User Profile

I've been a fan of the Bullet Journal for awhile (see my blog post on it), though my use of the method is admittedly somewhat inconsistent. I wanted to get back into it for the new year, and the publication of this book was as good a chance as any do so.

I read the book from cover to cover, which was probably a mistake given my familiarity with the subject matter, as it went over each component of the method in detail. That said, those who are not familiar would do well to read it through fully to understand all the pieces. Once you become familiar, the book has a pretty easy layout that can be used as a quick reference.

I found Part III, "The Practice," to be the least compelling, though I imagine some people may find they like it the most. While the section had some good ideas, it was too long by half, and it simply reiterated the same concepts over a bunch of different specific implementations. There's nothing wrong with that, per se, but abstract thinkers could get by with reading one or two of the sections within Part III and simply do a wash/rinse/repeat for the rest.

I recommend the Bullet Journal method for anyone who is looking for a better way to organize their tasks/projects/goals and whatnot (including their book-related goals!). The book itself is good as a handy reference, though most of what it says can be found online for free, and often more succinctly.

Finally, for those who didn't bother to click through to my blog post above, keep in mind that pretty, artistic templates and headings have nothing to do with Bullet Journaling. If you're scared away because you're not an artist, then I present below the first question and answer from the FAQ on p. 291:

Q: I'm not artistic. Can I still Bullet Journal?

A: Yes. The only thing that matters in BuJo is the content, not the presentation.

The idea was better than the execution.

As an example of my irritation, the Biggs Darklighter story should've been great because…well, Biggs. Maybe I was just so jaded I couldn't appreciate it enough. But it really bugged me that Biggs made an analogy comparing the number of farming communities under Imperial rule to "the number of sands on a Mon Calamari beach" – when literally EVERY other metaphor in the story was related to Tatooine. Why would a guy from a desert planet use sand from the beach of some other planet in a comparison? (And does Mon Cala even have beaches? I was always under the impression it was surface was entirely covered in water, but maybe I'm wrong.)

Some of the stories were fine, but none of them rose to the level of great. Others were real stinkers. The TK421 story, as seen through the eyes of a mouse droid, probably is better in print, but hearing the narrator read the string of repetitive commands and systems checks didn't do anything positive for my opinions of the audiobook as a format in general.

If I were to be magnanimous I'd give this a 2.5 star rating, and maybe round it up to 3. But heck, I'm feeling ornery tonight.