Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning by Tom Vanderbilt

3.57 AVERAGE

bookish_penguin50's review against another edition

3.5
adventurous funny inspiring reflective slow-paced
booknerderika's profile picture

booknerderika's review against another edition

3.0
This is less of a self-help book and more of a memoir. It was interesting to see the range of things he tried, but it didn't really motivate me to try new things like I thought it would. The beginning started off pretty motivational, but once he started talking about singing lessons it became more of him sharing what he experienced rather than giving advice. Overall, it's a decent book I just didn't see anything eye opening about it.

stormborn's review

2.5
informative fast-paced
whitllo's profile picture

whitllo's review against another edition

4.0
adventurous informative inspiring medium-paced

kojobaffoe's review against another edition

5.0
I have a growing list of things I have always wanted to learn to do, for the sake of learning. We don’t seem to have hobbies anymore or the time to actually follow through on them. Beginners is a great reminder that many of them are doable and there are benefits beyond the functional.

jenok's review against another edition

3.0
I really enjoyed this. It's a call to follow your curiosity, which I always appreciate - a reminder to do things that make you happy rather than dwelling in wondering about happiness. A reminder not to worry too much about how well you do those things.

Is it a little frustrating that the author has the financial resources to pay for classes in literally everything that seems to interest him? Yes.
Does the core message still ring true? Also yes.
It's energised me to book a surf weekend this summer, so there's that.

zhzhang's review against another edition

1.0
Not a fan. I feel it is a little messy and repetitive, even though the book title is so compelling.

sarahdworjan's review against another edition

3.0
This was a nice reminder of why we should always try new things. I enjoyed the author’s anecdotes throughout, but I also thought that his experiences come from a position of privilege that sometimes alienated me as a reader. How many of us can afford private surfing lessons and retreats to help us learn a new skill? No shame to the author! I just wish there were a bit more exploration of self-teaching.

lizlaughlove's review against another edition

3.5
informative inspiring slow-paced

angelajqc's review against another edition

2.75
inspiring reflective fast-paced