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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
After having a mental breakdown a month ago due to years of undiagnosed anxiety exacerbated by a steroid which caused weeks long insomnia, I came across this book after returning to my part time job at my local library. Cliches and points of view I had long known are written about and are made easily digestible by Matt Haig. Chapters are short, which I needed, and undaunting. I breezed through this and came out with so many tools I never knew I needed. Thank you, Matt.
Really lovely overall, full of typical Matt Haig insights and light charm. By about halfway through for me it felt like the riffing on one idea got repetitive, and it was a little hard to stay engaged. Still worth it.
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I really like Matt Haig, though I definitely prefer his fiction. I think his writing has more nuance where fed through stories (as in How to Stop Time, which was just brilliant). His non-fiction is also fab though, and I've enjoyed reading both this and How to Stay Alive. I think they offer a fabulous insight into how connected the increase of mental health concerns and our current mode of society are. I do wonder what he would think of my dissertation, which connected eating disorders to capitalist rhetoric in a similar way.
I would definitely recommend reading if you are someone who finds themselves a slave to something, be it social media, buying, eating, exercising. Haig makes you stop and think, mostly, less about whether it's good for you but more about whether it's actually making you happy. I've set limits on my social media access. Life is too short!
I would definitely recommend reading if you are someone who finds themselves a slave to something, be it social media, buying, eating, exercising. Haig makes you stop and think, mostly, less about whether it's good for you but more about whether it's actually making you happy. I've set limits on my social media access. Life is too short!
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
Ironically, listening to this stressed me the heck out. I'm not sure if it was the endless bullet points or having the audiobook playing at x2 speed to avoid dnf-ing it.
This, to me, read as an extended "just don't be anxious/sad" style mantra. Which, as someone that has also dealt with anxiety and depression, just grinds my fucking gears. There's nothing more infuriating than someone telling you "if something doesn't make you happy, then just don't do it!". Well no fucking shit Sherlock, but last time I checked there are a lot of things you just have to stick out before they get better or other avenues become available. Having the option to just opt-out is a privilege that many aren't afforded.
I just don't feel that I learnt anything knew here. That it was simply a regurgitation of the widely known facts that 1) social media exacerbates anxiety and 2) that there is still much work to be done to widen the understanding of phenomena beyond the perspective of white middle class men.
I appreciate Haig's struggles and don't mean to dismiss them in any way, just feel that this book was unnecessary all the same. Not a bit of me, am glad this was a library loan.
This, to me, read as an extended "just don't be anxious/sad" style mantra. Which, as someone that has also dealt with anxiety and depression, just grinds my fucking gears. There's nothing more infuriating than someone telling you "if something doesn't make you happy, then just don't do it!". Well no fucking shit Sherlock, but last time I checked there are a lot of things you just have to stick out before they get better or other avenues become available. Having the option to just opt-out is a privilege that many aren't afforded.
I just don't feel that I learnt anything knew here. That it was simply a regurgitation of the widely known facts that 1) social media exacerbates anxiety and 2) that there is still much work to be done to widen the understanding of phenomena beyond the perspective of white middle class men.
I appreciate Haig's struggles and don't mean to dismiss them in any way, just feel that this book was unnecessary all the same. Not a bit of me, am glad this was a library loan.
I save Five Star reviews for books I would read again and/or buy a copy to keep to my small, but crowded, bookshelf. No small thing. Both things are true with this brilliant explanation of our modern-day life by Matt Haig.
More than that. Reading, and then owning, this book should be required for entry into American adolescence and adulthood.
If everyone knew that they were enough, as they are, right now - that it's the world, not you - we would, as a people, be heading in a different direction. Let's all hold that vision, shall we?
More than that. Reading, and then owning, this book should be required for entry into American adolescence and adulthood.
If everyone knew that they were enough, as they are, right now - that it's the world, not you - we would, as a people, be heading in a different direction. Let's all hold that vision, shall we?
informative
reflective
medium-paced