ARC, Books

Book 779: Live Life Colorfully – Jason Naylor

Book cover of "Live Life Colorfully" with Amazon Affiliate linkWhen the publicist reached out to me about this one, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to accept it.* It’s been a few years since I reviewed an interactive book like this and even though they’re perennials on my top 10 viewed lists (oh heeeey Lee Crutchley and Sharon Jones . . . ), I always feel like they’re cheating a little bit, but then again I spent most of last year flying through “trashy romance novels” so . . . yeah.

However, after checking out Naylor’s Instagram and seeing how many of the bright pieces of art made me smile and honestly adoring his love for colorful socks, I said yes.

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ARC, Books

Book 547: Thriving Through Uncertainty – Tama Kieves

Another ARC/Galley off the list. Sometimes I wonder why I read these unsolicited books sent by publishers*, but then I remind myself that I’m always trying to expand my views and experience of the world. In this instance I probably should’ve given up after the first 50 pages because this just wasn’t for me even though it was a relatively fast read.

Along the same veins of The Self-Love Experiment I read earlier this year this book just rubbed me the wrong way from the start. I have a lot of ideas why this bothered me below, but I can’t put my finger on any one thing. Maybe it’s just me being a grump when I read this, but if that were the case you’d think I could use a little enlightenment. Read on to find out why this book irked the hell out of me.

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Book 536: The Self-Love Experiment – Shannon Kaiser

I received an unsolicited copy of this from the publisher and aside from the title making me giggle continuously (seriously it took about 200 pages before I stopped giggling), I figured everyone needs to be more “kind, compassionate, and accepting of [ourselves] so I thought I’d give it a go.* Unfortunately, it wasn’t for me.

It’s not even that the book was poorly written or that the subject matter is a bit too hokey for me it’s not. I’ve ready hokier things. I think for me it was the repetitive monotony of Kaiser’s vague references to things that she chose not to discuss (i.e. her former drug problems?). Why allude to them constantly and then not talk about them? Maybe she discusses it in another book, but for the number of times she mentioned it I kept waiting for that story and it never materialized.

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Book 469: Finding the Blue Sky – Joseph Emet

emet-joseph-finding-the-blue-skyUnlike the last three books by Miguel Ruiz, this book seemed to really make sense to me and didn’t offend me with it’s contradictory stories and lessons.

I didn’t plan to end the year with a bunch of self-help books, but because work took up so much of my time in the last third of the year I’m just now catching up on all the galleys I received.* That’s a sentence I never expected to write.

As someone who is incredibly skeptical of self-help books, religion, psychology, psychotherapy or really anything doing with the mind or the ethereal, I’m not only surprised at how many I’ve read this year, but I’m also surprised at how many I appreciated. I still think there is a time and place for all of the thing above, but I’ve found that when they are well written (which most of TarcherPerigee’s seem to be) they’re worth some time investment, but not too much!

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Books

Book 463: Drawn Together – Leah Pearlman

pearlman-leah-drawn-togetherI don’t want to generalize these books, but I know that’s what my response is going to sound like. Perhaps I’ve read too many similar to this recently, but  I’m going to start with a list of all the things this book reminded me of, but then also talk about why I felt it was different.

Prior to the publisher reaching out to me about this book* I actually hadn’t encountered Dharma Comics before, but this line drawing style isn’t anything new. It reminded me of a cross between xkcd and hyperbole and a half but with more of an intention and focus on getting through life and not just observations. And then add in that it reminded me also of books I’ve read recently such as Whose Mind is it Anyway? and How To Be Happy (Or At Least Less Sad), I’m a little surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did.

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