Thought Corner: Revisiting How To Break Up With Your Phone by Catherine Price Seven Years Later

I first read Catherine Price’s How To Break Up With Your Phone seven years ago (in March), and it was for review. I remember liking this book, even though nonfiction, specifically self-help, isn’t something I typically reach for. Since then, it’s sort of sat on my shelf and become the kind of book I would always look at and think it was time to revisit it, but somehow I never made the time for it (even though its short, coming in under two hundred pages). In 2025, I’ve gotten more reflective about the internet at large, and as a result, I took a detour last month and ended up rereading this book.

Even after six years, How To Break Up With Your Phone retains its timeliness, especially with its chapters about social media, memory, and the way technology intersects with our lives, in both helpful and harmful ways. It’s an excellent book. And, even though this was a reread, I was left with plenty to think about by the end of it (essentially food for thought), because when I thought about it, I’m not sure I fully appreciated everything this book does when I first read it. At least, the topic it covers wasn’t as relevant to me then as it is now, especially when lately I’ve been thinking more and more about how I want to engage with the internet and social media.

For example, at the beginning of 2025, I thought I would dust off my old Instagram account and start posting regularly about books again—even if it was only once a week—since I no longer use twitter to share even links to blog posts. But, then Meta changed its policy, and I was left in the same position as before. I know there are other platforms I could try, but I haven’t done that, especially when I know it’s just as easy to post things like reviews and photos to the blog too.

All that to say, How To Break Up With Your Phone offered plenty of information to engage with independently, but it could also serve as a starting point for conversations.