Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia just didn’t do it for me. The title is probably the best thing about the book, but I guess that’s why you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s title (or featured destinations). I really tried to be interested in this book, but the author’s perspective just really rubbed me the wrong way. It was too whiny and forced, and it’s not like I couldn’t have identified with it, I just didn’t. I wish I would have checked this out at the library instead of purchasing it. Now I’m starting to sound whiny!
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
The Glass Castle is an emotional, but exceptional book. Yes, many families have their own Rex Walls, and the accuracy of the author’s childhood memories could be questioned, but that really wasn’t the point of the book for me. This memoir is about family and acceptance. While I can’t claim to have had such a harsh childhood as the author, I could identify with the book. There’s a lesson to be learned of distancing and accepting family, and in that order.
Knocking out a classic this week. Shocking as it sounds, I had never read Orwell’s Animal Farm. I liked it. It was short and full of intended symbolism and political “humor.” Yes, it belongs on the classic list.
I have mixed reviews about The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. First, it’s an excellent reminder of how short life is and that we should pursue what makes us “happy”, not stay in dead-end jobs etc. However, I really dislike the idea of “outsourcing” your life and producing or managing random products (that don’t create value) just for revenue, to go live selfish lives.
Differences of opinion aside, it’s great to be reminded of taking mini-retirements. The first section is about fear and defining what you’d like to do and the worst case scenario if it didn’t work out. The next section covers freeing up time, so it’s kind of the opposite of “Getting Things Done” and more about streamlining so you have less to get done. The rest of the book was about outsourcing your life and generating income, so I really enjoyed the first half of the book a lot more. Overall, I would recommend the book because it makes you take a closer look at the life that your living (or not). Sometimes it’s good to take a zoomed-in look at your life, decisions, and future plans.
