Andrey

It's a good book, but I really had higher expectations. Still touching, talking about hidden feelings and daily life issues we always try to keep inside.

But the thing I was missing was the punch Backman typically has. Previous books from the trilogy were really shocking to some point. He makes you think you've figured it all out. And then you're ashamed your prejudice kicked in and things are completely different.

I missed that here. I felt it only once, in the very beginning. Everything else was good, but not amazing.

I still liked it though. It touches on many topics we do need to discuss more often.

One of the few good books on the topic. A good balance between theory and practical advice. Talks from both personal perspectives, as well as an advisor. A bit lengthy but great overall!

Regarding the “bucketing,” - it felt more natural here, more of a guide on distinguishing behaviors. It was mentioned numerous times people rarely fit into one type and are more often mixed. Also, the end of the book was more general, also focusing on your personal actions and self-care.

Extremely mixed feelings. I like the overall idea of “things are not as pretty as they are, and there IS a power struggle going on most of the time, despite you liking it or not”.

But the book itself I dreaded. It's slow, full of “X did this, so he's powerful”. Stories of most famous outliners don't prove anything. The fact that Jack Dorsey lied he founded Twitter is something I couldn't care less. The book is full of strange stories, that don't tell you anything besides “this guy's awesome and powerful “. Then the author adds “I'm not saying you should lie”, just so he can close it with “the person is now I jail”. Well.. okay.

There is some juice in it though. There are interesting ideas, but burried deep down under things like “in order to make yourself famous - write a book and go to podcasts”. Like who's this book for?!

Very general guidance and ideas. I would assume his course has more in-depth, actionable ideas. Or at least some scientific research. In the book it's bla-bla-trust-me kind of stuff.

Even though I'm not into interviews, the first half was extremely interesting and helpful!

An amazing book! Everything I say would not be enough. The perfect format for me - super dense, but it brings up so many questions and thoughts that you can spend months thinking about them.
I highly recommend it, much like most of Derek's books!

An interesting book. It's lengthier than what I'd like, but it's full of juice.
Sometimes the author provides too much of an “example lists” and it feels like a collection of Instagram posts (and it actually is). Then there's some logical and well thought content/idea.

The books contains way more thoughts than what the title is about. All interconnected and going around boundaries, but still - it would've been better to be split into two/three smaller books.

Either way, I think it's worth reading, especially if you're struggling with boundaries.

What I disliked is the around-twenty-times “in my 14 years of practicing therapy” along with the instant context switching. Both, I believe, are because of the content being stitched from numerous smaller chunks.

A rarely good book. I left some time after reading it before reviewing it. And I still believe it one of the best books I've read.

It was strange to be as there are many contradictive ideas. Sometimes too repetitive, but not to the extend to overshadow the good parts.

I wish I read books like this in school. I would've perceived it differently, for sure, but it would've been a great philosophical foundation to life.

Life is short, and you cannot achieve everything that comes to your mind. The solution isn't to optimise or prioritize. It's to accept it.

Awesome as usual!

As a huge Seth fan, I must sadly say this one was a disappointment. I felt it hard to read, thoughts scattered across many “chapters” (usually a page or two long). It seemed to me more like a bunch of blog posts combined into a book. Also in those little “chapters” there were so many repetitions of the very same thing over and over again I felt like a person with mental problems.

Genuinely different than most of his works, which I admire!

I wish all books were like this one! Short, but extremely rich and worth reading! Zero repetition whatsoever. Many books could be a blog post. This book is made of blog posts, and each one is so deep you can spend days thinking about it. I'm amazed about the clarity of this writing, it seemed like Derek spent months figuring each one out.

A rarely good one.

A great book overall, but probably a bad timing, as most of the things I've already read in other places. A bit longer than needed.

First book read on stoicism. I'd give it 3.5 rating.

The first third was great. Short, concise, gives you some historical facts and a gentle into on what's it all about.

It then becomes slower, a bit bloated, not providing much new information. Sometimes it was going off-topic for a good few pages.

It was still an overall short, easy to read book. Ideas are presented in a digestible manner. I'm sure there are better books than this one on the topic, but I'd also imagine there are way more that are worse.

Worth quick reading in a few days.

A must read!

It might be because I've read Big Feeling, the other book by the same authors, I didn't like this one that much. It felt unorganized, jumping from topic to topic in a matter of a few lines. Good examples, but without the proper balance with suggestions. Equality and inclusion are topics often merged with the current topic at seemingly random locations.

Good ideas, but it feels more of a gathering of ideas rather than coming up with their own. The other book won me big time. Still worth reading, probably skim a bit :)

I rarely like “help-yourself” kind of books, but this one stood out. It's short, concise, almost lacking crap. Most of the ideas are not revolutionary, but the way it's written is great. I never felt bored while reading it.

I think that's the single absolutely painful books to read, that I haven't abandoned and read till the end.

There's plentiful of reviews saying “may there's something in me, because I don't like it”, as well as “I'm giving it 3* as it will look bad if I give it only 2*”.

The book is a mess. The first part is supposed to be autobiographical, but it has tons of issues. It's lacking cohesiveness (story doesn't match in a few places). Then there's the constant repetition (how bad the soup was, how hard the walking in the snow was). I get it, I am sure it was unbelievable awful and painful. But the more times the author needs to repeat himself, the weaker the book becomes, as he wasn't able to express his feelings and make you re-experience them. Not to mention how weird it seems if you read about his real life, like he spent 4 days on Auschwitz and total 5 months on those camps (not three years as he writes). I am not saying his suffering is a lie or something like that. I'm just saying I don't understand how such a slow, messed up and non-engaging “autobiography” might be liked by many.

Second part was just excruciating to read. Extremely disconnected, repeatable, full of semi-explained thoughts. He's constantly repeating how people's suffer CAN BE and IS something they can find meaning in. How? Doesn't say. Why just a handful of people manage to achieve this? Doesn't say (besides “it's hard”). There's his new system that can help people - well great, here's a long list of fancy words that you cannot even read, that he partially invented himself, and surely this means it all makes sense.

He wrote it himself - this short book cannot give you an explanation on what my theory is. I don't see any reason as why anyone should read a faulty and dull “almost autobiography”, followed by “almost explanation” of a theory.

The book has some great ideas in it, I must admit. But they're buried in an immense pile of hard to swallow nonsense. And at the end, it's mostly quotations from other people.

I wish I read a 5-10 page summary, instead of spending time on this book. Or maybe I'm just extremely disappointed why one of the most marketed books turned out to be such a pain to read...

Amazing idea, great suggestions, extremely bloated with unnecessary and repetitive “convincing stories”.

A great book, overall! Unfortunately the juice is in the last 30% of it. Everything else feels like chit-chat with constant repetitions that sound like “trust me, it's like this”.

Anyways, still a great read.

I'm not sure I can find words to describe what I feel about those two books. I've never read anything so touching and so related to today's pains in life. The intertwined stories and feelings felt like the things we all experience daily, but no one never dares to express verbally!

One of the best (if not THE best) books I've ever read. And the ones I would definitely suggest to everyone I know. Already planning to reread them once per year!

Another great one from Basecamp. I would even say one of the best out there - exact and without any bloat. A must read for every manager/owner of a business.

Summary: Best book on the topic, period!

Longer: The book surprised me! It is by far the best one in this category.
Its structure is straightforward, easy to follow, and, most of all - skippable if you don't feel it's related to you (I don't watch TV, so I skipped the entire section).

The intro is relatively short (it could've been even shorter, but still good enough). Then they provide a handful of tips & tricks you can try to improve your life. They are split into top categories (Highlight, Laser, Energize, and Reflect). Then there's another layer of categorization based on a topic (e-mails, food, etc.) This structure made it easy to navigate and skip (if necessary).

The content itself is also great. Short and, most importantly, actionable suggestions. I really liked their personal stories, which often included “I'm failing in this myself.” They didn't choose the “titan” standpoint, preaching to you with their all-knowing wisdom. The feeling was you're reading something from your colleague who is struggling as you do.

All the suggestions were presented with the constant “this might not be true; try it for yourself first,” which was also lovely.

There is nothing amazingly new in the book. But how it's written, structured, and presented got me. It summarizes digital minimalism, essentialism, focusing, quiet time, calming down, and beating procrastination.

Amazing first half, laggish second.

This one is boiled down to one long sentence at the last page. Could be a blog post if you have some imagination. 150 pages full of screenshots of social media from people praising “the Rule” and how they are on day one of their glamorous life transformation.
Honestly, not entirely sure why I read this one.

The good thing is you can skim it in an hour or two...

Even though I was familiar with most of the topics through other mediums, the book was awesome! Easy to read, great balance between storytelling and concise advice. At the end, I've felt both joyful from reading a story, as well as full of action steps I could easily implement. The easygoing way great leaders and companies are presented is one to admire.

While I really enjoyed the concept, I do believe this book should've been a few times shorter. It's written by a professor and her narrative is pretty complex at times, while also diving so deep into some stories that they take tens of pages without any real meaning.

Everything is co-related to a tribe of natives, but has little connection with the real life.

Despite all of that, I loved the main idea and the book helped me a lot opening my eyes to see how far we've gone separating ourselves from the nature and the natural way of living!