The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
Written by Ashley Kelmore, Posted in Reviews
Four Stars
Best for:
Anyone who is looking for a bit of encouragement in a non-self-help format.
In a nutshell:
Through dozens of tiny chapters (many no longer than a paragraph long), author Haig offers reflections on life for the reader to take comfort in.
Worth quoting:
I underlined so many phrases in this book, so this section could be miles long.
“Don’t drain yourself trying to be understood by people who insist on not understanding you.”
Why I chose it:
I think I was looking for a little bit of comfort and some inspiration.
What it left me feeling:
Safe
Review:
What a lovely little book. In the hands of a less talented writer it could have felt overly … sappy? Meaningless? Shallow? A book full of paragraph-long chapters could come across as a gimmick, but this doesn’t. It comes across as the writings of someone who has felt profound sadness and depression as well as happiness and joy.
I get the feeling from reading Haig’s books that he just wants other humans to feel like they are enough. That there is life out there and in here for all of us, and we don’t need to spend our time focused on things we don’t need, or relationships that aren’t good for us. We don’t need to lose weight, or have children, or get a promotion to have value. That life is for living and enjoying, and that we have no way of knowing the future, so we need to find ways to live with and even value the uncertainty.
I struggle with things I cannot control (like, you know, pretty much everything, right?). Uncertainty, the unknown, the unplanned – these are not things that I thrive on. But reading, in many different ways, ideas for how to think about the unknown, the uncertainty is indeed comforting.
This book is going up on my shelf, and I will be taking it down whenever need a reminder that I am enough.
Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Recommend and keep
