Rating: 
Summary: This book changed my outlook on my boring career!
Review: I read this book while on vacation at a resort in Mexico, a trip made possible by having a successful career - a career that I despise. I was extremely inspired by this book. It's a collection of stories about real life people and how they found the careers they were meant to find. The really inspirational part is that these aren't people who walked out of their current careers one day and went to live on an Amish farm - they are people like you and I, who have to pay a mortgage, who have kids, families, car payments, and other responsibilities who can't just up and quit what they are doing right this minute. What these people did was to start small - perhaps a volunteer project, or a part-time job, or just a few times a week working toward their dream - more all the time, until they were able to make a life out of it. Some worked their dream lives into their current careers, and most used the skills they'd been building in careers they hated to actually succeed in things that they love! The very next week, I signed up to volunteer for an English as a Second Language program once a week, and the first time I went, they let me teach for a couple of hours. I love it! I am still working at my old career that allows me to keep my house, but I am inspired by this book to believe that some day, I'll be able to teach ESL full time and still live comfortably. I can't wait!
Rating: 
Summary: Provocative Book That Makes You Think
Review: This book is provocative in that there are no easy answers for the people the author interviews, nor are there really any easy answers for most of us, in my opinion. Some people know from an early age what they want to do with their lives, learn to do it, are happy doing it, and never think about changing; this book is for those of us who are NOT those people. There are many career books written to help coach you with questionnaires, advice, and other direct methods. This is not that type of book. It is a series of interviews of various types of people from all socioeconomic groups and what the author Po Bronson learned from talking with them. I found it helpful as I read along, because I would visualize myself talking to the interviewees and Po and think of how I might respond in the same situations. Quite a view of the people interviewed were still confused about what they were doing, still didn't have the definitive answer they wanted. This is realistic, too, in my opinion. Some of them made false starts. All of them learned a lot about themselves in the process of their search/journey, and this is the point of the book. If you have already been through the "What Color is Your Parachute?"-type of books (excellent books, of course, but not like this one) and need a different, less structured way (sans "exercises") of finding out the best work for this time in your life, I would recommend this book.
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Summary: This book is inspirational.
Review: I have been at a cross road in my career for a long time and this book helped me to muster the courage to make a change. When I read that other people in worse positions did it, I realized that if they could do it so can I. Don't expect this book to be a how-to book, just let it motivate you to take the next step. I recommend two books for the how-to part: Optimal Thinking: How To Be Your Best Self which helped me to define my ultimate purpose, put the optimal plan together, take the best steps and make the most of every situation. And, What Color is Your Parichute is a wonderful book to help you go right through the process of job change from resume to interview.
Rating: 
Summary: Suggestion for a sequel
Review: Have each person interviewed read Rick Warren's "Purpose-Driven Life", then come back a year later and interview them. Seriously. They are looking for answers...but appears they are not asking the right questions. On the surface, problems always seem complex. But upon closer examination, the source of the problem is usually simple.
Rating:
Summary: No easy answers
Review: WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE is not a self-help book. It doesn't provide any clear-cut answers, nor does it claim to. Instead, it offers "stories of ordinary people... messy and complicated." If you're looking for a step by step guide to career planning, you won't find it here. However, if you're looking to garner some inspiration from the lives and decisions of others, this book may be just what you need. The stories are organized into eight sections, each dealing with a specific theme. The first section deals with "making the right decision in the absence of experience", and it asks the question: how can you really pick a preference if you've never tried it? Perhaps one of the most important decisions Po Bronson makes is to not only focus on success stories. For example, Jessica Grossman thought she'd always wanted to be a doctor, like her father. But once she became an ob-gyn, she realized she wasn't cut out for it, and couldn't handle the long hours and constant pressure. During her interview, she often broke down and sobbed in the middle of a busy coffee shop. Clearly, Jessica Grossman could not know what being a doctor would entail, until she'd experienced it first hand. The second section deals with the way our social class influences the question of what to do with our lives. The third focuses on resisting temptations that distract from true aspirations. "Failure's hard, but success is much more dangerous," says Mr. Bronson. "If you're successful at the wrong thing, the mix of praise and money and opportunity can lock you in forever." He follows that theme up with section four, which deals with the importance of making the best of a situation, whether it lasts three years or a lifetime. Russel Carpenter, for example, has only had one employer in his thirty-five years, which is highly unusual these days. Yet he loves his job, and has seen no reason to leave NASA for another company. Section five looks at practical people who "dare to look inward, to their own muddled psyche". And section six explores the power of our environment over our career choices. Claude Sidi had wanted to be a marine biologist. He became one, but working on a remote project on the Oregon coast made him realize how much he needed people. He quit and became a dentist in a big city. He snaps pictures of his patients and can tell you the name of their dogs. In short, he loves it. Section seven looks at the way couples handle their dual ambitions, careers, and dreams. And in the final section, Mr. Bronson looks at those who (like many of us) haven't yet figured out their dream jobs, but who are building skills that they might be able to draw upon when the time comes to make their contribution. Written in a warm, almost confidential tone, WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE approaches the stories of ordinary people with an empathy that's hard to find in typical journalist endeavors. Human interest articles often end up being dry and impersonal, yet Po Bronson inserts his own brand of humor and encouragement into each story. It merits repeating that this book does not offer any answers. Instead, it takes an in-depth look at the struggle between money, prestige, security and power and personal fulfillment. Many stories tell the tales of people who have gone from rags to riches, and then back to rags again. If you're at a point in your life where you find yourself wondering whether you were meant to do more, or if you're contemplating quitting your job and making a bold career move, the stories in this book should inspire you to decide upon the course of action that's best for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Is Po Bronson Clueless?
Review: Is he clueless to not only what he dubs 'his generation' - generation X - but to society in general? The people he includes in his book are rich, part of the 2% of people that benefits from GW Bush's tax cuts. There's his story of the dot-com millionaire who went to find himself for a year and traveled to Italy... hmm tough. His book is filled with stories about a woman born from a family of doctors or a thirty year old on the fast track to becoming an ambassador... what? How can I relate to these people? I can't. There's a line in one of his stories that really got to me, about a couple who gave up the corporate life to buy a tree business. "I suspected Nancy's dad had helped her... because he's wealthy." Doesn't he realize that even though he didn't help her, it's still a huge pyschological advantage, knowing she has a safety net w/ her dad?? As one reviewer said, this could have been such a good book. I want to know about people that had nothing, but still followed their hearts to make their dreams come true. Against all odds kind of stuff... those are the stories that inspire. I can't believe he had such a golden opportunity to speak and inspire people and he chose stories that only a marginal percentage of people can relate to. I'm giving it two stars b/c there's a smattering of interesting stories.
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Summary: No easy answers - Just questions
Review: OK, let's get this straight, this book does not answer the question it poses. Rather it provides case studies of how ordinary people approached this question. The purpose of this book is to help you think about 'What you should do with your life?'. The case studies are fascinating and not all end well. Some of the people find their bliss, others keep on searching or compromise. That's just the way real life is. I would recommend this book to you if you are at a point in your life where you are pondering what you should do next or if you are wondering if there is more to life. This not the book for you if you are basically content and feel that you have achieved what you need to achieve.
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Summary: For me, it was a page turner
Review: I was surprised to find this book such a page turner. I wanted to keep reading it, and in fact, read it from front to back in stolen moments within one week. Some of the stories really hit a chord with me. If you are looking for an exact answer to the question this book is titled with, you won't find it here. What you will find is how other people struggle with the question just like you are. In following these people's stories, I found glimpses of truth, and life, and fate in the choices people made. I am able to stop, and feel, and think of all of these people, as I make my choices. I can't explain in a few paragraphs what Po Bronson was able to explain and discover throughout this book. Read it, be there with open mind. Listen to others. Discover. Thank you Po.
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Summary: I liked it
Review: I think whether you enjoy the book depends on where you are with your life and what you are looking for. If you are a go getter and happy with it, then you won't enjoy this book. If the statement that life is a journey, not a destination, doesn't stir something inside of you, you won't like this book. Neither will you enjoy it if you're looking for answers. It offers none. But if you are starting to search beyond where you are now, for what you don't know, and both you and your friends are starting to doubt your sanity, this book offers solace that you are not alone. There are others out there who are searching as well and this book offers their stories. I'm 52, "successful" and have made it on my own, without "trust funds from my parents" (as alluded to by other reviews). I'm also not unhappy. But I also find that I'm starting to look more at what the meaning of my life is to me and I'm wanting to explore that. Right now I've quit my job and am about to step off that cliff. At the end of my life, I want to know that I lived it well, grew as a person and that it had meaning to me.
This book lets me know that others have done that and are doing it. Maybe someday I'll be able to meet a few of the people in this book, but for right now, it's enough to know that they are out there. It gives me courage and hope.
Rating:
Summary: It's OK
Review: OK. The book was nothing special. The author has more personality than the book lets on.
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