Unbothered: The Power of Choosing Joy

Musician Omarion debuts with an underwhelming manual for enduring hardship. He illustrates how to overcome adversity with anecdotes from his life, detailing how he got a record deal at 16 as part of the boy band B2K, became a Grammy-nominated star, and embarked on a solo career after B2K’s tumultuous breakup. Recounting how B2K was passed on by a slew of record companies before the group finally received an offer, Omarion warns, “if you allow it, fear will trick you out of trying.” Other anecdotes come across as self-congratulatory, as when Omarion pats himself on the back for “mastering my emotions” during B2K’s tense 2019 reunion tour, during which his bandmate revealed that he was in a relationship with Omarion’s children’s mother: “I could have refused to co-parent with the mother of my children.... But I didn’t.” The recurrent focus on manhood (“Every real man should have a grip on his ability to focus”) may appeal to male readers, but the rehashing of old grievances (“I was bashed and disrespected,” Omarion remembers of being in B2K) and the ho-hum advice (“If you let people throw you off, they will”) are letdowns. Omarion’s fans might want to check this out, but others need not apply. (Sept.)