A surprising discovery that I have made about myself as an adult is that I enjoy reading nonfiction a great deal. Of the 103 books that I read or listened to this year (so far), 14 have been nonfiction. Nearly 15%! I know that might not seem like that much, but according to studies that have been done, Americans read somewhere between 4 and 12 books per year. (The average American reads 12 books in a year but the median is 4.) So I read more nonfiction books this year than the number of books the average American reads total. Now I feel like I am both showing off and trying to justify myself. Let's move on.
This year, I read two books by Oliver Burkeman, both of which I enjoyed tremendously. Like the kind of enjoyed that made me want to start sending copies of the books to people in the mail or to stop strangers in the street and try to convince them that it is imperative that they read these books. Reading these books will change your life. They will change you. (The books in question, should my deranged implorings convince you to either seek them out immediately or avoid them forever, are Four Thousand Weeks and Meditations for Mortals.
For the reader badge, I was instructed to read a review of a book that I had read and to critique it. I chose to use a professional review because the amateur reviews on Goodreads are excellent proof of why certain people are paid to write reviews and why some are not. I selected the New York Times review of Four Thousand Weeks written by John Williams who, I am almost certain, is NOT highly lauded composer. If it is the same person, I feel that should have been made clearer by the New York Times. For those who are interested, you can read the review here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/11/books/review-four-thousand-weeks-time-management-oliver-burkeman.html
(We have a subscription to the NYT, which I forget about constantly. So this review may be behind a paywall. If it is and you would like to read it, let me know and I can provide the gift link. Or you may be able to use your public library card to access the review digitally. If you don't have a public library card, I can probably help you remedy that in some way, even if it is just to look up the requirements to get one at your local public library (these requirements are probably meager) and to provide encouragement for you to head over there and get one. (Yes, you will probably need to go to the library physically to get the card. Some libraries are trying to change this but most aren't there yet. Just go to the damn library.)
I must acknowledge at this point that it is possible that I have been so verbose up to now because I can offer no critique of the review. I think it is spot on. I agree with it completely. The book is wonderful. If it has any flaws they are extremely minor and would likely be readily admitted to by the author. Read the review, read the book. Just read something, please.
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