Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brene Brown

Brene Brown is one of my go-to authors for self-help and non fiction books.  Rather than covering the classic self-help topics like weight loss or anxiety, her research covers vulnerability, courage, shame, and empathy.  Brene helps shine a light on common humanity, a concept that we are all experiencing and suffering with the same issues, to remind the reader that we are all working on bettering ourselves rather than suffering through embarrassment alone.

This book in particular was supposed to cover themes on fitting in and authenticity.  This is something that I've really been focusing on in my own life, so I was highly anticipating this read.  Unfortunately, I wasn't really that blown away by the book.  It was certainly well written, and it's okay as a stand alone book, but I feel like her other books are stronger.

I felt like Brene continued to revert back to politics when trying to describe things.  As an example, she talks about how fitting in can feel difficult when you are surrounded by people with different political ideals than you.  It's true.  We can be a very divided country in this day and age.  But.... politics, in general, can be a very touchy subject.  I can tell that she feels very passionate about the political vibe of our country, but I just didn't appreciate how she continued to tie it into all of her subject matter.  I also saw a different review on Goodreads from someone outside of America who said she couldn't follow all of the political references.

To be entirely honest, I think this would have made a better master class or TED talk than a brand new book.  I don't think she had enough new content for a $28 book.

A lot of the concepts or ideas she brings to the table are valid and thought provoking.  Truly, she is a fabulous researcher.  It just wasn't enough new data, her views were a little biased, and it wasn't always in the right context to constitute the book.  It was a strike for me.  I would highly recommend her other works like "Daring Greatly" or "Rising Strong" if you're going to pick up one of her books.