I didn't pick this up intending to get anything out of it besides some laughs from Chris Hardwick. He is the only reason I picked up this book. I like him on Talking Dead, which I stumbled on after getting hooked on The Walking Dead. Thank you, The Walking Dead! You have introduced me to one of my new favorite people.

I have probably never read a self-help book in my life. I've never felt like I needed one. But I appreciated many of the thoughts and advice offered in this book, and I ended up buying it to keep as a reference (my library copy was coming due).

Whether you consider yourself a nerd or not, the cool thing about this book is that it has something for everyone. Covering subjects like addiction, fitness, nutrition, money management, time management, and self-confidence, he talks about what worked for him in the pursuit of making his life better. He's very positive and encouraging, besides being laugh-out-loud funny.

Highly recommended.

One more thing-don't let any one section define the book for you. I almost stopped reading after the "RPG Your Life" section because it did not compute. I started to wonder if I would relate to anything in the book. I'm glad I stuck with it, because shortly after that section, I got to some good stuff for my brain. ( )

I picked this up at my local library, thinking it would be like Felicia Day's "You're Never Weird On The Internet (Almost)". It wasn't and I was disappointed.
However, it is the perfect book (along with Aziz Ansari's "Modern Romance") for my 12 year old son. You see a lot of self-help books for young girls, on how to be amazing; but none for boys, on how to be a gentleman. ( )

I have been a long-time listener of The Nerdist Podcast and have often heard Chris Hardwick discuss his philosophies of life and his book. When I saw his book at my local library, I decided to check it out (lol!)

It's hardly going to come as a surprise that nothing Hardwick presents is particularly revolutionary, but he does so in a way that captured my attention and made for a motivating read. The idea to gamify self-improvement through RPG techniques and building yourself as you would a D&D character was a good one. In fact, I could see using this book as a foundation and then employing a tool like Habitica to keep the momentum going long-term.

If you don't enjoy Chris Hardwick's energy or way of speaking, then I wouldn't recommend The Nerdist Way - it is very much written in his voice. Shocking, I know. That being said, I did enjoy reading it and found that it gave me extra drive to dig into the areas of my life I'd like to change. ( )

October 22, 2014
The book was solid and had some good advice, though the writing style wasn't my favorite. I think I would have enjoyed it much more as an audiobook. I love listening to Hardwick talk, but his speech patterns just didn't translate as well into writing for me.

I would still recommend this book to someone looking for a self-help book that doesn't take itself too seriously. That was a refreshing change of tone. ( )

I was surprised by how down-to-earth and practical this book is. I didn't realize it would be so directly a self-help book, and it really is helpful. Hardwick's voice is the same offbeat, profane, sarcastic humor that you would recognize from his TV and stand-up persona, and it is relentlessly appealing here, especially because it lends a self-effacing air to what could, in less skilled hands, come off as pretentiousness. I was expecting more memoir, but Hardwick includes plenty of his own life experiences to give authenticity to his advice, yet no more than he needs to do so. ( )