I Love Books of Essays

I just tore through some of Brianna Wiest’s 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think in a few hours flat (less reading, more mainlining thoughts I didn’t even know I’d been starving for).

It’s not one of those preachy self-help books that lectures you from a pedestal.

This book of essays feels more like sneaking into your own brain and finding someone already there, calmly handing you flashcards of every half-formed belief you’ve ever wrestled with.

Some essays were four pages, others I skimmed and thought “eh, not today,” and that’s exactly why it works: you don’t have to agree with all 101 to feel the other 30 or 40 rearrange the furniture in your head.

I really like how Wiest changes the structure of her essays, sometimes in numbered format, sometimes in formal traditional format, and at different lengths, much of it subtly outside the traditional formal essay format box. This book is a wonderful read and it truly is a tour de force in making the reader think deeper about different ideas that may have been superficial or just common knowledge, but now have much deeper meaning and understanding.