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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Another brilliant book from Matt Haig. And as a result of reading it I deleted Facebook from my phone - which was an excellent decision
Sometimes you just have to read a book like this and chill out.
I’ve been through quite a stressful period of late that had been fairly bleak and made me quite angry.
I’m determined to read books like this to transform my negative energy into positive.
It’s really important to get perspective and think through the funk and this is really helpful.
I agree with this so much but then I think about work. Where you are constantly being assessed to be better. You have to set yourself objectives to do more and have reviews where you are told that you can do more if you do A B and C.
There’s no wonder we are all tired in jobs where nothing we do can ever be good enough.
Wow, this book just found a major issue for me. Something to address.
Imagine turning round in a work review saying this is all you can have of me. That’s enough. My main Objective is to just be happy. That wouldn’t go down well with management.
I’ve been through quite a stressful period of late that had been fairly bleak and made me quite angry.
I’m determined to read books like this to transform my negative energy into positive.
It’s really important to get perspective and think through the funk and this is really helpful.
I agree with this so much but then I think about work. Where you are constantly being assessed to be better. You have to set yourself objectives to do more and have reviews where you are told that you can do more if you do A B and C.
There’s no wonder we are all tired in jobs where nothing we do can ever be good enough.
Wow, this book just found a major issue for me. Something to address.
Imagine turning round in a work review saying this is all you can have of me. That’s enough. My main Objective is to just be happy. That wouldn’t go down well with management.
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Although I do not have anxiety and am not too worried about my use of technology, I thought the beginning and middle of the book had some useful insights. He really explains very well what it’s like to have an anxiety attack. But by the end the book descends into platitudes, recommending that we all watch Its a Wonderful Life as many times as possible. I like what he has to say about nature and yoga, etc but what’s new about that?
I need to read this book every year for the rest of my life. Matt Haig is so honest and transparent. He writes in a way that isn't "here's how to fix all your problems" but more of a "yes, we're all fucked up and here's kinda why but I promise you just stick with it and you will see the sun again." I'm slowly working through all of his writing and he is just so talented and capable of turning this world we live in into an honest and positive place. Everyone needs to read this.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I wanted to like this so much after The Midnight Library. I feel Haig’s frequent lists were overkill and often too cut and dry. “Be happy with yourself”; “Go talk to a friend”, or “Don’t worry about what others think”. Yeah, okay *snaps fingers* easier said than done.
Other more important statements needed additional impact, research, and attention, such as “Individualism has replaced conversation and community”, and “We don’t even need to consciously change at all. Change can happen by simply being aware. …awareness is very often the solution itself”. Moreover, “Too often, we view mental illness as a product of the person in a way we don’t with other illnesses”.
Overall, this was a middle man for me. It either needed to be turned into a collection of essays, or built out and dug deeper than it did.
Other more important statements needed additional impact, research, and attention, such as “Individualism has replaced conversation and community”, and “We don’t even need to consciously change at all. Change can happen by simply being aware. …awareness is very often the solution itself”. Moreover, “Too often, we view mental illness as a product of the person in a way we don’t with other illnesses”.
Overall, this was a middle man for me. It either needed to be turned into a collection of essays, or built out and dug deeper than it did.
Easy book to read in a day. I personally like Haig's fragmented, "messy" style of writing, though I agree that it can come across as a series of disjointed blog posts. Haig doesn't write much that the average reader won't already know (yup, sleep is indeed important, and screen time is bad.... not much revelations there), but I was still left inspired to reconsider my use of technology and I appreciated his raw and vulnerable personal story that he interwove in his observations of the world.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
This book is considered a follow up to his book on his depression, Reasons to Stay Alive. While I thought that one was very valuable, this one is more immediately applicable to me, in how anxiety and social media and messaging and body health are all tangled up together, and in how I felt myself nodding along in agreement with his experiences and acknowledgement with similar struggles on almost every page. I will save this one on my kindle to revisit on bad days.