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980 reviews for:
Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
Shauna Niequist
3.69 AVERAGE
980 reviews for:
Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
Shauna Niequist
3.69 AVERAGE
Every once in a while, there are those books that just change everything for you and here is one for me. Thank you, Shauna. This book was a gift.
I loved this book. It is one to savor, and for me, was the right book at the right time. While the author and I are close in age, and from the same Chicago area, and share a passion for books, community and food, what I most identified with was her lifelong need to prove her worthiness, her frantic productivity---which is the real theme of the book, letting all that external earning go so as to be fully alive in the present moment.
I'd have loved more detail about how she put the change into action, but she makes the point that is not about time management or even external change, though there were clearly some. It's an inside job that I'm still learning.
I'd have loved more detail about how she put the change into action, but she makes the point that is not about time management or even external change, though there were clearly some. It's an inside job that I'm still learning.
There is a book waiting for you out there. One that may be just what you need. This one was mine. I needed to read this. I needed to discover this book and I am so happy I did. It's full of things I needed to be reminded about and things I needed to hear.
Book club book. Timely, given the current season. Somewhat privilaged perspective, but privileges I often share so relevant.
I really, really love "listening" to Shauna's writing. She is honest and down-to-earth, but in a poetic style that draws you in. I simply enjoy her writing. I love the ideas expressed in this book; it is an invitation to slow down, love hard, and not take yourself so seriously. I have a hard time jumping on board with her theologically (I find it heavy on the feel good and lacking on the Scripture-based) but I don't think that's why she wrote this book. To take it at face value, this is a great book and I would cautiously recommend it to anyone NOT looking for a lesson in theology
Good book and well written. Not my jam due to how much she talked about god and religion. While I enjoyed the majority of her over arching points, and felt like I could relate many to my life, it felt little long due to how much she was ent back to her type of faith.
I love Shauna's honesty. Always have, (probably) always will. And her cry for saying no to perfectionism and yes to connection are words I can always hear more. I bookmarked a few words that got my heart, and her essay on "Good Fruit" is one that I will come back to again. I'll buy her next book and read her blogs. (4 stars) But the book really lost steam about halfway through. (2 stars) And the filler uncomfortably sat in the way of an otherwise enjoyable collection, often slipping into stories that may have been better left untold to the public, once descriptively alluding to the extreme messiness of a friend's life while minimizing the messiness of her own ("I've been carrying his family's deception and betrayal and disease for decades. I'm honored to. And he carries the broken parts of my family's story, and my failures and regrets.")
Also I couldn't help but think that the length she goes to say how putting work before her family was bad seems to be wrapped up in a lot of shame, for herself, but also for others. Some times work has to come first for a period if that is the story that you and your family are telling together, and there isn't shame in that. Hurt happens when expectations are set that aren't met, when narratives go off track. She touches on this concept at one point but leaves it behind again and again to drive home the point that being with family all the time is better. And how much better it is to snuggle with her son. But that's also a privilege. Because she hustled and has resources now that allow her to be able to choose to snuggle with her son instead of work. Not everyone has the resources to make that decision.
Also I couldn't help but think that the length she goes to say how putting work before her family was bad seems to be wrapped up in a lot of shame, for herself, but also for others. Some times work has to come first for a period if that is the story that you and your family are telling together, and there isn't shame in that. Hurt happens when expectations are set that aren't met, when narratives go off track. She touches on this concept at one point but leaves it behind again and again to drive home the point that being with family all the time is better. And how much better it is to snuggle with her son. But that's also a privilege. Because she hustled and has resources now that allow her to be able to choose to snuggle with her son instead of work. Not everyone has the resources to make that decision.
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Appreciated that this went to the heart of things as the driver before any hint of anything practical. This is honest and true. I did find it a tiny bit rambly and repetitive towards the start. Although not entirely relatable this is an important book and the most impacting that I’ve read within this genre.
Note: I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author.
Initially, I really liked the book. I even recommended it to friends. Somewhere around the halfway mark, the book started getting a little repetitive, and then a bit too "preachy". The summary doesn't give an honest reference point for just how God/Christianity heavy this book is. Additionally, the more I've sat with the book, the more apt I've found reviewer Annie Rim's observation: "The big ideas were powerful but the details were privileged and narrow."
In some ways, it feels like the needle hasn't moved at all in the past five years on the big ideas. As I listened to Niequist, many points resonated: balancing expectation versus capacity, prioritizing life in a way that makes sense for you and doesn't just conform to the norms, focusing on the now instead of slogging for an unknown future (not discounting ambition, drive, and striving for success, but not at the cost of being present and your health). These are all things I discuss with my girlfriends.
As I listened beyond the big ideas, the "solutions" rang hollow. They were the solutions for someone who is financially secure and can afford the luxury of choice in big life decisions (e.g.: forsaking opportunities that would serve as career changing moments for others). None of the anecdotes really got to "aha moments" that you expect in a book about self-discovery. There was nothing to mull over and associate with the concept of "present over perfect".
I think I got through this book because I listened to it while doing chores. The "hey, that's what I was just saying to my friend" lines stood out as more poignant in the moment, because I was in a semi-distracted state. I wish I had known how Christianity-centric this book was going to be ... I might not have picked it up. I just feel like the topic of mindfulness, which is what the phrase "present over perfect" evokes, has been treated and delivered far more genuinely and successfully by other authors.
Overall, this is a weak 3/5 stars and not my first recommendation for a book about mindfulness and practical ways to achieve "present over perfect".
Initially, I really liked the book. I even recommended it to friends. Somewhere around the halfway mark, the book started getting a little repetitive, and then a bit too "preachy". The summary doesn't give an honest reference point for just how God/Christianity heavy this book is. Additionally, the more I've sat with the book, the more apt I've found reviewer Annie Rim's observation: "The big ideas were powerful but the details were privileged and narrow."
In some ways, it feels like the needle hasn't moved at all in the past five years on the big ideas. As I listened to Niequist, many points resonated: balancing expectation versus capacity, prioritizing life in a way that makes sense for you and doesn't just conform to the norms, focusing on the now instead of slogging for an unknown future (not discounting ambition, drive, and striving for success, but not at the cost of being present and your health). These are all things I discuss with my girlfriends.
As I listened beyond the big ideas, the "solutions" rang hollow. They were the solutions for someone who is financially secure and can afford the luxury of choice in big life decisions (e.g.: forsaking opportunities that would serve as career changing moments for others). None of the anecdotes really got to "aha moments" that you expect in a book about self-discovery. There was nothing to mull over and associate with the concept of "present over perfect".
I think I got through this book because I listened to it while doing chores. The "hey, that's what I was just saying to my friend" lines stood out as more poignant in the moment, because I was in a semi-distracted state. I wish I had known how Christianity-centric this book was going to be ... I might not have picked it up. I just feel like the topic of mindfulness, which is what the phrase "present over perfect" evokes, has been treated and delivered far more genuinely and successfully by other authors.
Overall, this is a weak 3/5 stars and not my first recommendation for a book about mindfulness and practical ways to achieve "present over perfect".