Found this book when I needed to! It was incredible how accessibly Burkeman was able to explain the complex angsty feelings of life that are always lurking in the background. I could see myself in different examples he wrote, and hadn’t realized why I acted those ways until he dove in to the underlying reasons. I hope the perspective this book gave me on mortality and stagnancy and reappraising how we value our lives sticks with me for a while.

I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially any friends who struggle with ideas of making the most of their lives/their time and anxiety about the uncertainty of the future. It focuses on the unavoidable fact that we’re going to die and urges ignoring the traditional busyness and productivity-cramming methods we focus on, instead acting with more kindness, gentleness, discomfort, and decisiveness with ourselves in the face of our deaths.

Burkeman wrote a column in The Guardian for a while, and has written for NYT too, and has the enviable ability that skilled journalists seem to have of being able to write about super complicated and in-depth ideas in tangible and really understandable ways— more like he’s sitting next to you and just talking to you about his ideas on life.