"This book provides many examples of the power of doing good works, the betterment conferred in so many different ways and, on occassions, leading to the saving of lives." ~ Tim Fischer AC - Former Deputy Prime Minister
“Seventy short, heart-warming stories of acts of kindness by strangers with contributions by prominent Australians, including comedian Jean Kittson, writer Peter FitzSimons, news presenter Tracey Spicer, Youth Off the Streets' Father Chris Riley, media personality David Richardson, Wayside Chapel's Reverend Graham Long, politician Pru Goward, Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks, and many others.”
The Power Of Good by Mark McCrindle provides a quick feel good pick me up, great for reading at times when you need a lift or as a reminder of the good things in life at the end of a tiresome day. The short story content allows the reader to grab a bit of positivity on the run or read from front to back in novel
style. I enjoyed this book but my attempt to read it as a whole left me feeling bored of the content as the stories seemed to become rather flat after reading a few in a row. I would have to recommend the 'grab a short story' reading format.
My initial questioning when reading this book was why it is full of stories by celebrities and people of high society. What about the everyday citizens? Of course this does not take away from the feel good message and recognition of kindness that this book celebrates.
For myself the most interesting part was the first chapter titled The Power Of Good. This chapter opened my eyes to facts and figures on studies done on media reports, random acts of kindness, Aussie character and global positivity.
As the managing director of a magazine that reports on all things positive it was interesting to read that a recent survey done by Australiapeaks.com found the 95% of people agreed that the mainstream media reports more on negative than positive news with 93% feeling that this gave the impression that there was more evil than good in the world. Statistics show that 86% of Australians say they have gone out of their way to help a stranger in need and 6.7 million Australians help a stranger regularly.
Motivation or reason for doing a good deed was also interesting with findings that 59% say they have done something nice for a stranger “just for the sake of being nice”, with 75.4% of those who haven't shown kindness for the sake of it say they would be prepared to should the opportunity arise. Lets hope this book
only encourages these figures to rise.
It is great to see a feel good book that celebrates those that take a little time to show compassion for fellow man and ask for nothing in return. This book is a true celebration of the good of man kind and will surely lift spirits and inspire hope.
The Power Of Good encourages all to leave their stories of good deeds online at www.thepowerofgood.com.au. More information on the book can also be found at this site.
ISBN: 978-1922665226
Published by: Hybrid Publishers
review by: Jennifer Deaves
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