Reviews

You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters by Kate Murphy

ailin2's review

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1.0

Oh boy. I hated this book. I couldn't figure out if it was a tactic to make a book about listening hard to listen to, but Murphy achieved it. Most of it seemed to be filled with lists, quotes, metaphors, and others words than anything worthwhile. This book felt like a lady who just drew observations from her interviews and I'm a reader who enjoys a little more science than one woman's thoughts.

sarahetc's review

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5.0

"When someone listens to you it can feel so much like love, some people may not know the difference. "
- Kate Murphy

Outstanding-- a rare gem that balances physical and social sciences and adds the perfect balance of annecdotes and data to keep things moving. You're Not Listening is the story of why actual listening is so important and often so overlooked at all levels of discourse and at almost every stage of life. Murphy, as a journalist, writes (and narrates) a very compelling book on how listening is very much different from but related to hearing. If you stopped to think about it, you might be able to list all the facets, drawbacks, and rewards of the act of listening, but you would for sure miss a few. Murphy is there to fill them in.

Since finishing, I've tried to be much more conscious in how and when I listen. And I would very much love to dig in to half her chapters and read and learn even more.

xo_0's review

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funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

madtastically's review against another edition

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informative

5.0

littleashes99's review

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challenging informative medium-paced

3.0

justnivek's review

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3.25

self help book wrapped in trivial facts

jaclyncrupi's review against another edition

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2.0

This felt like a lot of stating the obvious interspersed with research backing up the obvious point. This book could really have been an article. There’s some food for thought of course but I prefer my non-fiction to be far more rigorous. In the age in which we live we’re all very aware that nobody is listening and this book does little to offer real, concrete ways we can change or improve that. The paragraph on supportive listening is the strongest part of the book and I really didn’t need to read 200 pages for it.

caro_reynolds's review against another edition

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informative inspiring fast-paced

4.25

This feels like required reading. Such an important exploration of how to be a better listener and what we’re currently missing in society. At times it felt redundant to the thesis (this a problem to be solved with listening!) but still really enjoyed and really learned a lot. 

readrunrepeat42's review against another edition

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funny informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.75

heidilreads's review

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3.0

Kind of interesting.. apparently, I'm disposed to be bad at listening because I listen to books at 2x speed... Now, I want to see how distracted I am when in conversation...