cestelaine's review against another edition
2.0
Urgh. If you’ve never ever heard of anxiety before & you enjoy reading celeb gossip mags this might be the book for you.
kathryn14's review against another edition
4.0
I disliked parts of this book; I loved other parts; I disagreed with parts; some parts felt like she was in my head and knew it all. Lots of food for thought and definitely worth a re-read.
7.5/10
N.b. the beauty of the title and front cover - *chef's kiss*
7.5/10
N.b. the beauty of the title and front cover - *chef's kiss*
jacyjean's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
tense
fast-paced
4.0
emadisonc's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
jcschildbach's review against another edition
4.0
This seemed like quite a long book for something that is laid out mostly in very short sections. Then again, I was reading it on my Kindle at bedtime, so that might have colored how much I got through at any given time, and how long it took me to get through it. There was a lot of good stuff in here about different anxiety-management techniques and ideas, what the author has found helpful for herself, and plenty of quotes and concepts from various authors, philosophies, religions, schools of thought, etc. It was not particularly clinical, although there was a fair amount about various clinical studies. There was plenty of material from the author's own life, which is definitely not like that of just an average person with a workaday job (I had never heard of Wilson outside of this book, which was referenced in something else I read). And maybe I missed something in all those pages, but I was a little shocked when Wilson casually mentioned at the very end, among other relatively random pieces of information, that during the two years she was writing this book, she'd made two suicide attempts. That kind of threw me off, in the sense that if this is about how to live with anxiety, trying to kill oneself while working on a project of this sort and then not specifically addressing that in the book is a bit odd. But, like I said, maybe I missed something. Overall, though, I think it is helpful in understanding anxiety on a personal level for those who do not suffer from it, and helpful in finding ways to think about anxiety and deal with it for those who do.
quidgy's review against another edition
4.0
A really interesting and fresh (for me) take on anxiety and the discomforts of life. The author, through personal experience which led to her own research and efforts to control or manage or mental health, advocates a softly-softly approach. Maybe anxiety can be managed by sitting through it? Maybe some people are just more anxious than others? If we can get through the little moments of anxiety without running to drugs, alcohol or medical relief, maybe the bigger ones will be manageable, too.
The message I took most strongly from the book is to be kind to ourselves.
The message I took most strongly from the book is to be kind to ourselves.
sineadholmes's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0