Steve's Updates en-US Tue, 29 Apr 2025 12:38:21 -0700 60 Steve's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Rating852436305 Tue, 29 Apr 2025 12:38:21 -0700 <![CDATA[Steve Parker liked a review]]> /
Steve liked Peter's review of The Hemlock Cup:
The Hemlock Cup by Bettany Hughes
]]> Rating852436221 Tue, 29 Apr 2025 12:38:02 -0700 <![CDATA[Steve Parker liked a review]]> /
Steve liked Bryn's review of Time's Convert (All Souls, #4):
Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness
"Thoroughly enjoyable read. Filling in Marcus de Claremont’s history and Phoebe‘s process of becoming a vampire amongst other bits of paralleling information made for an interesting read bringing out the background of characters in the preceding books.

Looking forward to the next book."
]]> Rating852436011 Tue, 29 Apr 2025 12:37:21 -0700 <![CDATA[Steve Parker liked a review]]> /
Steve liked Bryn's review of Happy: Why more or less everything is absolutely fine:
Happy by Derren Brown
"***1/2
Interesting audiobook focusing on Stoicism and Happiness. Light and well written philosophical approach.
I liked the outcome with the reminder to be mindful, living fully in the moment (not a meditation)."
]]> Recommendation38671664 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 19:28:53 -0700 <![CDATA[<Recommendation id=38671664 from=5213013 to=8757536 book_id=183430257 status=p message= created=Tue Apr 22 19:28:53 -0700 2025 recommendation_request_id=>]]> Review7433393053 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 19:15:43 -0700 <![CDATA[Steve added 'The School of Life Collected Essays: Reflections on Self-Knowledge, Emotional Maturity and Calm']]> /review/show/7433393053 The School of Life Collected Essays by The School of Life Steve gave 5 stars to The School of Life Collected Essays: Reflections on Self-Knowledge, Emotional Maturity and Calm (Hardcover) by The School of Life
bookshelves: hard-copy-purchased
Some books don’t arrive with a bang—they arrive with a kind of quiet confidence, like an old friend gently sitting beside you. The School of Life: Collected Essays � Reflections on Self-Knowledge, Emotional Maturity and Calmi is one of those books. It doesn’t shout, it doesn’t dazzle, and it certainly doesn’t promise to transform your life in five easy steps. Instead, it offers something rarer and far more enduring: thoughtfulness. Space to breathe. Gentle, intelligent company for the journey inward.

Put together by the team at The School of Life, these essays reflect years of work exploring what it means to be emotionally well. Drawing on psychology, philosophy, and life experience, the book invites readers into a series of reflections that feel less like reading advice and more like overhearing wisdom. The topics are broad but always anchored in lived reality—how our childhood shapes our moods, how we can stay calm amid uncertainty, why self-knowledge matters more than confidence. There’s nothing flashy about the content, but again and again, I found myself underlining lines that quietly hit home.

What’s striking is how the essays balance emotional depth with clarity. You never feel lost in theory, even though the ideas are rooted in serious thinking. These pages carry the spirit of Freud, Montaigne, and other big thinkers—but without ever trying to sound academic or overly clever. The tone is warm and conversational, almost like a letter from someone who’s been through some things and has taken the time to understand them.

The writing itself is a pleasure. It’s elegant without being showy, simple without being simplistic. It flows in a way that makes you want to keep reading, but also invites you to pause. Some essays are more philosophical, others more personal—but nearly all of them offer something that lingers. You’ll likely finish a piece and find yourself thinking about it while doing the dishes or walking the dog. That’s the kind of book this is. It stays with you.

Although the essays are grouped into three broad themes—self-knowledge, emotional maturity, and calm—you can read them in any order. They stand alone but also work beautifully together. There’s a quiet rhythm to the whole collection: it moves from the inward to the outward, from the raw to the reflective, without ever feeling forced. It doesn’t try to push you through a linear process. It just offers insights, generously and gently.

One of the book’s great strengths is that it feels deeply human. It acknowledges how messy emotions can be. How we’re all shaped by wounds we don’t fully understand. How hard it is, sometimes, just to stay present. There’s no pressure here to be perfect. Just a gentle encouragement to grow more self-aware—and kinder to ourselves and others as a result.

If you’re someone who prefers books with numbered strategies and clear-cut conclusions, this might not be quite your style. It leans more towards reflection than prescription. But if you’re the kind of reader who enjoys sitting with complex emotions, who values insight over instruction, then this will feel like a breath of fresh air.

What makes it even more powerful is that it never pretends to have all the answers. It’s humble. It simply points out what many of us overlook—that emotional health is as essential as physical health, and that understanding ourselves is a lifelong, worthwhile endeavour.

I’ve read a lot of self-development books, but few feel as lasting or as quietly profound as this one. It reminds you that you’re not alone in your struggles. That others have felt what you’re feeling. And that, even in the chaos, there are ways to live with more clarity and calm.

This isn’t just a book to read. It’s a book to live with. To come back to in quieter moments. To share with a friend who’s hurting, or to turn to when you’re feeling unsure of yourself. It doesn’t offer certainty—but it does offer something just as valuable: perspective.

For thoughtful readers who crave depth, not hype, and who want to live with more understanding and care, this book is an absolute gift. I suspect I’ll be returning to it for years.
]]> Rating850100860 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 18:07:56 -0700 <![CDATA[Steve Parker liked a review]]> /
Steve liked Loene's review of Snow Falling on Cedars:
Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
]]> ReadStatus9338553627 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 06:11:27 -0700 <![CDATA[Steve started reading 'Big Bad']]> /review/show/3114348012 Big Bad by Christian Galacar Steve started reading Big Bad by Christian Galacar
]]> Comment289682481 Sat, 19 Apr 2025 22:41:24 -0700 <![CDATA[Steve commented on Bryn's review of Tricks of the Mind]]> /review/show/7489899735 Bryn's review of Tricks of the Mind
by Derren Brown

This one’s hard to get hold of, Bryn. I can lend to you if you like. ]]> Review446068337 Mon, 14 Apr 2025 23:37:51 -0700 <![CDATA[Steve added 'Tricks of the Mind']]> /review/show/446068337 Tricks of the Mind by Derren Brown Steve gave 4 stars to Tricks of the Mind (Paperback) by Derren Brown
bookshelves: hard-copy-purchased
4½ stars
TL;DR: Derren Brown's Tricks of the Mind offers insights on psychology, belief, and memory, blending wit with personal stories.
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Just finished Tricks of the Mind by Derren Brown. I’ve been meaning to read it for ages—I’ve followed Derren’s work for years now, from the early stage shows to the more recent, quieter, more introspective stuff. I’ve always admired the way he blends performance with psychology, that kind of subtle commentary on belief and how easily we’re swayed by suggestion. So yes, going into this, I already had a good handle on a lot of the concepts he talks about. Memory techniques, misdirection, the flaws in how we perceive things, why we fall for psychics, that sort of thing.

To be honest, there wasn’t much in the book that surprised me. No big revelations. But weirdly, that didn’t bother me. I wasn’t looking to be surprised—I just wanted to hear it all in his own words, and that’s exactly what I got. And it was strangely satisfying.

There’s something comforting about the way Derren writes. He’s witty—dry in that very British way—but also thoughtful. I found myself smiling through bits I already knew simply because of how well he put them. He’s not just smart; he’s good at sounding smart in a way that doesn’t make you feel small. He talks to you, not at you. That makes a big difference.

What really stuck with me was the more personal stuff. I’d always wondered how he got into this line of work—what the path looked like before the TV shows and the big theatre productions. Reading about his early interest in hypnosis and magic, how he started off feeling a bit out of place, figuring out how to use these tools to connect with people—it made everything I’d already seen from him onstage make more sense. You get a glimpse of the scaffolding behind the performance, and it somehow makes it even more impressive.

The structure of the book is� well, let’s say “loosely organised.� It jumps around a fair bit. Some chapters are practical—like here’s how to build a memory palace—others dive into scepticism, or take a turn into big-picture philosophy. At times I found myself drifting a little, especially during the longer stretches where he gets into debunking alternative therapies or going deep into how belief works. Not because it wasn’t well argued—it was—but because I’d already heard him say most of it before, in one way or another. Still, I kept reading. There’s something about his tone that makes you want to keep going, even if you feel like you’ve heard the song before.

There were these little moments where something would just land—where a phrase or a passing comment would stop me for a second. I remember one bit where he talks about belief, not just in supernatural stuff, but in ourselves, in the stories we tell to make sense of life. And I found myself staring at the page for a moment, just thinking, “Yeah� that’s exactly it.� It’s not about tearing things down just to be clever—it’s about encouraging people to really look at how their minds work, and maybe get a little closer to the truth, however messy that might be.

It’s also strangely calming to read someone who clearly values precision. Not just in performance, but in language, in thought. It reinforced my desire to think more clearly. I found myself questioning things—not in a big, dramatic way, but in those quiet, private little ways that matter.

I didn’t walk away from the book with a list of new facts or skills. That wasn’t the point. What I walked away with was a sense of Derren as a person—a little more of his internal world. That mix of performance, intellect, and curiosity I’ve always admired was there, but layered with a kind of openness I hadn’t expected. He’s not just trying to impress; he’s trying to share.

And even when I disagreed with something, or found myself thinking, “Alright, I’ve heard this part before,� I never felt like he was wasting my time. There’s value in hearing someone articulate ideas well, even if those ideas aren’t new to you. There’s a kind of pleasure in being reminded of things you already believe, but hearing them said better.

Would I recommend it? Yes, I would. Especially to someone just discovering him. But even for long-time fans like me, it’s worth it. Not for what you’ll learn, necessarily, but for the quiet satisfaction of seeing how all the pieces fit together—from the memory tricks to the belief systems to the man himself.

It’s not perfect. But it’s real. And in a book like this, that counts for a lot. ]]> Review7458917992 Fri, 11 Apr 2025 20:57:47 -0700 <![CDATA[Steve added 'White Noise']]> /review/show/7458917992 White Noise by Mercedes Mercier Steve gave 4 stars to White Noise (Dr. Laura Fleming #1) by Mercedes Mercier
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