Book: “The Book of Moods” by Lauren Martin
Genre: Self-Help
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Blogger’s Note: Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Have you ever read a book and felt truly seen? “The Book of Moods” was that kind of read for me. This was the non fiction title that should have been required reading during the pandemic. With mental stress at an all time high and fatigue setting in relating to this horrendous COVID 19 situation, this book was comforting, illuminating and incredibly insightful.
Author Lauren Martin opens the book by explaining what moods are, where they come from and how they can impact our daily lives. Then she breaks down seven common mood categories that people tend to struggle with. The categories included are: the past/future, beauty, work, friends, family, body, and unforeseen circumstances. For each of these moods, she describes the mood, explains what the mood is telling you and then discussed common issues that can be resolved through behavior or attitude adjustments. The sequencing of chapters and the flow of information was very logical, easy to follow and made for relaxed reading.
The author came across as extremely honest. She notes in the book that triggers will never completely disappear, so aiming for that goal is a waste of time. I appreciated that concept as a reader. It allowed me to rid myself of the notion of perfection, and settle on the concept of doing what I can to alleviate a mood or trigger when I am able to do so. This transparency might not have been popular with some readers, but I found that people are more likely to be able to adapt the concepts discussed in the book successfully with an accurate gauge of this idea. What is important however is that we understand the moods and the triggers that cause them. This gives us the best fighting chance to stand up to these moods and dictate for ourselves how we want to emotionally proceed. This idea of controlling perception and our reactions is a difficult one but extremely interesting! This book definitely left me feeling challenged to do better in regards to my own moods.
I would like to note that I connected with certain sections more than others. For me, the beauty chapter was one that I could have done with less information on while the work chapter probably could have been doubled. After finishing the book, I realized that I had made so many sticky notes that there were still some hidden away, tucked into pages of the work chapter. Each of those post its with wonderful tidbits of information that I found vital to my daily work/life balance. One of my favorite snippets of wisdom came from that chapter. Martin notes on the importance of stepping away from work during rest times and truly taking a break. I had never stopped to think about that before reading that section. How many of us sit down during lunch and completely stop? Do you go outside to eat your lunch? Do you have a chat with a coworker about something other than work? This all relates back to mood and can impact behavior during later parts of the day.
This book was a win for me. I needed this book and it certainly found its way to me at the perfect time!
Recommendation: Pick this one up if you’re a Moody Judy or if you just want to know more about moods, triggers and how to live a more stress free life.
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