cises targeting combinations of muscle
groups, providing photographs and
detailed illustrations to show the relation-
ship between movements and muscle
groups. One caveat is that the low-resolu-
tion photos are inconsistent with the
clarity of the illustrations. However,
Potter’s tone is enthusiastic and his stories
are inspiring, encouraging readers to
embark on the assorted exercise programs.
Filled with succinct explanations and
extensive variations on exercise routines
suited to a wide range of abilities, this is
an inviting tool for achieving better
health.
The Master of the Ladder:
The Life and Teachings of
Rabbi Yehudah Leib Ashlag
Avraham Mordecai Gottlieb, trans. from the
Hebrew by Yedidah Cohen. Nehora, $28.95
trade paper (390p) ISBN 978-965-7222-12-6
Rabbi Gottlieb effectively combines
profile and theology in this accessible and
enlightening biography of Rabbi Yehudah
Leib Ashlag (1885–1954), a master of the
kabbalah, who is widely-credited with
opening the study of kabbalistic texts to
ordinary people. Gottlieb, a student of
Ashlag’s son, opens in 1892, with a legend
about the rabbi, then a seven-year-old
child in Warsaw and himself the son of a
Hasidic rabbi; according to the story,
Ashlag was lying in bed when he was
struck in the head by a book that fell from
a shelf. His father told him that the
volume, a book of kabbalah, was meant
only for angels, but the precocious child
insisted, “ ‘If it has been printed, it must
be meant for everyone.’ ” Gottlieb goes on
to trace his subject’s life, including his
rabbinic ordination and marriage, prodi-
gious scholarly output, his immigration
to what became the nation of Israel in
1921, and production of the essential kab-
balist textbook Talmud Eser Sefirot. Lay
readers may be most interested in the reli-
gious figure’s teachings, which include
such messages as, “Each of us needs to learn
that the whole purpose of our spiritual
work is to come to love our fellow.”
Gottlieb’s glowing work preserves the life
and legacy of a significant, if now obscure,
religious thinker.
Children’s/YA
Regenerate
Emily Goldthwaite. Rainfly, $14.99 paper
(330p) ISBN 978-1-73306-880-2
Goldthwaite’s engaging, if didactic,
debut—a dystopian romance concerned
with social engineering, Panopticon tactics,
and government-sanctioned “neuropathic
disruptors”—explores the value of human
interaction. Like her friends, Averielle
Gouch, 17, is a GAP (Grandparent Adopted
Posterity), one of the lucky children who
has survived their Lost parents—a genera-
tion too addicted to tech for child rearing.
Heralded as preservers of the human race,
the GAPs have their lives planned and
tracked by nebulous Organizers. Averi has
been predicted to enter into a relationship
with Raxtin North, her best friend, and
everything seems to be going to plan, until
transfer Lander Lazarus Finch appears in
Averi’s social circle. Despite Lander’s cocki-
ness, there’s something about him that
draws Averi’s affections. As Averi grows
closer to Lander, the Organizers decide to
reunite her with a long-lost Gran, Jo, out-
side their village walls. But Lander and Jo
know too much about their cosseted world,
and it’s darker than it appears. Though the
dystopian framework and characters are
familiar, the pacing is quick, and
Goldthwaite succeeds in highlighting
issues with tech dependence and societal
commodification amid a story of compas-
sion and friendship. Ages 13–up.BOOKLIFE.COM 79cREVIEWS ®