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ednanorim06's review against another edition
5.0
Have I completely read this book? No.
Do I know it's already a five star read? Yes.
Do I know it's already a five star read? Yes.
thebookninja's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
mikkelmiguelon's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic book! It took me 2 months more to finish than the prescribed regime of 1 page a day, but it was all worth it. I love how Ryan Holiday for every entry reinterprets the Stoics by explaining them through contemporary examples and anecdotes. I’ll start rereading the book again now to absorb these lifelong lessons even more!
cricket1988's review against another edition
Every one should have this book. I read a page a day for a whole year, it was worth nit skipping over. They should make a calendar out of it.
hannahmve's review against another edition
I really wanted to enjoy this as I'd heard a lot of good things but honestly it was so surface level I just forgot about it half the time and would have to read 20+ pages to catch up. If you've never read any self help before, or you're a man two steps away from creating a podcast, I think this would be perfect for you. For me, it just felt very basic and wishy-washy, with no real substance to it at all; I imagine there are some good parts, and admittedly I am keeping onto my copy so that I can flick through if the desire arises, but I couldn't bring myself to continue with it.
almondcookies's review against another edition
1.0
I started reading this book on Jan 1 2022. Whilst I can’t say I checked in every single day, I definitely revisited it multiple times a week. I dnf'ed at the beginning of September, and all I can say is I feel like I wasted 9 months of my life trying to slog through this book and obnoxious author that I have come to hate him (yes hate. It’s a strong word, but I’ve been putting up with his nonsense for 9 months, I think that’s long enough). That one star is for the quality of descriptions and the repetitive quote selection - the actual quotes themselves were, for the most part, pretty good.
The format of this book is every day you’re presented with a quote from one of the many great stoics, and a description - either describing or elaborating on the above quote. Each month tackles a different topic, and the quotes for that month all revolve around that topic in one way or another.
Let’s talk about the descriptions first - they’re longwinded, go round in circles to describe points that are, for the large majority, perfectly understandable in the quote itself. I found the descriptions effectively useless, and oftentimes added more confusion than if I hadn’t read them at all. The author obviously tried to help interpret or elaborate on each quote, but for me it comes across like he’s trying to meet a word count in a university essay than help the reader at all. Most of the time the author starts describing the quote with one interpretation, then segues into another, leading to lack of clarity, mixed messages and the impression that the author doesn’t understand it himself. I stopped reading the descriptions in February, and I recommend fellow readers do the same.
The quotes themselves were good, there’s a lot of food for thought in them. Especially the shorter ones, where the reader has to think more to understand their meaning and let it really sink in and is delivered in a short punch that really hits home - my personal preference are definitely the shorter quotes.
However, the choice of quote topics was extremely repetitive, and I feel this is another failing of the author. This is such a shame because each topic is very broad, and is extremely nuanced. The quotes did not reflect this, oftentimes the within one month, there would be 5+ quotes pertaining to the same niche within that topic. What a letdown! Even worse, I often felt some quotes, whilst relevant to the topic of the month, actually had more relevance to a topic in a different month!
Stocicism is supposed to be about not letting outside influences affect us and our thinking, and (tldc) realising we’re in charge of our own lives and to stop being the victim. In my opinion, if you want to slog through this book and obnoxious author for a year, be my guest - but you’re much better off just going to therapy than giving this guy your money.
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I can't take it. This book, (and especially this author) is not for me and I'm not going to waste anymore time trying to slog through it.
Review to come.
The format of this book is every day you’re presented with a quote from one of the many great stoics, and a description - either describing or elaborating on the above quote. Each month tackles a different topic, and the quotes for that month all revolve around that topic in one way or another.
Let’s talk about the descriptions first - they’re longwinded, go round in circles to describe points that are, for the large majority, perfectly understandable in the quote itself. I found the descriptions effectively useless, and oftentimes added more confusion than if I hadn’t read them at all. The author obviously tried to help interpret or elaborate on each quote, but for me it comes across like he’s trying to meet a word count in a university essay than help the reader at all. Most of the time the author starts describing the quote with one interpretation, then segues into another, leading to lack of clarity, mixed messages and the impression that the author doesn’t understand it himself. I stopped reading the descriptions in February, and I recommend fellow readers do the same.
The quotes themselves were good, there’s a lot of food for thought in them. Especially the shorter ones, where the reader has to think more to understand their meaning and let it really sink in and is delivered in a short punch that really hits home - my personal preference are definitely the shorter quotes.
However, the choice of quote topics was extremely repetitive, and I feel this is another failing of the author. This is such a shame because each topic is very broad, and is extremely nuanced. The quotes did not reflect this, oftentimes the within one month, there would be 5+ quotes pertaining to the same niche within that topic. What a letdown! Even worse, I often felt some quotes, whilst relevant to the topic of the month, actually had more relevance to a topic in a different month!
Stocicism is supposed to be about not letting outside influences affect us and our thinking, and (tldc) realising we’re in charge of our own lives and to stop being the victim. In my opinion, if you want to slog through this book and obnoxious author for a year, be my guest - but you’re much better off just going to therapy than giving this guy your money.
------
I can't take it. This book, (and especially this author) is not for me and I'm not going to waste anymore time trying to slog through it.
Review to come.
lazydoc98's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
3.5
mattgorski's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it
I read this almost every day in 2019. If I missed a day or two, I always caught back up. I just doing that was a huge win for me, and the subject matter was a eye opening, mind expanding bonus.
I absolutely loved being introduced to the Stoic thoughts this way, I turkey believe I am a better person, a better thinker and a better doer than last year.
I read this almost every day in 2019. If I missed a day or two, I always caught back up. I just doing that was a huge win for me, and the subject matter was a eye opening, mind expanding bonus.
I absolutely loved being introduced to the Stoic thoughts this way, I turkey believe I am a better person, a better thinker and a better doer than last year.
giovannic's review against another edition
3.0
Most quotes are precious, most commentaries dispensable.
mbynum's review
5.0
My goal was to read this each day, for the given day's entry. Well, it didn't happen that way. I ended up hitting it in spurts, 30 - 90 days' worth of entries at a time. To their credit, Holiday and Hanselman successfully made each day self-contained in its wisdom and stoic thought.