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How to Adult: A Guide to Not Being a Trash Human, and Other Life Lessons

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Do you know your shiraz from your merlot? Could you find north if you were lost in the wilderness? Are you craving gravy but don’t how to make this magical sauce? The answers are all here. From doing your taxes to changing a tire, asking for a raise to mastering the art of avocado preparation. This is the ultimate guide to all of the things a fully functioning adult should know to survive in the big scary world. Packed with sage advice from a real-life hopeless millennial, this book will keep you from starvation, make folding fitted sheets a reality, and teach you to look like a real professional adult when you’re actually just an incompetent trash human. Adulting goals AF.

288 pages, Hardcover

Published January 7, 2020

3 people are currently reading
80 people want to read

About the author

Anna Blackie

2 books9 followers

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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
Profile Image for Chloe Harris.
Author 4 books5 followers
May 24, 2020
A hilarious while also wonderfully educational book.

Taught me a lot of things that I still didn't know about surviving in this big bad world as a proper adult human!

The lighthearted tone and humour throughout make for a super enjoyable read. The perfect book for a 20 something to help them find the transition from teen to adult a little less daunting!!

A book that covers all the necessary life skills that the highschool curriculum never prepared us for.

Highly recommend!
Profile Image for Becca Fitzpatrick (bookscandlescats).
437 reviews28 followers
February 18, 2020
How To Adult is a hilarious guide to living life as an adult. It covers a range of topics that as an adult, you should probably know. But you don't, and now it's too late to ask because you don't want to look like a dummy.

Anna discusses financial issues like taxes, superannuation, and savings all in very simple 'dumb downed' terms that everyone can understand.

She explains the differences between types of coffee, as well as all the different types of wines. There are a few cooking tips in there, as well as an in depth how-to guide on how to keep a plant alive

I went into this book with the hope that I'd get a bit of laugh. Not only did that happen, I also learnt quite a bit of knowledge that will stay with me for life!

Whether you're 20, 50 or 80, you need to read this book.

Thank you so much to Pantera Press for providing me with a copy to review.
Profile Image for Katerina.
357 reviews80 followers
March 21, 2020
4.5/5
Bookstagram
**Thank you to Pantera Press and the author for sending me a copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.

Sometimes you just need to sit down and read a book that tells you how much you suck at being an adult. Or, in my case, how disgusting you are for the lack of sheet washing...I mean did you know that we are suppose to wash our sheets once a week.

Who would have thought.

Anna Blackie does an amazing job at spelling out how difficult it is at being an adult. Because trust me it is and it fricken sucks. So if anyone is 18 or younger and still living at home. Soak it the fuck up, because kiddos once you are away from mommy and daddy life changes. Like, literally, your life is forever altered. No going back now.

I am filthy and disgusting and probably the reason Jesus cries at night


So here are all the reasons why you need to pick up this book whether you are already a "seasoned" adult or a newbie:

1. There are some amazing financial pointer
I don't know about you but I had to have my mommy come with me and hold my hand when I did my first tax appointment. It was nerve wrecking, daunting, and downright exhausting. Blackie does an amazing job at explaining many of the things that one needs to know financially when entering the adult world. From taxes to how credit cards work - this book covers the big need to know items. I want to point out for my USA friends that this book was written by an Australian so some of the things either don't apply to us or they just use a different word than what we are used to. The information is still valid and very practical.

2. Adult language and the bluntness
Some of you might be WTF Kat that is all you care about. Most of the time I read YA literature where there is little to no swearing, so give me a break. Here is an adult woman giving us the low down and sometimes you just need to be straight to the point. I also love how blunt Blackie is when it comes to many of her points and tips. My favorite is these little boxes that are labeled "Shit you should know"

I have also had to learn a harsh reality of adult life: living out of home means you have to keep yourself alive


3. The research the author puts in for us
Doesn't it feel nice that you actually don't have to look up how to boil an egg, how to do the correct exercises when an author lays it all out for you. Many authors, not all, when writing "how to" books don't take the time to truly look into the topic they are writing. They just write what they know. However, Anna Blackie proves to us that millennial's can still take the time and do deep research, connect with people that know there shit, and give us resounding information. A "how to" book with actual accurate information because there are real people that validate it...the world must be ending.

4. The topics
From finances to surviving the outdoors this book has many useful topics. Some might say that it's information everyone knows but I would have to disagree. I mean would you know what to do if you were lost in the woods? Would you know what wood you could burn without causing a forest fire? No well this book helps out. Even the simplest of topics seemed to have information that even I did not know. So kudos to Anna Blackie for making a well rounded "How to" book for adults.

There are so many things that I love about this book. And the biggest is the blunt front that Blackie takes with her audience. If you are heading off to college, moving out on your own for the first time, or just needing a reminder that you suck at being an adult because we all suck at being adults - then definitely think about picking up this book!
Profile Image for TheCosyDragon.
963 reviews16 followers
August 12, 2020
“This is the ultimate guide to all of the things a fully functioning adult should know to survive in the big scary world. Packed with sage advice from a real-life hopeless millennial, this book will keep you from starvation, make folding fitted sheets a reality, and teach you to look like a real professional adult when you’re actually just an incompetent trash human. Adulting goals AF.”

It’s really sad that some people need this book to function. Google has (almost) all the answers after all. This is a very accessible book, but I would hope that most people are past the level of knowledge offered here. If you’re not sure how to boil an egg or something, wouldn’t you just google it?

I’m not sure that this book is going to help you ‘not [be] a trash human’. I’m pretty sure you can be a horrible person and also still master the basics of becoming an adult.

The most entertaining part of this book is the chapter headings eg. “Budgeting: Because lottery tickets are not a financial plan”! Yes, this is true, and some people might need this. If anything, I think the most important part of this novel is about money. It’s hard to find a reputable source out there about money, and I don’t think nearly enough teaching about money is done in schools / by parents. If you only read one chapter, let it be that one.

I’d buy this as a tongue in cheek book for someone who is really well put together, or unironically for someone really derpy in my life. Maybe as an 18th birthday gift? There’s nothing like this book, but I’m not sure that it was really a gap that needed to be filled in this way, at least.

Did you enjoy this goodreads review? If so you may find it useful to visit my blog The Cosy Dragon . I regularly post new reviews on a variety of genres.
Profile Image for Jessica.
256 reviews25 followers
December 22, 2020
There's nothing wrong with reading your Christmas gifts for other people before wrapping them up and handing them out, right? Right?!

At any rate: this is a funny, breezy book that sure, does include some helpful tips and guides… but maybe more importantly than that, it hits the nail on the head with what kinds of challenges are fuck-off annoying for a young adult just starting to have to do all this crap themselves. Some of the chapters are definitely more useful than others (the one on cleaning >>>> the one on fishing, for example) but the book is hilarious throughout. Enjoyed it quite a bit, and hoping my gift recipient feels the same way.

Post syndicated from micro.jayeless.net.
Profile Image for Catherine.
122 reviews2 followers
August 4, 2020
This is mostly a joke gift kind of book, so with that in mind it nails its brief of being funny.

However, it could have nailed two briefs and actually be a better guide to adulting in a number of ways. For example, the bit about changing a tyre: is anyone who is genuinely on the cusp of adulthood going to remember the tyre changing guide and/or whip this book out in the event they need to change a tyre? Hell no, they’ll just google that shit. Same goes for the random white sauce recipe. Better to include helpful facts (like food hygiene and food safety tips) rather than an actual (and admittedly random) recipe.

Good idea and a funny book, but could be better.
Profile Image for Jess Checkland.
223 reviews7 followers
November 28, 2021
Some really useful advice on all the boring, hard to understand adult things we have to know (taxes, how often to clean your household items, how to survive the wild, etc.). Would definitely recommend keeping on hand.
32 reviews1 follower
February 21, 2020
Every year 12 or Uni student should read this. It is helpful. This even taught my parents something
Profile Image for Anna.
128 reviews1 follower
August 21, 2022
mainly just got this book because I thought it was funny that the author and I basically shared the same name

would recommend this as a fun little birthday gift - most of the advice in here can be easily googled for free, but still a fun book for easy reading

not going to lie tho, some of the jokes were a bit “cringe” in my opinion, seems like no “millennial” author has quite hit the mark for me in terms of adding humour into their non-fiction

not the best but not the worst, haven’t found any other books quite like this one, and love supporting Australian authors
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews

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