The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is hodgepodge of how to change personal bad habits, ways to use habits against consumers in marketing, how to organize social groups by utilizing psychology, and random thoughts on habits versus free will. This isn't one of my favorite nonfiction books.

If you're trying to change a personal habit you can just read the appendix. Basically: find the cue, and then find a new reward. Groups can help you accomplish change.

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Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was interesting. I've read books before from the perspective of people effected by ailments but this was a little different because the way in which her personality was changed was such a big part of the story.

Additionally, the author is a reporter. I've read this type of memoir by doctors/scientists before (My Stroke of Insight, Psychopath Inside, When Breath Becomes Air) but it was distinctly different because the author didn't fully understand the medicine behind her diagnosis at the time. However, she throughly researched both the ailment and whether her memories, perceptions, and even the memories of her "witnesses" were accurate. This is sadly remarkable in this day and age. She proves to be a real journalist with integrity in the process.

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Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the best nonfiction books I've read. A huge part of why this book is so good is the because the source of the book is an author who has gone through and seen so much suffering. The same message wouldn't seem as valid coming from someone else. It's full of observations that anyone who has suffered can relate to- but that many who have not yet suffered have no familiarity with. And yet, the suffering Frankl experienced and witnessed is so extreme, that it's difficult to pity yourself-- or even doubt yourself-- in the face of it.

The first half of the book describes Frankl's experience in four concentration camps during WWII and the second part of the describes his particular brand of psychotherapy called "logotherapy." This therapy seeks to help people find meaning in their lives and even in their suffering.

Frankl doesn't try to tell you what is meaningful (though there is a strong bias towards helping others in the examples he gives that seems correct to me) but rather that person should pursue whatever is meaningful to them in the particular situation that they're in.


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The Man Who Wasn't There by Anil Ananthaswamy

The Man Who Wasn't There: Investigations into the Strange New Science of the Self by Anil Ananthaswamy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love articles about neuroscience so I'm trying to read more books about it. There is nothing more central to who we are as humans. Ananthaswamy discusses a number of disorders that cause disassociation to the self or a small part of the self. There were some new concepts and big surprises here for me: There are people who have the opposite of a ghost limb-- where they possess a limb they believe is not theirs: "alien limb." People with Cotard’s syndrome think they are dead.

The thing that's interesting about these disorders is that they teach us about the underlying mechanisms of the brain. There are so many components in the brain that function to differentiate the self from the outside world that it seems like it is the harder position to maintain.

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The Psychopath Inside by James Fallon

The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain by James Fallon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! This book is so interesting. I looked it up and about 1% of the population has this mental disorder. It seems to be related mostly to genetics but can also interact with related mood disorders (it's pretty complicated). But at 1%, you regularly run into and interact with psychopaths, you probably even have some "friends" with this condition. I think it's imperative that the rest of us understand what we're up against.

What makes this book really amazing is that the author is both a neurobiologist and a psychopath himself (and bipolar). He hides very little about his own personality in order to illustrate the issue. This is very off-putting, yes. I had to get to Chapter 4 before it got interesting enough that it compensated for how awful the author is. But that's part of the point. The author is awful because he's a psychopath. It's a great service to those of us trying to understand what's going on inside these people that he reveals himself so much even at the risk of being despised. Even though I previously knew a little bit about psychopaths I'm still shocked by the psychopath mentality that other people just serve a purpose - and that they are nearly devoid of personal emotion for them. Please read this book! Think of it as a self-defense course.

5 stars for importance not for enjoyability or accuracy.

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What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith

What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldsmith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I went into this book very dubious because I haven't had a lot of great experiences with "business" books, though I keep trying. My efforts were finally rewarded -- this book is terrific. I might like it so much though because it's highly applicable outside a business context. It might also have been named, "How to Play Well With Others" or "How to Improve Your Marriage."

The book has a lot of concrete solutions for how to find out what your major problematic flaws are (if you're not already aware of them) and how to implement a solution or cure to that problem by getting the very people you're annoying to help you solve that problem.

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Love 2.0 by Barbara L. Fredrickson

Love 2.0: How Our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Feel, Think, Do, and Become by Barbara L. Fredrickson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book explains the scientific underpinnings of "positivity resonance," mindfulness, and meditation. Frederickson's book is more all encompassing than the the Sharon Salzberg book I read recently, "Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation" but supports the usefulness of the practices described in that book.

Also, unlike "Waking Up" by Sam Harris, which I'm currently reading, there is no positive or negative discussion of religion which I think makes it more widely accessible.


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Attached by Amir Levine

Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find -- and Keep -- Love by Amir Levine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is amazing. It's the love handbook the world has been waiting for, and I can't speak too highly of it. Also, I suspect that the only reason it doesn't have 5 stars is because it confronts a lot of people with a lot of truths they don't want to face about themselves or their relationships.

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Opening Skinner's Box by Lauren Slater

Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century by Lauren Slater
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had heard if some of the experiments previously but some were new to me. While I found the science and history very interesting, I found the author's personal essay style grating. It detracted from the science itself, and made everything seem less reliable. Still I think it's worth the time for some familiarity with the experiments.

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The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky

The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want by Sonja Lyubomirsky
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I don't recommend the ebook!

You need to be able to use this book like a workbook and take a test and flag the activities you intend to do, so unfortunately it doesn't work well as an ebook.

Also, given how inspiring I found the konmari book, this book fails to inspire me to engage in the happiness activities even though I am extremely motivated otherwise.

That said, I think the methods would make a person happier.

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SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes And Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I hate this book a little (like the previous one) because it's making me challenge some of my strongly held liberal beliefs. But I'm going to breathe through it and educate myself more on the topics that concern me.

I will say, that again, the writers seem to have left out a lot of things in service to their particular points. For example there was no discussion in all of their positive talk about global climate change that while we wait for solutions certain species are disappearing from the planet while other invasive species are doing a lot of damage in the wrong- suddenly warmer climates. The latter is fixable but the former is possibly permanent, especially for species that have not been genetically mapped.

Also, wash your hands, people!

I know I've been reading especially quickly lately, but I have insomnia and what else am I going to do?

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