"Ordinary Magic" looks promising at first look, so I eagerly accepted a copy of the ARC to learn more. While I'm not a fan of most self-help books, I've found benefit from works like "Atomic Habits" and a number of Brene Brown's writing, so was curious to see how Walton would frame his own research and work at Stanford.

There are a number of helpful and beneficial points made throughout this book, and Walton highlights his points with a varied number of contextual references, including his own life experiences, interviews with other individuals and groups, studies he and his peers have conducted, and larger scale historical research. Ultimately, the focus of this work is that small acts - body language and eye contact, the wording in emails and letters, the takeaways and action items noted, etc. can have significant and measurable impacts. At the end of each section, there are structured exercises and writing prompts that I thought would be useful for readers, especially in some of the action items and takeaways. This book conveys a good message, but these are things that many of us I think know, to some degree or another, through our own life experiences.

I struggled with the sheer length of this book, especially as many of the sections felt repetitive and redundant, and for a work of nonfiction, I found that there were so many personal and anecdotal experiences utilized versus larger scale studies with significant and measurable results. The structure of how this book was set up was confusing as well, and many sections seemed to overlap with the others. There are some subjects that Walton goes into, including the biases and differences across races and wealth classes, that felt strange to read especially as the author is a white male who's grown up without personal experience dealing with the many types of discrimination and social/ethnic expectations other individuals would go through.

I think this work could have been condensed into something more succinct, with more specific points and takeaways for individuals, especially those who want to take action and implement changes in their own lives.

Ordinary Magic by Dr. Walton offers fascinating insights into how small shifts in perspective can lead to meaningful, lasting change. Through compelling storytelling and intriguing research, it illustrates the power of wise interventions in areas like relationships, education, and personal growth. While some parts feel a bit dense, the takeaways are practical and thought-provoking, showing how small actions can make a big difference. A solid read for those curious about the psychology of change.

Thank you NetGalley and Rodale Inc for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good nonfiction that is scientifically backed and can help humans become better humans. I especially love when they’re written in a colloquial and interesting way. With that said, this one started out really strong for me, but fell flat by the end. While I believe that the overall premise of the book is sound and well-defended, the book itself got really repetitive and I found myself losing interest rapidly by the end. I don’t tend to hyper focus on sources either but I also got the feeling that most of the studies cited were all performed by the same small handful of peers, which makes the science portion of my brain wonder if there’s more to the story that’s being avoided by not referring a wider range of studies. I truly hope not as the results found and put forth here leave me optimistic, but I still wonder.

This book was insightful to help look at ordinary moments of life and to create magic in life. Part two is my favorite section. Each chapter builds on itself, loved this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc,

This book fell flat to me and actually made me kind of angry. It felt like a weird sales pitch instead of information and reminded me of when doctors and others have been too pushy with me.

This is a well written, interesting book but I frequently felt as if the author was trying to sell me something. It will be a good fit for those interested in psychology, especially those who work in school settings.

I wanted more from this book. I didn't feel like I got much in the beginning and the middle. I do thank NetGalley for the ARC. Perhaps I'm not the correct audience for the information presented.

Sounded really interesting- psychology based evidenced interventions. It’s quite focused on school case studies. Personally I didn’t find a lot of new insights. Thank you to the authors. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.