I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys psychology and philosophy. It was a fast read, but it was full of ideas and inspiration that I added several books to my "to read" list because of this book.

The Act of Living by Frank Tallis is a book written to help the reader find themselves and ultimately, fulfillment. I think the author provides an interesting viewpoint as a psychologist and believe this topic is very important, especially when COVID-19 has resulted in many reflecting on their lives. However, I found the writing style too formal when this is a book about living, I was hoping a bit more joy and hope would be injected in the writing. I also noticed some stories did not necessarily add to the book. For example, Chapter 1 seemed a bit disjointed and not relevant to the topic. Given the dense amount of information (particularly historical information about psychology) and the writing style, I would recommend this for more academic readers than the reader trying to glean some wisdom from anecdotes and have some exercises. 

Many thanks to the publisher Perseus Books, Basic Books and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Unfortunately I DNF’d this. Not a bad book at all and Tallis writes well. I just felt I was back at uni preparing for a psych exam and wasn’t motivated to pick it up. It’s just not what I thought it would be based on the book’s blurb and title. However, in saying that it was not a difficult read and would definitely suit other lay readers.  I didn’t want to give this a star rating as I hadn’t finished it, however need to for Netgalley. 

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest review.

The Act of Living is a book that provides insight into finding yourself. In order to find the fulfillment that each person seeks, you must first understand the different aspects that each person may possess.

This book is so informative and useful to anyone.  I liked the recap on prior psychology trailblazers like Freud.  There were so many points that can be applied to the act of living. Great read!

Enjoyed the book a great deal. Read through it quickly because it held my interest. The author has an excellent command of the topic and writes very smoothly. Nicely done.

I would add that, while identifying what makes life meaningful to us is the most crucial aspect, it should be considered equally possible/legitimate for a person to not necessarily seek their life's fulfillment as part of a "career", but possibly a hobby. For some people, the most meaningful thing in life might be something that they do not want to or cannot turn into a "career", e.g. barbecuing/playing amateur football with friends (due to lack of market demand or personal skills). However, they might be very happy to design a lifestyle that allows them to focus on and pursue this hobby, while choosing a "job" (instead of a "career") that offers security and allows to provide for that lifestyle.
Another reason to stress this point is that there are still some jobs that might not exactly lend themselves to self-actualization (e.g. trash collecting). In this regard, it would be unfortunate if some people got the idea that the meaningfulness of life is necessarily connected to the self-actualization in an exciting, meaningful career.

We don't have to focus on one thing. Besides, if we can manage our time wisely, we can pursue as many of our interests as we want, as long as we set our schedule and put in our effort as far as our priorities allow us. It really just depends on us to make the priorities and make sure not to suppress anything that makes us happy in life (otherwise our priorities would essentially not be straight).
And it very much is important to know ourselves, because only then do we know what we can offer to the general public to reach a mutual satisfaction. These book are amazing. Really gives me a lot to think about. Awesome that I just stumbled onto this.