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Smart Guide for Awesome Memory
Would you like to have facts and figures at your fingertips? Would you like to be able to remember everything that you have studied while writing your exams? Would you like to learn a second language easily? Make these goals a reality with the help of this simple guide. With fun memory techniques to more complex ones, Smart Guide for Awesome Memory will help you improve and boost your memory when it comes to academics as well as everyday life.
- GenresNonfiction
284 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2018
13 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
About the author
Shireen Stephen
19 books12 followersDr. Shireen Stephen holds a Ph.D. in Health Psychology and an M.Phil. and M.Sc. in Applied Psychology. She is a counselling psychologist, researcher, writer and editor. She is well known for her episodic memory of remembering dates and connected events. She is also renowned for her auditory memory of remembering clients and their counselling sessions – even years later – without taking down any notes!
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 29, 2018
When I want to learn something, I categorized books into three segments: Textbooks, Casual and Tutorial books. The first category is indeed the most detailed one, at the same time they end up being a boring one, which brings drowsiness. The second category as I said already is so light on a topic that you may miss the crux of the topic. The one I like the most is tutorial books because they are filled with theories, examples, and application. "Smart Guide for Awesome Memory" by Shireen Stephen is one such book, to improve your memory power.
After a long time, I have taken a book seriously. Last time I read something so engrossing was "Word Power Made Easy" when I had invested almost 2 months. This time it took me almost 5 weeks to finish this book. The main reason was exercises given for each topic. The author has compiled various memorization techniques available, some of them are as old as ancient Greek time or Vedic time. Techniques were nicely arranged in around 8-9 segments. Each chapter covers one segment. The good part is each method follows at least one or two applications or usages with appropriate example. These examples are again in form of exercise. So first you learn the topic and then apply it yourself. TheThe author has given general tips to improve your memory, though 40 of them were known to most of us, 10 are less known. I personally found it good to follow. Last 20% book portion covers exercise only to recollect those topics once again.
You can even call this book as a cheat sheet to an awesome memory. A book must be translated into different language and can be gifted to kids for better memory power. I wish I had such book during my school time. I have spent endless hours mugging up topics, though I have used some of these techniques like linking and pegging (I was not aware of their name at that time), knowing improvement or proper use of these techniques would have changed scenario for me.
Overall it is must to have book if you would like to increase your overall mental capabilities and confidence. Sure shot gift material for people above 7 years.
Detailed Review Link - http://chevusread.blogspot.com/2018/0...
After a long time, I have taken a book seriously. Last time I read something so engrossing was "Word Power Made Easy" when I had invested almost 2 months. This time it took me almost 5 weeks to finish this book. The main reason was exercises given for each topic. The author has compiled various memorization techniques available, some of them are as old as ancient Greek time or Vedic time. Techniques were nicely arranged in around 8-9 segments. Each chapter covers one segment. The good part is each method follows at least one or two applications or usages with appropriate example. These examples are again in form of exercise. So first you learn the topic and then apply it yourself. TheThe author has given general tips to improve your memory, though 40 of them were known to most of us, 10 are less known. I personally found it good to follow. Last 20% book portion covers exercise only to recollect those topics once again.
You can even call this book as a cheat sheet to an awesome memory. A book must be translated into different language and can be gifted to kids for better memory power. I wish I had such book during my school time. I have spent endless hours mugging up topics, though I have used some of these techniques like linking and pegging (I was not aware of their name at that time), knowing improvement or proper use of these techniques would have changed scenario for me.
Overall it is must to have book if you would like to increase your overall mental capabilities and confidence. Sure shot gift material for people above 7 years.
Detailed Review Link - http://chevusread.blogspot.com/2018/0...
January 3, 2019
For the purpose of complete transparency, I feel the need to put a disclaimer at the very beginning. I have known Shireen Stephen at her professional capacity for over a year now. But that does not influence this review in any way because I bought the book of my own accord and I have not been influenced in any way, financially or otherwise, by the author to give this book a positive review.
This book is a step by step guide that can help a person understand their own mind better and adopt memory techniques that are suitable for them as an individual. Shireen Stephen guides her readers by explaining what the different kinds of memories are and then providing different techniques along with examples to improve their memory. The book is well balanced in technical terms and related examples. So whether you are someone who needs to pin a name to everything or someone who cares only about the methods, you will find this book up to your expectations.
While anyone can choose to pick this book and learn something from it, this book is primarily targeted at the students. Many methods and examples in the book are ideal for the people who are still into academics. And my suggestion to readers would be to try each method for sometime before moving on to the next chapter in order to be able to maximize their learning from this book.
My husband & I have both read this book and have practiced the methods for some time now. We do see an improvement in both remembering and recalling details.
This book is a step by step guide that can help a person understand their own mind better and adopt memory techniques that are suitable for them as an individual. Shireen Stephen guides her readers by explaining what the different kinds of memories are and then providing different techniques along with examples to improve their memory. The book is well balanced in technical terms and related examples. So whether you are someone who needs to pin a name to everything or someone who cares only about the methods, you will find this book up to your expectations.
While anyone can choose to pick this book and learn something from it, this book is primarily targeted at the students. Many methods and examples in the book are ideal for the people who are still into academics. And my suggestion to readers would be to try each method for sometime before moving on to the next chapter in order to be able to maximize their learning from this book.
My husband & I have both read this book and have practiced the methods for some time now. We do see an improvement in both remembering and recalling details.
May 8, 2018
Smart Guide for Awesome Memory is a book that aims at providing tricks and techniques to boost memory. The author of the book is said to have very impressive memory herself and here she is with a smart guide for having anawesome memory. Having done a lot of research in the field of psychology, Dr Shireen Stephen works as a consultant psychologist, counsellor and writer.
The book has a lot of techniques involving Linking method, Pegging method, assigning nicknames and preparing mind maps among others. What is remarkable about this book is that it has a very frank and conversational style of writing. The author knows how to engage the reader into the learning process.
The book opens with a chapter on how memory works followed by a chapter on the building blocks of memory. Then she gradually introduces the memory techniques in the subsequent chapters. Each technique is followed by an exercise for practice. In the later part of the book, the author tells us how to employ these tricks in academics and daily life. The book ends with chapters containing some tips and an appendix of additional exercises.
*My Verdict
I really enjoyed the first half of the book and did all the exercises with a lot of enthusiasm. But I didn’t like all the techniques that are there in the book. So, you’ve to see and pick up the tricks that suit you and learn them by heart. I personally liked the pure link method the most. While a lot of other methods seemed useless to me.
I guess the book is meant for teenagers. I feel so because I was often irritated by the basic things that she talks about like being focussed, eating right, having adequate sleep and stuff like that. And I actually skimmed through those paragraphs. To be honest, I found the later half of the book to be a bit boring.
About a year and a half ago, I had read Ready, Study, Go!, which also had the same objective as this book. Although the two books are quite different from each other- with respect to writing style as well as content, there are a few points common in both the books. The most important one is that of preparing mind maps. Another is about thinking positively, which is also the basic idea of The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.
All in all, I didn’t find the whole book to be that helpful. But the few techniques that I did like will surely prove to be quite helpful. I would recommend this book mostly to school going children. Also make sure not to read the whole book in one go. Each new technique should be learnt only after a gap of 2-3 days. Only then it would be effective, otherwise you might start losing interest in the book.
My Rating: *** (3.4/5)
The book has a lot of techniques involving Linking method, Pegging method, assigning nicknames and preparing mind maps among others. What is remarkable about this book is that it has a very frank and conversational style of writing. The author knows how to engage the reader into the learning process.
The book opens with a chapter on how memory works followed by a chapter on the building blocks of memory. Then she gradually introduces the memory techniques in the subsequent chapters. Each technique is followed by an exercise for practice. In the later part of the book, the author tells us how to employ these tricks in academics and daily life. The book ends with chapters containing some tips and an appendix of additional exercises.
*My Verdict
I really enjoyed the first half of the book and did all the exercises with a lot of enthusiasm. But I didn’t like all the techniques that are there in the book. So, you’ve to see and pick up the tricks that suit you and learn them by heart. I personally liked the pure link method the most. While a lot of other methods seemed useless to me.
I guess the book is meant for teenagers. I feel so because I was often irritated by the basic things that she talks about like being focussed, eating right, having adequate sleep and stuff like that. And I actually skimmed through those paragraphs. To be honest, I found the later half of the book to be a bit boring.
About a year and a half ago, I had read Ready, Study, Go!, which also had the same objective as this book. Although the two books are quite different from each other- with respect to writing style as well as content, there are a few points common in both the books. The most important one is that of preparing mind maps. Another is about thinking positively, which is also the basic idea of The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.
All in all, I didn’t find the whole book to be that helpful. But the few techniques that I did like will surely prove to be quite helpful. I would recommend this book mostly to school going children. Also make sure not to read the whole book in one go. Each new technique should be learnt only after a gap of 2-3 days. Only then it would be effective, otherwise you might start losing interest in the book.
My Rating: *** (3.4/5)
May 9, 2018
Enjoyed this book! While I think it targets a younger audience, I found it quite useful myself. It's segmented quite scientifically and provides practical examples on how to remember dates and timelines, learn the entire periodic table in quite a fun way (And it works!!) and also learn difficult English words too. It also has an interesting section on how to remember phone numbers, addresses and schedules, the things I struggle with on a regular basis. The last chapter describes unique and quirky tips on improving memory. All in all, it's very informative and practical
May 8, 2018
Just finished reading this book and absolutely loved it! The writing is simple and easily understandable. The memory techniques described in this book start simple (acronyms, acrostics, mind maps, linking, number and alphabet peg systems) and move to more complex methods (Major System). I tried some of these techniques on my 10 year old and found that they actually work very well! She especially loved the Nickname method! All in all, a great book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews