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55 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
He had me at "Snow Days", February 25, 2010
This review is from: The Book of Awesome: Snow Days, Bakery Air, Finding Money in Your Pocket, and Other Simple, Brilliant Things (Hardcover)
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Daily life in the twenty-first century can be overwhelming. Issues of global warming, health care reform, a strangled economy, and the latest celebrity shenanigans fill our media outlets and our heads until they just about burst. It is all too much to bear. No wonder we seek solace in the tiny triumphs of life: in our own small successes and in the personal interactions, the soothing sights, the tempting tastes, and the sensational smells we find in the world around us.
Neil Pasricha is the author of the award-winning blog, "1000 Awesome Things." His online success translates well into the format of this book, which outlines 200 of those Awesome Things. Things like "That one really good pen that never gets lost;" "The sound of ice cubes cracking in a drink;" "Licking the batter off the beaters of a cake mixer;" "The smell and sound of a campfire;" and "That friendly nod between strangers out doing the same thing." In these pages you'll also learn the most successful strategies for trick-or-treating and for making the most of an all-you-can-eat buffet. You'll even learn exactly what functions are attached to your colon. But this is not a book of mere lists. Mr. Pasricha provides an explanation for each one, and some of those pieces are several pages in length. His observations are spot-on, and his writing style is friendly and funny. This is an entertaining and feel-good read.
I had to wait until page 342 to find my most favorite Awesome Thing: Snow days. The author breaks this phenomenon into three types: The Pre-Planned Snow Day, The High-Probability Snow Day, and The Surprise Snow Day. But Neil, there's a fourth one to consider, and that's the "We're already here. Will we get enough snow for them to send us home early?" kind. That one may be the most frustrating of all. When the crucial announcement comes, that joyful event becomes yet another (albeit, shortened) Awesome Thing. Assuming you can make it home safely in the storm.
"The Book of Awesome" is the kind of paperback that you can scan through quickly. You can catch the headlines and say "Yes!" to particular ones. Or you can take a single lovely, rainy weekend to devour this volume from cover to cover. Keep it on your bedside table or coffee table for a pick-me-up. Read passages aloud to a living room full of friends, and your group will come up with even more possibilities. You don't have to agree with all of the entries. ("Using all the different shampoos and soaps in someone else's shower" didn't resonate with me, and neither did "Neighbors with pools.") Just keep turning pages, and it won't be too long before you find several more Awesome Things that you can relate to. And you will probably find yourself smiling, nodding, and laughing out loud.
Once you get into this mode, you may pay closer attention to those magic moments in your own life. Like sliding a key perfectly into a lock in the dark, without fumbling and without turning on the light. Watching a squirrel figure out how to invade a rodent-proof bird feeder. The smell of tea that wafts up when you unwrap a brand-new box of it. It's all good ... and Awesome. Thanks, Neil. [This review was based on seeing the pre-pub galley proof.]
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29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome is opening this book to any random page and getting a big grin on your face, March 5, 2010
This review is from: The Book of Awesome: Snow Days, Bakery Air, Finding Money in Your Pocket, and Other Simple, Brilliant Things (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This is a great book to open up when you're depressed or anxious or bored or just any old time. The topics of "awsomeness" are mostly simple, familiar things that you don't often stop to appreciate. Things like "Pulling off your wet bathing suit and putting on dry clothes after a long swim" or "The smell of books" or "The sound of rain from inside the tent". But not only does Neil Pasricha, the author, suggest these awesome moments in life, but he expands on them with little descriptions and stories describing them. For example, under "Remembering what movie that guy is from" he talks about seeing a character in a movie that you know you've seen somewhere before, in some other movie, but which one? Was it in Shawshank Redemption? Or Miracle on 34th Street? No! He was the knife guy in Once Upon a Time in Mexico! Awesome!
I don't think there has been one time that I've opened this book that it hasn't made me smile. And there are a lot of times when I'm bummed out about something and I don't have a lot of time to figure out why I'm bummed or read some long philosophy book about what to do about it. I can just open this book and instantly relate to at least a couple of the topic pages and it takes me to a different place, a place where I can smile in spite of myself or giggle about the fact that someone else finds the same things as I do pretty amazing and can relate.
Picking up this book when I'm unhappy and then finding myself in a not so bad mood after all? AWESOME!
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Accentuating the Positive, March 7, 2010
This review is from: The Book of Awesome: Snow Days, Bakery Air, Finding Money in Your Pocket, and Other Simple, Brilliant Things (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
It seems like there's a lot of discontentment going around these days. People get so caught up in their busy lives, focusing so much on what's wrong, what they don't have, that they forget to appreciate the good things. That's where "The Book of AWESOME" comes in. This wonderful little book (based on a popular website) lists the simple pleasures that we all tend to overlook, like snow days and warm underwear, then describes why they're so awesome.
Unlike a lot of other self-help books, reading "The Book of AWESOME" really can change your attitude. It doesn't ask you to change your life, just to pay attention to the good things. It's really not hard at all. It's impossible to read this book and not find at least one entry that makes you shout "YES!" in agreement. It's a great feeling when you see that other people appreciate the same little things you do. But that's not the best part. The best part is that this book gets you to start looking for the awesome things in your own life. After I finished it, I started thinking of all the things that I thought should have made the list, and it made me want to write my very own "Book of AWESOME." This is also a great book to share with friends. You'll end up sharing ideas, getting excited over the things you have in common and the things that maybe you hadn't thought of before.
I liked the writing style, too. It's fun and easy to read. This could have ended up being a really schmultzy, nicey-nice book, but thankfully, it never takes itself too seriously. This is a book that embraces its own dorkiness. It uses lots of silly rhymes, and all but one entry ends with "AWESOME!" It's like it's saying to let go and have fun, and quit worrying about how you'll look. Embrace your own inner dork! It had a very warm feeling, and I could tell that the author put a lot of himself into it.
In this cynical age, we often forget how wonderful life really is, and "The Book of AWESOME" is a much needed remedy. It doesn't try to overwhelm your emotions with sappiness, just shows you the great things you might be overlooking. Its message is that no matter how bad things seem, there are always things to enjoy in life, and it rings so true. This is something I've always believed myself, but even we optimists can use a reminder now and then. It's easy to forget to appreciate the little things, so this book is great to pull out over and over. Read a little when you're having a bad day or when you're going through a tough times. Its reminders will lift your spirits, and its personable writing will just make you smile. AWESOME!
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