John O'Leary (5)

This book was recommended to me by a friend, and honestly I'm rather happy that she took the time to recommend it to me.

While self-help books have a tendency to be either too coddling or too clinical, [b: On Fire|6148028|Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)|Suzanne Collins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1358273780s/6148028.jpg|6171458] was able to largely avoid both. In telling the story of how he survived being burned over 100% of his body and making something of himself, John O'Leary show more details the perseverance and grit that most of us wish we possessed... and tells us that we indeed have it. It's a study in tough love and finding hope in places one might not usually find them, and an oddly touching story at that.

I don't know if I just happened to read this book at the right time in my life, or if it was just genuinely moving, but this book did touch me a fair deal. I found value in the lessons it taught, and smiled on more than one occasion while flipping through its pages.

The book isn't for everyone, certainly, but I did get rather a lot out of it when I read it. show less

A great message-- so 3 stars, but the writing and format of the book? Probably closer to 2. Anyway, this was a quick and motivational read. It reads like an hour-long TED talk-- very inspiring and ready for you to take some bullet points away from the slide show.

As a St. Louisan, I particularly enjoyed reading about Jack Buck and all the amazing kindnesses he gave to others. I had no idea he was such an angel in disguise!

If your library has a copy and you feel like you need to stop feeling show more sorry for yourself and make some magic happen in the one and only life you've got - pick up this book! show less

In On Fire, John O'Leary shares the seven critical choices we can make to wake up and live an energetically inspired and intentional life. His story comes on the authority of someone who experienced the tragedy of severe burns at a young age and then turned his story to the positive at every turn, helped by others along the way. What starts like so many other x-steps-to-success books in the self-help format then transcends to move and inspire.

Definitely an inspirational book - John's story is certainly touching, and if you don't find yourself moved by his journey then you probably weren't really paying attention at all. We hopefully won't ever need to have such a devastating event to transform our lives, but that's no excuse to sleepwalk through life. We can be inspired by stories like John to lift ourselves up and be on fire for life!