BUY THE BOOK

How to Be Fine was a book I immediately pre-ordered the day that I heard that it was available for order because it was written by the hosts of the By the Book podcast. (Which is one of my personal favorite podcasts)  Kristen Meinzer and Jolenta Greenberg take a different self help book each episode and attempt to follow all the rules listed in the book and use the podcast to share their experiences and reflections.

 I have a love/hate relationship with self help books. As an avid reader I often consult books when there is an issue that I might be deliberating in my own life because it makes me feel that this is a way of communicating with other people that have needed to think through an issue. Self help books are rarely helpful for me on the surface and I have often found them to even be problematic like when I read The Four Agreements or Pause.  Frequently my critic or reflecting on why a book does not work for me is oddly more helpful in practice than the book itself.

That is why the By the Book podcast is so brilliant as listening to a reality show where two intelligent women are trying to implement these books in their lives because it is like the cliffs notes for the books with a heavy dose of cultural commentary where socioeconomic factors are taken into consideration and comedy as they live the books out in their lives.

I often felt that a book that these ladies would write would probably be more effective than any other self help books that I would read because following self help books is their big thing.  How to Be Fine is FINALLY their book sharing their reflections on all of the books that they have covered so far.

The book is broken into 3 sections: Things That Worked, Things That Didn't Work and Things We Wished More Books Recommended.  They keep their unique voice that they have on the show in this book, making it entertaining and easy to read.

As someone who has religiously listened to the podcast I had mixed feelings about hearing the same stories as I heard on the show. This does provide their wonderful perspective to a wider audience yet it felt like I basically got everything I've already gotten out of the show only in a different medium and organizational method. While I would have liked to have some original material for the book it still serves as a good reference guide for me as a major fan and as someone who is constantly seeking to improve herself. With the speed I read at it can be faster for me to read a chapter out of a book when I need to refer to it than to consult an entire podcast episode---so it is a great book to keep on my shelf.

The truth is that this book IS worth your time and if you've never listened to their podcast you will definitely find it more helpful and more entertaining than most self help books...and it covers more ground than most books will as it is a fun commentary on 50 different books.  If there is only 1 self help book that you ever read I would say this is the best one to read. So get out there and buy this book by the By the Book ladies!