Title: Szen Zone: Reaching a State of Positive Change
Author: Gary Szenderski
Release date: December 10th, 2015
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Disclaimer: I was kindly sent a copy of this book by the author and his publicist Kelsey Butts in exchange for an honest review. This will in no way affect my opinion of the book.
This book had taken me quite a while to get through, mainly because I feel like this is one of those books that needs to be read in small chunks. In my opinion, you should keep this in your bag and just read a chapter when you’re feeling uninspired or unenergized. Szen Zone was very motivational for me.
Likes
The thing that I liked most about this book was the fact that it left me feeling motivated and ready to get shit done. Around the time when I was reading this, I couldn’t really get myself to get off my ass and actually do some work. But Szen Zone definitely gave me new insights and motivation to get on top of my stuff. It’s filled with short and inspirational stories, some personal stories from the author, and some about people he has encountered. They can give you a new perspective on situations you would have otherwise viewed differently.
Another thing I really enjoyed was the fact that the authors personality really shined through. He told a lot of his own stories and, of course, shared his views on everything he described. His writing flows very nicely, and even though I had to get used to it, in the end it started to grow on me and kept me turning the page.
Dislikes
As much as I got motivated by this book, there were still some things that I didn’t really like. First of which was the structure of the book. At the beginning of each chapter, there is a contents page of sorts. Basically a list of the different parts within the chapter with a little summary. This was something I found to be rather unnecessary, there would literally be a summary of a story that was told on the same page! I also found the little szenippets at the end of each story to be a bit redundant, it just feels like a sentence-long summary of what you’ve just read.
The last thing that bugged me a bit about this book was how floaty the writing felt. It was very heavy on metaphors and analogies which I am not a big fan of (but if that’s your thing, you’ll probably get more out of this book than I did). In the end I started to appreciate the writing style, but it took some getting used to and it didn’t make me want to keep reading unti; about the second half of the book.
Quote
The greater risk might be in not acting and assuming that there will be another chance, later.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I quite enjoyed this book. At times it was a bit too heavy on metaphors and analogies to my taste. But it did motivate me and showed me a new perspective on life. I would definitely recommend giving it a go if you like non-fiction / self-help books.
Lots of Love,
Lotte
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