Sophie > Recent Status Updates

Very well written, but so dense! I’m trying to read this for the third time now. Hopefully third time lucky. I think this book could benefit from an accompanying text explaining to those like myself without a musical background how the keys and chords work and what they sound like… or maybe a basic playlist of keys and chords like you might give to a beginning music student?

I’d love some sample questions to get people talking! I find many people are indirect, especially in the workplace. Also, you want to get them talking about their interests, concerns, etc., not just about anything.

How do you show genuine interest in strangers without coming across as nosy or overbearing?

While I can see how these principles can work, I wish the author would talk more directly about putting them into action. For example, if getting someone to want something requires figuring out what they want, what is the most effective way to figure out what they want? While beyond the scope of this book, I wish it would talk about applying this to pets!

I agree with the lessons, but I wish there was more advice on how to apply them. It’s fine to say ‘give honest and sincere appreciation.’ But what if the person is truly awful? What are some prompts to help you uncover something to sincerely praise them for?

So far, so good! However, I’m left wondering after the first chapter how people are supposed to learn if they can’t handle criticism…

It’s odd and the protagonist is horrible, but I’m intrigued.

One chapter in, I like it. I agree that telling one’s particular story is worthwhile (our particular stories often have more generalizable learnings), and I wonder why telling stories is framed as a matter of ‘surviving’ rather than ‘living’ (per Joan Didion).