Half the book is self praise for itself
355534
This book is difficult to read on Kindle and the format is going to make using it as reference difficult. There is a lot of great advice and education about healthy diet that makes the worth reading, but it could have used a way to save a shopping list since it didn't even have any.
1363586
This book is like being invited to a fancy banquet where you get to watch the table being set and can smell the food from the kitchen, but are promptly ushered out before anything is served.

This is half a book, specifically the first half. The entirety might in the end be something quite good, but I still feel a bit cheated. I get that publishers want an author's works to be of a certain size and come out with a certain frequency. However, I would have appreciated at least a short afterword from the author explaining why this is the way it is.
1656776
Too clever for its own good, I found Yu's book [title too long to type] very self-indulgent, written by a writer too aware of his own cleverness. Wait I sort of already said that.

I'm sure this book will find an audience. It's the kind of thing I might have liked in my early 20s, when I'd read a book and force myself to enjoy it, if only because to do so would increase my own sense of satisfaction. I was just a boy then, insecure, who liked to accomplish things, like reading literary fiction, that most other people couldn't be bothered to do. I was convinced it was because I was smarter than them. Wrongo.

These days, I don't have the time to read books that don't engage me. When the characters aren't compelling, or deserving of my empathy. And it's odd, because I'm a guy who grew up with daddy issues, never having a real one himself. Just a piss poor psychopath, instead. So usually books about fathers and sons turn the weeps on, and I cry over my shortchanged childhood. I find solace in the words and images of a different father and a different son and know that my own psychic scars are not all that unusual, and that in fact it is quite usual that they are un-healable. Somehow, in a roundabout way, that makes me feel better.

Ah well. I think I gave this book 50 pages. That was more than enough.
715521
The initial chapters were fine and interesting. But for me the book then seemed to digress into a somewhat self serving history of how Richard Blum made his millions because he was more brilliant then most humans. I admire what he did with  much of his money but it came across as an exercise in ego stroking. His work to help so many is comparable to that done by Jimmy and Roslyn Carter and many others who do not seem to feel a comparable need to aggrandize themselves. I nonetheless admire what Mr. Blum has accomplished, both for himself and for so many others..
480011
Im not really into self-revelatory self-help books.  I know the intent is to keep it personal, and that works in a Ted Talk, but for a book, the effect is a bit thin.  I was going to give it for Christmas, but felt it would be a bit insulting, so it's sitting around here somewhere until I decide what to do with it.
4547095
The answer IS very simple...to love yourself.  It's 53 pages..and that's stretching it...larger font, many small chapters, with blank pages in between, and end of chapters that just a line or two on a page. I read it in about 20 minutes.  I wish the author would have gave more personal answers and talked more about his life.  It's a $4 book, so it certainly was worth the price of a fancy cup of coffee.  If I had paid more I would feel differently.

Having said all that...it's a book I will go back and read again.  It was confirmation for some things I have been learning lately....and it is certainly worth a read if you are on a journey to learn to love yourself.
206488
The author certainly has a lot to say - about himself - in this little book.  Most of it is just self-promotion and not worth your time.  Some of the writing is clumsy English - but its always understandable.  The problem is with his anecdotes.  There are a lot of them.  Did anyone bother to edit them?  Many are so pointless (like his "tale" of a man who mindlessly ties a knot in any rope end he comes across) that they just drag the book down.

If you can put up with the never-ending self promotion, and how much the author loves himself, you will learn a few things.  Like how to tie several useful knots and how they're used.

MOST of the illustrations are really good. However some, like the diagrams for the "figure 8" knot, are needlessly convoluted.

Previous reviewers have said that the text is small. Each page has different fonts, in different sizes and different weights.  If you have trouble reading the average book, THIS book will make you feel like you are going blind.  Those with youthful vision won't have any problems - the text is always crisp.  The illustrations - more important than the text for a book about knots - are big enough to follow.

why knot HAS some good material in it.  Prepare yourself to wade through some garbage to get it.
189676
Mediocre - the first part of the book is the writer slapping himself on the back and is written to his own self praise.
1778599
I learn from reading, but this is the first time I've learned from reviewing. As I prepared my write-up, I came to a shameful realization: I have a literary superiority problem. (That furious nodding sound you hear is my wife.) My review was going to begin with a disclaimer about how I generally don't read self-help books (or "personal development", or whatever you want to call them). I was then going to make a snide remark about how, as much as I really enjoyed the book and found it a valuable addition to my library, the author's fondness for all forms of the word "awesome" (especially "awesomeness") was tiresome and immature. Really? Who cares? I found it insightful, even (perhaps especially?) the simplest insights. I enjoyed it. And I need to get over myself.
3920244
Dr. Peck should have cut this book in half and sold it as two separate books. I liked the first half, but disliked the second. It's divided in 4 sections. Here's my 1/10 grade on each section:

DISCIPLINE: 7
LOVE: 8
GROWTH AND RELIGION: 4
GRACE: 2

As you can see, I believe the first two sections were much better than the last two sections. The book was getting interesting and then suddenly it took a sharp turn and went downhill after that.

PROS:
- Conversational writing style, although a bit long-winded at times.

- Several engrossing ancedotes about his patients, especially in the section called love.

- Each section is just a few pages, helping to make things flow.

CONS:
- Paragraphs are hard to digest: he often has enormous paragraphs that take up nearly the whole page.

- Peck's tough love is a bit much. The book begins: "Life is difficult." He goes on to describe how tough everything is, the importance of discipline, and not to be lazy, etc.... Personally, I don't see life as being such a monumental struggle. Maybe I'm lucky, but I felt that too often Peck looks at situations as the glass being half full. I suspect his world view came from working with patients who had problems. He listened to people complain all day. If I had that job, I might also conclude that life is difficult. However, I felt like Peck was a military man ordering me around.

- Too preachy. I have a degree in Religion, and perhaps because of that, I have a wider view of world religions than Peck. Although he occassionally mentions the Buddha, he is a strong Christian. There's nothing wrong with that, but I was expecting that this book would be less preachy. Some readers (like me) who expect this to be a secular book will be surprised by the religious turn it takes in Part 3.

- It's shocking at the bottom of page 175 (in my early edition) where he says he would have sex with his patient if he thought it would help her! It's not surprising that later Peck would admit to having had several extra-marital affairs. His wife of 40+ years divorced him a few years before his death. My point is that such statements in this book make me lose confidence in his judgment and make me question everything he writes.

- In the "Miracle of Evolution" section, he states that humanity is the top of evolution. This 19th century belief has been updated by most scientists in the 21st century. Humans are just on branch on the evolutionary tree, and not necessarily the highest branch. In a global nuclear war, mosquitoes may feel genetically superior to us because they will have survived.

- He argues we are the center of the universe. I don't buy it. He writes, "We live our lives in the eye of God, and not at the periphery but at the center of His vision, His concern." God didn't even put us in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, but on its periphery. Maybe Peck's right, but he didn't convince me.

WHO MIGHT LIKE IT: Traditional Christians will probably disagree with my review. Some Christians might love how Peck merges psychology and religion. I didn't.

CONCLUSION: I had high expectations for this book, having heard much about it. It was more disjointed than I expected. The turn it takes halfway through the book is particularly unexpected. I prefer books like "Your Best Life Now!" where the author is up front with the reader about his intentions to preach his religious beliefs to him. Peck sneaks it in there and it's a turnoff.
951355
Half of the book is telling the reader what they are golng to learn. Obviously, they needed filler to actually fill the pages, thus the title.
2609220
After reading the reviews I am wondering if I read  the same book as the readers who critiqued it.  The first half of the book was fine.  The second half caught me completely off guard.  How anyone can walk away after reading this novel with a profound thought of what it represents is a mystery to me.  Without giving anything away I was completely amazed at what occurs in the second half of this book. I understood how the main character related to her mother and why this relationship proved to be a big negative in Katie's life.  I can also understand how she felt about wanting to make herself look better and how in desperation she did what she did. Unbelievable as it is I can also deal with how quickly her dream comes true regarding the changes she longs for. This all took place in the first half of the novel.  Then all of a sudden I arrived at the second half and was astounded at what the author decided would be a reasonable outcome for Katie relating to a demand she thinks she is entitled to.  After reading a few chapters included in the second half of this book I decided to skim to the end hoping it would get better.  It didn't and at that point I decided I had enough. Unlike the other feedback sent in by readers stating why the author wrote what he did and the life's lessons that should be learned from his profound wisdom when writing this book, I came away with the question of what the heck happened here. I equate it to being outside on a semi cloudy day and all of a sudden out of nowhere a cataclysmic weather event occurs which makes absolutely no sense and no one can explain why it happened. I for one did not come away with any profundities concerning life at its worst.  I do understand what the other readers feel they learned after reading the book but it might have been somewhat better had the author proven his point a little less over the top. A less over the top unrealistic outcome would have made for a much better read. I do admit I was expecting something negative to occur but nothing near to what I started to read when halfway through the book.  I know I am the odd woman out but I just don't get it the way it was written. This book could have been a contender but fell flat on it's behind literally and turned me off completely. Surprisingly I do recommend that you read it and see exactly why it received 5 star reviews along with my lonesome 2 star critique. I missed the boat on this one since I do depend upon what other readers thought about a book before I purchase it.  If you can get it and not pay a lot for it I suggest you do read it and you can then decide how many stars you would give it upon completing it. Will it be a thumbs up or a thumbs down, the answer lies with future readers.
508622
The thing I like about this book is that it has lots of pithy one-liners that mirrors the style of the book of Proverbs itself. Here are some examples:

By the pursuit of a good name, he can make his years meaningful and add to them something more valuable and lasting than the material.

Before anyone can learn the path of wisdom, he has to admit he doesnt know everything.

Most people see pride for what it is: a futile attempt to compensate for insecurities and self-doubt.

Pride demands honor while bringing dishonor. This makes pride the true position of weakness.

A person can also develop self-control when he becomes mindful instead of emotional. In the moment, in the heat of passion, at the point of gratification, he chooses mindfulness. Mindfulness does not charge ahead without thought or reflection; it stops to think. A small but continued price made each day to weigh the consequences or options fosters a habit of making mindful decisions.

Making peace refers to the establishment of positive relationships with people and is a costly, sometimes painful, enterprise.

An impoverished person is not one who has little, but the one who never thinks she has enough.

A wealthy person is not the one who has much, but the one who sees just how much she really haseven what is bitter tastes sweet.

If we would like to be well-off, then instead of wanting more, all we need do is appreciate what we already have.

When we want what we have, then we are truly wealthy.

Any time you feel badly take notice of your thoughts. If they are obsessive or negative, boil them down to one main thought. Write it down and make a list of positive thoughts and actions to answer and counter your pessimistic cognition.

Giving is an act that refreshes and blesses both the giver and receiver.

You cant change others, but you can change yourself.

What will any of this matter a year from now? Not a bit. In the grand scheme, in light of eternity, many problems simply do not matter.
2468429
The first half of the book is worth the book's very reasonable price, hands-down. It explains through historical examples how to properly view obstacles (i.e., as opportunities) and use them to triumph over life in general, and achieve your goals in particular.

After the first half of the book, however, the author seems to devolve from it's main premise of embracing obstacles and turning them into triumph and happiness, to one of dealing with failure.  I found this odd, because failure pretty much assumes you didn't apply the strategies for embracing and overcoming obstacles in the first place.

"Failure" and "obstacles" are not the same thing.  Failure is an end result of not dealing properly with obstacles.  So I was surprised the author didn't use the second half of the book to give example after example (even if they were hypothetical) of taking an obstacle, looking at it correctly, and using it to further one's goals.  He instead chose to discuss dealing with failure, once again using examples from history, but this time, examples that I've read a hundred times in countless other "self-help" books.

For me, that's the book's only failing.  Once the author laid the groundwork for the idea of embracing obstacles and using them to triumph over the vagaries of life and to achieve one's goals as well, he should have given lots of specific "how to" examples.  The historical examples of people embracing the obstacles in front of them and triumphing over them were simply not enough, because there was not enough "how to" detail in them.  It's one thing to instruct people to do something (i.e., "Go tackle that obstacle."), or to tell them other people have done the same thing (i.e., tackled seemingly insurmountable obstacles and turned them into success).  But it's quite another thing altogether to help readers understand the "how to" (both mindset, and physical steps) behind successfully tackling obstacles and even using them to change the course of your life.

The end of the book discusses Stoicism and the Stoic writers and philosophers, which was extremely interesting to me, particularly in relation to the subject of the book.  And to the author's credit, he provides a multitude of resources for those who want to look further into the ideas behind Stoicism, i.e., basically accepting the cards you're dealt and practicing virtues that allow you to triumph in spite of (and indeed, BECAUSE of) the obstacles in your path.

Overall, it's one of the better Kindle "self help" books I've read.  I only wish the author would have eliminated the section on dealing with failure (already the subject of countless other books) and instead used that same space to better demonstrate the "how to" behind using the obstacles that confront you in life as keys to achieving success and even happiness.  Would I recommend the book to others?  Absolutely.  Does it have a few shortcomings?  Yes.  And I'd hope the author will come out with a follow-up book to correct that slight deficiency.
226071
I really enjoyed the first half of this book.  It was inspiring and informative.  So I guess I'm giving it more of a 2.5 star rating.  I didn't really like the last half which was filled with photographs of Mark and a female model demonstrating body weight exercises.  I think the photos could have been more professional and have provided more information on how they work the various muscles.
379610
It was good half way through and then there were lots of thoughts for happiness that did not even make sense to the human mind, by authors unknown. So Im saying read the first half of the book, then you need to put it down and get another book.
4792335
I felt like I was halfway through the book before all the gushing reviews, thank you's and name shout outs before the book began. Maybe I'll start reading the actual book tomorrow.