What Are You Waiting For?

Title: What Are You Waiting For?
Author: Kristen Moeller
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: I like the author’s story a lot and would have loved this as a memoir, but the attempt at being a self-help book really didn’t work for me.

I find this book difficult to describe because I disagree with the book cover description. Purportedly, this is a book about how to change your life instead of waiting for your life to change. In reality, it largely focuses on the author’s own challenges throughout her life, from early drug addiction and bulimia to her recent loss of her house in a wildfire. She reframes many of these challenges as ways in which she was waiting for something. She also includes thought-provoking questions that challenge the reader to apply the lessons she’s learned to their own life.

Creative Confidence

Title: Creative Confidence
Author: Tom and David Kelley
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Review Summary: Although this could be a very helpful book for people doing design work, I found the advice to be less generally applicable than the summary suggests.

The authors Tom and David Kelley work together at the Stanford design school, where they help both people and companies to think creatively. In Creative Confidence, they share their personal experiences with many clients as well as some of the exercises they use to help students improve their creativity. They are strong believers that everyone is creative and can learn to access their innate creativity.

Hardwiring Happiness

Title: Hardwiring Happiness
Author: Rick Hanson
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Fun Fact: Things you think about often shape your neural pathways.
Review Summary: I only finished this book two days ago and I actually think it’s already making a difference for me because it gives such great actionable advice. Very helpful!

Hardwiring Happiness is all about focusing on the little things. It is not, however, just another one of those books telling you  “live in the moment” which are so popular these days. Instead, it focuses on events and feelings that you can pay attention to in order to build up the inner strength you need to face specific challenges. By focusing on positive experiences, you help yourself remember positive feelings more strongly, despite our brain naturally remembering negative experiences better.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts

Title: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
Author: Susan Cain
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★★
Fun Fact: Individual animals may also be categorized as introverts or extroverts.
Review Summary: This was fun, easy to read, enjoyable and educational. Also somewhat inspiring for us introverts 🙂

The stereotypical introvert is not viewed as someone who could be a great leader, lawyer, or salesperson. Susan Cain challenges that view with both fascinating research and enjoyable anecdotes. This research strongly suggests that society could benefit from the complementary strengths of extroverts and introverts. However, much of American society is designed to favor extroverts. Cain discusses why that is; why we should try to change it; and how we can begin doing so.

The Best of Self-Help in Mini-Reviews

Title: All the Money in the World: What the Happiest People Know About Getting and Spending
Author: Laura Vanderkam
Source: library
Fun Fact: As of 2006, earning $60,000/year made you part of the top 10% highest earning people in the world.
Rating: ★★★★★

All the Money in the World is a thoughtful series of essays on earning and using money to maximize your happiness. It’s full of interesting thought experiments, facts, and questions that will make you think about money in ways you never have before. The writing is great, reminding me of Malcolm Gladwell’s many books or Mirroring People, and definitely meeting my criteria that it be clear and concise. Although the chapters could be read as stand-alone essays, the interesting topic kept me reading one after another. My favorite parts were

Why Read Self-Help Books?

Self-help books often get a bad rap. I think it’s sometimes viewed as a little desperate to read them and a lot of people don’t believe a book is likely to give advice that can help with your life. And with a lot of self-help books, that’s true. Sometimes they offer very vague advice or advice that is (in my opinion) just stupid. So are there good self-help books? And what are the important criteria for picking one?