An insightful, enjoyable read. While it is a guidebook of sorts, one that can be dipped into at any time, it is also an essay or a look into why we want simpler lives.

First of all I wanna thank Netgalley for the ARC provided, this will however not influence my review.

The simple life sounded like a really helpful book. Upon reading the blurb I was sure it would help me appreciate the simpler things in life by teaching me about minimalism and simplicity.

However I found this book entirely unhelpful as it for example suggested to have less friends?

I must admit that I cannot remember much else, as I dnfd this book quite a while ago.

A thought-provoking read to help you live a simpler life. Sometimes we don't realise how we complicate our lives and this book will help you disentangle what you can change and what you have to accept.

A book you will return to again and again.

So, I don't know what to say about this book. I really wanted more tips for becoming simple, how to do it. And it does that. But it is also somewhat presumptuous. It gives the notion that it KNOWS how people will react or say in regards to things. It also implies that if we had just done things earlier, people would just be more accepting. That just isn't that easy. People are jerks at any age. Until we can completely change as a culture (won't happen), some of the advice in this book is null. However, I do like that it brought in historical context in things like the monks and St. Jerome. I really love the actually factual aspects of simplicity.

At this point it's safe to say that I really enjoy everything I've read from the School of Life. This title especially gives some real food for thought in the ways that we over-complicate our lives in search of meaning/status, but by simplifying it down to the basics we can enjoy what we have on a far deeper level.

This is a fabulous book. I didn't know what to expect and the areas it would cover. Fortunately, it considers most areas of people's lives and the complexities within before suggesting ways to simplify those areas. There's so much to think about, that I would imagine different people would benefit in honing in to different areas more pertinent to them. The parts 'Work and Simplicity' and 'Culture and Simplicity' spoke most to me but that doesn't mean I didn't gain valuable insight into other areas.

I'm certain I will be dipping into this book again and again and again.

I enjoyed this quick read.
Makes you consider points/aspects in your life that you can declutter and help change your mindset.
Examples are threaded throughout the book so you can reflect or relate to situations in your personal life which makes it easier to absorb I feel.

I enjoyed A Simpler Life, a quick but thought provoking read which I think I will pick up and dip into again.

Five Stars
A Simpler Life is a Manifesto and Celebration of Life lived Simpler
Modern life is too busy, too attention-grabbing - too many products and services aimed at oversaturated markets.
Instead of appreciating the finer things in life; simple food, walks in nature (for free) - humanity is on an urge to spend helicopter money on brand, new junk.
A Simpler Life is a book that resonates with some of the population and annoys the remainder.
Good enough reason to read.

I found this a very inspiring read and sums up how I want my life to be.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

The language of this book is extremely flourished. It reminds me of a 10th grade paper with a word count minimum. Most of the thoughts and ideas here could have been "simplified."
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book as I was hoping I would. This is my first time reading a School of Life book. I know there are others who have reviewed the book that have said they've enjoyed it.
The first third of the book has to do with relationships/social life and how to simplify them. However, I had such a hard time getting through that portion. I was looking for real, practical tips- not "maybe you could try thinking about this situation in this way..." type language and lack of specificity.
This book also mentions parents a lot. I'm not sure what that's about. The mentioning of your parents and how you interact with them and how it may be miserable but they truly understand us- I feel like this book was written for a teen who has issues with blaming their parents for everything.
In the second third of the book, they start talking more about living simply and Chomei. This starts to bring up more relevant ideals and advice. Seeing the beauty in the little things is one of the main points, and that time is more important than money. However, it quickly goes back to what other's think, and what type of people must live in the city center.

I could not get through this book. I was really excited for it and thought it would lead to being a great read but it was so poorly written and hard to comprehend.

With the never ceasing fast pace of today's world with all the demands, "noise", and "hub-bub" it entails, the idea of a simpler life certainly is an appealing one. I'm always interested in exploring ways to live a more fulfilling and meaningful life, so this book drew my attention.

While there are some good ideas to be gleaned, overall, I found it disappointing. There is nothing new here, and in my opinion, other books on the subject are better. The writing is paternalistic and at times condescending, which really annoyed me.

While I'm grateful to The School of Life for the chance to read an ARC of this book via NetGalley, I cannot recommend it. All opinions stated in this review are my own and are freely given.

This slim volume from educational company The School of Life presents itself as a guide to simplicity in all areas of life. While some interesting ideas are covered, the feeling of reading it is akin to listening to a bunch of people at an upper-middle class dinner party all sharing their opinions on the theme—inconsistent, under-sourced, and not particularly practical. Given how saturated the market is right now with books on simplicity as an antidote for modern life, it's hard to recommend this survey that is both broad and shallow.

Some of the core ideas certainly may resonate. For example, the authors keep coming back to the question of relevance and purpose as a central tool for decision-making around what to keep in one's life and what to eliminate, which is an important and often overlooked tool. But as a guide, it would be nice to include exercises or writing prompts to assist the reader in applying this principle, or even just a broader range of examples.

The collectively authored format means that the book’s voice, insofar as it has one, is very generic and corporate. The School of Life is a European company employing a team "thinkers" to make Youtube videos, write books, and teach courses on a mix of self-development topics and the classic subjects of Western Civ. Their aim of teaching skills that are de-emphasized in the modern workplace isn't problematic on its own, but the lack of a clear point-of-view is a little frustrating. And if you're not paying close attention, you might miss things like a subtle plug for the company itself in a section on reducing your reading volume that offers a single example of a purpose for reading, "learn to be content"—conveniently, achievable through reading about a list of subjects that the School of Life features!

It's too bad, because I actually could see this being an interesting book if the scope were narrowed and the sections expanded upon to go deeper and serve more potential readers. The reading section, for example, explains how our desire to read as much as possible, to know as much as possible, is an artifact of Enlightenment thinking—a direct contrast to an earlier perspective that emphasized getting to know a single text (e.g. the Bible, the Iliad) very well. I would’ve enjoyed learning more about different theories on the function of reading, or perhaps walking through an exercise to identify my own purpose and how to filter my "to read" list accordingly. Instead, the ideas are briefly dropped, and then we're on to the next section.

The topics around simplifying workload and information consumption contain the most useful information. Though sources are absent, and there are no personal stories to make the ideas more compelling, the authors do a decent job of explaining how we get caught up in reputation and expectations, how we crowd our schedules without time to think, and how chasing the next dream pulls us out of immersion in and gratitude for our actual lives.

Other topics are only tenuously tied to simplicity. The first section on relationships, for example, was an extremely rocky start that hardly seems useful. There's an almost vendetta throughout against having a social life, and any systemic issues are completely ignored. The take is individualist and "apolitical" in that way that is in fact very political. The overall tone reminded me of that annoying guy in a social group who proudly declares himself to be an "independent thinker" and then pontificates on his own opinions while expecting everyone else to cite their sources and defend their arguments with impeccable logic. Any spiritual side to simplicity or reference to mindfulness is conspicuously absent.

The target audience is clearly middle- or upper-middle class, and some of the sections around money and material possessions were downright cringeworthy. Don't worry, being poor isn't scary and ugly! This is the overall message, obviously not directed towards anyone who has ever actually experienced poverty. Advice like "go live in a hut, you'll be perfectly fine" completely ignores actual experiences of houselessness, violence, and absent healthcare.

Certainly, some of our anxieties can stem from inaccurate fears of the future that are rooted in ignorance of our actual privilege, but for a general audience this tone rankles. Maybe a considerably wealthy person who’d never encountered the idea of living more simply would be inspired by this book, but I still would recommend an alternative and avoid the neoliberal / corporate perspective baked into this “authorless” volume.

I love The School of Life books and this one is amongst the best as it's full of food for thought.
I think we all want a simpler life and this book was useful to help me reflect.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A wonderful book exemplifying the virtues of living a simpler life. Just reading this book was calming and so motivational to tweak areas in my own life that could benefit from more simplicity.

This book would be a lovely gift and the cover is gorgeous too. The perfect book to curl up under a blanket with a pit of tea and meander a Sunday afternoon away with.

Thank you School of Life and NetGalley for this ARC.

A Simpler Life is an interesting change to the self-help genre and I definitely think there is a place for more books like these. Unlike so many similar books that stress you out more than help improve yourself, this book was a no nonsense advice book on how to slow down and focus on what matters. Although I felt the concept was good, the content was quite repetitive, unnecessary or common sense at times. I did like the layout and I think it would make a nice present for someone.

A superb and timely overview on how to lead a simple life. I particularly enjoyed dipping in and out of this guide. As someone whose word for 2022 is 'simplify' i found the advice and philosophy on these pages fascinating and useful in trying to resist the onward march of consumerism and the 'must haves' in our modern world. Recommend for anyone wanting to switch off and reconfigure what's important in their life.

As we come out of a global pandemic and are pulled back into a busy life,work,family commitments etc this book is great to dip in and out of to remind us of how to slow down, what is important and what isn't.
I feel this book will help me greatly when I am feeling overwhelmed by everything with tips on how to get back to that time when we had the time to prioritise ourselves over everything else.

What an excellent book on both the absurdness of modernity as well as the value in living with intention and simplicity. Give this a read and you surely won’t be disappointed that you did. Thank you to NetGalley and The School of Life Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.