Official Review: The Diary That Will Change Your Lives Fo...
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
- gen_g
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 3115
- Joined: 22 Apr 2018, 10:31
- Currently Reading: 1984
- Bookshelf Size: 104
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-gen-g.html
- Latest Review: The Diary That Will Change Your Lives Forever by Georgios Zelelidis
Official Review: The Diary That Will Change Your Lives Fo...
Georgios Zelelidis’s self-help book, titled The Diary That Will Change Your Lives Forever, is a collection of short motivational passages in the form of diary entries for each day of the year. The book aims to help readers gain confidence in themselves, break free of their possibly painful pasts, and learn how to live in the present.
Given that each motivational passage is only about one page long, the book certainly makes for a quick read. Additionally, given its diary format, I believe that the best reading style to adopt would be to read an entry a day, so that its motivational and inspirational effects can be compounded over time in order to achieve the best positive result.
As for the content of the diary entries themselves, I can clearly see the effort the author put into writing his book, and I certainly felt motivated after reading said entries. For example, Zelelidis tried to connect with readers by encouraging them to take the initiative to pursue what they want in life and to never wait for things to fall into their laps.
However, I must say that what struck me most about the book is the presence of multiple references to Ancient Greek literature (mainly from Homer’s Odyssey). This is probably due to the fact that The Diary That Will Change Your Lives Forever is an English translation, i.e., the book is originally written in Greek. I very much enjoyed these references because of my long interest in Greek literature and mythology, and this aspect certainly helped me to maintain my immersion in the book!
Nonetheless, no book is flawless. As I mentioned earlier, the book consists of diary entries that seek to motivate readers. Whilst this is heartening, the fact is each diary entry is merely an iteration of another diary entry. Simply put, the book, unfortunately, became rather repetitive and monotonous very quickly. Trying to finish the book then became difficult, and I had to put it down multiple times to take a break. However, it is important to note that in my case, there was a deadline to meet to publish this very review; on the other hand, for the people who decide to read The Diary That Will Change Your Lives Forever, there is no strict timeline to follow.
More importantly, the book too brings up a couple of psychological concepts without providing explanations. This could certainly trip up some readers who are unaware of such concepts. For example, the author chooses to capitalise the word “ego” in some of his diary entries when referring to both one’s personality and sense of pride – one wonders if he is referring to the Freudian ego or perhaps something else entirely? Clarity is, regrettably, much needed here.
Moreover, there are quite a number of grammar errors present, such as missing and superfluous commas; the presence of these errors detracted from the reading experience. This could be attributed to the fact that The Diary That Will Change Your Lives Forever is a translation; still, I highly recommend a couple more rounds of editing.
Therefore, due to the various flaws present (excluding the tedium of my reading experience), it pains me to admit that I have no choice but to rate Georgios Zelelidis’s The Diary That Will Change Your Lives Forever 2 out of 4 stars. This is because I have faith that with the help of an editor to work out both the grammar kinks and the lack of clarity, the book will become much improved. Still, in its current form, I can only recommend The Diary That Will Change Your Lives Forever to people who are in need of motivational writing, as well as those who possess a love for Greek literature. For those who are sensitive, the book assumes a religious reader (most likely Christian), and there are also some instances of minor profanity.
******
The Diary That Will Change Your Lives Forever
View: on Bookshelves
- Harty Muli
- Book of the Month Participant
- Posts: 2002
- Joined: 28 May 2020, 09:21
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 273
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-harty-muli.html
- Latest Review: Singularity by Jayme A. Oliveira Filho
-
- Posts: 12
- Joined: 23 Sep 2020, 01:54
- Favorite Book: Throne of Glass
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 24
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-barkha95.html
- Latest Review: The Trafficking Murders by Brian O'Hare
Great review imo
- Yvonne Monique
- Posts: 1590
- Joined: 01 Sep 2020, 07:57
- Favorite Book: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 102
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-yvonne-monique.html
- Latest Review: Healing Depression by C. Daley
- Praise GodWord
- Posts: 697
- Joined: 24 Nov 2020, 16:31
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 172
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-praise-godword.html
- Latest Review: Retirement Planning by William C. Evergreen
-
- Posts: 1617
- Joined: 08 Dec 2018, 16:37
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 385
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-mbrooks2518.html
- Latest Review: The Portal by Russell Cederberg
-
- Posts: 2370
- Joined: 25 Feb 2021, 13:23
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 482
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-markodim721.html
- Latest Review: The Solution is Political Revolution by Jillion R Rising
- Jagiine
- Posts: 449
- Joined: 06 Dec 2018, 17:08
- Currently Reading: Children of Virtue and Vengeance
- Bookshelf Size: 52
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-jagiine.html
- Latest Review: A Collection of Poetry by Cheree Scott
-
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 20 Jun 2021, 15:09
- Bookshelf Size: 0
-
- Posts: 16
- Joined: 05 Feb 2022, 10:07
- Currently Reading: City of Ash and Red
- Bookshelf Size: 16