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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
DNF - this book reads as a series of lists instead of actual essays and is in no way engaging. Sure, there's some general wisdom to be found in these pages, but nothing groundbreaking nor is anything explored in any kind of depth.
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Really valuable information. Sometimes I couldn’t tell when we’d moved from one essay to the next, as I used audiobook. But overall very good material.
slow-paced
Definitely for someone in their 20s trying to figure themself out, not myself at nearly 40.
2.5 stars. I have a very mixed opinion on this but mostly it comes down to this being a series of thoughtful blog posts marketed as "life changing" essays, with little to no research, methodology, or academic sources. While there were cords struck I feel by 2016 (year of publication) something more founded in research and less in emotional antidotes should be highlighted on self-help and wellbeing book shelves. Overall, enjoyable enough, not intersectional in any shape of the word, and lacking tools for the reader to accomplish said "life changing", I would recommend Kristen Neff, Harriet Lerner, and Brene Brown (but these are also white women perspectives, I need to expand my self help perspective clearly).
My therapist recommended I give this book a try if you struggle with anxiety. This is not a book that will help you if anxiety is your struggle. It is a cherry picked series of self help and positive thinking nonsense, with bogus claims about anxiety, sadness, love and self image. The more I read the more I realized I was not this book's target audience. The psuedo intellectual tone without any real research grated, and it boiled down to "your mind can make the change" mixed with truisms and pithy observations. I managed to get through 26 of these essays before I gave up. They did not in fact change how I think.
At the start I was loving it, but then, after 30ish stories, it got repetitive. After 60ish I gave up. DNF from me, but definitely worth a read however much.
Maybe it would be a better strategy to read one essay every night rather than read it like a novel. I'll possibly come back to it after a while and give it a try like that.
Maybe it would be a better strategy to read one essay every night rather than read it like a novel. I'll possibly come back to it after a while and give it a try like that.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced