Christine

''How to shove your problem onto someone''

Revisado: 02-03-18

What disappointed you about The Empath's Survival Guide?

This example from the book quickly demonstrates the overal idea: ''A friend of mine got a phone call that distressed her. Because I am such a sensitive empath, I felt my friend's anger and got distressed myself. After she got off the phone, I had to immediately ask her to never get distressed in my prescence again because I was now very upset''. ARE YOU SERIOUS? This book is a one-way-ticket to ''everything-is-about-me''-world. And if it isn't about you, you MAKE it about you. This writer encourages people to spread out their sensitive toes all over the place and make their problem everyone else's problem. Don't think about other people's feelings, just leave their birthday party early because big groups distress you! Or better yet, don't go at all! You just tell them how hard life is on you because you are sooooooo sensitive as an empath and BAM, you are off the hook for everything. Heck, you should aks a pay raise from your boss because you have still managed to come to work even though you have to deal with all of your 20 000 complicated feelings all day every day!

What character would you cut from The Empath's Survival Guide?

I think this book went way too far and is NOT a good solution for any empath, including myself. Sure it is a good idea to rest and distress, but who doesn't need that? I think it is much too simplistic and even a bit childish to entitle yourself to write other people off as ''emotional vampires''. NOBODY is just an ''emotional vampire'' and definitely not for their own amusement. This society has build up a zero tolerance to any kind of negative emotion and immediately has to run away from it out of fear for ''not feeling good'' 24/7. Guess what? Life is hard and is full of unpleasant surprises and the unpleasant feelings that come along with it. Don't get this book to try and start dealing with it, unless YOU want to become the emotional vampire yourself that will drain everyone else of their fun and glory because you couldn't deal with your own problems and thus had to make them someone else's.

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Too shallow to really make a difference

Revisado: 02-03-18

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This book is not bad, but just too shallow and simplistic to make a real difference. Many points the writers make seem to be explained either too little, or seem to be woven into the Japanese culture too much for a member of Western society to be able to adapt it so quickly. For example, the writers tell the listener there is no Japanese word for ''retirement''. How do the writers then expect a Western reader to immediately understand and adapt to the Japanese idea of never retiring when they have grown up with retirement all embedded in their life? There's also a much too optimistic description of how ''every Japanese person has a passion they follow'' and how this keeps them going. Why not tell the reader the whole story, about the crushing pressure the Japanese society holds on people, the pressure to succeed, to get a good job, to behave perfectly and be humble and agreeable and whatnot? Perhaps the people of a 100 years old did not feel this pressure yet in their youth, but the current Japanese society is definitely not as ideal and full of ''passion'' as these writers try to make it seem. This book is written like an unrealistic, idealistic fairytale that just does not hit the right spot. A real shame.

What about Naoko Mori’s performance did you like?

The voice of Naoko was very nice to listen to. It was soft and the Japanese words came out so perfectly, they made a welcome change to the English.

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Lovely, Honest, Inspiring

Revisado: 01-19-18

What did you like best about this story?

Stephen King's honesty and incredibly fun, light-hearted way of telling his story.

Which scene was your favorite?

Stephen King definitely gives some incredible tips, very practical ones even, for the aspiring writer. A must-read for everyone who wants to get creative between the sheets... of paper.

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The tone is too condescending

Revisado: 01-19-18

What would have made The God Delusion better?

The God Delusion could have been a great book if everything was not told in such a snobby, patronizing way. I find it shocking for a couple who puts themselves forward as ''highly educated'' to be so short-minded and condescending towards religion. Don't get me wrong, I whole-heartedly agree with the material that is being presented in the book, I just don't think it is necessary to ridicule people who believe in God.

What could Richard Dawkins have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Mr. Dawkins should first of all not use arguments such as ''this makes no sense, therefore it is untrue'' (used for example when talking about the story of the birth of Jesus). Yes the story is incredibly strange, but that's why it is called ''faith'' and not ''fact''. Ridiculing it doesn't make it untrue for other people. There is also no use for talking down on religious people as if they are ''uneducated peasants'', if you ever want them to consider the point you are making.

What does Richard Dawkins and Lalla Ward bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Their incredibly condescending way of talking and ridiculing.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I believe most arguments brought forward were very interesting and agreeable. Richard Dawkins presents the reader with excellent material to build the foundation on which their atheism may rest. I hope he might bring the message in a better way, somewhere in the near future.

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This book is useful for US only

Revisado: 01-19-18

What disappointed you about I Will Teach You to Be Rich?

If you need some financial advice and live in Europe, don't turn to this book.

Would you ever listen to anything by Ramit Sethi again?

His voice was okay. Not great, not bad.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from I Will Teach You to Be Rich?

US has a big fixation with credit cards and loans. In Europe, these things are often different, I feel. We have different financial issues and thus we need different advice. This books was not useful to me because of that.

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Lovely accent, but kind of cliche

Revisado: 01-19-18

Would you try another book from Gary John Bishop and/or Gary John Bishop?

I would love to listen to his voice again, but his message was nothing special.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

It would need new insights, something that has never been said before. This was just one big recollection of many other self help books that are already out there.

Do you think Unfu*k Yourself needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No. The book is full of the cliches. ''Follow your dreams!'' and ''take control of your life!'' are pretty much the underlying messages, told in a tough Scottish way. Great, but not very effective anymore since there are so many people out there shouting these words off of their rooftops. By now we've been drowned in this and don't need any more of it.

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Perfect for everyone!

Revisado: 01-19-18

What made the experience of listening to Self-Compassion the most enjoyable?

This book was very soothing, very educational and incredibly well paced and written.

What did you like best about this story?

The author makes the subject understandable and takes you through the proces of self-compassion one step at a time.

Any additional comments?

The voice was very nice to listen to. It was easy to listen for hours straight. The subject and chapters could keep my interest for a long time.

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''Feng Shui'' shouldn't be in this title

Revisado: 01-19-18

What would have made Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui better?

This book is one big guilt trip. If you want someone to endlessly nag to you about cleaning your place, go call your mom. Nobody needs a 5 hour long rant about ''clutter''.

What was most disappointing about Karen Kingston’s story?

Apparently, cleaning your house is the miracle cure for EVERYTHING. ''There once was a lady who couldn't find a job. She cleaned her house and found a job!'' or ''there was this one guy who was single. He sorted out his garage, love he found!''. Please stop. This is ridiculous.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I was very disappointed to find there was nothing about Feng Shui in this book. It was only about cleaning your house, why and how. Maybe once or twice the author has made a mention about Feng Shui, but not any sort of explanation. The title therefore is quite misleading.

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Another book where ''mediocre'' is a curse word...

Revisado: 08-11-17

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

People who need to achieve ''success'' (in the sense of becoming someone that is world-famous/rich) at all costs can perhaps find a thing or two in this book. For everyone else who is looking for guidance on personal success, regardless of what the world might think of that and if it will make them rich, please run away from this book now and go read ''The subtle art of not giving a f*ck'' by Mark Manson.

Has Barking up the Wrong Tree turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not perse. It has made me want to get a better one. Such as ''The subtle art of not giving a f*ck'' by Mark Manson.

What about Roger Wayne’s performance did you like?

Roger Wayne's voice is nice to listen to, even for longer periods of time.

What character would you cut from Barking up the Wrong Tree?

What made me turn away from this book instantly? The following hideous phrase: ''People who have lost their parents before the age of 16 often show great amounts of success in their later life. That's because from an early age on, they have learned that the world is an unsafe place and they need to work very hard to keep their head above the water. Later in life this benefits them greatly and often helps them to reach higher places than anyone else''. Are you SERIOUS?! I understand the chapter is about discovering your strenghts and turning your weaknesses in something useful and all that, but this book is too much. How can you say something like that? How can you take such a traumatic experience and say it is a ''strength'' because someone was able to grow rich and famous out of it? ''Success'' is apparentely SO important that even a ruined childhood can become a source of jealousy (''if only my parents had died early in my life, I would now have had a succesful business...'') I'm afraid all of these orphans would have preferred having parents over any of their success anytime. Honestly, stop making ''success'' look like the highest achievable thing in life. It's sad and in the light of life and death, a combination of laughable, tragic and disgusting.

Any additional comments?

This book fits so well into the thought of today: ''I HAVE to become famous! How do I achieve that asap?!''. Here's the trick: find something you like to do, for you. Regardless of money or other people's opinion's about it. Maybe it will grow into something, maybe not. But it doesn't matter. Because you will have something to live for, for you. And that something will then be worth more to you than any money or fame. Fame and money might even kill it! Honestly though, Mark Mason will do a much better job to get that message across if you give him a chance. So return this book and onto a better one, I'd say.

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esto le resultó útil a 14 personas