Such a great book to remind you to put your phone down and LOOK UP....
I'd recommend this to every young person as well as every business person who lives by their technology.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Please excuse my tardiness in posting my review. My TBR list is continuously growing and I keep finding so many amazing books being requested + added to my pile! I have so much gratitude for this copy that has been shared with me.

This short book was a pleasure to read, offering lots of tips on how to disconnect from phones / devices and embrace a life with less technology. I have implemented and benefited from many of the tips provided.

Goodbye Phone, Hello World offers what is suggested by the name, yet it isn't quite what I expected.

The introduction really roped me in with some hard-hitting truths about technology and how much of our lives we give up to smartphones, but the rest of the book was really just 60 ideas for things you could do other than look at your phone.

I feel that if someone sat me down with pen and paper and told me to come up with a list of ideas of things that I could do without the use of a phone, I could've come up with something pretty similar to what this book offered.

The book did interject some moving quotes as well as some facts provided by research, and I did appreciate those things. And while the ideas of things to do were nice, it didn't feel as if the book really, truly taught me HOW to disconnect from tech, which is what I suppose I was looking for. I wanted to learn more about the process of disconnecting and the positive impacts it could have in my life. While there were brief glimpses of positive results, it just barely scratched the surface of what I had been hoping for.

That all being said, this book is very aesthetically pleasing - it's a high-quality, well-made book with beautiful imagery. It is a very quick read, so even not being what I had expected, I still didn't feel as if I wasted my time reading it.

I think it would be a good guide for anyone that is literally trying to come up with some ideas to fill their time and get them away from their phones. But if you are after practical tips of how to truly make that happen, you might want to keep looking.

The blurb caught my attention but after that I lost my interest and didn't read this book. Maybe next time.

I think we all need to be reminded of this message. Goodbye phone is a quick must read for most of us. I would recommend this book as it has quick and practical tips for all of us... Worth the read for sure.

As I type this using my phone (!!!!)...loved this book and it’s message to live in the moment - not everything has to be recorded or committed to memory with our phones/technology. The book was inspiring and I’ll carry much of what I read with me. We gave all grown so dependent on our phones that I notice myself reaching for mine instinctively without being mindful of what I’m even doing. Everyone would get something of use out of this book.

Quick and easy read. Offers simple advice to make small changes in your life to not be fully dependent on technology in every aspect. A good read for everyone!

Thank you to Chronicle Books via NetGalley for providing the digital reader copy.

Small book, but great advice and suggestions on how to reset and get back to what really matters. Definitely recommend this as a book to read if you are looking for ways to disconnect succesfully.

Ubiquitous at times, with a delightful urgency to consider how time is wasted mindlessly on the phone and the example this sets for younger generations (especially children) who watch our behavior. However, reading books on the phone is a great resource, so I'm not sure how helpful this was to me personally but I imagine many others will benefit from lessons here. Thank you!

Hello, my name is Melody and I am a gigantic failure when it comes to disconnecting from my phone. I don't know what it is (most likely the addiction 😶, but I read book like this and say , "yes, this is spot on!", and a few days later I am back on my phone. Okay, so for those of you who can ACTUALLY follow through, this book is amazing! In my opinion, one of the best for not allowing your phone to take over your life, and take back control of the things that bring you joy.

Good Bye Phone is about how we are losing out on our lives, our own interests, in small small bits and pieces, for the sake of something which is not even worth it. The focus of the whole book is to convey the urgency to get rid of smartphone addiction. In the first few pages of the book, the writer highlights the various ways in which smartphone is robbing you of your life. And remember that he is not just talking about the effect on your health or effect on your relationships. He tells you how seriously it is affecting your whole life and how you are being deprived of the various beautiful things which really mean to you.

In very few but strong words the writer urges the reader to live the moment instead of committing it to memory. You might have noticed how people attend the annual day functions and other programs in their children’s school, and whole time are either occupied taking pictures or making videos. But note that that picture or that video is not your child; it does not feel, it does not smell, it doesn’t have life. It is just a screen, a picture. Of course, you could call it a memory aid to relive the moment later. But at the expense of not living it altogether in this very moment when the activity is still in progress? This way you would be left only with images and memories and would have lost all the wonderful experiences which this life offered you.

In another passage he brings to light the wonder of handwritten letters. Some 10 years back, I read an article in a scientific journal that a mother’s voice has nearly the same effect on a child as her physical presence. Some time back, there was another study which told that the effect of mother’s handwriting also has a similar effect. You yourself can compare the impression that a handwritten letter and an electronic text message casts on you. This is not just about psychology. In the WhatsApp era, you do not have anything to treasure, to keep in your treasure box, to relook at it when your beloved is no longer with you. Remember that the text messages — whether SMS or WhatsApp or Messenger, eventually disappear in the bottomless, endless tunnel of your phone screen. Afterall, how long and how far can you scroll? And those one line, one word messages certainly do not evoke emotions or feelings like an elaborate letter written in heartfelt prose. And certainly not the emojis and emoticons. You may say that they make a conversation more lively, but I consider that they kill any conversation. I interpret it as the other person does not want to talk further.

Once you have got rid of your addiction and put your phone away, you will have a lot of free time at your disposal. In the remainder of the book writer Greenberg tells you several ways to utilise that newly found time in a better and fruitful manner. In total Greenberg gives 60 suggestions — from learning a new language, learning to play guitar, spending time with your family, making more successful and more meaningful relationships, reading books, writing diaries, and so on up to crossing the sea or globetrotting. Interestingly, whatever suggestions he gives are very simple and written in the form of short notes.

Among the 60 suggestions there is one which says — do nothing! Sit idle. You would agree that we are not spending time with ourselves. Tell me, when was the last time you saw the night sky with its stars or the rising sun, or listened to the singing of birds? Whenever you get couple of minutes of spare time, you just pick up your smartphone and start scrolling through your WhatsApp messages or various notifications.

I will call this book completely successful only if the readers get rid of this addiction. They may continue to use their smartphones or mobile phones but keep it in moderation, use it when it is really required and not turn it into an addiction or obsession. The whole natural world is waiting for you — not just the beauty, not just the joy of it which the writer has noted, but also the various problems which the world is waiting for you to attend to, which you have to solve, which you have to pay attention to.

I have few suggestions for this book. Throughout the book the writer has focused on the harm smartphones cause to you — the user — and thus he gives suggestions on how you can avoid it to make life easier and more beautiful for you — the user. Except a few hints here and there, he seems to neglect the harm smartphone causes to others. It need not be so extreme like traffic accident; instead it could be in the form of a small interruption or inconvenience. It might be trivial, yet impolite, rude nevertheless. Imagine the following scene: I am working in lab or may be I am with someone, my phone rings. I cut the call, it comes again. Such persistent calls when the other person is not picking up is not what Swami Vivekananda meant when he said “…wait not till the goal is reached”! Your addiction to phone causes misery, embarrassment and annoyance to others. Nearly everyday we come across such addicts. We cut the phone call, or just miss the call, or perhaps the phone was on silent mode. When we return the call, we are welcomed by abuses on why we didn’t attend the call! It could be your spouse, your boss or anybody. And in shared office spaces — here I am talking about scientific academic laboratory — one phone call or WhatsApp message causes disturbance to everybody.

Another issue which the writer has missed is the harm smartphone has caused to our communication skills. Grammatical errors are acceptable in the WhatsApp world and soon the people who write perfectly polished, error free languages — like the writer himself — would be considered endangered species. Personally, I consider language to be the greatest invention in human history, which made sure that we do not have to reinvent everything from scratch, and also kept knowledge from getting lost while transmission by word of mouth. In our own lifetime, we had spent long hours, several years, hard labour in gaining the vocabulary, grasping grammar of the language which is not our native language. And how easily within a few days of using WhatsApp we choose to wipe off all that we had learnt. All the harms that the writer has mentioned are correct and demand urgent attention, but the very first and perhaps the greatest harm is inflicted on written language. And the damage is irreversible. Interestingly the suggestions are straightforward and have already been given by the writer in the book — restrict phone usage, don’t text when you can call, and carry a book in your bag.

Buy this book by all means, preferably multiple copies. Read it yourself, give others to read, and also give it away as gift. Keep it on your drawing room table so that your guests can leaf through it. I am sure you would not need to read the whole book — just within first few pages, the writer would have convinced you of the harm your smartphone is causing you. And that conviction immediately leads to action. Yes, the action which is not just the need of the hour, but also extremely urgent — urgency to put down your phone, and go back to live the wonder that life is.

A worthwhile read with some practical ways to put the phone down for a few minutes - at least - and get a little more out of life.

I absolutely loved this book. As a new mom I am trying to take a step back from my phone and focus more on my daughter. I am an information addict and struggle with disconnecting. This book has been very helpful and although I still have to make an effort it is much easier than it was before.

✨Could you give up your phone?

Or rather could you go back to an old flip phone where all you could do was call or text someone, no internet on it whatsoever?

That’s what this non fiction book is about. And I loved it so much!

After telling his son that he can’t have/use a phone as it’s bad for him, the son asks his dad, the author, if it’s so bad for him then why does he use it so much! This is a turning point for the author who decides in an effort to be a good example to his son that right there and then he will give up his smart phone.

The book weaves in his own thoughts alongside 60 bite sized features all about things you can do if your not on your phone.

Over the past few years this subject about phones and technology is something that I’ve really been interested in and spent a lot of time reading and watching things about the idea of less tech in our lives.

This book is definitely not the most in depth I’ve read about the subject (and it’s definitely not trying to be either) but for whatever reason it’s the one that’s got me the most. The one that’s swayed me from just talking about getting away from tech more to actually me doing something about it and trying to make a plan of the ways I do and don’t want tech in my life.

It’s a super quick book, it’s not got a ton of words and is laced with the most beautiful illustrations throughout but the way the author writes about this journey and his son and his thoughts on it all, just feels so emotional and lovely to me. And somehow inspired me more than any other book on this subject has.

I don’t have the answers on how to live a more tech free grounded, connected and present life and neither does this book or really anyone I don’t think but this does remind you that just because we’ve all gotten used to this being normal, doesn’t mean that you have to continue if using technology in such a rapid, obsessive way isn’t working for you anymore.

I would love so much to hear your thoughts on this. As someone who has worked solely online for many years, freelance copywriting, writing for online websites and owning a small business, I’m always looking at ways to cut down my tech use! ✨

A very impactful book for this day and age! Backed by research and full of great ideas about how to take a step back from our phone addictions and truly engage and connect in life.

"Good-by Phone, Hello World" is a quick, easy, enjoyable guide to enhancing your life by giving up some of your tech usage time. The goal of this book is to show tech users some ways in which technology affects their lives, and also presents some ways to lessen the pull of that technology and use the time for something else that is more meaningful and enjoyable. The book is divided into sections that deal with creativity, health, relationships, well-being, and the environment. Each section can easily be read in one sitting. The artwork forms the best part of the book and leads the reader into a more mindful state, even without the advice and suggestions. The book is well-researched and includes extensive end notes and bibliography.

If you are a frequent user of technology, you might have thought about greatly reducing your tech use. Maybe you even felt as if you are a servant to your cell phone.If you long to reduce your tech usage, check out this beautifully illustrated book. You might just find some ideas that appeal to you!

I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

This book gave lots of insightful tips and facts about why people should try to disconnect from their phones more often. It was very eye-opening and made me re-evaluate how much I use my cell phone on a daily basis. I would recommend this book to anyone who thinks they want to cut down on the amount of screen time that have every day.

In this digital, virtual age, we are seeing the negative effects that too much screen time has on children and teens. Greenberg tackles this issue in an easy to read and informative style that offers busy parents practical solutions. . I will definitely be purchasing copies for our school library for parents to borrow.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the early review copy.

I was a little skeptical of whether or not this book would actually provide me with useful insights that. could apply but I ended up being pleasantly surprised throughout the entire book. There are plenty of books have been written on the subject of mindfulness as it relates to the attention economy and technology -- from Cal Newport's "Digital Minimalism", to Jenny Odelll's "How To Do Nothing", but ironically enough, I could never bring myself to finish any of them. But I was able to read this book on a lunch break.

This book's straight-forward writing style, use of gorgeous illustrations, and balance among science, personal experience, and spirituality made it a home run for me. Additionally, I really enjoyed the moments where the author took time to zoom out and consider the holistic perspective of how our mindless behavior affects our environment (e.g. with car idling).

If you have to browse social media, you have time to read this book.

It seems to be getting more difficult to appreciate those around us and really have deep connections. Times like this is when we need this book, lots of good research and ideas to ditch the phone and get deeper in your own mind.