It may have interesting content, though the monotone voice didn’t really get my attention and kept my attention..

Very interesting concept.
Written like a conversation and some of the narrative is repeated a lot.

I enjoyed the premise of this book, and the fact that the author is Jane McGonigal, whose Ted Talk about gamifying your life was so inspiring. The concepts that she introduces are surprising, intriguing, and worthy of discussion. In fact, she works with a consortium of people on futuristic thinking. She also teaches a class on thinking about the future. Listening to the book feels like listening to a fascinating podcast with useful concepts for our personal life, professional life, and global society.

The audiobook version, which I listened to, is narrated by the author and I really enjoyed her voice and mannerisms. I did feel that there were parts that felt like I was in a class, with quizzes and prompts to take notes. This made me think the book would be well suited for a college course or a business study. The audiobook is long--16 hours. And I had already listened to 11 hours over time when I decided I needed to take a break and read some other books. When I returned, I found myself recalling phrases and references to things the author had mentioned multiple times in the first 11 hours. While I believe in reviewing and reiterating a concept, it felt like I was never really making forward progress in my listening. I think this book would be more manageable in chunks or excerpts if reading with a group or doing a book study. Overall, I think the concepts are well done and it was enjoyable to listen to.

‘Imaginable’ is firstly motivating, and secondly quite practical. Additionally, Jane McGonigal provides scientific information to support her proposals. Therefore, we can understand a bit more about the process of making decisions and several techniques that can train the brain to be more prepared for future situations and changes.
There are many examples, clues and guidelines to strength the imagination and to take advantage of imagining vividly for a possible healing, a boost of confidence and broaden our outlook and opportunities. Paraphrasing the title, train your imagination to see the future coming and feel ready for anything―even things that seem impossible today’.

The audiobook is well structured. Jane McGonigal is also the narrator. So even though the speech might sound in a few parts at the beginning a bit robotic, she gets more fluent and adds an extra amount of passion, encouragement and energy that compensates.

Thanks to Netgalley, OrangeSky Audio and the author Jane McGonigal for an advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

In-depth and interesting. Read by the author who is passionate about the subject. The voice was calming to listen to although overall I found it a lengthy listen.

McGonigal does it again with another fabulous book that challenges her readers to look past what they think they know into the wild beyond.

Futurist thinking challenges us to look past what is predictable and venture into the realm of "what if." McGonigal walks you through several futurist thinking challenges and teaches you how (and WHY) you are looking at things this way and how to do it as a solo activity and with a group.

The book itself has been fantastic and is a great exercise for individuals interested in shifting the narrative and the viewpoints of the future.

The audiobook, which I was offered as an ARC, was made even better because it is an author-narrated audiobook. The pacing was what you would expect after watching her speak. She is clear, concise, and actually a pretty great narrator. It is somewhat difficult to do the exercises she suggests as a part of the audiobook so just be prepared with your pause button to do the work!

I had seen Jane McGonigal’s TED talk on SuperBetter and in general the positive impact well designed games can have on our happiness & even longevity. It is only when I picked up this audiobook that I realized that she is a futurist involved with the Institute for the Future.

I have found many of the articles written by futurists to be interesting, and that is what prompted me to take to this (audio)book. I did not know what to expect from this book specifically though. We are in a period when certain major challenges such as climate change, population explosion, job uncertainty and rising polarisation are looming. At the same time there is unprecedented pace of change driven by technology – genetics, artificial foods, connectivity, etc. As expected, all of this and more finds good a high degree of coverage in the book.

I found a lot of the advice in the book to be practical. For instance - thinking in terms of 10-year timeframes (even in short bursts of 20 seconds), You can project based on past experiences as well; in a 10-year timeframe – FB users crossed a billion, same sex marriages & marijuana were legalized in many US states & nations in Europe etc. While thinking (and as a result worrying) about the future may seem a depressing thing to do, apparently when our minds travel to the future for a period, we are better prepared when that future arrives. There are experts for various fields but we need to bring it all together for taking stock of our own lives and potentially others, since many problems today need community involvement. There are sprinklings of neuroscience research as many topics are discussed. A number of future thinking techniques and examples are provided, most of which were very good.

Overall, a fascinating and energizing book which I recommend for everyone. The level of detail in terms of current context is excessive at times though.

My rating: 4.5 / 5.

An amazing non-fiction book that gives you the opportunity to explore all possibilities. Usually we find the books in this category to be quite stuck to ground level. But that was not the case with this book.

What's great about this book?
🎋 The concept of 10 year timeline
🎋 The mindset of waking up in in the right state - minimum to maximum
🎋 The book will not just share ideas about a possible future but it will also enable you to imagine them via various test and exercise scenarios
🎋 The overall depth of this industry (game designing and future forecasting) is quite novel
🎋 It's short and precise

Overall I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to explore something different- out of the ideal scenario world.

Mein Leseerlebnis

Da mir das vorherige Buch der Autorin - “Superbetter” - sehr gut gefallen hat, habe ich mich sehr auf ihr neues Sachbuch gefreut. Auch weil ich in Zeiten der Pandemie gemerkt habe, dass ich die Zukunft teils recht negativ und hoffnungslos betrachte. Davon wollte ich weg. Und bei diesem Vorhaben hat mir “Imaginable” auch tatsächlich geholfen. Auch wenn nicht alles im Buch für mich perfekt funktioniert hat.

Der Inhalt ist spannend, informativ und wichtig. Die Umsetzung wirkte auf mich aber unnötig in die Länge gezogen und von der Struktur her nicht ideal. So hätte ich am Ende des Buches z.B. ein Kapitel mit einer Zusammenfassung aller praxisrelevanten Tipps und Übungen erwartet. Diese fehlt leider. Dadurch sind die Tipps und Übungen sehr zerstreut im Buch und es lässt sich mit ihnen nicht ideal arbeiten.

Auch holte mir die Autorin teils zu weit aus. Anekdoten und ähnliches zur Darstellung eines Punktes schätze ich generell, aber wenn sie ein Sachbuch übernehmen und der eigentliche Aktionsteil demgegenüber verblasst, finde ich sie kritikwürdig.

Wenn die Autorin zum Punkt kommt und vor allem in den Aktionsteilen fand ich “Imaginable” überzeugend und kraftvoll.

Hörbuch

Das Hörbuch wird von der Autorin selbst gesprochen, was ich meist mag. In diesem Fall fand ich ihren Sprachstil bzw. Sprachrhythmus aber zu künstlich. Ihre Narration hörte sich so an, als würde sie gerade eine Rede auf einer großen Bühne oder etwas wie eine Predigt halten. Ich hätte eine flüssigere und natürlicher wirkende Narration bevorzugt.

Als Konsequenz daraus, werde ich mir nach dem Erscheinen des Sachbuchs eine gedruckte Version kaufen. Mit dieser sollte ich besser zurechtkommen als mit dem Hörbuch.

Fazit

“Imaginable” ist inhaltlich spannend und wichtig, es gibt aber deutliche Schwächen in der Umsetzung. 🖤🖤🖤1/4

Für wen?

Wer Interesse daran hat, der Zukunft offen und nicht verzweifelt zu begegnen, für den könnte das Sachbuch sehr gut geeignet sein. Ich persönlich würde empfehlen, zum eBook oder einer gedruckten Version zu greifen, da ich die Narration des Hörbuchs etwas anstrengend finde.

Wer nur an den Praxisanteilen interessiert ist, sollte sich lieber den Online-Kurs der Autorin anschauen.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC of the audiobook for this title in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

The audiobook was read by the author, and her passion for all things future was evident throughout the narration.

Positives:

In general, I thought there were some great thought-provoking ideas throughout the text, as well as some useful questions and problem-solving techniques. I have made it a point to read and/or listen to more non-fiction this year, and I am happy that I gave this a try. In general, I see myself as someone future-focused (sometimes to the detriment of the present,) and there was a lot here to chew on.

Potential Negatives:

I think that there is a very good chance that if someone identifies as conservative politically, much of this book will rub them the wrong way. I don't personally lean right or left politically and see myself as a moderate, but her political affiliation is extremely evident throughout (which is fine,) and sometimes comes off as looking down on members of the other party and their beliefs (which may or may not be fine, I guess depending on one's own norms.)

I knew what I was getting into with Pandemic in the title, but I still felt like I was beaten over the head quite a bit with Covid discussion. I understand that this is front and center in all of our lives currently, but I still found it a bit off-putting personally - your mileage may vary.

I would encourage others to listen / read and make their own determinations. Overall, I did think it was well-researched and well-written.

I love the subject matter in this book, a series of ideas and exercises about considering future possibilities that can help people prepare for alternate futures as well as lead a more purposeful life. The context is the global pandemic and how people who had engaged in episodic future thinking scenarios, with both positive and negative outcomes, were better prepared to deal with the sudden changes.

I listened to the audio version of this book. The tone is light and conversational and I found the book easy to listen to. I did find it difficult to do the exercises from the audio version. I was constantly pausing or rewinding to make sure I had the questions right. Also for me this was a book that requires some note taking. The author narrates and does a good job and I think listening to this book is a good introduction, but I would prefer a physical book for doing the exercises.