Do you do *Self Help* books?
 

My bestest gf was obviously tired of my train wreckedness when it comes to the opposite sex....so she bought me the Christian Carter - Catch Him, Keep Him set for my birthday.

As she has no better luck than me, and has indicated that she wouldnt mind a listen when I am finished...I suspect she really bought it for her.

Anyways, do you like self help books? think they are a load of shit?

Recommend any?

I dont mind CC's cds, because I can listen to them whilst I am in the car for my 60 minute commute.

I just ordered This book too :)

I know, I am turning into some hippy fucking freak :p

Guy in a bookstore asks the attendant:
"Where can a find self-help books?"

Bookstore attendant replies:
"If I told you that, it would defeat the purpose."


EDIT:

"Catch Him - Keep Him" ... make sure that is thoroughly hidden before bringing a potential new suitor home. Or shelve it prominently next to Steven King's "Misery".

Well, since you got the it as a gift, no harm no foul, but I don't think it will help you any. As a guy, I don't want to be 'caught' or 'kept', I'd rather be 'found' then 'given adequate reason to stay in a happy and productive relationship'.

I hate using flash judgment but usually reading something that is WRITTEN like this, talking about how it's going to CHANGE my life, ... makes me a little suspicious.

That said, I think you might be able to get better advice from actual men right here, if you want to know what guys are thinking.

Women who run with the wolves is an excellent book, though. I read that a few years ago (sensitive male, shaddup) and it has a lot of great stuff in it. You'll end up reading it, re-reading it and passing it on to everyone you know. You might want to save yourself some time and just buy an extra copy.

Sure, I buy self-help books. The Artist's Way is one. How to Win Friends and Influence People is another I recommend, both of which I've mentioned here.

If you like wild women, you might like: Succulent Wild Woman which is really cute.

My mother-in-law is a huge fan of Christian-themed self help books. She gives them as gifts all the time (which on some level is always mildly insulting, but they're well-intentioned so we all grin and bear it.) We have probably a dozen of them, on all topics ranging from parenting to finance to dealing with personal crises, and those are just the ones she's given since we've been married. Prior to that my husband would just immediately throw them out, whereas I am too polite and feel the need to stick them on the bookshelf where she can see them when she comes over.

I met the author of a reasonably well selling self help book - low level "try to raise your self esteem above the level of a slug". In his case it worked - ish - he had some money and I assume was better dressed.

Sadly he was very nervy and easily put down (not by me for the record).

My friend was given a book on procrastination - true story not a gag - the first chapter involved getting a pen or pencil and making a list. She didn't have one to and and that was the end of the book!

I've read a couple in my time. Not a huge fan, but the one book I really did think was helpful (and I've mentioned it here before)is the book by Anthony deMello called Awareness. It's brilliant in my opinion and helped me a lot when I was at a really low point in my life.

Unless The gift of Fear counts, I've never read one.

I've read a couple, though not for some number of years. There may be some interesting tidbits to get out of them, but I've found them to have a "one size fits all" kind of mentality. Life is never that simple.

"Do" in what sense? :doit:

Most of them I'm not a fan of. I personally found "Learned Optimism" by Martin Seligman helpful and interesting. I also learned a lot from "Against Depression" by Peter Kramer--on the basis of that and his earlier, more famous "Listening to Prozac," I would say that his book on relationships is worth a look: "Should You Leave?: A Psychiatrist Explores Intimacy and Autonomy--and the Nature of Advice."

"How to Heal the Hurt By Hating"- Anita Liberty. Try special ordering that without getting a crusty look from the bookstore clerk. If you succeed I'll buy you the book.
:)

No, but I heard The Secret by Rhonda Byrne is good. A friend of mine recommended it. I heard other good things (Can't remember where the reviews are that I read), but also that a lot of it was just visualizing what you want or something. Never got around to looking at it.

this post gives me the urge to go to a self esteem self help book signing and heckle the author.

thanks Sundae!

BRB!

hey Ducks....btw...that sounds pretty pathetic. I like you.
What happened?
Catch him...keep him? Then what are you going to do...eat him? You are making me hungry.
Hey, If they don't like you for the awesomeness that you obviously are...they can go fuck themselves....you don't need a book to tell you that.

I got halfway through "You're Only Half the Loser You Think You Are" before I gave up. Didn't help my self esteem at all.

Why....did you spill your Boone's all over your copy like I did mine?
:D
The bottle was half empty anyway.....

Good one Cic! :)

lol! Anytime Shawnee...
Gotta keep up with you...it's not easy....

I'm not sure, does this mean you are only one quarter the loser you think you are, or that you are in fact exactly the loser you think you are?

Puh. New Math. (shrugs)

My self help books are appropriately blank.

Depends on what kind of 'help' you need. All of them are only going to tell you what you're usually refusing to admit to yourself.

But if it is general 'eh' and doldrums, try Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance by Joseph M. Marshall.

or, Learning Not to Procrastinate. Can't remember the author. I'll look into it later. ;)

Gmail had a link this morning to a recipe for Spam-and-Lemon Crescent rolls. Can you imagine something so patently filthy, so soulless, so whoringly disgusting?

Can I say spam-loaf? Uuuuugh!!!

I believe these ingredients create the gateway to hell:

Foil dinner on the grill
1/4 cup brown sugar 8 new potatoes, sliced 1/4"
1/4 cup beer 2 cups carrots, sliced 1/4"
1/4 cup stone ground mustard 1 large onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp celery seed 12-oz can SPAM, cut into 12 slices

Sure Clodfobble, but Spam, all by itself, is really pretty disgusting too. What do you think, agird626? How do you feel about spam?

oooh what'd I miss?

Not much. Just some first-time-poster appeared, apparently offering a "testimonial" about some self help program ... it MIGHT have been genuine ... but it looked a lot like advertising.
Only thing I recall was the author's name was Penix. Yeah, google penix if you really want to know. Damn I'm gonna go try that now, just to see what happens.

Ohhhhhhh, penix. I've always been so jealous of him. I suffer from penix envy. :(

Was it this book?

Why would you mess with a good thing? :lol:

Gee Whiz
 

...Sorry, I thought the thread was started by ducknuts asking for self-help book recommendations...
...so I posted about my experience with a self-help book...
...but after all of your classy remarks, I now understand how my recommendation was completely out of line?
I see that your new contributions to the thread have definitely heightened its value and sincerity.
Way to be.

Thanks!

agird, the rules during registration process explain that you can't post a link on your first post.

Most self help books say the same thing, positive thinking and the like.

i.e. Tony Robbins