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974 reviews for:
Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
Shauna Niequist
3.69 AVERAGE
974 reviews for:
Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
Shauna Niequist
3.69 AVERAGE
The intro grabbed my attention but found the book less compelling as I read further. This is more memoir than thoughtful examination. The author has a rather privileged existence and seemingly few deep struggles other than her self inflicted expectation. There were sections that brought a smile to my face, and a few practical ideas I will likely use.
3.5 stars. Based on the title and description, it appears that this book would be a sort of how-to guide to become present over perfect, and I spent much of the novel waiting for Niequist to explain exactly that. Told in anecdotes, the novel highlights Niequist's moments of personal growth and realizations on her journey to become more present in her life. While it never really gets to the heart of how to become present over perfect, there are still plenty of nuggets of wisdom sprinkled throughout. I found that this book was redundant at times, but there were also passages that made me stop and reflect.
I gave the book two stars in recognition of its big ideas - slower, simpler living leads to peace, contentment, thanksgiving etc. but consideration of audience is a miss for me. It appears the audience for this book are privileged Protestant women, most likely white evangelicals, who have experienced professional and familial success and are feeling unfulfilled and over busy. A pretty narrow demographic. I’m not downing the big-ideas, but for me the literary quotes incorporated in the text were most valuable and far less wordy.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
Are we the same person? This was like reading my diary if I knew myself better than I do.
Such a great book. I definitely needed to read this because of where I was in life. This book helped me so much. I recommend to anyone who feels too busy, too stressed, too tired, or all of the above!
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Had a hard time relating to this one. While I love the idea behind the title, my life is vastly different from the author's. There were some gems that I really loved but overall I found myself skimming a lot of the chapters.
It was different than I expected. It will not tell you a step by step guide on how to become present over perfect. It’s more of a life story about becoming aware that that was needed in her life. Still good but if you come in to the book expecting a “how to”, this isn’t it.
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This book was a refreshing look into the author's pursuit for a soul-filled way of living. Her words were open, honest, raw, and left me not only recognizing the frantic nature of my own days, but also yearning for a change of pace as well. Her ability to craft solutions for cutting out the chaos from the simplicity found during relaxed vacations was poetic, and so easy to parallel to my own life. This story is informative, gripping, and eye-opening; a straightforward account of how the ability to be present over perfect wins out every time.