The Alternate-Day Diet by James B. Johnson

The Alternate-Day Diet Revised: The Original Up-Day, Down-Day Eating Plan to Turn on Your "Skinny Gene," Shed the Pounds, and Live a Longer and Healthier Life by James B. Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read the 5:2 diet book first, and I thought the nutrition and food politics was presented better in that book. Although I do think it's necessary to follow to the more rigorous ADF diet instead of 5:2 to lose weight. (Or at least 4:3.)

View all my reviews

How Fiction Works by James Wood

How Fiction Works by James Wood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is great. I've been reading all wrong. Haha. Really great discussion of various elements to good literary writing. And now I want to read every book listed in the bibliography.

View all my reviews

The What When Wine Diet by Melanie Avalon

The What When Wine Diet: Paleo and Intermittent Fasting for Health and Weight Loss by Melanie Avalon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

She's probably right about everything, as most of the things she says in this book are consistent with what I've read about nutrition and exercise studies. (Current real studies- Not the old vaguely mythological things people repeat about food and exercise.) I withheld one star only because the statements are not footnoted/endnoted directly. Instead she has a bibliography at the end but that makes it difficult to verify individual claims. Also I really don't want to eat Paleo ... of course, that is not her fault.

View all my reviews

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, this is tricky. I want to be convinced, but this failed to convince me that God or Christianity are real. Part of the problem is that his main argument for why it is real is our internal sense of justice. In fact, many animals have a sense justice that has been studied at length. This does not disprove or prove Christianity, but it leaves that one point less persuasive than I would hope.

Second, I think it's a good explanation of Christianity and how it works, and it's a great exploration of how Christians should endeavor to live. It's especially refreshing to see that a devout man sees no inconsistency between God and evolution. They are of course, not mutually exclusive. But all the wonderful language and philosophy in this section is marred by his thoughts on homosexuality which are outdated. It's hard to get past that.

Is it worth reading? Yes. Is it a great masterpiece of religion and philosophy? I am less persuaded on that point.

View all my reviews

The FastDiet by Michael Mosley 2015

The FastDiet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Live Longer with the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting by Michael Mosley
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This book has totally changed the way I eat and feel. For the last year or two I've felt so tired that I asked my doctor to check my thyroid. I was disappointed when I found out it was fine because I'd have to keep feeling awful. After my first fast, I immediately felt better. (I know that seems crazy but I did.) I've done 3.5 weeks on the diet and I've lost 3 very stubborn pounds but I've only "dieted" for 7 days total in those 3.5 weeks. It actually feels like for the first time since I was 13 (or younger?) that I'm not dieting.

But most importantly, this diet is supposed to cut your risk of cancer. Clinical trials are underway now to see the long-term results of intermittent fasting on cancer and heart-health.

View all my reviews

Chosen by P.C. Cast

Chosen by P.C. Cast
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

More interesting and involved than the two prior books but I’m starting to suspect nothing will ever be resolved.

View all my reviews

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is good advice for people who aren't succeeding on their own. I know lots of people who are doing well on their own, and doubtlessly they would disagree with a lot of Dave Ramsey's advice. That's fine. If they're doing fine, then they're fine following their own wisdom. Unfortunately the vast majority of Americans are not doing well financially by following the standard "wisdom." A lot of people are doing worse than even they realize. For these people, (um me too), this book is great. I've already addressed a lot of financial issues I was dealing with. Things are not perfect, but they are much improved because I've followed the advice in this book.

I'm on a big self-help kick!

View all my reviews

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.

View all my reviews

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.

View all my reviews

Using KonMari to Reduce Dad's Books 2015

As you may know from earlier posts, I had kept about 26 boxes of my dad's books after he passed away. After 4 years, I had still reduced or read very few of them. I had tried just looking through them, getting a friend to help (hi Ash!), and finally doing one author letter at a time. The last strategy was going a little better... but still really slow.

Enter Kondo. In three days, the books I chose to keep are in three bookshelves, and hundreds of books that I would not have ever read were donated. I was shocked how much clarity I had in the book selection after 4 years of being totally confused. When I look at the bookshelves they spark joy! I want to read the books, and the arrangement reminds me of being at home and visiting my dad.

Suddenly I have clarity on my dad's books! Donate! Donate!

 

Less than half the number I started with, but still, admittedly, a lot.

Okay, we still have a lot of books. We probably always will. But when I look at them they make me happy now in a way they did not before. They don't stress me or make me feel guilty. They make me look forward to pulling the next adventure off the shelf.