How to Be Fine
What We Learned from Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
A humorous and insightful look into what advice works, what doesn’t, and what it means to transform yourself, by the co-hosts of the popular By the Book podcast.
In each episode of their podcast By the Book, Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer take a deep dive into a different self-help book, following its specific instructions, rules, and advice to the letter. From diet and productivity to decorating to social interactions, they try it all, record themselves along the way, then share what they’ve learned with their devoted and growing audience of fans who tune in.
In How to Be Fine, Jolenta and Kristen synthesize the lessons and insights they’ve learned and share their experiences with everyone. How to Be Fine is a thoughtful look at the books and practices that have worked, real talk on those that didn’t, and a list of philosophies they want to see explored in-depth. The topics they cover include:
Getting off your device
Engaging in positive self-talk
Downsizing
Admitting you’re a liar
Meditation
Going outside
Getting in touch with your emotions
Seeing a therapist
Before they began their podcast, Jolenta wanted to believe the promises of self-help books, while Kristen was very much the skeptic. They embraced their differences of opinion, hoping they’d be good for laughs and downloads. But in the years since launching the By the Book, they’ve come to realize their show is about much more than humor. In fact, reading and following each book’s advice has actually changed and improved their lives. Thanks to the show, Kristen penned the Amish romance novel she’d always joked about writing, traveled back to her past lives, and she broached some difficult conversations with her husband about their marriage. Jolenta finally memorized her husband’s phone number, began tracking her finances, and fell in love with cutting clutter.
Part memoir, part prescriptive handbook, this honest, funny, and heartfelt guide is like a warm soul-baring conversation with your closest and smartest friends.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Greenberg and Meinzer distill what they learned from following the advice of 50 self-help books for the By the Book podcast in this grounded, large-hearted work. Greenberg, who admits a long-standing fascination with self-help titles, and Meinzer, who has more skepticism, adhered to the rules of each book for two weeks and then shared the outcomes with listeners. They open with 13 pieces of advice that improved their lives, including positive self-talk, making concrete and direct apologies, finding time for emotional recharge, and actively preparing for death. As they describe the self-help books, they provide just enough detail to convey what the authors of each preach. Their criticism of eight tactics that made them anxious or frustrated contains typical beefs about dieting and surprising inclusions such as meditation and unlimited forgiveness. They also rightly question self-help authors who suggest a trick that worked for them would apply universally. To close, they outline eight lessons they wished they had found more of among the books they selected, including recognizing the power and beauty of one's body and being willing to enter therapy or use medication. Greenberg and Meinzer craft a welcoming tone and strike a perfect balance between sharing their traumas and folding in amusing anecdotes. This will delight fans of self-help books and encourage even the hardest cynics to reconsider the genre.