I love This I Believe. I first heard the radio show on NPR and then went out and bought the book when it came out. A lot of the statements are memorable, but the one that sticks out for me is by a woman who earned advanced degrees and then decided what she really wanted to do with her life was to be a personal assistant. People at parties treated her like she was dumb or unimportant when they found out what she did, but she learned not to let it bother her. She chose a job she liked over a job that would impress people, even though she could've easily found a job that impressed people. ( )

You're sitting in traffic on 101 and you hear Helen Keller's voice (her actual voice!) And Thomas Mann. And Jackie Robinson. And of course Edward R Murrow who I can't help but picture as David Strathairn holding a cigarette. But the best part is hearing a railway porter and a doctor and a civil right activist -- the normal extraordinary people we encounter every day of our lives. ( )

I received this book as a college graduation present from my beloved English department, and they each signed my copy with a personal note. Now that I've finally gotten to it on my shelf, I have to admit I like the *idea* of a "This I Believe" essay more than the actual style of the essay. Personally, I would have liked a word count of about 1000, to further develop the story or ideas present in the essay. And when it comes to credo-type or advice-giving essays, there is no comparison to the raw honesty and radical empathy of Dear Sugar. But I did really like "Always go to the funeral" by Deidre Sullivan. ( )

Compiled in 2006, this book is a riff on the Edward R. Murrow collection from 1952. Containing some of the original essays (Leonard Berstein, Albert Einstein, Martha Graham, Oscar Hammerstein, et. al.) and mixed in with more contemporary folks, known (Bill Gates, Colin Powell, Isabel Allende) and unknown, the book captures the principles that guide people's lives. Some beliefs are religious, some are spiritual, some are civic, but all give them a foundation for their actions and the way they live their lives. Very inspiring, insightful, and would make a great graduation gift for a high school or college student. It's organized in a way that you can pick this up and put it down without needing the continuity of a straight narrative. ( )

I enjoy NPR and was really excited to read these essays, but was left a bit disappointed. It felt as if many of the individual essays were written "off-the-cuff" or rushed without the usual polish and editing normally associated with a printed work as opposed to a radio interview. A good read overall but, if you're looking for the punch of a TED talk or something similar, you could be left wishing for more. ( )