The Book of Awesome

Oh how I long to snark about The Book of Awesome and its happy-go-lucky message of appreciating the little things, but unfortunately people, I drank the Kool-Aide too and am now extremely busy celebrating the minutiae in life!

The Book of Awesome is (wait for it...) awesome! It is chocked full of awesome-sauce such as "High-fiving babies: because they usually don't leave you hanging;" "Taking off your bra after wearing it for hours;" "Waking up before your alarm and realizing that you've got lots of sleep time yet;" "Popping bubble wrap;" and "The shampoo head massage you sometimes get at the hairdresser."

The most awesome-possum thing in the book though, is "Remembering What Movie That Guy Is From" - my family and I play our own version show more on that game every time we get together. I kid you not, when I go to my parents' house tomorrow, something like this will happen at some time during the day:

Dad: Have you been watching that show on HBO?

Me: Which show?

Dad: You know, that one with that guy? The guy with the hair?

Sister Sarah: Oh yeah, that hairy guy that was in that movie with the girl that wore that pink dress. What was his name?

Mom: Oh, do you mean Mark Damon?

Sister Sarah: No, the other guy. And it's Matt Damon, Mom.

You people may think I exaggerate but no, I assure you this is exactly what we sound like! And the worst part - we're probably talking about Jim Carey or Tom Cruise - now how is it that we cannot come up with the name of Tom freakin' Cruise? After exhausting the combined power of all four of our memory banks, I will then pull out my trusty iPhone and check IMDB and it is truly awesome to finally get that name!

Neil Pasricha, with the help of his website 1000awesomethings.com, has come up with a book that makes me feel extremely awesome. Identifying with and laughing out loud as Pasricha described tons of awesome things that could have come straight out of my life story probably makes me an incredibly ordinary person, but I don't care. It's enough for me to know that others of you "Sneak McDonald's and Hide the Evidence," "Celebrate your pet's birthday even though they have no idea what's going on," and get an exquisite thrill "When you didn't play the lottery and your numbers didn't come up." We are all so totally awesome! show less

Neil Pasricha has written a book of short essays about little things in our lives that make our days just a little more awesome when we encounter them.

I needed this book in my life right now. I don’t even know how to follow that up without hijacking this review into my own political soapbox, so for future reference, I’ll just note that we’re in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and may George Floyd rest in peace. I pray for justice and meaningful societal changes for him and so many countless others.

Anyway…

A reminder of small, awesome things is a welcome break from the daily hourly onslaught of bad news at the moment. The topics are so great that just reading the contents brings a smile to my face. “The smell of freshly cut show more grass.” One of my favorite smells in the world. “Watching The Price is Right when you’re at home sick.” That one brings back memories of staying home sick with my grandfather, who passed away two years ago. I don’t remember watching The Price is Right with him, but I remember Chuck Woolery hosting Scrabble. And that brings back memories of Papaw watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy literally every night that it was on. Another one that I haven’t experienced but I sure would like to: “When your suitcase tumbles down the luggage chute first after a long flight.” If that ever happens to me, I’m going right out and buying my PowerBall ticket. I think the lottery odds are better than the first-luggage odds!

I mostly read this before bed, because that’s when I like to read my nonfiction books, so over breakfast in the morning, I would read the chapter titles to my husband. That sparked some good conversations about whether we thought each topic was awesome or not (He thinks sleeping with one leg under the covers and one leg out is awesome, but I’m generally for being completely covered, even if it’s only a sheet). We’d also discuss any other memories the topics sparked, like my stories about my grandfather and game shows.

The book got just a bit too long for me. I looked back at the last several chapters, and I do mostly agree that they’re awesome, so I must have just run out of attention. But it also felt like, instead of a quick page or two, the essays got a bit longer. Whatever happened, I personally just wish the book had been maybe 25 pages shorter.

If you need a pick-me-up like I did, please give this book a try. You’ll walk away with a renewed appreciation for all the awesome little things that make up your day if you just have the eyes to see them. show less

This is one of those books where you think--why didn't I come up with that? Some of his "awesome" moments strike a chord, while others fall a little flat, but it is hard not to keep flipping through to the next documented joy to see if you agree. This would be a light read for a reluctant reader, although not all that is awesome in this book will connect with teens.

This was such a warm and fuzzy reading experience. Some of the entries brought with them a heavy dose of nostalgia, while others provoked the surprise and delight of "Hey, I do that too!" recognition. The book works best read in small doses, maybe a handful of entries a day. Any more and you run the risk of it becoming tedious (you're reading what is essentially a list, after all), and that would be a shame. Pasricha's commentary on each entry is sometimes sweet, often blunt (but not obnoxiously so), and almost always amusing. I'm looking forward to reading [b:The Book of (Even More) Awesome|9379365|The Book of (Even More) Awesome|Neil Pasricha|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41aazJ6TKTL._SL75_.jpg|14263000], which just came show more out.

Of course, this review would not be complete without listing some of my favorites (I wish I could post the commentary for each entry, but I think my fingers would mutiny if I tried to type that much tonight):

- Old, dangerous playground equipment

- The moment at a concert after the lights go out and before the band comes onstage

- Hitting a bunch of green lights in a row

- The smell of freshly cut grass

- Peeling off your wet bathing suit and putting on warm clothes after swimming for a long time

- Hanging your hand out the car window

- Locking people out of the car and pretending to drive away

- The smell of books

- Dangling your feet in water

- When you arrive at your destination just as a great song ends on the radio

- Saying the same thing a sports commentator says just before they say it show less

If it is not obvious already, The Book of Awesome is.... AWESOME. Whenever you need a laugh, a giggle, a smile a little pick me up, The Book of Awesome is right there waiting for you.

The format of the Book of Awesome is sort of an extended list. Each title describes the awesome thing and then the actual body copy ranging from a word to a few pages details the awesome. Pasricha goes off on a lot of tangents and tells a lot of stories and gives a lot of scenarios but his way with words made me follow him everywhere he went and it was very satisfying. It's like one of my very clever and funny friends wrote it, seriously!

I'd have to say I agreed with about 99% of the things he declared awesome, this guy has great taste. Some of my favorites show more include: Fixing electronics by smacking them, When you're really tired and about to fall asleep and someone throws a blanket on you, and Terrible businesses run by children. There is so much here!

This is a book that should be kept around forever and always. Who doesn't need a dose of positive attitude or memories of happy moments. This book is happy making and it's ... AWESOME! show less

This runs the gamut from little things to big (from bakery air to life itself). A few of them weren't really awesome, in my opinion: the various ways of driving off and leaving ones friends behind – or just pretending to – run the gamut from juvenile to genuine jerk. But overall this was a beautiful collection, which made having a run-of-the-mill stressy bad day impossible. Awesome!

The last book I read before this one was all about Murphy's Law and how the world is (hysterically) broken and amusingly unjust. This book, on the other hand, is all about the good things in life, most of which are never spoken because we take them for granted.

The Book of Awesome is a beautiful reminder that life can be essentially good if we stop and actually spend five minutes looking for awesome things. None of the items in this list are esoteric or vaguely abstract, which will likely prompt the reader into looking for their own awesome items. This in turn should lead anyone to a better life through happiness in the small, often forgotten roses.

For those who might be on the fence about this one, read the website that inspired the show more book. You won't regret it. show less