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How to Be Interesting: In 10 Simple Steps
An inspiring visual guide to a richer life.
“If there’s a thinker to steal from, it’s Jessica Hagy.”—Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist and Newspaper Blackout
How to Be Interesting is passionate, positive, down-to-earth, and irrepressibly upbeat, combining fresh and pithy life lessons, often just a sentence or two, with deceptively simple diagrams and graphs. Each of the book's more than 100 spreads will nudge readers a little bit further out of their comfort zones and into a place where suddenly everything is possible.
It’s about taking chance—but also about taking daily vacations. About being childlike, not childish. It’s about ideas, creativity, risk. It’s about trusting your talents and doing only what you want—but having the courage to get lost and see where the path leads. Because it’s what you don’t know that’s interesting.
“If there’s a thinker to steal from, it’s Jessica Hagy.”—Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist and Newspaper Blackout
How to Be Interesting is passionate, positive, down-to-earth, and irrepressibly upbeat, combining fresh and pithy life lessons, often just a sentence or two, with deceptively simple diagrams and graphs. Each of the book's more than 100 spreads will nudge readers a little bit further out of their comfort zones and into a place where suddenly everything is possible.
It’s about taking chance—but also about taking daily vacations. About being childlike, not childish. It’s about ideas, creativity, risk. It’s about trusting your talents and doing only what you want—but having the courage to get lost and see where the path leads. Because it’s what you don’t know that’s interesting.
272 pages, Paperback
First published March 19, 2013
365 people are currently reading
5527 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Hagy
27 books61 followersJessica Hagy is best known for her Webby Award–winning blog Indexed. Her cartoons regularly appear in the New York Times, and she writes an online column for Forbes. Ms. Hagy lives with her family in Seattle.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 448 reviews
February 4, 2014
Yawn. Just a bunch of buzzwords/ideas strung together with the same Exponential graph illustration and Venn diagrams. Also a whole bunch of conflicting suggestions.
Absolutely fluff. No danger of being interesting after reading this book...just bored.
To quote Page 59: "...do not...sit through it...you will thank yourself."
Well; thanks self! You saved us from another 200 pages of this tedious filler.
Also, according to her book, my wife and I are both very interesting people; no wonder we enjoy each other's company so much.
Absolutely fluff. No danger of being interesting after reading this book...just bored.
To quote Page 59: "...do not...sit through it...you will thank yourself."
Well; thanks self! You saved us from another 200 pages of this tedious filler.
Also, according to her book, my wife and I are both very interesting people; no wonder we enjoy each other's company so much.
July 4, 2013
Usually reading self help books make me feel pathetic but this one didn't, this book however made me feel extremely hopeful and gave lots of honest answers on what you should do to be more interesting.
My favorite one from the book has to be the "Do something, Anything" part where it basically tells you that sitting around and complaining is not an acceptable form of doing something, so go do something, anything.
I'd recommend this book to anyone looking to tweak somethings about themselves or maybe you want to enhance somethings about yourself.
My favorite one from the book has to be the "Do something, Anything" part where it basically tells you that sitting around and complaining is not an acceptable form of doing something, so go do something, anything.
I'd recommend this book to anyone looking to tweak somethings about themselves or maybe you want to enhance somethings about yourself.
Read
June 13, 2013So inter--so short I read it twice.
More encouragement than instructions. Some example pages I liked are
"Involve Others: You'll need help. You'll need advice. You'll need allies. So you have to tell someone how you feel and what you're up to. Let people in on what you're doing. They will champion and support you more than you ever imagined, and mock you less than you fear."
and
"Compliment Liberally: Kind words are quite precious and cost nothing; it's surprising that they're so rare. Laud what you enjoy. Praise the people who excel in novel ways. Do it publicly and often. Everyone needs more encouragement."
I hesitated to put this on my read list though; people might start expecting things.
More encouragement than instructions. Some example pages I liked are
"Involve Others: You'll need help. You'll need advice. You'll need allies. So you have to tell someone how you feel and what you're up to. Let people in on what you're doing. They will champion and support you more than you ever imagined, and mock you less than you fear."
and
"Compliment Liberally: Kind words are quite precious and cost nothing; it's surprising that they're so rare. Laud what you enjoy. Praise the people who excel in novel ways. Do it publicly and often. Everyone needs more encouragement."
I hesitated to put this on my read list though; people might start expecting things.
August 16, 2014
I had several emotions when I happened upon this book:
1- Curiosity. How could someone tell you how to be interesting? That's preposterous! I must pick it up and see what they have to say.
2- Surprise. This book is cute and says things that makes sense. It's not saying anything that you don't already know, but it reminds you of concepts that you might have forgotten. It's also really assuring, very encouraging, and a little empowering.
3- Embarrassment. No one's noticing the fact that I'm picking up this book, right? God, I don't want people to think that I'm a boring loser that needs a book to make friends or something. I put it in the middle of the stack of books that I was getting.
Now that I've finished the book, I have decided that it'd be a great book to revisit once in a while, especially when you need a little pick-me-up. I could be feeling bored, cowardly, or unworthy, and I feel like this book will help me flex my emotional muscles and think, "Yeah, I can do this!"
Well, that's my two cents, and if you didn't find it interesting: A) I don't care, and B) Maybe I'll read it again and write another, BETTER review! :-P So there!
1- Curiosity. How could someone tell you how to be interesting? That's preposterous! I must pick it up and see what they have to say.
2- Surprise. This book is cute and says things that makes sense. It's not saying anything that you don't already know, but it reminds you of concepts that you might have forgotten. It's also really assuring, very encouraging, and a little empowering.
3- Embarrassment. No one's noticing the fact that I'm picking up this book, right? God, I don't want people to think that I'm a boring loser that needs a book to make friends or something. I put it in the middle of the stack of books that I was getting.
Now that I've finished the book, I have decided that it'd be a great book to revisit once in a while, especially when you need a little pick-me-up. I could be feeling bored, cowardly, or unworthy, and I feel like this book will help me flex my emotional muscles and think, "Yeah, I can do this!"
Well, that's my two cents, and if you didn't find it interesting: A) I don't care, and B) Maybe I'll read it again and write another, BETTER review! :-P So there!
January 3, 2015
If Austin Kleon's "Steal Like an Artist" is the good kind of creativity booster and inspiration source, Jessica Hagy's "How to Be Interesting" is its polar opposite. Shallow, tepid advice for sixth graders who don't know anything about being an adult. Useless.
November 16, 2013
'How To Be Interesting' is a wonderful read that is both caturing and halarious. I can honestly say that I throughly enjoyed this book.
It does not have a plot; in fact it is more of a manual than anything else.
I do want to mention, however, that there is slightly inapropriate language for the 'very young' (children) that occurs half a dozen or so times. Although, I myself am not one to look approvingly on bad language (swearing), I didn't think to much of the few words that poped up every so often.
So many people asked me about what I reading as the book was carried around and read by myself throughout the day. It is a VERY quick read (I finished it in a single day), but liked it none the less. I am already recommending it to literally everyone because there is no 'direct' audience and I think at least 9/10 people who read it are gaurenteed to like it too.
It is overall a very thought provoking book that gets readers thinking about how we can improve ourselves for the better, not just for others approval but for our own happiness.
It does not have a plot; in fact it is more of a manual than anything else.
I do want to mention, however, that there is slightly inapropriate language for the 'very young' (children) that occurs half a dozen or so times. Although, I myself am not one to look approvingly on bad language (swearing), I didn't think to much of the few words that poped up every so often.
So many people asked me about what I reading as the book was carried around and read by myself throughout the day. It is a VERY quick read (I finished it in a single day), but liked it none the less. I am already recommending it to literally everyone because there is no 'direct' audience and I think at least 9/10 people who read it are gaurenteed to like it too.
It is overall a very thought provoking book that gets readers thinking about how we can improve ourselves for the better, not just for others approval but for our own happiness.
September 1, 2017
It's obviously waste of time and money. I'd just grabbed it from the shelf in a book store when I was purchasing some books. It's like a special notebook for someone contains general instructions without any examples or stories. It's like chatting with someone you don't know in a public place just for spending free time and you will forget about it after awhile.
October 14, 2016
كتاب ممتع استمتعت به A fun enjoyable book
November 20, 2024
very cute, very practical
March 10, 2019
A bunch of self loving pinterest posts. You might as well just search for pictures there and not spend money on this one because it doesn’t add anything to the all time rhetoric of “open your mind, be what you want to be and challenge yourself”.
July 14, 2021
The book is a quotes, quotes for you to read it and benefit to try something new and different.
It is like someone tell you going and move forward to change your life for more interaring by going to new places, metting a new person or do what you mind and many of things like adventure to your life maybe you are done some mistake when you are try but don’t shy from this in the final you are interesting.
The book is easy and you can read it in one day and the design for book is nice.
It is like someone tell you going and move forward to change your life for more interaring by going to new places, metting a new person or do what you mind and many of things like adventure to your life maybe you are done some mistake when you are try but don’t shy from this in the final you are interesting.
The book is easy and you can read it in one day and the design for book is nice.
August 23, 2015
It's kind of ironic and maybe goes without saying that if you literally need a book to tell you how to be interesting, it's probably because you've been lying on the couch binge reading too many books to begin with and should probably put down the book(s) (slowly, slowly, ok now back the fuck away) and guide yourself through the front door and out into the weird, weird world instead of relying on another book, you damn junkie.
I was curious, though. How would one learn to be interesting from a book? I laughed when I heard this title because I'm exposed to the "books are boring" attitude in my other life. So from that perspective, a "boring" book instructing one on how to be interesting? How would that work? What would it contain? This is a set instructions? So, it's like a program then? Do I get steps like an alcoholic? Ways to ween myself off boredom? Will I need to ask forgiveness from family and friends for being so boring all these years? So, no. Unfortunately, nothing that demeaning.
This book was recommended to me as a (lite) way to work through a creative and/or writer's block and does not take itself as seriously as "An Instruction Manual" might suggest. The scrawling childlike handwriting and "circles" on the cover may be better indication of that though. Pretty silly stuff that triggers random thought associations to encourage creative mind wandering.
I was curious, though. How would one learn to be interesting from a book? I laughed when I heard this title because I'm exposed to the "books are boring" attitude in my other life. So from that perspective, a "boring" book instructing one on how to be interesting? How would that work? What would it contain? This is a set instructions? So, it's like a program then? Do I get steps like an alcoholic? Ways to ween myself off boredom? Will I need to ask forgiveness from family and friends for being so boring all these years? So, no. Unfortunately, nothing that demeaning.
This book was recommended to me as a (lite) way to work through a creative and/or writer's block and does not take itself as seriously as "An Instruction Manual" might suggest. The scrawling childlike handwriting and "circles" on the cover may be better indication of that though. Pretty silly stuff that triggers random thought associations to encourage creative mind wandering.
December 31, 2014
menurutku, ini tipe buku yang akan berulang kali aku baca. aku sedang jatuh cinta dengan tipe-tipe buku yang mengutamakan ilustrasi. semacam, buku yang menyenangkan untuk dibaca. walaupun di dalamnya penuh dengan diagram venn juga grafik-grafik hihi. butuh waktu juga aku untuk mencerna kalimat demi kalimat, apa ya maksud penulisnya. buku yang mengajak kita meninggalkan kehidupan yang membosankan. serta menjelaskan berbagai keuntungan menjadi pribadi yang menarik. menjadi pribadi yang bermanfaat bagi orang lain.
July 30, 2013
How do you rate a book that's solid gold but you should have read 15 years ago because now you know and practice 90% of what it preaches? Still witty presentation, concise and easy to read. I'll definitely be using it as a source of daily inspiration and means of reminding myself of what's important:))
February 9, 2020
3.5 Star For Me
September 27, 2025
Cute but gets a little repetitive and trite
June 24, 2013
Jessica Hagy’s playfully engaging book “How to Be Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps)” is fun, stimulating, and rewarding as it encourages us to think about those we serve as much as we think about ourselves; being interesting, after all, means producing something of value to others rather than simply striving to make ourselves centers of attention. Step 2 of "How to Be Interesting," for example, speaks to the artist in each of us: "Share what you Discover. And be generous when you do. Not everybody went exploring with you. Let them live vicariously through your adventures." Those words help remind us that we engage in training-teaching-learning, writing, drawing, or any other creative endeavor that appeals to us because we have been lucky enough to have a vision that we correctly (or, in less lucky situations, incorrectly) assume will be of interest to others. While there’s nothing revolutionary in what Hagy is fostering--anyone involved in creative endeavors for a considerable period of time will be able to look at each of Hagy’s suggestions and cite other sources for similar ideas--the book does encourage us to remember that each of us brings our own unique set of experiences and dreams and visions to what we do. If we effectively share those with others as Hagy encourages us to do, we will have reached the goal implied by her title and encouraged by her suggestion that each of us work to "put your own spin on it."
July 27, 2019
انها المرة الأولى التي اقرأ فيها كتب تطوير الذات وكان الكتاب هدية من الصديق العزيز ألبرت مرخائيل. راق الكتاب لي بصراحة وفيه أفكار لطيفة وجميلة مقدمة بطريقة سريعة وسلسة وسهلة الهضم. يمكن أن نقول أن خلاصة كتاب جيسيكا هاغي تتمثل في أن كوننا أشخاص ممتعين أو مثيرين للاهتمام يختصر في أن نكون مقبلين على المغامرة، وكرماء في مشاركة تجاربنا ومعلوماتنا مع الآخرين، وواثقين من أنفسنا وداعمين لها، وشجعان في طرق أمور وأفكار جديدة، وان نراجع ما نقوم به ونتجنب النقد السلبي وأن نتواضع مع غيرنا ونحيط أنفسنا بدائرة جيدة من الناس ونبتعد عن السلبيين وأن نقوم بما نحب ومن أجل أنفسنا – وليس بهدف ارضاء الآخرين – وأن نصر على أحلامنا ونعمل من أجل تحقيقها وأن ننظم أمورنا وخططنا ونكون منفتحين على لقاء أناس جدد والحديث إليهم. الكتاب يدعو أيضا لأخذ زمام المبادرة بدلا من الجلوس في انتظارها. كما تركز الكاتبة على فكرة التفرد وتبني غرابتنا وكل ما يميزنا والاحتفاء به بدلا من اخفاءه عن الناس خوفا من الانتقاد. الكتاب جميل ولطيف وأنهيته في أمسيتين فقط.
بعض المقتطفات التي راقت لي:
Your old fact is someone's else new lesson.
An idea shared is not diminished: it is multiplied.
Kind words are quite precious and cost nothing; it is surprising that they are so rare.
Never take in the welcome mat.
A love ignored will wither and die.
Spectators do not make news. Observers do not steer history. Be vulnerable. Be serious. Be immersed. If you want to matter, you have to climb all the way into the mess that is before you.
Waiting for a sign? Sorry, you have to paint your own
بعض المقتطفات التي راقت لي:
Your old fact is someone's else new lesson.
An idea shared is not diminished: it is multiplied.
Kind words are quite precious and cost nothing; it is surprising that they are so rare.
Never take in the welcome mat.
A love ignored will wither and die.
Spectators do not make news. Observers do not steer history. Be vulnerable. Be serious. Be immersed. If you want to matter, you have to climb all the way into the mess that is before you.
Waiting for a sign? Sorry, you have to paint your own
February 17, 2014
The drawings are cute and the sayings are what you would expect from a motivational speaker. Maybe I just need more work to become interesting than these. If they were posted individually on Facebook or Pinterest I am sure they would get lots of likes & shares but a book full of them is like 1 too many cat videos.
blog: http://www.dogberrypatch.com/archives...
blog: http://www.dogberrypatch.com/archives...
March 17, 2013
A fun and easy read by Jessica Hagy, the creator of Indexed. Her views on life and daily observations are always spot on. This is one of those books that you will want to pick up and re-read once a week.
August 26, 2016
Just finished this.. I think I'm gonna keep it as my private magic-book. Very helpful and thoughtful. Well, I surely need to read this book over and over and over and over again.
My very 1st self-improvement book. And I love it.
My very 1st self-improvement book. And I love it.
June 6, 2014
Quirky book. Any of what the author suggests here- taken to the extreme- could be bad. But, I see how these diagrams could be uplifting and insightful in moderation.
October 12, 2016
Super fun book :)
February 8, 2017
“If you don’t give a damn about anything, no one will give a damn about you.”
February 17, 2021
You know the book you pick up randomly, thinking it might not even be that influencial and you'll judt read it for a nice free empty headed time?
Was this book faaaar from that idea!?
Halfway through I had ideas running around me head, and plans going off my fingers to other people, heck, I even talked to two old friends after long by the time I was even remotely near the end.
For a book with so many diagrams and picture texts and a complete lack of any huge paragraph, this book really shifted my perspective.
And one thing I know now, is that I'll be returning to this book every 6 months for a renewal pack of my interesting-ness 🙊😂
Recommended for objectively anyome, but well, your pick, it is a short read but one which will make you want to change something (or anything!)
Was this book faaaar from that idea!?
Halfway through I had ideas running around me head, and plans going off my fingers to other people, heck, I even talked to two old friends after long by the time I was even remotely near the end.
For a book with so many diagrams and picture texts and a complete lack of any huge paragraph, this book really shifted my perspective.
And one thing I know now, is that I'll be returning to this book every 6 months for a renewal pack of my interesting-ness 🙊😂
Recommended for objectively anyome, but well, your pick, it is a short read but one which will make you want to change something (or anything!)
January 20, 2025
Some of my favorite quotes:
“Leave a mark, not a blemish” (p.1).
“Smile at sneers” (p.90).
“Encourage the uniqueness of others… The world expects compliance” (p. 100-101).
“Not everyone wants what you have” (p.140).
“Just because you’ve never been somewhere doesn’t mean you don’t belong” (p.171).
“Uncensor your personality” (p.183).
“Just because it’s everywhere doesn’t mean it’s good or worth participating in” (p.191).
“The smaller the niche, the less room there is for copycats” (p.195).
“If you’re not courageous, you’re going to be hanging around the water-cooler, talking about the guy who actually is” (p.211).
“Don’t fight for anything you don’t see value in” (p.215).
“Accept friction” (p.218).
“Jettison toxic cargo” (p. 238).
“Waiting around for a sign? Sorry, you have to paint your own” (p.251).
“If you’re not dead, you can still change things” (p.261).
“Leave a mark, not a blemish” (p.1).
“Smile at sneers” (p.90).
“Encourage the uniqueness of others… The world expects compliance” (p. 100-101).
“Not everyone wants what you have” (p.140).
“Just because you’ve never been somewhere doesn’t mean you don’t belong” (p.171).
“Uncensor your personality” (p.183).
“Just because it’s everywhere doesn’t mean it’s good or worth participating in” (p.191).
“The smaller the niche, the less room there is for copycats” (p.195).
“If you’re not courageous, you’re going to be hanging around the water-cooler, talking about the guy who actually is” (p.211).
“Don’t fight for anything you don’t see value in” (p.215).
“Accept friction” (p.218).
“Jettison toxic cargo” (p. 238).
“Waiting around for a sign? Sorry, you have to paint your own” (p.251).
“If you’re not dead, you can still change things” (p.261).
September 29, 2018
I found this book while browsing Overdrive. So I didn't exactly seek it out or know the author, but thought I'd give it a try as it looked like something I might like. I found it hard to finish, as it's a lot of REALLY short anecdotes with hand drawn sketches that are simple info graphics to go with the anecdotes. I think I'd just rather read a real book that develops its ideas into a more cohesive whole, building up with more detail about how to do things. Each page could work as a simple motivational image, but page after page of such gets a little tiring. I can imagine this working better as an Instagram account for people who want a cute motivational image every day. I don't think it really works as a book. The ideas contained within are good, but too underdeveloped to really work as a self development book.
August 9, 2022
There was immediate regret upon buying good money impulsively over a pretty visual book that shamelessly screams self-help, but mind you this helped shape my formative years (as embarrassingly pathetic as it sounds).
Gotta get it back and run it back.
Gotta get it back and run it back.
July 15, 2017
Dares to challenge your deepest views about yourself. For me, I liked it and gave it 5/5 cause it beautifully anchored wise and bold concepts, which are already known or read somewhere else.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 448 reviews