A Work in Progress

Thomas R 29/06/2016

Med mere end 5 millioner følgere på YouTube, er Connor Franta langt fra en fremmed for mange internet-brugere i dag og han er et sensationelt ikon i hans projekter med fotografi, komik og filosofi. "A Work in Progress" er hans store debut som forfatter, og vandt en GoodReads Choice Award for bedste memoir/selvbiografi. Jeg nød læsningen, uden tvivl, og dette vil sikkert være en 'home-run' for størstedelen af Connors følgere, som typisk er meget unge teenagere og ældre børn, fordi den er let at læse og stadig kommer med mange åbenbaringer, som han fortæller om, ud fra sine egne oplevelser som ung. Problemet ligger i, at denne bog for de fleste, eller muligvis alle, i en lignende eller højere alder end Connor Franta vil finde de mange råd i bogen "unødvendige" eller "selvrealiserende". Bogen gør helt klart hvad den skal, hvor den peger imod en yngre fanbase, men det trækker lidt ned for mig, at bogens indhold er en unødvendig, muligvis endda undværlig, oplevelse for mange

Josefine M 25/01/2016

Connor Franta is, if you hadn't guessed it, a YouTuber with over 5,2 million subscribers and over 310 million views! He lives in California, and came out as gay in december 2014, which he also talks about in his memoir. In Marts 9th Connor reviled that he had written a book, and it's amazing! So the book is a memoir of Connor's life, but since it isn't over, he chose to call it 'A Work In Progress' because he, and everyone else, is a work in progress. In the book Connor talks about his earlier life, before becoming a huge hit on YouTube, his family, friends, school, creativity, charity and of course: coffee. 'Cause everyone loves coffee (especially Connor)! While reading you get a really good picture of, how his life has been and how grateful he is for everything that has happened to him, throughout the journey, that I all call 'life'. The language used in this book is really Conner-ish. If you're a fan, like us, you'll be able to 'hear', that it really is Connor, because of the choice of words. "A number doesn't validate who I am or what I'm doing. Not that I'm immune to the trap. If I only get ten likes on a personal Facebook post, that sucks! Like, wow, okay, none of my REAL friends thought my photo was cute, or that status was hilarious, or my birthday was worthy of a personal message *sobs heavily*" - A Work In Progress, page 121, line 6-11 "...*sobs heavily*" If that doesn't scream Connor, I don't know what will! Something that I really find amazing is all the important topics, that Connor talks about. How to say no, how to overcome the fear of missing out, sexuality just to name a few. While reading this, you get a really personal point of view from Connor, and get a good look into what happens behind the scenes. In the book, there's also alot of amazing photos and almost every single one has been taken by Connor himself. Most of them is also posted on Instagram (@ConnorFranta), which one out of many socialmedia platforms, where you can follow Connor. He's really a talented photographer and can see creativity in things, that other people just sees as a plain background. You can really see the creativity come to life in the book, with the pictures, but also with the handwritten letters and notes, that Connor has included in his book. The letters are from people like his mom and dad, and the notes are either something that he has written himself or a little message from a friend or a teacher. The inclusion of something that is handwritten is also one of the things, that brings the book to life, and keeps the reader entertained and interested throughout the whole book. There's always something to look at, and the ahaperters aren't the longest, so if you only have 5-10 minutes to read in, you can easily read 1-2 maybe even 3 chapters, depending on how long the individual chapter is, and how fast you are at reading :) The book came out in 2015, it's published by Keywords Press and has 212 pages, where at least 70 pages are filled with pictures! If I should give this book a rating it would be 4 out of 5, because of it's amazing details, pictures and just the self-esteem boost, that you get from this book. It's really inspiring and when you feel down, you can pick it up and sometimes the book has the answer to your problem. The only thing, that drags it down, and the only reason why I'm not giving it 5 out of 5, is because of the context that the reader has to have. Even though Connor said, that literally anyone could pick it up, I feel that, at some certain points, you need to have some form of prior knowledge to know what he's talking about. All in all I really like this book, and it's a lovely read for anyone who's a fan of Connor, or can acquaint him/herself with some of the topics that Connor talks about in this book.