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[RokofAges75]

I figured we should have a thread for Nick's book!  Has anyone else finished reading it yet?

I got it on Tuesday and probably could have read the whole thing in one sitting if it hadn't been for life's little annoyances like homework and going to bed before work in the morning.  I finished it Thursday night.  I enjoyed it!  Honestly, it was a lot better-written than I thought it was going to be.  The self-help parts got a bit repetitive after awhile, and I found myself skimming those, but his advice is good, and his writing style is very engaging.  I like how he tried to empathize with the reader.

The memoir parts were my favorite, though.  It was just interesting to read his take on how he grew up and his family and the guys and his relationships and The Hollow and House of Carters and all of that.  He comes across seeming so mature and "together," which he has for several years now, but I loved reading about his transformation in his own words and seeing the product of it.  This book was a major accomplishment, and I'm so proud of him!

I also loved the foreward from Howie and the note from Lauren at the end.  So sweet!

[julilly]

I read it in one sitting. The self-help stuff... it's probably better if I keep my comments to myself because their not favourable in the least bit. I thought the stories were interesting and kudos to him for being able to ultimately find what works for him and really make it work long-term because so many people can't.

I dunno, I'm not a book person to start with, definitely not a memoir person and most certainly not a self-help book person so I definitely went into it with a very closed mind. But I promised Hannah I would at least read it all the way through and I did.

I found some of the stories eye-opening, some of them old news and some of them final confirmation of what up until now was either a rumour or had just been used in fanfic so often that we all started to believe it. It made him seem a little more "real", more like he's just "one of us" (except with a few more zeros in his bank account) and there were many experiences that he went through in his life that I have gone through in my own so I was able to relate to some of his stories.

I found the writing to be a bit scattered, to be honest, but it's because his style/confidence seemed to build as he went along. The early chapters were very disrupted, he would break out of a story in the middle of a thought to preach a bit and then jump back in, only to jump back out of the story after a paragraph. He wasn't doing that much near the end of the book which I found much easier to read. Mostly because it made it that much easier to skip all the preachy bullsh... uh, stuff.

3/5! lol

[julilly]

I will add, that my biggest issue with the self-help stuff is not that I'm pretentious and cynical, though that is a huge contributing factor, it's that the book is littered with "facts" without citations. There are some references to studies that are obviously just grabbed off Google that are semi-interesting, but in quite a few places Nick would just write something as though it was fact with no sources or studies to back it up. But because he read it in a book it must be true right? Hannah can attest to the fact that I was flipping in one chapter when multiple easily scientifically-disputed myths were said as fact with nothing to back it up. And so many people who read that will take it as truth because Nick said it and continue the lifeline of the myth... Sigh. Endrant.

[RokofAges75]

LOL Yes, I know what you mean about the preachy bullshit, and that was the stuff I started skimming through, especially after he'd said the same thing one or twice or ten times before.  It did jump around a bit and go in circles, but overall it was still better than what I was expecting.  It was definitely better edited than what I was expecting, so props to his editor.  He still does not have a firm grasp on the difference between "your" and "you're" on Twitter, so I was half-expecting his book to be an incoherent hot mess, and it wasn't.

You are right about the citations, or lack thereof, though.  I wonder how many people have or will actually buy this book as a self help book, though... somehow, I'm guessing most people who read it will read it because they are fans, not because they are addicts or depressed or looking for psychological help.  If so, I would suggest they go to a more reputable source than Nick Carter.  But coming from the angle of "I've been there, and here's what worked for me," I do think he had some good advice.  It wasn't anything new and unheard of, but he didn't pretend to have made it up himself, either.  You're right that he should have cited his sources, though, besides listing a bunch of resources in the back.

[FrickingKaos]

Yeah I have to agree with you about the memoir stuff. I also liked how he talked about his family and how he worked and worked to please them. I can really relate to that because my family has a similar dynamic although it is small. the book actually made me stop and think a few times because it was really interesting how he dealt with those things. I liked the part about when he was trying to quit smoking and wore the T Shirt to bed to train himself not to smoke.

[mare]

I can't wait to read this book!

[Alexsgirl_ritz]

The new album is not yet available here, I hope this book would be. I don't want to resort to googling "Facing the music Nick Carter Free pdf". 

[usako]

lol Am I the only one who doesn't want to read it? I mean, I'm glad that Nick has finally realized how lucky he is and has grown up (and everytime my inner Moriarty comes up and says "That's what people do!"  ) and such but I'm not really interested in reading it. The only thing I'm curios about is what he says about the other guys (and especially Brian) so I'm definetely going to wait for the pdf to pop up.

[FrickingKaos]

He actually mentions how much he looks up to Brian and Kevin because of their faith and then Howie because Howie's family and him were close. It was really cute how he talked about the  guys. Also I did not know Nick dated Howie's niece. That was really interesting.

[mare]

If such a file exists that would be awesome! Sadly, I doubt it does. I don't have the new CD yet either, Ritz! I might as well be your next door neighbor. LOL

[usako]

He actually mentions how much he looks up to Brian and Kevin because of their faith and then Howie because Howie's family and him were close. It was really cute how he talked about the  guys. Also I did not know Nick dated Howie's niece. That was really interesting.

I saw some tweets about it but I really want to read that part.

If such a file exists that would be awesome! Sadly, I doubt it does. I don't have the new CD yet either, Ritz! I might as well be your next door neighbor. LOL

It might come up, especially with all the ebook thing. I've got tons of pdf so it just a matter of waiting. LOL (Loving to read and being broke don't quite match LOL)

[mare]

I am not really all that interested in the self help aspect of the book. I'm more interested in the memoir part and his life growing up and how vital the guys were in this. I know he had a really dysfunctional childhood and I'm interested to see how he managed to take some of those things and turn them around. I guess that aspect of self help I don't mind. I'm always curious to see how people who had really horrible childhoods manage to escape that and compare it with my own life and terrible parents. LOL (inappropriate laughter there) I think that's where people might find it helpful. I know it's sad but it's nice to know that somewhere out there, people like Nick have also had to endure some really icky things. It makes you feel connected somehow. In that way, maybe he will be helpful to some. "If Nick did it, I can do it too!" type thing.

I do agree he should cite sources, but I guess it depends on what he's referencing. Because I haven't' read it yet,  I don't know what he's seeming to be an expert on. I mean it's a self help book so you already know it's about how he helped himself and isn't writing it from an expert's point of view, but if he mentions studies on this or that, I hope the info isn't coming out of his ass lol

Either way, I commend him for opening up (which I'm assuming he does) Not an easy thing to do.

[Carter-Orange]

I've not read the book yet and am one of those who is hoping to find a free pdf version lol (£15 for a book is just too much money for me to spend at the moment).

I'm not interested in any self-help stuff as I hate those kind of books.  I only want to read the good stuff   Good to know it's well written though.

[julilly]

I am not really all that interested in the self help aspect of the book. I'm more interested in the memoir part and his life growing up and how vital the guys were in this. I know he had a really dysfunctional childhood and I'm interested to see how he managed to take some of those things and turn them around. I guess that aspect of self help I don't mind. I'm always curious to see how people who had really horrible childhoods manage to escape that and compare it with my own life and terrible parents. LOL (inappropriate laughter there) I think that's where people might find it helpful. I know it's sad but it's nice to know that somewhere out there, people like Nick have also had to endure some really icky things. It makes you feel connected somehow. In that way, maybe he will be helpful to some. "If Nick did it, I can do it too!" type thing.

I do agree he should cite sources, but I guess it depends on what he's referencing. Because I haven't' read it yet,  I don't know what he's seeming to be an expert on. I mean it's a self help book so you already know it's about how he helped himself and isn't writing it from an expert's point of view, but if he mentions studies on this or that, I hope the info isn't coming out of his ass lol

Either way, I commend him for opening up (which I'm assuming he does) Not an easy thing to do.

See I think he could have done the memoir even with the "here's what I did, here's how I learned, here's where I am" aspect without having to do the self help part. Every second paragraph is practically "I'm not a mental health professional, but you should see one if....." and he just repeats that over and over. I feel like that space could have been better used to really get into the stories further because he really only skims the surface on a lot of things. Some stories (especially ones we already kinda knew about) are told in extensive detail while others are only touched upon so he can spend more time repeating the self help stuff.

As for the citations, he does provide references for the studies he mentions but other times he makes statements about health (mental and physical) without any attribution. It was especially prevalent in the chapter about his weight and food addiction, which I think I only noticed more because I could provide facts to the contrary for him lol for example he makes statements with zero attribution about metabolism of foods. I'm fairly certain Nick didn't do the research himself, so at least blame it on someone else "the Health department recommends," etc etc but he just lays it out as fact but his fact was disputed as myth years ago. That shit bugs me because those are other peoples ideas and philosophies that actually did work to try and prove their theories, give them attribution if not citation.

That can also be blamed on the publisher/editor also because Nick isn't exactly an experienced writer and probably would have benefitted from having those things pointed out. Which further enforces why he should have stuck to a memoir lol

[mare]

Yeah, I think it's weird he went the whole self help route unless that was the only way it was going to get published.