Book Review: The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha

Hey there! Have you ever had a day in which you felt really sad or disappointed? And just when you thought that day couldn't get any worse, the universe proves you wrong? We've all had that day. But guess what. Despair could be occasionally there but happiness is always there in its many unique forms. It could be the other side of your pillow at bedtime, or the smell of freshly mowed grass. It could be anything! The only mistake we are doing is that we tend to take these awesome things for granted. But a man named Neil Pasricha was able to gather all these awesome things together for us to recognize and fully appreciate in his undeniably awesome book, The Book of Awesome.

credits to taylormorgan83.blogspot.com

• Title: The Book of Awesome
• Author: Neil Pasricha
• Genre: nonfiction, humor
• Pages: 393 pages
• Published: 15 April 2010

"Based on the award-winning 10-million-plus-hit blog 1000awesomethings.com, The Book of Awesome is a high five for humanity and a big celebration of life's little moments:

• Popping Bubble Wrap
• Wearing underwear just out of the dryer
• Fixing electronics by smacking them
• Getting called up to the dinner buffet first at a wedding
• Watching The Price Is Right when you're home sick
• Hitting a bunch of green lights in a row
• Waking up and realizing it's Saturday

Sometimes it's easy to forget the things that make us smile. With a 24/7 news cycle reporting that the polar ice caps are melting, hurricanes are swirling in the seas, wars are heating up around the world, and the job market is in a deep freeze, it's tempting to feel that the world is falling apart. But awesome things are all around us-sometimes we just need someone to point them out.

The Book of Awesome reminds us that the best things in life are free (yes, your grandma was right). With laugh-out-loud observations from award- winning comedy writer Neil Pasricha, The Book of Awesome is filled with smile-inducing moments on every page that make you feel like a kid looking at the world for the first time. Read it and you'll remember all the things there are to feel good about. 

The Book of Awesome reminds us of all the little things that we often overlook but that make us smile. With touching, warm, and funny observations, each entry ends with the big booming feeling you'll get when you read through them: AWESOME!"

Sorry for the month-long book review hiatus by the way! After that overly optimistic intro, let us now go through my reading experience with The Book of Awesome. I thought Pasricha was clever, yet at the same time he was too consistent. Clever because he was able to write about small joys in such a way that you could really, really relate to it. Too consistent because he kept writing in a style that entertains you at first but becomes predictable as you flip another page and ultimately becomes boring. Well not boring boring but happy-but-getting-tired-of-it boring. Pasricha explained all these awesome things one-by-one in this book. He has this writing style that I could compare to a speaker at a seminar. His words are to explain, yet he mixes up fun ways to make his explaining entertaining and enthusiastic. But honestly, I ultimately got tired of the way he always ends a page with the phrase "Awesome!". But I thought this book was a whiff of fresh air from all the emotions other books have given me. This one is just filled with much humor and happiness and positive vibes. 

Although I have pointed out some flaws with The Book of Awesome, I still appreciated the way he put all these small awesome things that we tend to overlook together in this book. Personally, these couple of months have been tough for me. There are some struggles that I have been facing lately (don't worry, it's not MMK-worthy), and reading this book can't help but put a smile on my face every time I read a page. It lets me remember that the world isn't so bad after all. Happiness is out there, right in front of our eyes! Yet we tend to ignore them and take them for granted. Something as little as using your own pillow, sleeping with one leg out, or the smell of books are examples of these awesome things that we tend to overlook. I did some research about this book and found out that this book was the fruit of a website called 1000 Awesome Things which is quite self-explanatory. 

I would like to share with you an awesome thing from The Book of Awesome that became my all-time favorite. The Laugh Echo. (This doesn't count as a spoiler, right?) He described the Laugh Echo as the time you remember a funny memory from way back and it just makes you burst out laughing. Whenever and wherever. I found this so relate-able since this happens to me often in the most awkward places. One afternoon on my way home from school, I was riding a jeep. I guess you know what happened next. I suddenly remember a funny memory and I burst out laughing. Me. Alone. Suddenly laughing. After just gawking for minutes I burst out laughing. So I arrived at my stop red-faced yet I can't help but smile as I walked home. It was a bit embarrassing, yes, but it was funny at the same time. 

The Rating:

The Book of Awesome is great for everyone, even if you are not a bookworm! Pasricha's style makes it easy for people who do not read to understand him. This book will surely brighten up your day. Although I do not recommend it to be read all in one sitting. Let every awesome thing sink in to let you appreciate it more. It is not easy to be drawn by this book since it does not have a story line so I think you may read it whenever you feel down or when you're just in the mood to smile or giggle. You could read another book with a story simultaneously with this one and you would not be confused with the two books. The Book of Awesome could be your escape from the roller coaster ride of emotions that you feel everyday. Let this book be a guide to you to stop taking everything for granted and realize that the world is diversely...AWESOME!