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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
There are really quotable phrases that resonated with me, but I kind of miss when Lamott talked more about her life.
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
“Almost Everything: Notes on Hope” by Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott is well-known for her nonfiction, autobiographical writing and here she turns her attention to “almost everything” she knows rooted in the notion of hope. Blending personal narrative and somewhat meandering philosophical reflections on a range of subjects, Lamott paints hope as a practice and an experience.
Overall, I don’t have a lot to say on Lamott’s writing or the content of the book itself. It was interesting to hear her experiences and I think she had some thoughtful observations on human nature, death, food, and addiction. I also did find her somewhat dry sense of humor to be engaging, although her delivery in the audiobook was not ideal for it. I did however feel at times her religious/spiritual proselytizing that she spoke about lacked self-reflection, which to me made her a less reliable narrator for the remainder of the book. Overall this was a fine, quick nonfiction read that I would generally recommend, but I don’t think it’s the most impactful or inspiring read you could find
Anne Lamott is well-known for her nonfiction, autobiographical writing and here she turns her attention to “almost everything” she knows rooted in the notion of hope. Blending personal narrative and somewhat meandering philosophical reflections on a range of subjects, Lamott paints hope as a practice and an experience.
Overall, I don’t have a lot to say on Lamott’s writing or the content of the book itself. It was interesting to hear her experiences and I think she had some thoughtful observations on human nature, death, food, and addiction. I also did find her somewhat dry sense of humor to be engaging, although her delivery in the audiobook was not ideal for it. I did however feel at times her religious/spiritual proselytizing that she spoke about lacked self-reflection, which to me made her a less reliable narrator for the remainder of the book. Overall this was a fine, quick nonfiction read that I would generally recommend, but I don’t think it’s the most impactful or inspiring read you could find
“Life is way wilder than I am comfortable with way farther out as we used to say, more magnificent, more deserving of awe, and, I would add, more benevolent - well-meaning, kindly. Waves and particles, redwoods, poetry, this world of wonders and suffering, great crowds of helpers and humanitarians, here we are alive right now, together.”
Love Anne Lamott. This was short and had some repeats from other works (a chapter on teaching schoolkids how to write where she includes many items from Bird by Bird).
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Sooooo disappointing: cliche, preachy, sweepingly general and then annoyingly specific. T
A friend gave me this book a while ago and I finally picked it up and read it. It was precisely what I needed. Lamott manages to find hope in this damaged broken world. She finds the good in humanity despite or frailty and or weaknesses. She celebrates our humanness. We are not perfect we are not flawless, we are all very human, and that’s OK. This is just such a reassuring message.
3.5 Stars.
I love Anne Lamott but I think maybe I've read too much of her in too short of a time as the last couple, including this one, just didn't *speak* to me the way others have. One problem I have noticed is that altho she is addressing anxiety and how to deal with it, reading her often makes me anxious; I don't know if it is that in the past couple of books she has written so much about her dysfunctional family, often to repetitiveness, but for some reason it does. That being said, I still had lots of little scraps of paper marking passages that I wanted to remember!
*We can change. People say we can't, but we do when the stakes or the pain is high enough. And when we do, life can change.*
*Don't let others make you feel unsophisticated if you reach middle age preferring Hershey's Kisses.*
*Eventually one has to find a way to eat and be kind to one's body. I am not a metaphysician, but this is the body you're going to have the entire time you are here.
...Can you also put away your tight pants, the ones that actually hurt you? Wear forgiving pants! The world is too hard as it is without letting tight pants have an opinion on how you are doing, and make it clear that they are disappointed in you.*
*I mostly gave up trying to get my uncle to be one of those people you miss so much when they die.*
I love Anne Lamott but I think maybe I've read too much of her in too short of a time as the last couple, including this one, just didn't *speak* to me the way others have. One problem I have noticed is that altho she is addressing anxiety and how to deal with it, reading her often makes me anxious; I don't know if it is that in the past couple of books she has written so much about her dysfunctional family, often to repetitiveness, but for some reason it does. That being said, I still had lots of little scraps of paper marking passages that I wanted to remember!
*We can change. People say we can't, but we do when the stakes or the pain is high enough. And when we do, life can change.*
*Don't let others make you feel unsophisticated if you reach middle age preferring Hershey's Kisses.*
*Eventually one has to find a way to eat and be kind to one's body. I am not a metaphysician, but this is the body you're going to have the entire time you are here.
...Can you also put away your tight pants, the ones that actually hurt you? Wear forgiving pants! The world is too hard as it is without letting tight pants have an opinion on how you are doing, and make it clear that they are disappointed in you.*
*I mostly gave up trying to get my uncle to be one of those people you miss so much when they die.*
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced