I've been debating reading this book for months but never really felt any real pull to do so. Until last Saturday. Calls were few and far between and I was sick of Netflix for once so I pulled out my phone and checked to see what I could find on Libby (it's an app that allows you to checkout and read e-books from your local library!) and there it was, staring at me. Challenge accepted. Cut to me falling asleep at midnight, phone in hand, with only a single chapter remaining. This book is good. If you've read any amount of empowerment/self-help books, none of the concepts will be new to you, but I'm a massive fan of the no-bullshit way Bishop shares his strategies for combating your own self-limiting beliefs. While the books primarily focuses on how self-talk affects your ability to reach your goals and be your best self, Bishop spends surprisingly little time talking about self-talk... at least... not in the way you might be used to. He doesn't tell you that you should recite "I am beautiful. I am strong. I am powerful." in the mirror every morning. He doesn't tell you put motivational quotes where you'll regularly see them, in fact, he expresses a strong distaste for what he refers to as bumper-sticker quotes. Instead, he talks about the power you already have, though you might be wielding it in a way that isn't to your liking. My favorite point that he made was this - you are succeeding at everything you are doing. If you believe you're a procrastinator, and you procrastinate, congratulations! You did it! You succeeded at being what you believe you are! Of course, and he brings this up, that could seem like a really negative thing. "You're great at sucking!" isn't exactly motivational. But ultimately the entire book is about this innate power we have to succeed. All you have to do is start actually directing the traffic in your brain and make sure that those successes are ones you'll be proud of. If you want a quick and engaging read to get you off your ass without sugar coating anything, read this. It'll do the trick.
Comments
12/30/2019 Comments Grace and Fury - Tracy BanghartI've had this book for quite a while, having received it in an OwlCrate sometime in the last year or two, but it sat in my "to-read" pile the whole time. Up until a month ago, when I finally added it to the equally large stack of books that I'm "actively" reading. It was worth the wait. The book is beautifully written capturing the main characters' incredibly different personalities in a way that keeps you rooting for both of them, even when they're at odds. No side character falls flat or leaves you feeling short changed, and the twists and turns left me utterly shocked. There were multiple parts of the book that I never saw coming, which is always an impressive feat in any fictional work. If I'm honest, I have one major gripe with the book - the cliffhanger ending. I hate cliffhangers with a passion. If the writing is good, I'll read the sequel. If things are left unfinished, I'll read the sequel. But give me a cliffhanger and no matter how much I adore the story or the author or the characters I'll scrap the book and refuse to read it's brothers out of pure spite. At this point, the sequel is available for my purchase, but just the knowledge that I would've been left hanging for a year while the author laughed at my broken heart is simply, unforgivable. That being said, if cliffhangers don't bother you, or if you're savvy enough to get both Grace & Fury and the sequel Queen of Ruin at the same time, I would recommend Tracy Banghart's brain child wholeheartedly! |