Slow

Simple Living for a Frantic World

By: Brooke McAlary

Narrated by: Larissa Gallagher

Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Are you constantly striving to keep up with life's busy expectations?

It's easy to feel consumed with the desire to "succeed" and "acquire" and miss the simple opportunities waiting for you to slow down: a walk in the forest, sharing laughter with family, a personal moment of gratitude....

Once upon a time, it became clear to Brooke McAlary the key to happiness was discovering a simpler, more fulfilling existence. She put the brakes on her stressful path and reorganized her life to live outside the status quo, emphasizing depth, connection, and meaningful experiences.

Alongside Brooke's affirming personal stories of breaking down and rising up, Slow provides practical advice and fascinating insights into the benefits and challenges of the slow life, such as: decluttering to de-owning; messiness to mindfulness; and asking "Why?" to asking "Where to now?"

Slow is an inspirational guide on creating a life filled with the things that really matter, and it is meant for anyone seeking peace, meaning, and joy in their otherwise rapid lives.

©2018 Brooke McAlary (P)2018 Tantor

I enjoyed it!

I listen while I drive and try and take in as much as I can. I may have to buy a physical copy just to go over. I am at a point in life where I’m in the car a lot and very busy with school and work so I eagerly want to implement some slow living in my life bc it’s the opposite of what im doing. This summer break I plan to really put the book in practice before another wave of busyness hits in august. I really took to heart the message of not focusing on something as silly as Jean size and instead how you want to be perceived as a person. I loved that part.
Overall I really loved it, and I love the way she says DVD 😂

conversational tone

The author uses a conversational tone that I enjoy, making it warmer and more reasonable than much of the simplifying advice I see. I enjoyed this book, it wasn't completely mind blowing or anything like that, but it had lots of good stuff that was easy to read.

So good

This book was absolutely what I needed. It was so good!! It's extremely helpful if you are in this phase of life.

Read this now.

Practical and helpful ideas for living a simpler life. I might even listen again! Highly recommend.

Taking it slow

I originally got this as inspiration to listen to while I decluttered. It fired me up but by the end I also found an inner peace that going slow is acceptable. I’m taking things more slowly now and it’s peaceful.

Excellent Reminders

Enjoyed. And worthy the listen. Good, meaningful reminders of how to slow down and feel life.

Benefits of Slow Living

This is a thoughtful story of uncovering a busy life to find much more worth living. There are ups and downs to change itself but in the end the benefits outweigh the risk to change amidst a fast paced life.

Inspiring, approachable and impactful.

This was a lovely book to listen to early each morning and let the ideas percolate throughout the day. Really appreciated the encouragement throughout and the idea of imperfect steps instead of perfection in making changes. Being used to the author’s own voice - in her podcasts- it took a little getting used to to warm up to the narrators voice but she did a great job. Would recommend this book whole-heartedly!

This one spoke to me

This audio book definitely spoke to me. (Pun intended.) So much so that I nabbed a physical copy of the book so that I might go back and highlight and make notes for myself. The narrator (author?) was excellent.
The writing *style* itself was a little hit-or-miss for me - but only a little. I found that sometimes the author dissolved into choppy, thinking-out-loud kind of sentence fragments that ran on for a paragraph or two. This was a bit distracting. It felt like she was talking to *herself*, getting lost in her own thoughts rather than speaking to me as a reader. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Another reader may love it, but it felt like it created random distance at points where I was otherwise completely absorbed and tracking with her. On the other hand, I’m confident that these sections will probably make more sense in the physical version.
Over all, the book was really meaningful and lovely to listen to. It got me really thinking deeply at various points in pretty much every chapter. After reading “Slow”, I plan to take some of her thoughts and create some journaling points for myself, as well as do more research into what slow living might look like for me and my family.
A great read!

Compassionate inspiration

I’ve read a lot of inspirational, self-help books, and this one is very refreshing and doesn’t set unachievable goals. She addresses how to get back up when you fall and how to be compassionate to yourself because even one small change counts.