Book Review: 30 Lessons for Living by Karl Pillemer

What is the key to living a fulfilling life? What choices can you make now to ensure you have no regrets later in life? Karl Pillemer, Ph.D., has interviewed more than 1,000 Americans over the age of 65 (who he calls the "experts") to get the answers to these questions. He presents his findings in 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans.

He doesn't tell the life stories of the participants, but rather the lessons they offered when looking back on their lives. The lessons span several areas:

1. Lessons for a Happy Marriage
2. Lessons for a Successful and Fulfilling Career
3. Lessons for a Lifetime of Parenting
4. Lessons for Aging Fearlessly and Well
5. Lessons for Living a Life without Regrets
6. Lessons for Living like an Expert

These topics may sound like an outline for a typical self-help book, but 30 Lessons for Living is far from that. While some of the advice is very familiar, it's the way it's presented that's different. Hearing a 79 year old woman talk, in her own words, of her regret for not having spent enough time with her kids is much more meaningful than reading a standard self-help book that says you should spend more time with your kids. The lessons resonate in a much stronger way.

While some of the lessons were pretty obvious, some were much more interesting and meaningful. For example, one of the lessons is to travel more ~ at a young age while you still can. As one expert said:

If you have to make a decision whether you want to remodel your kitchen or take a trip--well, I say, choose the trip! And travel when you're young because your health allows you to do things that you can't do when you get older. Material things, you can wait on those. (page 183)

One of the points that was especially poignant for me is the reality that we actually spend more time as parents of adult children than we do as parents of young children. And the relationship we build with our young children obviously has a huge impact on what sort of relationship we will have with them as adults. I never really thought about this before and it will definitely be in my thoughts as I raise my children.

I highly recommend 30 Lessons for Living if you're looking for a book that will have a positive impact on the way you live your life, without being too preachy. It would make a great book club selection for those groups that read nonfiction. And I it appeals to a wide range of ages. Younger readers will get more out of it, since they have more time to put the advice into practice. But I will say that my mother, who is in her mid-60s, enjoyed it as well. And since she's almost old enough to be an expert herself, she was able to corroborate many of the lessons included in the book.

My Rating: 5/5

Read a guest post by Karl A. Pillemer

For more information on the The Legacy Project, please:

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This review was written based on a copy of 30 Lessons for Living that I received from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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Weekly Reading Recap

Good morning. Well, I'm looking out at a winter wonderland...at least it's our version of a winter wonderland. We got our first snow of the season. It's likely to be our last as well. Funny that we were in short sleeves on Saturday and it snowed Sunday night! It's supposed to be back in the 70s by the end of the week.

As far as reading goes, I finally finished Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris. I need to write up the review for that one still, and I have another review outstanding as well. I spent all my free time reading last week instead of writing.

I did review a children's book that works well for this President's Day: What Presidents are Made Of by Hanoch Piven. This week, hopefully I'll get caught up with reviews!

Currently Reading
I'm going to start reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe tonight.

Up Next
Next, I'm going to pick up Gods and Fathers by James LePore

What are you reading this week? This meme is being hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, so hop over there if you'd like to see what others are reading too.

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Book Review: What Presidents Are Made Of by Hanoch Piven

In looking for a book about presidents to read to the kids for Presidents Day Weekend, I came across What Presidents Are Made Of by Hanoch Piven at the library. This is a very cute book with crazy pictures! Each president is created with a variety of odd items, as you can see in the picture of Abe Lincoln on the cover. The items used for each president usually have some connection to him. For example, Lincoln's mouth is a gavel, which could relate to the fact that he was a lawyer, or to the fact that he made five appointments to the Supreme Court while he was president. The kids really enjoyed looking at the pictures of the different presidents.

The book covers about a third of the presidents. Piven chose to focus on more obscure stories about each president, many of which I had never heard before. For example, did you know that President Taft was very heavy and once got stuck in the bathtub in the White House? After that, he had an enormous bathtub made so he would fit comfortably. He also tells of President Washington helping to put out a fire and President Reagan loving coconut flavored jelly beans.

It's a fun, yet educational book, and I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a way to get your kids interested in presidents!

What have you been reading with your children this week? Hop on over to Mouse Grows Mouse Learns to share!

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