Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet

THE AUDIOBOOK! John narrates it himself (I find his voice so soothing) & one of my favorite essays was an audio exclusive. I just described this book to someone as a 'pop culture' book, but I think that does it a great disservice. This book is just so much more than that. I actually have not read any of John Green's novels (yet), but I have been following him and his brother Hank (read The Carls!) for a couple years, so I knew going in that John has a way with words. You may flip through the table of contents to read the titles of the essays and think this book sounds rather ordinary, but John is able to take even the most seemingly mundane topics and weave beautiful connections to (the often brutal) humanity. There were several times when I was misty eyed.

I give John Green's book 5 stars.

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grahamjpark's review

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

I really enjoyed this book. John used reviews of random things from present day (or recent history) to share his thoughts on life. His thoughts were different from mine and I found they offered interesting insights. If you're someone whose already gone deeper on the topics of grief and "why are we here" perhaps you'd find it shallower, but I would still recommend it.

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illgiveyouahint's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

The Kauaʻi ʻōʻō story made me bawl my eyes out. I think I'm gonna have to buy the physical copy so that I can reread it at some point and highlight favourite passages. But also I think it's great to hear an audiobook of a book of essay by the author himself. With fiction it can feel weird since they're narrating their characters but with essays they're narrating their own thoughts which I think is nice.

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prleska's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

The fact that this book has a 0% one star rating is not surprising. It was refreshing reading these essays in the form of reviews. I love that these reviews were about many different things the author is passionate about, and you can feel the emotion in every chapter.

I especially loved that John was so much more vulnerable writing this book from his point of view and talking about his struggles. He talks about his struggle with depression and OCD openly, and for a moment a reader can understand just a fraction of what he was going through at his darkest moments. I'm sure a lot of us can sympathize and see our own struggles in his. I'm also glad that even when he's writing about his fears there is always a hopeful undertone that helps me not to lose faith in humanity either.

Some conclusions can get a little bit repetitive, but you can tell they all come from a raw and honest place. They did get me thinking every time, so I guess I can't be mad about it.

Sure, there are a lot troubles that come with humanity, but there is also beauty and wonder and I guess that's the biggest message one can take from this book. I give it 4.25 stars.

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andra_mihaela_s's review

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emotional informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

3.5 stars

This is my first book by John Green. For many years I stayed away due to the fact that many people seem to really like him as a person, but not find his work compelling. :(

When I saw he published a nonfiction title, better yet..a collection of essay mainly from the podcast he does...I thought this is my chance to see if I enjoy his writing style! ^^

I think this book is personal for him mainly because it was written in the middle of the pandemic.
The subjects he tackles are varied and unique in their own right: from sunsets to favorite bands and places, from sports to the pandemic and mental health, and from important changes at the global scale to a personal journey he needed to put on paper mainly for himself. :)

This book is beautiful, and reading it, I kept imagining his voice and fragile delivery from crash course literature.

In terms of content I loved about a third of essays, liked another, and I was mildly interested in the rest.
Here are some of my favorite chapters:
-Humanity's Temporal Range
-Halley's Comet
-Lascaux Cave Paintings
-Teddy Bears
-Air-Conditioning
-Sunsets
-Pinguins of Madagascar
-Auld Lang Syne
-Googling Strangers
If you have a copy of the book at hand, you can see that I connected with the first part of the book more...which is not a bad thing. I just vibe with some of the subjects of interest for him, not all. ^_^

I highly recommend this collection of essays if you need something meditative, or are in the mood this reflect on serious subject matters for short periods of time.
In the end, I'm not sure I will ever read more from him, certainly not his earlier work..but a similar project as "The Anthropocene reviewed" will appeal to me.:)
One things is sure...I loved his authorial voice! If you enjoy hearing him talk, give this book a try!

Enjoy

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evelynritzi's review

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emotional hopeful informative lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

4.0

An interesting and informative read. I read over several months as the individual essays don’t necessarily tie together.

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