Thank you to Libro FM for a copy of the audio version of Brene Brown’s Atlas of the Heart.

I have misjudged Brene Brown. I had not heard of her prior to working at a bookstore and based on the customers purchasing her books, I thought that she “wasn’t for me.” I was under the impression that she is a christian author and that her psychology books have a spiritual bent. That said, I was curious about her popularity and when the opportunity to try the audio version of her latest book, Atlas of the Heart, came up, I decided to give it a go. Atlas of the Heart is a far different book than I had assumed.

In Atlas of the Heart, Brown explores the language that we use to describe emotion. She explains the complexities within the words we use and how sometimes, the meaning of a particular word, might be different from our understanding. Brown’s book is shelved in psychology, but I connected with its exploration of language. This is equally a book about language. It’s beautifully and thoughtfully written. Brown uses photographs, personal stories, and art as an impactful way of explaining the connection between words and emotion.

In her charming and soothing southern accent, Brown narrates the audio version. She comes across as down-to-earth and relatable. My thoughts that her work might have a religious bent were unfounded. She simply mentioned a situation where she attended church, but overall, the book is very secular. I’m not sure if this is true for her other books and I’m not implying that there is anything wrong with christian books or any religious books for that matter, only that they generally don’t hold an interest for me.

Atlas of the Heart is gorgeous in presentation. The audio book comes with a digital guide, so that you won’t miss out on the visual elements. However, I just went ahead and looked at the physical book when I was at work. The hardcover would make a fantastic gift or personal library edition. I can imagine that Atlas of the Heart would be a book that people would reread or return to as a reference.