An Essential Read:

This book is SO GOOD! Easily one of the few books I would make mandatory for every student in school to read.

This book does such a great job at helping you understand the nature of reality. It's the kind of book that's so thorough and succinct that it completely wipes away the need to read countless of other (less comprehensive) books.

This book is like "The Fundamentals of Life" and it could have just as easily been called that.

I've never highlighted a book so much in my life (and I pretty much never highlight books at all to begin with, done digitally in my case) This is one of those VERY rare books that I would actually give 10 stars out of 5.

It feels like it's been so long since I've read a book that's been life-changing for me. And of course, the likelihood of finding one diminishes the more books you read. But I'm so glad to have found this one, and for it to have had such a big impact on me. There are only three other books that I would say have had a monumental impact on my life. So I'm really glad that this book could be included in that category.

Clear & Concise:

This book is so incredibly grounded, and practical. Unlike so many other books that vaguely tell you to "just believe", clap three times, spin around in a circle with a scarf around your waist, stare up into the sky, and then go about your day with only thoughts of dandelions on your mind.

I Am actually explains all of the concepts and ideas mentioned clearly and in a way that anybody can understand (you don't even have to be all that spiritual to get it). This is not some head in the clouds "just think positively (because I said so) and your life will be an absolute dream fairy tale" kind of book.

It's a straightforward explanation of how the universe works and how you and ONLY YOU control your experience of it.

He doesn't just make a bold statement and leave it at that (like so many others do). He makes a point and then immediately goes on to explain how things work from a realistic, worldly, and energetic point of view. He clearly shows you how the concepts he talks about play out in your day to day life. So you're never left guessing what anything means, trying to see if it ties into your life or feeling like something was overly vague and non-descriptive.

Objective Tone:

Another great aspect of this book is that it's written so objectively. The author isn't telling you how you should live your life or coming through with an overly positive nor judgmental tone. He is simply stating the facts of how your thoughts, emotion and energy emanate through the world and take part in creating your reality. He is simply presenting the information and then allowing the reader to do whatever they choose with their newfound awareness.

Understanding the Ego:

This is also one of the best books you'll read on understanding how your ego is 100% unequivocally your friend in helping you achieve whatever it is you believe about yourself to be true.

In other words, this book gives you a very accurate representation of the ego's role in your life. And how it is constantly helping you achieve what it is you desire. Just like you would imagine an angel always being there for you in support, your ego is no different. Endlessly helpful and supportive in carrying out and validating your beliefs about your world.

It cohesively strings together soooo many of the little concepts, ideas, positive sayings and quotes you hear thrown around all the time (in life, on social media, from TV shows and movies, books, from motivational speakers etc.) and it does it in a very succinct, well-rounded and easy to understand way.

Another thing that is so great about this book is that it's easy to understand without being elementary or feeling like you're being talked down to with the most basic information imaginable (even for someone who has read upwards of hundreds self-help and spiritual books). I Am does a phenomenal job of providing you a thorough and unique perspective of how we operate in the world.

The Audiobook is a MUST:

I would highly recommend anyone reading this pick up the audiobook along with the physical copy so you can really follow along and hear the ideas expressed exactly how the author intended it. You'd be doing a disservice to yourself to not at least listen to the audiobook (if you didn't want to also pick up a physical copy).

He does a great job of emphasizing each and every one of the important statements in a way that perfectly encapsulates the importance of the topics, and really helps the ideas and concepts to sink in. With a book like this that covers life’s most important topics, you wouldn't want to experience it any other way.

Listening to the audiobook is like hearing your favorite artist sing their most beloved songs exactly how they intended, versus listening to a complete amateur (i.e you only reading the text off the page) do a cover of it.

It's always great when the authors are the ones narrating their own work. So again, I definitely recommend hearing the author convey his ideas in his own voice since the tone and inflection he speaks with helps amplify and convey his message in the most accurate and impactful manner.

Narration Quality:

There were a quite a few lines that were rearranged/added/omitted/rephrased between the physical copy and the audio book. So the narration didn't match up exactly with the physical copy I had.

Along with that, the only (and biggest) gripe I have is that there were several times when the author would add (or redo) some lines in the audiobook. And his tone, mic volume, sound quality, room ambiance and energy levels would be completely different from how he was initially reading the passage. It takes you out of the experience (a bit) and it's a little jarring if you're really dialed in to everything he's saying.

This annoyance was amplified by the fact that the book is filled with incredibly unique and valuable content. So it just would have been nice if the quality of the audio recording matched the sublime content present in the book.

The replayability of this audiobook takes a hit when I think about having to listen to several of those slightly distracting re-recordings over again. But ultimately it is what it is, I just wanted to point that out to everybody as it was fairly common and a very noticeable element of the narration.

In Summary:

All in all, the fact that I would highly recommend listening to both the audio(book) while reading along to a physical copy speaks volumes to how valuable the intentionally well crafted narration is to truly getting the most out of this book.

For me, the best part is that the author read it with the proper emotion, tone and emphasis on so many of the important ideas that he conveyed throughout the book.

It blows my mind how this book isn't more popular and widely talked about. The amount of lines and passages I found myself continuously highlighting is just absurd. (And again) It's not even something I often do in books in the first place.

It's such a shame how so many of the greatest pieces of content that have the capacity to change so many people's lives are so often slept on for years, if not decades, before they ever received the recognition they deserve.

This is easily one of the best books I have ever read. It's a true gem 🥇 and I'm so glad I discovered it ✨

*My Goodreads review of I Am*