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nyxx91's review against another edition
5.0
I received this book through a giveaway and it's my first time reading anything by Wes Moore.
I'm not a huge fan of memoirs. I think I mostly avoid them because I've tried reading memoirs by celebrities in the past and just haven't cared for their personal stories.
This book was different in that Wes Moore has a life worth sharing, at least in my opinion, and I feel fortunate enough to have read this book. He speaks to me at a time when I'm trying to decide what to do with my own life and wondering if I'm on the right path.
He helps calm that anxiety we all feel when trying to figure out what to do for the rest of our lives. His story and that of the others he briefly shares show us that there's a lesson to be learned in every experience, job and opportunity.
Moore shows that it's okay to constantly think about our purpose in life, and even stress over it, but not to despair because if we're examining our lives and thinking about our future we're most likely going to find ourselves on the right path.
I'm not a huge fan of memoirs. I think I mostly avoid them because I've tried reading memoirs by celebrities in the past and just haven't cared for their personal stories.
This book was different in that Wes Moore has a life worth sharing, at least in my opinion, and I feel fortunate enough to have read this book. He speaks to me at a time when I'm trying to decide what to do with my own life and wondering if I'm on the right path.
He helps calm that anxiety we all feel when trying to figure out what to do for the rest of our lives. His story and that of the others he briefly shares show us that there's a lesson to be learned in every experience, job and opportunity.
Moore shows that it's okay to constantly think about our purpose in life, and even stress over it, but not to despair because if we're examining our lives and thinking about our future we're most likely going to find ourselves on the right path.
ramonamead's review against another edition
3.0
This book had a lot of promise and started out strong but lost steam. I like the idea of exploring how to find work that matters, but it didn't come through quite right. What I did like a lot was the author's emphasis on how it is the people you surround yourself with who make a huge difference in your life, and how no one needs to give you permission to follow your heart or search for your passion.
librarydeb's review against another edition
2.0
I did not like this book. It was torture for me to read each chapter. I was reading it aloud to my husband for our library book club. I wanted to quit. My hubby convinced me to persevere. I hate to quit once I start reading a book so we read on. The final chapters were a little better than the beginning, but not much. One of the ladies in the book club did improve our view of the book slightly by her comments, but only slightly. I would not recommend this book to anyone I know.
It held little relevance for my life. No life lessons. Nothing to lift me up. There were a couple nuggets that I identified with. Things that I related to. Unfortunately they were also things that made me sad because I related to them from the trials we have had in our own lives. Like this passage...
“Walking back to my desk, imagining the conversations Ramon was going to have with his family later that night, I said a prayer for him and a prayer of gratitude for myself. Tonight was not the night that I would have to go home and tell my wife that I no longer had a job.” [pg 148-149]
Many, many times my husband has had to come home and have that conversation with his family. I cried ever time. I could so relate to Ramon and his family. It made me cry, again.
And this one...
“There was a book that was published a generation ago–Fear of Falling by Barbara Ehrenreich. She talked about the fear that middle-class people lived with, fear that they'd lose their jobs, fear that they'd fall all the way to the bottom. That fear created conformity, spurred conservatism, and stifled creative thinking in fact, it stifled lives and killed dreams.” [pg 155]
Yes. We have been afraid. Yes, that probably did stifle our creative thinking and kill our dreams. I have had a lot of dreams killed over the years... and even more that just faded away to nothingness.
The last was this sad portion of a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar called “We Wear the Mask”:
“We wear the mask that grins and lies
It hides our teeth and it shades our eyes
This dept we pay for human guile
With torn and bleeding hearts, we smile.” [pg 171]
Oh, how many times I have done this. I wear a mask many times, moments, days. I must. I cannot show my true thoughts and feelings.
This book did not help me find my life's work. It did not inspire me. I didn't like it.
It held little relevance for my life. No life lessons. Nothing to lift me up. There were a couple nuggets that I identified with. Things that I related to. Unfortunately they were also things that made me sad because I related to them from the trials we have had in our own lives. Like this passage...
“Walking back to my desk, imagining the conversations Ramon was going to have with his family later that night, I said a prayer for him and a prayer of gratitude for myself. Tonight was not the night that I would have to go home and tell my wife that I no longer had a job.” [pg 148-149]
Many, many times my husband has had to come home and have that conversation with his family. I cried ever time. I could so relate to Ramon and his family. It made me cry, again.
And this one...
“There was a book that was published a generation ago–Fear of Falling by Barbara Ehrenreich. She talked about the fear that middle-class people lived with, fear that they'd lose their jobs, fear that they'd fall all the way to the bottom. That fear created conformity, spurred conservatism, and stifled creative thinking in fact, it stifled lives and killed dreams.” [pg 155]
Yes. We have been afraid. Yes, that probably did stifle our creative thinking and kill our dreams. I have had a lot of dreams killed over the years... and even more that just faded away to nothingness.
The last was this sad portion of a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar called “We Wear the Mask”:
“We wear the mask that grins and lies
It hides our teeth and it shades our eyes
This dept we pay for human guile
With torn and bleeding hearts, we smile.” [pg 171]
Oh, how many times I have done this. I wear a mask many times, moments, days. I must. I cannot show my true thoughts and feelings.
This book did not help me find my life's work. It did not inspire me. I didn't like it.
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