Jolenta Greenberg

This isn't a celebration of the self-help genre. In fact, if anything, Greenberg and Meinzer run something akin to a meta-analysis of the genre and found much of it frankly to be fraudulent. The most surprising thing is how many of the self-help idols rely on self-flagellation (obvious) rather than acknowledge how issues beyond your control (less obvious: power structure, gender, race, class) are often deeply intertwined with our concerns about anxiety, health, wealth and more.

Most self-help books are, indeed as we might cynically suspect, a predatory author's (usually white, hetero, cis-gender men) attempt to exploit peoples' fears for idolatry and expensive post-book training.… (lisätietoja)

nonfiction eaudiobook, read by the authors
I'm not really into self-help books, but I enjoyed this book from podcasters [a:Jolenta Greenberg|17147878|Jolenta Greenberg|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and [a:Kristen Meinzer|17147524|Kristen Meinzer|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1544895860p2/17147524.jpg]. As best friends with different attitudes and backgrounds, they each offer their take on self help titles that they both tried together for 2 weeks each over the course of a couple years--and helpfully provide us with the best takeaways that, for them, actually helped them in some way, as well as some of the things that didn't work so well for them, and the things that they considered, but smartly rejected.

Even if you don't have any interest in self-help, you can laugh along with these two funny ladies as they recount their successes and fails, and some personal insight on body positivity, grief, acceptance vs. forgiveness, ADHD, and talking to a therapist.

Note: there is one awkward moment when one of the authors completely overshares, and which will definitely offend some readers, but it wasn't anything I couldn't laugh off - I don't think it's anything that someone should be called out for because she was just being honest about her relationship and there's definitely something to be said for honesty.… (lisätietoja)