Dan is a writer, speaker, poet, photographer, activist, and professor of sociology and political science. He lives and loves in San Francisco, even while exploring the world.
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Reviews
Review by:
roger graver
on April 19, 2018 :
This is a very unique style of book, one that, unlike a novel, I can put down and pick up anytime without missing a beat. Instead of chapters consisted of text filling the page, this book is made up of small, individual thoughts, which is refreshing. One of my favorite bits of philosophy from Brook's Book is his Self-Advice: "The best advice is often your own, that which you would give others you care about in the same situation. Take it." It seems that everyone has advice to give, but hardly anyone wants to take it. If everyone took their own advice, I think that we would all be better off.
I had a little fun reading the pieces of personal philosophy and opinion because for each one, I compared it to my personal beliefs and thought about which made more sense. It is always good to explore other ideas and grow mentally, and this book is great for that.
(reviewed 3 days after purchase)
Review by:
Jesus Yanez
on April 19, 2018 :
I found this book very interesting because it had a poetic type of style to it. It was very easy to follow along and the style was not hard at all to understand. What I really liked about this book was its philosophy and the messages it gave to us. One quote that I really enjoyed was "The only dreams that can never be realized are the ones we don’t have." I like this quote because it is basically telling us that dreams do come true. It's saying that the only dreams that can't come true are the ones we don't so if we have a dream we can make it happen. The book has a bunch of amazing quotes throughout the book and a lot of them are really relatable to my life. I would recommend this book for anyone who needs some motivation and need that extra push in life like me. This book gave me the extra push I needed to become a better person and a better worker.
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
jacquelineflores
on April 19, 2018 :
This book was very fascinating to read. It can almost be viewed as somewhat poetic because of the style and structure of the book. I really enjoyed that the structure of the book was broken down with each header and then sentences illustrating why it was labeled as such. This book has a very optimistic theme all throughout, which is why this book can also be seen as a self-help book. The content throughout this book is very motivating and can be applied to any situation in life. One of my favorite lines from the book, " With pessimism, there's less chance of success; with optimism, anything is possible. This is a book that I can see myself going back to and rereading because there are so many quotes that can help motivate myself day to day.
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
Oscar Ortega
on April 18, 2018 :
I enjoyed the format of this book because it is easy to follow and it gives useful information on how to deal with real life situations.
The quote that I was able to relate to the most was the one about brooks adaptation.
"Everything is relative, based on time, place, culture, situation, ideology,
perspective, people, and personalities. People and their cultures can be
extraordinarily flexible and adaptable."
When I think of this quote, I think of that one week where we talked about how to handle stress in my community involvement class. Since stress really is relative and we can control whether we make things better for ourselves or worse.
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
Casandra Tam
on April 18, 2018 :
I had a wonderful time reading this book because of all the inspiring words that I saw in this book. It's definitely not something I would voluntarily read on my own just I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it now. I can tell that your experiences on how society works really shapes your perception on things. I would definitely share this with others.
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
Cristina Nguyen
on April 18, 2018 :
i honestly enjoyed the format and the structure of the book. I enjoyed that Dr. Brook shared his own thoughts and concepts in the book as well to hear his own perspectives. Overall, its a pretty good book that can expand your own perspective/views. I can definitely share this book with my connections to provide them with wisdom and information.
.
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
Bryan Knapp
on April 18, 2018 :
There is a lot of great wisdom in this book. It's easy to just open up my e-reader, scroll to a random page and get some deep, meaningful thoughts on life. Residing among some deep, thought-provoking passages are some good chuckles that still resonate with relevance and depth that make reading it as entertaining as it is enlightening. You can jump into something that hits your mind and find a truly interesting take on it or simply read through and find a plethora of stimulating passages. My only real disappointment was that the author missed a phenomenal opportunity to include "Brook's Brook."
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
Quenia Cruz
on April 17, 2018 :
(no rating)
I really enjoyed reading this book because it had inspiring and motivational text. It really did have nuggets of wisdom as described in the description. I specifically liked the quote, “Brook’s Candle: One candle can light many others without diminishing itself — as with teaching and creativity, smiling and laughing, blessing and building — and if it goes out, it can then more easily be relit by those others. Be the candle!". I liked how there was a comparison between the flame of a candle and a person's life. It was interesting to think about how things like creativity and positive elements in someone's life can be shared without lessening one's own life. I really liked this comparison and I enjoyed thinking and imagining this phenomena. I especially liked the last part of the quote because it pointed out that just how there can be good times there are also bad. Within the negative times in one's life the darkness can always be relit with someone else's flame. Thinking of life in this way was extremely deep and enjoyable.
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
Shilpa Poudyal
on April 17, 2018 :
This book was a really nice and refreshing read from other things that I have been reading lately. I like how it covers many issues, including social, personal, and even controversial things. When I first read the line of "Brook's Allergies" I thought it didn't really make sense how it was put that everything is kind of just an exaggerated reaction to external stimuli. However, after thinking about it a little more, this makes sense and really resonates with me. I enjoy the new perspective that this read brought me and do believe many of the things to be written in here true. Another example I really enjoyed was about how animals are more humane than humans, and humans are more animalistic than animals. This is a really great comparison and makes more sense than it should. I also really enjoyed "Brook's Cloud". If we are able to always remember that there is a silver lining with each cloud, then we must also remember that there is always a cloud with a silver lining. This means that we should always be prepared for the worst even when we have the best coming to us. Overall, this was a really great book and I enjoyed reading it. Professor Brook is a great author and knows exactly how to reach people through his writing.
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
ma9017
on April 16, 2018 :
(no rating)
This book gave an interesting philosophy to each area of life! It's one of those books that you want to have, to turn to during confusing moments in life. The whole book is full of wisdom, my favorite phrase is, "One’s beliefs shape one’s reality as much as one’s reality shapes one’s beliefs". Reading this keeps me grounded, and motivates me to keep a positive perspective.
(reviewed the day of purchase)
Review by:
Haesl Jackson
on April 27, 2017 :
I really can tell this book comes from Dr. Brook's heart. This isn't just a book about Dr. Brook, but I find some may see it as means for inspiration, motivation, and I believe it can be used positively towards your personal growth. As someone who majors in the sociology, my favorite part of the book happened to be where Dr. Brook talks about "Brook's Handout" where he states his belief on how access to many resources people might see as a handout, can actually be positively used for the well-being of society as a whole. I agree that resources such as public housing, public education, and public health and safety, should readily be made available by the government. One of the main reasons society suffers today is because of one of the foundations of America being our capitalistic government. Not saying capitalism is good or bad, i'm mainly just stating that our society is meant to have people in the lower class so upper class can stay wealthy and benefit from the power. I think where the book talks about public access it really emphasized the importance of having these resources available to everyone so we can do better as a society in whole. Brook's proposal on public education was especially important to me because in my philosophical knowledge I know I've read about how having a well-educated society provides grounds and room for a better environment for all. Maybe if more people were educated, and weren't used for their lack of knowledge, this last presidency would have turned out differently. Or maybe if more people were knowledgeable about the social injustices many face, we would be able to improve race relations in America and even make progress towards reversing the social constructs that negatively impact many Americans today. I've learned a lot from Dr. Brook and have been able to relate so many of my views and life experiences to his work. If you take the time to read this piece I promise you will be able to reflect deeply, "Turn your prayers into positive actions" !
(review of free book)
Review by:
dccupertino7
on April 24, 2017 :
(no rating)
Love the introduction, allows the reader to really consider what to expect from the read and also gives us a sort of freedom of choice in reading as well. Also love any reference to Bruce Lee, so more props there too, being able to connect the work to him.
With my curiosity, I wish there was more explanation about Brook’s Abraham as “we need to go forth to get ourselves back” is a phrase I feel I relate too, only I can’t quite put it in words without feeling like I knew more about the meaning behind this statement first. At the same time, I am someone who tends to give all my friends about advice on one thing or another and I am stuck agreeing with Brook that we like to give advice, but don’t really like to take it. I always tell people to be less shy and go out there and do it, when the truth is I’ve always been shy and I rarely manage to go out and do it, myself. Along with that thought comes Brook’s perseverance, as “those who try more typically succeed more.” That’s exactly what I need to be doing if I ever hope to stop being so shy. I feel Brooks work here has a variety of words that have the ability to reach out to many different audiences and it does a great job in relating to the feelings we keep to ourselves so much. Let this reading be an opportunity to wake you up if you manage to find the right piece in this work.
(review of free book)
Review by:
Cynthia E.
on April 21, 2017 :
I'm happy to see Dr. Brook's fountain of knowledge in print. He was a fantastic professor of mine and became one of my favorite teachers because of his wisdom and enlightenment. His book was fantastic in the way that it offers thought provoking and inspiring words. I was moved by the hope and honest truth of this book. While I have many favorites, some of the points that stuck to me where: "Brook's Glass," "Brook's Living," and "Brook's Allergies." This reminds me of being back in his class and learning from the best! Brook's Book is a must read!
(review of free book)
Review by:
Shae S.
on April 20, 2017 :
Every human being wanders the earth with their own pockets of inspiration, knowledge and wisdom. Brook’s Book expands one’s realm of thinking through its diverse snippets of text, being both general and specific, concrete and abstract, past and present… It covers thoughts about experiences, patterns, people, pain and peace… And after reading many Brook’s thoughts, one can see the nature of how everything can universally connect, somehow in someway. The text challenges me to review and reflect upon my own morals, beliefs and values and to be open in viewing the world in enlightening and optimistic ways. One of my favorite parts of the text is, “Brook’s Prayer: I wish that people would turn their good prayers into positive actions.”
(review of free book)
Review by:
Gilberto Guerra
on April 20, 2017 :
This book written by Dan Brook really impressed me. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that the format of this book was in "small nuggets of wisdom". The way of formatting this made the book extremely organized and enjoyable to read and to learn from. I would recommend this book to anyone who really wants to have a good read.
(review of free book)
Review by:
Johanna
on April 20, 2017 :
Brook's book was an interesting, thought-provoking read. I found myself scrolling more and more, wanting to see his perceptions on other nouns and verbs that people really forget to explore. My favorite nugget was "Brook's Consciousness" in which everything, even the most mundane "contains the entire amazing universe." I related it to Rumi's quote "Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you." It brings you back down to earth, while also allowing yourself to be spiritually free. Brook's book danced with topics that most people do not care to talk about or simply forget to acknowledge when questioning all there is to question. Very refreshing read; as the other reviewers stated, it was a different format from what I have ever seen and made it easy to follow.
(review of free book)
Review by:
Susie G
on April 20, 2017 :
(no rating)
I genuinely and truly enjoyed everything about this book. The advice was thoughtful and interesting, widening my perspectives. The alphabetical format made it easy to navigate and locate themes I was interested in and the “snippet” format made it fun to read. I particularly enjoyed the snippets about anxiety, selfies, and family. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!
(review of free book)
Review by:
Sarai Ferrara
on April 20, 2017 :
I really enjoyed the format of the book, because I was expecting a typical narrative format, and was surprised instead with these snippets. These snippets vary in tone; they can be either meditative, skeptical, witty, insightful or simply relatable. Here the author writes on a wide variety of subjects, rather than focusing on a single one. These reflections, insights, or definitions, take us into considering things from different points of view. I thoroughly enjoyed the one about absence (“there is no darkness, silence, cold, and stupidity, only the absence of light, sound, heat, and intelligence. Bring them in, when desired or necessary”), because it is a reminder that even when we feel like there is no hope or we can’t see the light, it means that we simply need to bring light in again and go to its source, to what brings us joy. “Alternative”, “Beggar”, and “Bibliomancy” are other of my favorite ones to which I can relate. Definitely a great book and will come back to read more snippets from this book in the future!
(review of free book)
Review by:
Laura C
on April 20, 2017 :
(no rating)
What I truly enjoyed about this book is that there's something for everything. Dan Brook provides diverse "nuggets of wisdom" that could be open for interpretation or straightforward, relevant or irrelevant to you, or gets your gears going about things you've never thought about before. You can read this book straight through, flip through the pages, or look up something specific topics like "focus". You're going to find something interesting any way you choose to read this book. I liked it because it got my mind working in ways I didn't know it could. Awesome read! 10/10 would recommend.
(review of free book)
Review by:
Denise Martinez
on April 19, 2017 :
Just like many others who have written reviews, I was not expecting the format of the book to be snippets. Besides the format, I enjoyed reading all the nuggets of wisdom that were given. The book mentions topics that many people are not conscious about in their daily lives. It really opened my mind and reminded me that there is more to the world besides our own lives or bubbles we live in. Also, I feel that my thoughts were much more deeper when reading this. For example in Brooks Death it says that death is the opposite or birth, not life. Before reading this I never saw death that way. Overall, this book really gets you thinking and it is a great read for anyone.
(review of free book)
Review by:
Faviola Alcala
on April 19, 2017 :
The reading was a delight to read. It reminded me of all the essentials I am so unconscious of. For example, air. Air is necessary yet we dont seem to put much importance to it unless we are deprived and need it. I also agree on Brook's alienation because I believe that humans need one another to survive and to be healthy. Brook's prophesy also resignated wjrh me because it is so true that things will be, but when we determine to put in our own hard work and continously try hard for something to happen jt will happen. This book is truly inspirational as it reminds us of simple, yet very important essentials of life.
(review of free book)
Review by:
Jorge
on April 19, 2017 :
Okay to start off I was thrown off by the format of this book. It is an interesting take in which the author can share his thoughts about several life concepts. From bacteria to sagan, with each concept the author gives an insightful though provoking opinion about it. I agree that with this book's format it does not make it a burden or bring boredom. One can easily read a few passages when they have 5 minutes to spare. Also you can just focus on a few passages if your only interested in one concept, say death, since its in alphabetical order. Overall great book and definitely will recommend it to others so the wisdom it provide can be shared.
(review of free book)
Review by:
Ryan Eckford
on April 19, 2017 :
So I must admit that the layout of "Brook's Book" caught me a little off guard. Although the description of the book clearly said it contained "nuggets of wisdom" I did not expect it to have the format it does. That being said this seems like a great way to keep track of the life lessons one learns throughout the years. I find this interesting because I have always thought that it's important to pay attention to the lessons that life teaches you, and when it comes to remembering these lessons (as well as everything else) one's pen will always remember something much longer than one's mind is capable of. Which is something I am beginning to understand in theory, and something that you have clearly been putting into practice. But I don't think I can pick a favorite nugget of wisdom out of the many that this book contains. All of the advise within the pages of this book is great advice, and they are all nuggets of wisdom that internet uses everywhere should be grateful to have access to.
(review of free book)