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A review by ardaigle
The Book of Moods: How I Turned My Worst Emotions Into My Best Life by Lauren Martin
4.0
In one word: Helpful
Cannonball Read Bingo: Self Care
Lauren Martin was a woman with a problem. Or a lot of problems, really, but at the crux of them all was the understanding that she was letting her bad moods, the ugliest versions of herself, run her life and ruin her relationships. She began a quest to understand better where these moods came from, how to confront them, and how she could change. This started with "Words of Women," a blog and online community she founded, focused on the growth and empowerment of women. I hadn't heard of the blog, but this book grew out of the roots of that, and I think it's a tidy little self-help self-care package that many women would enjoy.
Martin has a great structure, identifying the inspiration for a particular mood (such as The Mood: The Past and Future or The Mood: Beauty" followed by fun quotes about it, a brief description of what it looks like, her anecdotes about experiencing it and finally, a turning point and resolution of "the mood transcribed" where she shows the growth and steps forward to not letting his mood remain in the driver seat. Sprinkled throughout is a balanced amount of scientific research that adds context and body to her personal experiences.
I spend a lot of time self-reflecting and am a little older than she was when she started this journey, so while I liked the book and learned a lot, I think the target audience might be someone mid-twenties to (sigh) early thirties. My one hang-up was that she packed almost too much into this book: there was a lot of good juicy meaty content and lots of authentic and compelling stories, and before I was done digesting it, we were on to the next. I guess I could have slowed my reading, or maybe come back to it once a month or so, but it was a bit of a firehose of information. I wish the book had a little more room to breathe, maybe if she had released a "Volume I" and then maybe later a "Volume II."
The book I'm writing is a bit of a memoir self-help mash-up as well, so it was neat to see someone so seamlessly blend her personal story and lessons with research and humor. But as a friend of mine has told me recently, no need for jealousy because that's scarcity thinking! Instead, I'm going to let this book inspire me to share my own story with others.
Cannonball Read Bingo: Self Care
Lauren Martin was a woman with a problem. Or a lot of problems, really, but at the crux of them all was the understanding that she was letting her bad moods, the ugliest versions of herself, run her life and ruin her relationships. She began a quest to understand better where these moods came from, how to confront them, and how she could change. This started with "Words of Women," a blog and online community she founded, focused on the growth and empowerment of women. I hadn't heard of the blog, but this book grew out of the roots of that, and I think it's a tidy little self-help self-care package that many women would enjoy.
Martin has a great structure, identifying the inspiration for a particular mood (such as The Mood: The Past and Future or The Mood: Beauty" followed by fun quotes about it, a brief description of what it looks like, her anecdotes about experiencing it and finally, a turning point and resolution of "the mood transcribed" where she shows the growth and steps forward to not letting his mood remain in the driver seat. Sprinkled throughout is a balanced amount of scientific research that adds context and body to her personal experiences.
I spend a lot of time self-reflecting and am a little older than she was when she started this journey, so while I liked the book and learned a lot, I think the target audience might be someone mid-twenties to (sigh) early thirties. My one hang-up was that she packed almost too much into this book: there was a lot of good juicy meaty content and lots of authentic and compelling stories, and before I was done digesting it, we were on to the next. I guess I could have slowed my reading, or maybe come back to it once a month or so, but it was a bit of a firehose of information. I wish the book had a little more room to breathe, maybe if she had released a "Volume I" and then maybe later a "Volume II."
The book I'm writing is a bit of a memoir self-help mash-up as well, so it was neat to see someone so seamlessly blend her personal story and lessons with research and humor. But as a friend of mine has told me recently, no need for jealousy because that's scarcity thinking! Instead, I'm going to let this book inspire me to share my own story with others.