A Short Guide to a Happy Life

Rating:
Summary: A short guide indeed
Review: This slim volume packs an enormous wallop. Anna Quindlen gives her advice to a happy life....Get a life. Fifty pages (half of it, photos)of no nonsense start living advice in her clear, no hidden meaning prose. I found this to be a delight, an all too brief delight. My only complaint was the book's brevity, but the message is to found there as well....don't spend all your time reading "how-to" guides...get out there!

Rating:
Summary: "Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work."
Review: Most books take the vantage point of the author being an expert in thesubject or a celebrity. A Short Guide to a Happy Life claims to comefrom neither foundation, even though the Ms. Anna Quindlen will bewell-known to many for her best-selling books and Newsweekcolumns.

Instead her perspective in this book is a humble and commonone, that of someone who experienced what we will all experience indue course, but at an earlier age -- the loss of her mother to ovariancancer when her mother was 40 and the author was 19. That early losschanged Ms. Quindlen's perspective on life, and she thinks it willeventually and should now change yours, too. "Do you think you'dcare so very much about [your career] if you developed an aneurysm oneafternoon, or found a lump in your breast while in the shower?"

She describes her qualifications for describing the happy life,"I am a good mother to three children. I have tried to never letmy profession stand in the way of being a good parent."

"I am a good friend to my husband."

"I am a goodfriend to my friends, and they to me." ....

Now that you havethe perspective, what is Ms. Quindlen's prescription for you:"Get a life in which you are not alone." "All of uswant to do well. But if we do not do good too, then doing well willnever be enough."

The simplicity and ordinariness of thatperspective gives it a power and eloquence that the expert and thefamous person cannot command.

But what was remarkable for me wasthe insight that she shares with us, that I would never have developedon my own....Basically, without awareness of mortality, we wouldcontinue to waste our lives in pursuit of things that are not really,after all, so important. This is what makes this a five star bookthat you should read immediately . . . and remember for all theremaining days of your life. It will make a wonderful gift for thoseyou love, and help bring you closer together.

Let me quote just oncemore: "Life is made up of moments, small pieces of glitteringmica in a long stretch of gray cement." What a shame it would beto miss one of those moments. If you skip this book, you will havemissed one, I'm afraid.

The message is powerfully reinforced by themany beautiful black and white photographs of nature, companionship,and youth in the book. Be sure to enjoy them, as well.

After youhave finished reading this book, sharing it with others, and changingyour priorities, ask yourself a new question: If I only had today,what would I do differently? Then ask that question every morning.You'll be glad you did. So will we all.

Rating:
Summary: TERRIFIC!
Review: I loved this book. It's short enough that you can read it in one sitting. But don't let the length of the book fool you it is big on wisdom. It made me think and I've tried to have a better outlook since reading it. I plan on getting it for all of my friends and family. Found the link at KerZoinks.com.

Rating:
Summary: Book club pick
Review: Our book club picked three books recently that were all knock-outs. Our favorite was this tender little treasure of a book, A SHORT GUIDE by one of our favorite authors. The other two books were equally good (BARK OF THE DOGWOOD and BIRTH OF VENUS). But what we enjoyed most about this Quindlen book was the idea that we had all been discussing, namely that of what life is really consisted of--boredom punctuated with little bits of, well, "life." We all felt this way and Quindlen hit the nail on the head. This book is about teaching yourself how to "live," and hopefully that's what we're doing now.

Rating:
Summary: TERRIFIC!
Review: I loved this book. It's short enough that you can read it in one sitting. But don't let the length of the book fool you it is big on wisdom. It made me think and I've tried to have a better outlook since reading it. I plan on getting it for all of my friends and family. Found the link at KerZoinks.com.

Rating:
Summary: Simple yet powerful
Review: This book has nothing new or original to say. It is simply a collection of cliches and another proof that low quality writing can still come from recognized authors. It may only be 50 pages long. But, the whole book can really be summed up with "once in a while, stop and smell the roses". So, just save your dollar.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not enough
Review: The book was good, but not enough. The last page Quindlen quotes the wisdom from a homeless man, "And I asked him why, Why didn't he go to one of the shelters? Why didn't he check himself into the hospital for detox?" And he stared out at the ocean and said, "Look at the view, young lady, Look at the view." Quindlen says, "when I do what he said, I am never disappointed". I disagree with that premise that happiness can be achieved through the worship of nature. Our hearts must turn to Christ for happiness. Happiness comes by worshipping the true and living God, Jesus Christ. So, her innocent philosophy is a subtle form of idol worship. Quindlens own struggle for spiritual understanding began with the death of her mother, to Ovarian cancer. Quindlen says, "Gods greatest gift to man is his own understanding of mortality". Ok, we are mortal: we live and we eventually die. Quindlen challenges the reader to "get a real life", to live a "life of the heart", a life other than a career, off beat from the rat race, "I show up, I listen, I try to laugh", enjoy precious moments - like a child picking up a cheerio, "learn to be human", "exhaust the moment", "life is good", and "no man has said at his death bed, I wish I had spent more time at the office."

<< 1 .. 9 10 11 12 >>