Your Name Here: Guide to Life by Michael Rosenbaum

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Stars: ****

Summary: Life lessons from people like you. Cops and psychologists, bureaucrats and salesmen, lion tamers and morticians…everybody’s got a story to tell and a life lesson we can take to heart. In the Your Name Here Guide to Life, you’ll meet all kinds of accidental teachers from balloon boy to Mother Teresa and Mr. Totally Secure. It’s all here, along with a few insights about how to be truly happy.

I really enjoyed this book, in fact it might be one of my favourite self-help books.

“Aren’t you getting just a little bit tired of reading books about other people? Especially those people? You know the books I mean. There’s the one by the 14-pound model describing her secrets to beauty […], or maybe you’re fed up with celebrity guides to happiness […], or CEO memoirs […] What’s wrong with all these books, other than the smug, self-satisfied, revisionist histories on every page? […] The truth is that there’s little we can learn from the rich and powerful, the incredibly successful and the genetically blessed.” pg 3-4

This paragraph is the very first text in the book. Don’t you love that first line? Go on, read it again. Anyways, I rarely find myself agreeing with a book in the FIRST paragraph. In fact I don’t think it’s ever happened. I AM sick of seeing self-help books by people who don’t live lives like me and sometimes got where they are by luck or connections.

The book is filled with very short chapters, each by a different person on a life lesson they wanted to share. We never find out who the story is by, their name, occupation, nothing. I think this is a good thing as we aren’t focused on the person, but the lesson. At the end of each chapter is a quote that pertains to the story. These could be used as affirmations.

The only qualm I have is that there were a few short forms that I didn’t necessarily understand at first. I was able to figure it out but personally I don’t think authors should use short forms as their books are usually read worldwide and short forms can be different. For example do you know what cred or bestie refer to? Of course reading it in context helps you figure it out. Cred is short for credibility and bestie refers to a best friend. I’ve certainly never said or wrote it like that.

One more thing, there are quite a few words I didn’t know the meaning of. I chose not to look them up although I will eventually (if someone can tell me where that game/event is for learning new words from books). I was usually able to understand what they were saying anyways.

Links of Interest: Your Name Here; Guide to Life Blog,

Other Reviews: 5 Minutes for Books,

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About Kathleen

I've been a nonfiction lover for as long as I can remember. I love children's nonfiction as well and love to share my knowledge and the books I gained them from, with the world. I wish more people would give nonfiction a chance.