Overall rating and opinion of "And Then I Met Margaret"

Use this forum to discuss the January 2018 Book of the Month, "And Then I Met Margaret" by Rob White
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Tars
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Re: Overall rating and opinion of "And Then I Met Margaret"

Post by Tars »

Reviews were so different on this one that I just had to read it, even through as a rule I'm avoiding motivational books. So, what I thunk about is:
Con - really liked structure, different stories, short chapters. Easy to read - easy comprehen lessons.
Pro - god awfull patronising manner which author has chosen is a big no-no in self-help genre book.
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AoifesReview
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Post by AoifesReview »

I honestly had a bit of a mixed reaction to this book, while on the one hand I never read self-help books and generally tend to stay as far away from them as possible, I can't help but admit that I rather enjoyed this one. I felt like a lot of it was relatable and rather approachable for a novice to the self-help genre. In that sense, I'm glad I've read the book.

On the other hand, there were quite a few points throughout where I was starting to get irritated, at times the whole thing felt a little bit narcissistic to me and I questioned why I was even bothering to read it. But those moments generally tended to pass. Nonetheless, it got me thinking about things and questioning my decisions, which is a good thing I suppose.

I'd give it a solid 3 out of 4 stars.
"Nothing is permanent in this wicked world - not even our troubles." - Charlie Chaplin
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peaces
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Post by peaces »

I am like @AliceofX though I have not read this book, I believe that there are greater powers in charge of the world happenings.

We're to work knowing that our success or failure are not from US, we have a part to play.... But not all the part

At first the title caught my attention, the posts have increased my interest'''
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Post by ChillAndRead »

I like the fact that there are so many different opinions for the same book. It is really nice to read all these aspects. It helps understand whether you want to read the book or not. Well, it might just be a reason to read it, to form your own opinion!
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Post by fatemeh133 »

I occasionally pick up self- help books. Its not my favorite topic, but I enjoy the perspectives now and then.
This book was well written and it kept me reading. However, there were places where he came off as arrogant, and it dampened my interest. In other places what he described as a struggle, seemed insignificant to me.
To be fair, there were some nice stories and insightful things said. And I liked that the people who helped him were not big names, just ordinary people.
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Post by GeekPizza »

AliceofX wrote: 01 Jan 2018, 05:15 I should probably start by saying that I've never been a fan of self-help type books. I don't really have much to compare this book to, but I'll probably stay away from this genre in the future. What I disliked most about the book was how arrogant the author came off. Maybe I'm just a huge cynic, but I don't believe our destiny is entirely in our hands. There are people who say, "What doesn't kill you make you stronger." To me, that just means you weren't hit hard enough. You could have easily been left cripled and broken, but you weren't. That brings me to the crux of the problem. Sure, the author, like all of us, worked hard to get what he has, but in the end he also had the luck to not be given a heavier burden than he could carry. But then to go on and preach that you can achieve anything if you just work hard ... The world doesn't work like that. The world isn't fair and just. In the end, all we can say is, "There but for the grace of God."

To be completely fair, it was a well-written book with interesting stories. The "myth I believed" at the start of every chapter always made me intrigued, and made me want to continue reading. But in the end I just couldn't get behind the overall moral of the book.
I think there's a common problem with books of this type (I haven't read this particular book as of yet but I have read others that sound very similar) is that they often ignore elements of life that individuals cannot change. There are systems in place in society, often large and unwieldy, that, intentionally or not, remove options and agency from individuals. Community and incremental social progress are often far more important in improving the state of the world than fables about individual power and positive thought.
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Post by jc129b »

I couldn’t agree more. This books wated my time and effort. I tried my best to justify what the author wants us to understand but I guess this there’s not much to like about thos book.
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Post by juliannedanford230 »

I agree with what a lot of people have said: self-help books typically aren't my forte. Unless there's something within the book that I specifically relate to, I have a hard time with books in this genre. That being said, it was interesting to read another in this genre, since I haven't in a couple years. Not a bad book, just a genre that's generally off-putting to me.
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Post by Libs_Books »

Reading through this thread is a bit of a rollercoaster experience - at some points I think, 'I really have to read this book, if only to discover whether it's as awful as some make it sound!' But then I think that life's too short to read books that make your heart sink. I like the sound of it being structured around stories, but then again, the word 'narcissist' has cropped up more than once, and that's not great.
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Post by R-Myra »

I don't like reading self-help books but when I read a few moments of Rob White from this book, I decided to give it a try. For me it was nice to spend some time with this book but I will not read it again like other books. It was just a one time read.
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Post by ericahs »

I appreciated that someone was willing to explore real and challenging issues in such a beautiful way.
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Philip Chepsingil
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Post by Philip Chepsingil »

I can see that this book has different rating and perspectives by different people. In my opinion, this is a typical motivational book, in this way, the author has to give the positive side of everything to motivate the reader. I personally was motivated by the author in very many ways throughout the book. He has also written in a way to capture the attention of the reader. In this way, I have to give this book 4 stars rating.
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Latest Review: And Then I Met Margaret by Rob White

Post by TheWriteAngel »

I gave the book 3 out of 4. I liked the idea that inspiration can strike from the unlikeliest of sources. There were a few stories that resonated well with me though some of them felt exaggerated. The chapters were short and quite easy to read. But I don't think it would rank very high in the self-help genre.
Feel free to check out my review to see my thorough take on the book.
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Post by Emmanuel Michael »

'And then I met Margaret' is a very interesting novel, although from the title you would not know it. It is a self help book where the writer had written short author autobiography of his experience that had influenced is mindset over the years from his childhood to his successful status as an entrepreneur.

The book was well written and interesting, but did had few typos and grammatical errors. I rated it 3 out of 4 stars because it was fairly clean and intriguing.

I like the way the writer summarized the chapters to the myth I believed. There are many lessons to learn from the book, but the thing that I love about the book is the challenge to make our environment our friend because see things around us happen though ordinary as we might say it is, they are not just ordinary. For example when you look at a lizard; whenever it wants to cross a path where people follow, if it is already crossing and a person is passing that same path it would not get distracted but instead increase its speed and cross the path so as not get trampled on.
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Post by vivek_shukla »

I thing is i was not fond of of the books that narrate the story and talk to you and lowkey guide you by giving some experiences. The story was catchy, unique and the story was worth reading but it was way more than just story. I loose attention when the story is everywhere. I felt that it wasn't concentrated enough but i liked the plot. I will recommend it to every type of person who reds some numb stuff. overall the response was positive. :D
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