Reviews and Comments

There are a few nuggets of interesting information in this book but not enough to make it a worthwhile read. Lots of repetition and generalized advice. Gee, it's good for your brain to exercise, what a surprise. Oh, and make sure you get enough sleep too. Sheesh. Glad I picked it up cheap at a library book sale instead of paying full price. If you're interested in the brain and the brain/ body connection there are a lot more interesting and helpful books out there.

This book reads like a magazine article, very conversational and easy going without a lot of information. The author starts out with four types of people - Upholder, Obliger, Questioner, and Rebel. This is an interesting framing for the topic at hand. Unfortunately the majority of the book is written only from the perspective of the author, who labels herself as an "Upholder". So if you fit this type you might find this book very helpful. Everyone else only gets a smattering of information and Rebels get next to nothing. On the good side it's a quick read and there are occasional valuable tidbits. Perhaps the best of these is the "further reading"section at the back of the book. In fact just start there and skip this one altogether.

Started out promising but then the storyline got thin and predictable. Action ramped up at the end but again with little of interest in character development it felt like "oh, this is ending soon I better put something else in the plot". Not sure I'll read any more in this series unless I'm in need of a quick escapist fluff read.

Excellent piece of dystopian fiction. Unnerving. Insightful. Entertaining. Enjoyed it throughly. I would not hesitate to recommend this book.

A compelling read and somewhat thought provoking about a disturbing future(present?) that's only half a world away from facebook, google, twitter etc. In fact posting a review about it on goodreads is oddly paradoxical. Overall I enjoyed it but felt the events in the book proceeded unrealistically fast.

I throughly enjoyed this book. Van Der Post is an extraordinary writer. One who causes me to now and then stop and reread a passage, not because it was so hard to understand but simply because it was so beautifully written. This book focuses on his love of sea travel, from aboard a whaling ship sailing out of Port Natal, South Africa to aboard a cargo ship from that same port to Japan before WWII. The Japan experiences in particular feature later in Van Der Post's life when he was a POW in Java which is also covered in this memoir.

Throughly enjoyed reading this. Well paced. Interesting characters. And frequently I'd come across a chapter or paragraph and think "wow, that was really well written", in a way that envelopes you and warms you with words. Especially surprising considering the content (WWII)

Well written, well paced romance novel.

I found this book well organized, clear, concise and quite enjoyably readable. Now I have a better grasp of why I can establish a new habit only to have it vanish in thin air months later. It has not only anecdotes to illustrate it's ideas but also clear explanations of the neurology behind the premises posited. At first I thought maybe I'd only read the first section about individual habits as that's what I'm concentrating on. It turns out I'm glad I didn't because the other two sections (Habits of Successful Organizations and Habits of Societies) both had valuable insights. If you're at all interested in personal habits, organizational psychology, or changing society this is worth the read.

I don't usually read murder mysteries but I must say I throughly enjoyed this one and would recommend it.

I highly recommend this bit of historical fiction to get a glimpse into the heyday of Westerners "discovering" Bali in the 1920s and 30s. I've been coming to Bali for over a decade and this book had some delightful insights and generally captures the roots of the culture of this intriguing island. The focus of the book is the life of the artist Walter Spies and his flamboyant exploits on the island and the many many celebrities of the day that crossed his path, from Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson to Cole Porter to director F.W. Murnau. If you're at all interested in Bali this is worth the read.

I read this several years ago now. All I can remember at this point is I really enjoyed it and thought at the time "dang he really is kinda living up to the title"

Engaging twists and turns, plenty of scientific jargon (must admit I skimmed some of that), interwoven with good humor. Very entertaining read. Had me literally holding my breath at the end.

fun escapist romp.

Rarely do I read a book and think, "I'm looking forward to rereading this one". There's a lot of food for thought in between the covers of this book and mostly presented in an intelligent and slightly unusual narrative. If you have any interest in the arts, in creativity in general, or in aesthetics I highly recommend reading this little gem. I don't think you'll be disappointed.