Three Books I Didn’t Enjoy
Hello Friend,
I hope you are well,
Most books, I love. There is usually something positive I can take away from reading a book, no matter what it’s about. However, every now and then there is a book which I don’t enjoy reading for one reason or another. Sometimes, a book just drags and feels too much of an effort to read.
Here are three books which I didn’t enjoy and had to put down:
Alan Sugar — What You See Is What You Get
- Rated 3.86 on Goodreads
Lord Alan Sugar is a British business magnate, media personality and self made billionaire. Most of you will be most familiar with Alan Sugar from the reality show, The Apprentice, and being the former owner of Tottenham Hotspur FC. Born in 1947, Lord Alan Sugar grew up in Hackney, East London on a council estate, watching his Father struggle to support the family. After leading leaving school at age 16, a young Alan Sugar started his own business at age 21, selling electricals from the back of a van. Fast forward to today, his fortune is estimated at £1.2 billion.
Baring in mind Alan’s fantastic rags to riches story, I was very disappointed with his book. For me personally, it was poorly written. Instead of telling captivating stories you’d expect to hear from a man who started with nothing to his name, it turned out to be a book full of uninteresting rants about unnecessary details. I read around 25% of the book before I had to put it down. I lost interest. Great businessman, poor writer.
Will I revisit the book? I don’t think so.
Non-Violent Communication — Marshall Rosenberg
- Rated 4.3 on Goodreads
Marshall Rosenberg was a very highly respected American Psychologist born in 1934. His book, Non Violent Communication, is about how we can exchange and communicate across necessary information to help us resolve conflicts and differences in a peaceful manner.
Now, I love to read about anything within the Psychology field. I find it so fascinating how the brain operates, why people behave the way they do, along with how we can communicate better with others etc. But, I was left a bit disappointed and underwhelmed with this book, especially after reading all the great reviews about it on Goodreads and Amazon. For me, I found the whole concept of Non Violent Communication a bit too ‘wishy washy’, patronising and almost robotic. I don’t believe the techniques and principles within NVC are applicable during normal conversation or confrontational circumstances. I also didn’t enjoy the layout of the book either. It reminded me of a boring school textbook and very difficult to follow and engage with.
Will I revisit this book? I doubt it.
The Power of Your Subconscious Mind — Joseph Murphy
- Rated 4.1 on Goodreads
The Power of Your Subconscious Mind is a best selling self-help book written by Dr. Joseph Murphy in 1963. The book explains how the power of our thoughts dictates the quality of life we tend to have.
Whilst I very partially agree with the books concept, 99% of the time it’s just not possible to think of something you want, tell yourself you can get it and then your subconscious makes it happen. That’s not how the real world works, that’s fantasy! The concept of the book is very simple and could be sufficiently explained in a couple of pages, yet it was dragged out and repeated way too much for the mere 40 pages I did manage to stomach. I couldn’t possibly imagine reading the whole 272 pages!
Will I revisit this book? No. I will not!
Just because I didn’t enjoy reading these books doesn’t mean that you won’t, you might love them, so don’t let my negative reviews deter you from buying them!
If you’re not enjoying a book, don’t worry about it, not every book can be a winner. Put it down and move onto the next one. Why would you waste your time reading something you don’t like, when you could potentially be reading something you love? Reading is supposed to be enjoyable, so don’t make it a chore.
See you next time,
Yours Sincerely,
Tom
