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Mr. Spock's Little Book of Mindfulness: How to Survive in an Illogical World

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Who better to teach us mindfulness and wisdom than Mr. Spock, that beacon of calm, rational thought. With quotes from STAR TREK and timely insights about modern life this book will be your guide. In a universe that seems to have gone mad, we turn to mindfulness to restore sanity. When humanity has lost its way, it takes a Vulcan to raise an eyebrow at our folly and lead us towards the truth. After all, it's only logical ...

The perfect holiday gift for the Star Trek fan in your life!

Essays on focus, computers, social media, love, family, self-acceptance and more.Filled with actual quotes from Mr. Spock and Star Trek characters, along with black & white illustrations. Includes source listing from TV episodes.

112 pages, Hardcover

First published November 3, 2020

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90 people want to read

About the author

Glenn Dakin

89 books16 followers

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5 stars
41 (26%)
4 stars
58 (37%)
3 stars
44 (28%)
2 stars
11 (7%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
Profile Image for Charles.
Author 41 books289 followers
April 26, 2021
A fun little book with lessons on mindfulness taken from quotes and behaviors of Mr. Spock on Star Trek, both from the original series, and from the movies. A quick read but with some surprising wit and some actual good philosophical thoughts. Well done.
Profile Image for Zulfiya.
648 reviews100 followers
January 4, 2021
Fine, enjoyable, a little bit on the sarcastic and mischievous side.
I enjoyed it, and of course, it makes sense only if you are a trekkie. There are too many tongue-in-cheek jokes that are more of insider jokes, but also there are some quite interesting and serious observations.

The book is heavily illustrated, but the illustrations are not excessive and are harmoniousness in the fabric of the book.
I love Star Trek, but the older version of Star Trek is somewhat dated to me. Of course, it is sci fi, so it gets out of date quickly, but because the author mostly focuses on philosophy, the dated nature of the old Star Trek universe is nearly unnoticeable.

I did enjoy it, and it is a nice coffee table read unless my cats decide to attack it.
Profile Image for Scott Williams.
809 reviews15 followers
March 30, 2021
This is cute. It’s not written “in-universe” but rather for 21st century humans who are familiar with Spock from his TV and film adventures.
Profile Image for Genevieve.
1,365 reviews13 followers
March 19, 2022
This was a fun entertaining book about Vulcan and Mr. Spock's way of living. Some parts were realistic about things we could do to change while others were just hilarious. I loved this book.
Profile Image for Destiny.
119 reviews1 follower
March 30, 2022
A personal growth book straight from the 24th century using all of Spock's best quotes from the Original series. It also includes quotes from other characters referenced in the Animated Series and Discovery, but as a TOS fan, I loved the way this book focused so heavily on my favorite character. The Vulcan outlook is a great one, and it was fun that the book even referenced Spock's changes in perspective throughout the Original Series movies.

Absolutely recommend to fans of the Original Series Star Trek characters.
Profile Image for Taaya .
927 reviews4 followers
August 1, 2022
This book probably wasn't meant to be taken seriously at all. It seems not like it actually wants to teach anyone how to be mindful.

But even then ...it's extremely one-sided. Not only with real life issues (ignoring the positive aspects of social media, like increased accessibility, for example), but also with the scenes and quotes chosen from Trek.

Example needed? Well, the book states that Spock doesn't have an interest in computers. Spock, who has specialised in computer science? Spock, who seemed to be in love with M5 in the beginning?

And that's a constant issue in the book. That claims are made and 'proven' with a quote - but as a Trekkie I can name a few episodes that show the exact opposite.

...and even the constant jokes get annoying over the course of this book.

The only thing I actually liked were the cartoons. I'd very much like to read about the adventures of tiny cartoon Spock, he's cute.
Profile Image for Rocky Sunico.
2,278 reviews25 followers
June 4, 2022
I knew this would be light reading, but I was also hoping it wouldn't be a bit more substantial. It's written from a largely real-world perspective - thus we talk about Spock and Vulcans from an outside perspective and not necessarily one that is in-universe. Or at least this is out how it feels to me as I read it.

I know it's meant to be helpful yet funny but it didn't strike me as being all that funny. I did love the little comics though - those are the main joy of this book and are worth celebrating. The text formatting and other style choices just took away from that experience, at least for me.
Profile Image for Sadie-Jane Huff.
1,911 reviews12 followers
December 15, 2020
1 ☆ alone because this is spock related.

How very clever. A way to get me to want to read about mindfulness is to relate it back to one of my favorites.

It is quite clever making you question your intent and then asking what would spock do.

Love love the lil sketches too...
Profile Image for Paul.
238 reviews
November 16, 2025
Maybe it's because the Vulcans are one of my favorite Star Trek species, but I feel like more could have been done with this book. However, I'm still glad it has been published.

As other reviews have said or alluded to, I think it would have worked better if written from the insider's perspective of Spock or another Vulcan. A lot of the content seemed to be targeted more towards easy humor rather than either more depth of the topic or at least more thoughtful humor.

Chapter 8 on feelings is one areas where delving more deeply could yield both more humor and more insights. For example, when talking about the needs of the many vs the needs of the few or one, it doesn't seem like it has to be about being "logical" or "illogical", but rather understanding the risks involved as well as differences in values. Even different human ethical philosophies address these issues in more detail. Moreover, there are other areas where I think "logical" vs "illegal" could actually be better framed in terms of personal preferences and a person's context at a specific time.

The chapter on self acceptance could have been more too, perhaps emphasizing how Spock balanced or would balance self-acceptance with the need for change, using examples from Star Trek rather than extreme examples from real life.

I also wish there was a chapter on Vulcan meditation.

Nevertheless, I do feel it has some nice moments. Chapter 2 on not applying human standards to everything and chapter 9 on change especially stood out as being deeper and more thoughtful while still having humor in them.

The sections at the end of the book on Cosmic Quotation Coincidences and where all the Spock quotes were from was nice to have too.
Profile Image for Jenn.
887 reviews24 followers
October 27, 2020
Ah, Mr Spock, bastion of calm thought and logical behaviour. More or less. With quotes, cartoons and parables from Vulcan, this book is very helpful, especially nowadays.

I don't read a lot of mindfulness books, so I can't really comment on the advice except to say that I found it useful. It's presented very clearly (except where the Kindle format has chopped it up, but that should be fixed in the official version.) and everything makes good sense. I enjoyed reading it.

This is a wonderful book and I very much enjoyed it. I'll be watching for more in the series.
Profile Image for Pablo Ramón.
3 reviews
July 7, 2021
Livro curto e divertido, apresentando vários pensamentos e parábolas bem conhecidos, porém reformulado para um contexto "Trekkie", associados com algumas aventuras clássicas do Sr. Spock, como por exemplo,

"The Vulcan philosopher Sorvin once remarked "i'm an old man and have know many troubles, but most of them never happened"".

Ou,

""The release of emotion is what keeps us health. Emotionally health" McCoy tells him. "That may be, Doctor" Spock replies. "However, i have noted that the healthy release of emotion is frequently unhealthy for those closest to you.""
Profile Image for Word Muncher.
295 reviews1 follower
July 21, 2021
Such a cute book. I'm a huge proponent of logic in a world gone skew with lack of logic. This book just needed more to it, like depth, for me to be able to really connect to it. Cool quick read and great for affirmation and knowing I'm heading in the right direction.
Profile Image for Maria.
56 reviews9 followers
September 9, 2021
The book is what it says it is, the Vulcan perspective on mindfulness and emotions. I loved the highlighted quotes and parts. I think it is a great tribute to Leonard Nimoy and Spock. If you like Star Trek, give it a go! Live long and prosper.
Profile Image for Carina.
1,907 reviews1 follower
July 19, 2025
I've had this book for a while but never felt the inclination to pick it up before now. It's a very quick read but it does what it needs to, highlighting why mindfulness is important. Clearly my subconscious knew I needed some of these reminders today.
Profile Image for Kärt.
192 reviews40 followers
May 28, 2021
Such a nice read 🥰 perfect for any Trekkie as it’s full of quotes and fun tidbits. Really makes one think!
Profile Image for Jason.
Author 1 book
June 13, 2022
Interesting while reading and good Trek references but not sure if it will be memorable down the road
Profile Image for Matt Hutson.
320 reviews108 followers
July 4, 2023
Such a blast! I’ll update this with some of my favorite quotes and interpretations from the book.
8 reviews1 follower
April 29, 2025
This is a fast and enjoyable read... If you are a Star Trek fan. It is basically an intro into philosophy using Star Trek, especially Spock, as a tool. Nothing life changing here, but it is fun.
Profile Image for althea ✶.
15 reviews
June 28, 2025
teehee. my first purchase of a book ever. this was so cute.
Profile Image for Lana.
3 reviews
July 9, 2025
Fun little wisdom/quote to bring a smile to any Trekkies face 🖖🏻
253 reviews2 followers
June 2, 2021
Let’s say a solid 2.5 stars: top notch as a novelty book, and though the insights occasionally stray a bit far from actually insightful it’s fun to wander through a few classic Spock quotes and the cartoons are cute.
Profile Image for Oxalis.
330 reviews
June 1, 2023
A fun introduction to what I assume is comparable to Vulcan philosophy. It's just short, so it makes a good gift book, but I would have liked more.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews

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