This I Believe

Title: This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women
Editors: Jay Allison & Dan Gediman
Genre: Philosophy
Pages: 320
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****
Reviewed by: Ben
Description: Over the past several years, NPR has aired a feature called This I Believe in which individuals from all walks of life write and record personal belief statements.  Each statement is around 3 1/2 minutes long (about 400 words), and is typically focused on one personal belief or one story that has changed their views on life.  This book is a collection of those recordings, with about half of them coming from more famous people and the other half being culled from individuals who have submitted their "This I Believe" states to NPR directly.
Thoughts: I really liked this book a lot.  It was fascinating to listen to what people would choose to say given only 400 words to write a personal belief statement.  I found myself constantly thinking in my head, "What would I write?"  In fact, I've committed myself to writing one (I've started, but it's really hard!), and it's been a really healthy thing for me to try to do.  Nearly every segment made me think hard about whether I believe the same thing, or why my beliefs differ from others'.  If you're going to read this book, I have two recommendations.  First, listen to it on audiobook.  They have the authors each read their own statements, and I really liked having each person's own voice behind the statements.  Second, don't listen to it all straight through.  I found that with one belief statement coming right after the next, I didn't have enough time to think about what the last person had said, and sometimes I'd find myself thinking about the last statement while the next one was going on.  It'd be better to listen to one or two, then take a break, I think.
Disclaimer: None.