Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
A nice easy read mainly through dozens of individual anecdotes, which is a good way to deal with these topics
This book was okay. The example stories describing each hard thing (money, sex, death, etc.) were long winded and made up a large portion of the chapters. They also were hard to connect to personally and didn’t provide any real groundbreaking insight that would be applicable to me. I was hoping for more research backed advice that.
I usually don’t read books like this but I found this book really insightful. I appreciated the different perspectives presented on all the “hard” topics and found myself relating to at least one persona in each chapter. Even if I didn’t relate, each perspective was fleshed out enough that I understood where they were coming from. It is truly an “invitation” to have conversations about the things that make us uncomfortable.
I just started listening to the Death, Sex & Money podcast this month (on the wide recommendation of another author). The first episode I heard referenced this new book — so I’m reading the newest writing while listening to back catalog podcasts.
I liked this book even more than I expected. It’s serious and smart, and completely accessible. I’d recommend this to someone who doesn’t read a lot, but I’d also recommend it to someone with lots of academic reading. It connects with real (daily and exceptional) human experience.
“Hearing someone else’s story helps you name your own experience: It’s no longer just something that happened to you. It’s something that happens.”
“But let me remind you that you are not starting hard conversations to immediately resolve the intractable. Hard conversations offer you solace and pull you out of isolation. They let you voice truths you’d only half-known, and listen to stories you’d otherwise miss. They deepen connection and understanding. But they do not fix hard things. You can give up that sense of pressure, because that’s not the goal. The goal is to try.”
I liked this book even more than I expected. It’s serious and smart, and completely accessible. I’d recommend this to someone who doesn’t read a lot, but I’d also recommend it to someone with lots of academic reading. It connects with real (daily and exceptional) human experience.
“Hearing someone else’s story helps you name your own experience: It’s no longer just something that happened to you. It’s something that happens.”
“But let me remind you that you are not starting hard conversations to immediately resolve the intractable. Hard conversations offer you solace and pull you out of isolation. They let you voice truths you’d only half-known, and listen to stories you’d otherwise miss. They deepen connection and understanding. But they do not fix hard things. You can give up that sense of pressure, because that’s not the goal. The goal is to try.”
I already knew of Anna Sale through her podcast 'Death, Sex and Money', so I was aware she was an intelligent and articulate communicator. But, I didn't know how well this would adapt to written form. Well, I'm pleased to say that it worked really well and Anna Sale has created a well written, informative and, in the best possible sense, a challenging read - how and why to have difficult conversations.
Although I would say the book is clearly inspired by the podcast, it isn't a rehash of podcast episodes. The podcast is occasionally referred to, but the book is so much more than that. The book covered five topics - death, sex, money, family and identity. In Anna Sale's usual style, she gently explores hard things through reflections on her own life and through other people's stories, as well as other research. She makes a compelling case for why having those hard conversations can make life easier to navigate, whether individually or with others by our side.
I thought this was a really good book that gave me much to reflect on. Recommended.
Although I would say the book is clearly inspired by the podcast, it isn't a rehash of podcast episodes. The podcast is occasionally referred to, but the book is so much more than that. The book covered five topics - death, sex, money, family and identity. In Anna Sale's usual style, she gently explores hard things through reflections on her own life and through other people's stories, as well as other research. She makes a compelling case for why having those hard conversations can make life easier to navigate, whether individually or with others by our side.
I thought this was a really good book that gave me much to reflect on. Recommended.
Great overall book and concept. Helpful discussion about how to even do the internal work to be able to talk about hard things and with whom to even try. The book felt a bit long and comes from a view without leaning into faith, but does allow for a place for faith.
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Audiolisten. Big fan of Death, Sex, Money, and preferred the podcast to the long forum book. I feel that Anna Sale's inquisitiveness and courage come through so well in her podcasts; in comparison to her regular episodes, this fell flat. I appreciated her personal accounts and weaving together the narratives of guests on her podcast and beyond, but it wasn't my favorite. 2/5
*also realizing that my rating scale is scaled up, so trying to fix that. New rating system is based on an idea I had where 1 star = 1 idea I took away from this, 2 = 2 ideas, etc, etc
*also realizing that my rating scale is scaled up, so trying to fix that. New rating system is based on an idea I had where 1 star = 1 idea I took away from this, 2 = 2 ideas, etc, etc