Am I Overthinking This?: Over-answering life's questions in 101 charts
Published August 13th 2019 by Chronicle Books, Hardcover 136 pages
Am I overthinking this? Probably.
This is a book of questions with answers, over-answers, and many charts: Did I screw up? How do I achieve work-life balance? Am I eating too much cheese? Do I have too many plants? Like a conversation with your non-judgmental best friend, Michelle Rial delivers a playful take on the little dilemmas that loom large in the mind of every adult through artful charts and funny, insightful questions.
• Building on her popular Instagram account @michellerial, Am I Overthinking This? brings whimsical charm to topics big and small
• Offers solidarity for the stressed, answers for the confused, and a good laugh for all
• Michelle Rial is an illustrator, writer and photographer who has been publishing charts online for almost a decade. Her work has been featured on USA Today, Fast Company, Vox, designboom, AV Club, and more.
Fans of Adulting: How to Become a Grownup in 535 Easy(ish) Steps, Thin Slices of Anxiety, and It's OK to Feel Things Deeply will relate to the humorous dilemmas in Am I Overthinking This?
This book serves as a reminder that there isn't always one right answer—and that, sometimes, the only answer is to pick a path and keep moving.
• A perfect coffee table, bathroom or bar top conversation-starting book
• Makes a great gift for a friend who tends to think about the big and small questions a bit too much
User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
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AM I OVERTHINKING THIS? has been on my radar for a while as someone who has chronic anxiety. This is a hilarious and brilliantly constructed book consisting of charts, sometimes with found objects, about various worry-worthy (and not so worry-worthy) moments in life.
The illustrations were so funny. The author used things like tweezers, candles, bag handles, and matchsticks to make bar graphs and Venn diagrams. I'm not sure people who don't have anxiety will get the same level of "I feel seen!" enjoyment out of this as those who do, but speaking for myself, this made me cackle aloud at least twice and I think I might keep this on my Kindle for my next bad day.
Also, major props to the formatting team for making an image-heavy book that is actually readable in the Kindle app. I can't tell you how many books I've had to return to the store because the labels on the pictures were too small to read. The effort really matters!
4.5 stars
Rating: really liked it
So, my boss bought this book for herself and then set it on my desk. Was she trying to tell me something? Yes, but in a friendly way. If you've seen The Good Place, there's a moment where Chidi says his brain is constantly making the noise of a fork caught in a garbage disposal. Same, Chidi, except my garbage disposal is on a gay cruise ship and the noise is being yelled into a mic by a strange aerobics instructor on ecstacy (Google "Yes Dance").
Anyway, yes, I overthink most things and that makes my life more complicated than it has to be. This book is cute and clever, using items and imagery relevant to each proposed question we all tend to overthink. My favorite part was the last chapter on big issues. This book is both a good palate cleanser and gut check - a nice reminder to not take yourself so seriously all the time.
Rating: really liked it
Great fun.
A gift from my son and daughter in law.
Rating: really liked it
What a fun book! 101 charts that really make you think...am I overthinking? Love the use of common items to present graphic representation!
Rating: really liked it
I have had this book in my hands exactly 29 hours. I've managed to show it to several people and each one says, "This is me!", and then after seeing a few more pages, "she is brilliant". I kid you not, this is verbatim what each person says over and over again. So it's fun to read, fun to show people, and I've already ordered a few as gifts. Just another bit of entertainment; right? Well, there might be more to it. I thought about it and realized this is a lot more than just a fun book. These 101 pages capture what life is like in 2019; at least in most western countries with people of a certain age range. Most of it is timeless, but when to look it in entirety, it will be looked at decades from now at a snapshot of our time and how we all view the world, and . . . well, maybe overthink things sometimes ;-)
Rating: really liked it
Absolutely brilliant. You will find yourself giggling at how accurately each page paints a relatable picture of the human condition and it’s many quirks!
Rating: really liked it
Michelle is a genius! This book takes our most pressing questions — from the mundane to the existential — and distills them into simple, creative charts that make sense of the world and our own neuroses. It takes a special skill to make complex topics so digestible. I am in awe of Michelle's creativity and feel less alone after finishing her book. Highly recommend!
Rating: really liked it
Clever and thoughtful and beautiful to boot. If you're looking for a good laugh, you'll definitely get it, but if you're also looking for a graphic commentary on today's world and life in general, you'll get that too. Wittier than almost any book with more words on the page
Rating: really liked it
Art + data + humor = Awesome :)
Rating: really liked it
The author overthinks. Brilliant. Charts her overthought. Funny. Lets it be. Amen.
Rating: really liked it
Was hoping for a book that used a dose of humor while helping me to work out “things” using charts.
This was a miss all around for me. The artwork was clever but that in and of itself is the biggest surprise about the book. It does not make it a “chart” to put randomly labeled arrows along the sides of a picture.
Obviously, yes, I spent too much time overthinking this.
Perhaps that was the author’s intention.
As one reviewer said she will put it on her coffee table for guests to flip through. Because, either in a positive or negative way, this book would be a conversation starter.
This is not a book for self-reflection.
It will not serve to answer any deep seeded, or even not so deep, inner questions.
Rating: really liked it
I loved the charts in this book. Very relatable, extremely creative; and a fun read.
Rating: really liked it
The answer to the title question for me is yes. All the time. If this describes you, you will probably really enjoy this book
Rating: really liked it
Delightful!
Rating: really liked it
What a delightful filler book. Some really wonderful charts that you can relate to and then, well, overthink about.
