How to Be Fine Audiobook By Jolenta Greenberg, Kristen Meinzer cover art

How to Be Fine

What We Learned by Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

How to Be Fine

By: Jolenta Greenberg, Kristen Meinzer
Narrated by: Jolenta Greenberg, Kristen Meinzer
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $16.19

Buy for $16.19

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

A humorous and insightful look into what advice works, what doesn't, and what it means to transform yourself, by the co-hosts of the popular By the Book podcast.

In each episode of their podcast By the Book, Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer take a deep dive into a different self-help book, following its specific instructions, rules, and advice to the letter. From diet and productivity to decorating to social interactions, they try it all, record themselves along the way, then share what they’ve learned with their devoted and growing audience of fans who tune in.

Before they began their podcast, Jolenta wanted to believe the promises of self-help books, while Kristen was very much the skeptic. They embraced their differences of opinion, hoping they’d be good for laughs and downloads. But in the years since launching the By the Book, they’ve come to realize their show is about much more than humor. In fact, reading and following each book’s advice has actually changed and improved their lives. Thanks to the show, Kristen penned the Amish romance novel she’d always joked about writing, traveled back to her past lives, and she broached some difficult conversations with her husband about their marriage. Jolenta finally memorized her husband’s phone number, began tracking her finances, and fell in love with cutting clutter.

In How to Be Fine, Jolenta and Kristen synthesize the lessons and insights they’ve learned and share their experiences with everyone. How to Be Fine is a thoughtful look at the books and practices that have worked, real talk on those that didn’t, and a list of philosophies they want to see explored in-depth. The topics they cover include:

  • Getting off your device
  • Engaging in positive self-talk
  • Downsizing
  • Admitting you're a liar
  • Meditation
  • Going outside
  • Getting in touch with your emotions
  • Seeing a therapist

Part memoir, part prescriptive handbook, this honest, funny, and heartfelt guide is like a warm soul-baring conversation with your closest and smartest friends.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer (P)2020 HarperAudio
Content Creation & Social Media Personal Development Personal Success Inspiring Witty Self Help
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
Practical Advice • Honest Experiences • Distinctive Voices • Relatable Content • Insightful Summaries
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
This sum up of an awesome podcast is SPOT ON. You are the author of you, and self-help books have good ideas for you...or not. Nobody knows you like...you.

Spot On

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This just saved me a lot on self help books. Kinda like a cliff notes version of the books. I really enjoyed the reading.

This just saved me

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What a great approach to “self help” tips from two, very thoughtful and entertaining strong women. It was refreshing to hear their experiences and stories implementing & calling BS on several instructions or tips provided by many of the books I have personally read & struggled to follow to improve myself. Bravo to Jolenta & Kristen for writing a book that really helped me put things into perspective - I highly recommend this book for anyone who struggles with the “self help addition” like me.

I confess, I am a self help book junkie …

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Absolutely on point! Loved it so much! Thoroughly enjoyed it! So Me‼️ its great to confirm... Im simply... ME! Thank You!

Keeping it Real!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I appreciated the hard work the authors put into this book, and the incredible amount of sharing personal information they were willing to do. That takes guts, for sure. Regarding the content, I didn't find I got as much out of this book as I do from actually reading self-help books themselves. This is kind of like a cliff notes of a cliff notes of 50 self-help books. The authors only lived each book for two weeks each, which I don't think was nearly enough time for them to absorb and really live the intention behind these books. Something like the 4-Hour Workweek takes months if not years to internalize and live. I could tell because I have read many of the books they discussed here, and I would often find them asking questions in this book that were directly answered in the books they were discussing. Trying to do each book in two weeks I feel leads one to have a shallow understanding and appreciation for what each of these books has to offer. But I think the thing that bothered me the most about this book was the sometimes overly preachy tone of the authors. I really appreciate their passion for the political topics they stand for. I definitely agree with them on everything they brought up. But the way in which they presented the material made the book sometimes harder to listen to. I am glad they are spreading awareness about these issues, I just wish they could find a less abrasive way to do it. Readers would both be more receptive to what they're saying about the political content and it would not distract from the self-help aspect of the book.

some good insights, sort of preachy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This book is exactly as expected, which is exactly what I wanted. Kristen and Jolenta are who listeners know them to be from the podcast, and most of what is said here simply reorganizes and expands on things listeners have already heard on the show. I don’t mean that as a negative thing – I enjoyed hearing the information collected, organized, and presented this way. My only complaint (more of a disappointment, really) is that they recorded chapters separately. Recording together probably would have been quite difficult to pull off, but much of what is best about the show comes from their interaction, so I missed that here. In general, an entertaining listen for fans of by the book. Note: it’s not really a “story,” but Audible insisted I give a star rating for that. Please ignore.

Entertaining listen for By the Book fans

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

A joy to listen to! I loved the deeper dives into their stories and experiences. And I really appreciated their approach and message, which is very inclusive to many different diverse experiences. There is no "one right way" for everyone!

Love it!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I have loved By the Book and have always been amazed by Jolenta and Kristen’s take on advice from various self-help books. They are inclusive, compassionate, caring, welcoming and kind. This may just be the only “self-help” book you need. I really enjoyed the audiobook which I opted for since I know them from their podcast but I will also make sure to pick up and keep a hardcopy on the shelf. This book felt like a warm hug. I just wish it was longer! 😊 Oh and since this is a book review, I should also mention that I absolutely loved the format and how they structured the book! :)

This was an absolute pleasure

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I mean, it was a self help book about self help books. you get what you get.

meh

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This was a nice book about real people living by a number of self help books, and how they did, or didn’t, help them. I found both of the authors very down to earth and they had fair criticisms for issues that some self help books have that I’d never considered before, as well as surprisingly good results from other tidbits from self help books. I did find their voices very distinctive and at first had some trouble listening to them because I unfortunately found one of them a little grating, but I quickly adjusted to them and didn’t have any issues!

Real People with Real Thoughts

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews