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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
This was a re read and I still really enjoyed it
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
This was a very enjoyable read.
It read very much like the Bridget Jones of self-help books, with a funny, self-deprecating main character, who gets herself into awkward and hilarious situations. Charming and unashamedly self-aware, this book was much more thoughtful and emotionally resonant than I originally thought it would be. I found myself cheering on Marianne as she put herself out there, and worked hard on her “self”, but I also found myself groaning out loud, during her many missteps. I had a lot of fun with this one, and I think you will too!
It read very much like the Bridget Jones of self-help books, with a funny, self-deprecating main character, who gets herself into awkward and hilarious situations. Charming and unashamedly self-aware, this book was much more thoughtful and emotionally resonant than I originally thought it would be. I found myself cheering on Marianne as she put herself out there, and worked hard on her “self”, but I also found myself groaning out loud, during her many missteps. I had a lot of fun with this one, and I think you will too!
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
(3.5 stars) I listened to an audio version of this book, read by the author. For me it was an ideal way to experience the book as the author’s voice is engaging and animated and by the end of the book I felt I knew her by being let into her life and hearing the various inflections and tones portraying feelings of excitement, disappointment, despair, confusion etc. Also her actual mother’s voice is used for her mother’s words. This voice was the voice of common sense and pragmatism and greatly contrasted in tone, accent and pitch to her own.
The book recounts more than a year of the author’s life in which she undergoes an exploration into the world of self help. Each month she reads a book, all well-known classics in the self help industry, titles such as Susan Jeffers “Feel the Fear and do it Anyway”, Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now”, the latter, one of my personal favorites. She describes each month how the advice imparted in the book relates to her own life, details changes she makes based on the advice, and comments on her success or otherwise. “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway” entices her to go sea swimming and take up public speaking, and based on her experience of both and lessons learned, she would rate the book highly. Rhonda Byrnes “The Secret”, by contrast, didn’t rate so highly. She bought into the book’s premise and fully believed that she could call forth richness by writing herself a cheque for £100,000 rather than doing the work suggested in “Money, a Love Story”, a relatively new title by Kate Northrop. Needless to say that cheque never materialized!
The reader/(listener) journeys with the author through her year of self-help, gets to know her family, friends and relationships, how diving into self-help impacted both herself and her relationships, both positively and negatively. The author uses humour to explore difficult subjects, to examine deep and intimate parts of her own identity, and while the book is light and accessible, we are neither shielded from difficult and painful subject matter.
I enjoyed this book and could relate to the author, the books read and the themes explored. While I wouldn’t say it will leave a long-lasting impact, it was an engaging and enjoyable book.
The book recounts more than a year of the author’s life in which she undergoes an exploration into the world of self help. Each month she reads a book, all well-known classics in the self help industry, titles such as Susan Jeffers “Feel the Fear and do it Anyway”, Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now”, the latter, one of my personal favorites. She describes each month how the advice imparted in the book relates to her own life, details changes she makes based on the advice, and comments on her success or otherwise. “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway” entices her to go sea swimming and take up public speaking, and based on her experience of both and lessons learned, she would rate the book highly. Rhonda Byrnes “The Secret”, by contrast, didn’t rate so highly. She bought into the book’s premise and fully believed that she could call forth richness by writing herself a cheque for £100,000 rather than doing the work suggested in “Money, a Love Story”, a relatively new title by Kate Northrop. Needless to say that cheque never materialized!
The reader/(listener) journeys with the author through her year of self-help, gets to know her family, friends and relationships, how diving into self-help impacted both herself and her relationships, both positively and negatively. The author uses humour to explore difficult subjects, to examine deep and intimate parts of her own identity, and while the book is light and accessible, we are neither shielded from difficult and painful subject matter.
I enjoyed this book and could relate to the author, the books read and the themes explored. While I wouldn’t say it will leave a long-lasting impact, it was an engaging and enjoyable book.
It's a great book, but I ironically struggle with reading self help books.