreams can function as guides
throughout life. She encourages readers
to engage with the imagery and emo-
tions of their dreams to find the lessons
within, receive comfort, and identify
personal obstacles that may be blocking
them from moving forward. To that end,
she lays out three approaches toward
understanding dreams: a reflective
approach that uses a set of “tools,” such
as writing down the dream, identifying
feelings, and recording emerging associ-
ations; a Jungian approach that ties
dreams to the archetypes of the greater
unconscious; and an approach in the vein
of Jane Roberts that posits that some
dreams, including precognitive ones,
may be actual communications from
outside oneself. She uses all of these to
walk readers through her own dreams
and those of others, coupling write-ups
with the dreamer’s own reflections on its
meaning and impact. Each chapter
explores a different category of dreams,
such as dreams that guide one through
life transitions, repeating dreams that
concern unresolved issues, and dreams
connected with physical healing, among
others. While Ridall never settles on a
determined methodology, her demon-
stration of the value of listening to dreams
proves affirming and resonant. (Self-
published)Religion/Spirituality
Becoming Sage:
Cultivating Meaning, Purpose,
and Spirituality in Midlife
Michelle Van Loon. Moody, $14.99 trade
paper (192p) ISBN 978-0-8024-1944-6
Van Loon (Born to Wander), a spirituality
blogger, explores in this evocative guide
the “gifts and challenges” unique to
midlife that can be used to deepen one’s
spirituality. Van Loon provides advice on
changing family dynamics, building
friendships later
in life, and
accepting one’s
body, as well as
a six-step plan
(including
prayers) for
reconnecting to
one’s faith. She
explains that
older adults are
leaving or cut-
ting involvement in the church at high
levels, often because churches provide
primarily “family-centered programming.”
To provide what she feels is more relevant
information to older readers, she includes
chapters on how to manage finances (as a
counterpoint to “prosperity preaching”),
advice on searching out mental health
resources, and encouragement for
rethinking one’s vocation later in life. A
true sage, she says, is always growing in
faith, hope, and love. “Maturity is forged
from the beautiful and terrible and
mundane stuff of our lives as we seek to
crawl, stand, walk, and run with Jesus on
our way to Real.” Questions for individual
reflection and group conversation
accompany each chapter, and a reading
list provides additional resources. This
will be a helpful resource for people in
midlife and for churches eager to offer
help and understanding to this growing
demographic. (Apr.)Defiant: What the Women of
Exodus Teach Us About Freedom
Kelley Nikondeha. Eerdmans, $17.99 trade
paper (214p) ISBN 978-0-8028-6429-1
Theologian Nikondeha (Adopted)
explores in this accessible work of biblical
exegesis the stories of women in the book