I rarely read inspirational self-improvement books because you can usually get the author’s gist from the back-blurb. Too often, these books bore me to tears by page 75. Hardly inspiring.
Bounce, by Matthew Syed is something else. A former table-tennis star and successful games journalist, he’s fascinated by what makes people good at things. Turns out that it’s mostly those good old-fashioned virtues - lots of practice and a positive frame of mind
He bounces anecdotes, examples and research at the reader to remind us that these qualities, unthinkingly derided by most of us who believe in a mysterious quality called “talent”, are what separates sports stars from also-rans. Mercifully, he leaves it to the reader to make the connection with our own lives. I think this is what makes the book so pacey.
It is inspiring to know that if you keep practicing at something, and getting proper feedback, you absolutely will get better at it, assuming you believe in your own ability to improve. Put like this, at all sounds trite, but his cool, steady manner makes it inspirational.
