It’s time for another book review. I realized that I only did two book reviews last year, but I was reading the same book the whole year, Barack Obama’s memoir A Promised Land.
To be honest, I stopped reading it for a while because I got so sick with my pregnancy, so it took me over a year to finish this book. It’s also a long book, 768-page count, and there are a ton of words for pages. If you’ve ever heard Barak Obama talk, you know he likes to talk. LOL
I enjoyed reading this book and learning insights into his presidency. There were a few things I didn’t care about because of the politics of it, but overall, it was good. Here is my take on A Promised Land.
He started by giving a little background of his upbringing, like his time in college and law school, when he and Michelle met, his time spent working in public relations, and finally, as State Senator.
I found it interesting how he campaigned for his presidency—traveling with Michelle, their two girls, and his team. It all sounded extremely exhausting. He went from state to state, town to town, talking to so many different people. Exhausting!
While campaigning, he quickly realized how careful he needed to be with his words. And even during his presidency, words were always being misinterpreted. (It still goes on today).
We know that he ended up winning in 2008, and he first talks about the mess of an economy he inherited from the previous administration. Then talks about international affairs, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the struggle his administration went through to get his Healthcare bill passed.
Towards the end of the book, he gives details of finding Osama Bin Laden, and they were fascinating, to say the least. As he explained the team he put together and the operation needed to find, capture, and then kill Bin Laden, it all sounded like a movie.
I was in high school when he was elected president, and I didn’t follow politics or the news like I do now, so I had not realized certain events he spoke about happened during his administration. I’m looking forward to reading part two of this book.
First time listening to an audible book, and a self-help book at that, it was Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*%k. Never had I heard the word f*%k so much in my life. LOL, but the book was humorous and kept me engaged.
Here is my takeaway from this book.
“If we are unwilling to fail, we are unwilling to succeed” – this quote stood out to me.
He tells us that we all care about things, but it’s often things that we shouldn’t care about or care too much about. We have to prioritize what we care about, what is truly important.
He brought up a good point in chapter 8. In western culture, people try so much to be liked and accepted that people sometimes try to change who they are depending on who they are with.
Because of the pressure to be likable, people often reconfigure their entire personalities depending on who they are with.
I can relate to that, especially in my teenage years. I always wanted to be liked and never have issues with anyone that I would change depending on who I was with. I think it also stemmed from trying to find myself at that time.
The book ended with talking about death (I don’t want to give away too much), but it really got me thinking, what is your relationship with the word death? What do you think about when the word comes up? Do you get anxious thinking about when you’re going to die?
I sometimes do because we all have a fear of the unknown. Even as a believer, I still feel anxious because even though the Bible tells us that if you believe in Jesus, you’ll be saved and be with Him once you pass but we still don’t know exactly where that is.
I would recommend this book, and it’s opened the world of self-help books for me because I’m reading another self-help book, which was gifted to me last year.
Have you read any self-help books? If so, which ones?
With Love,
Heidy
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