"You Are Not Your Brain: The 4-Step Solution for Changing Bad Habits, Ending Unhealthy Thinking, and Taking Control of Your Life" by Jeffrey M. Schwartz and Rebecca Gladding

368 pages

Jeffrey Schwartz, a leading neuroplasticity researcher and author, and psychiatrist Rebecca Gladding put their minds together to figure out how brain wiring works against us when it comes to bad habits. They studying OCD patients as well as people with social anxieties, self-deprecating thoughts, and all sorts of compulsions. Then they came up with a four-step program to rewire the brain by consciously choosing to weaken the circuits that create the bad habits, decreasing their influence and strength. In this book, they share what they learned through their research and outline their plan for creating more positive and productive thought processes.

The authors do a very good job of explaining their research to laypeople, and their work makes a lot of sense. There isn't necessarily anything earth-shattering, I don't think, but they do offer some good strategies for dealing with bad thoughts and strengthening positive thinking. Of course, as with any self-help book, their plan won't single-handedly revolutionize the mind of someone with a serious mental problem, but it probably can help people with mild anxiety or compulsive behavior, and it could be helpful as part of a bigger treatment plan for someone with a serious issue.

Room: A Novel

by Emma Donoghue, 321 pages

Five-year-old Jack narrates as he comes to understand the truth of the four-walled world he shares with his mother.

Despite some too-convenient elements (Jack is a precocious little boy and his mother gives him more of a leg-up than seems likely considering the environment and her limited resources), this story is involving and moving and makes the reader care about the characters.  Instead of just ending with a climactic confrontation with the perpetrator of the crime, the author examines the aftermath and long-term effects such experiences can have on the individuals involved and their loved ones, giving the book depth and substance beyond the usual and adding an element of social commentary to a story about the struggle to survive and overcome.

"Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success" by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler

262 pages

Why do 95% of diet attempts fail? Why do New Year's Resolutions rarely last more than a few weeks or even days? Why is it just so hard to change bad habits? This book attempts to answer those questions and, more importantly, teach readers how to use the brain chemistry that creates bad habits to make good ones instead. The authors present six "sources of influence"--personal motivation (what we want and why); personal ability (our natural strengths and weaknesses); social motivation (how others' beliefs influence us); social ability (how the things other people do affect us); structural motivation (how things motivate us); and structural ability (how our environment affects us). There are strategies for putting each of these sources of influence to work to create good habits instead of bad ones. 

I am usually skeptical of this kind of book, but I really got a lot of out this one. I even took some notes from it before returning it to the library. I like that it focuses on changing the way we react to our natural tendencies and things outside of our control instead of completely avoiding them altogether. It's a much more realistic approach. There are some things in here that I already knew, but I like the way they are phrased. For instance, every self-help book says not to beat yourself up for setbacks. This book says the same thing in a different way: "Turn bad moments into good data." The authors explain that without mistakes we would have nothing to learn from, and when we examine the slip-ups and learn from them, we are even better off than before we messed up. When you look at it that way, it makes mistakes seem almost helpful without accepting the behavior as a whole. There are lots of examples of these strategies being used for many specific aspects of life, such as weight loss, career improvement, friendship, etc. My only complaint is that there is more cheesiness than I like, though much less than most of the similar books I've read. Overall, though, this is a clear, well-organized book that gave me some motivation to take charge of my habits and routines. 

The Walking Dead: A Continuing Story of Survival Horror: Book One

by Robert Kirkman (original story concept, writing, letters), Tony Moore (pencils, inks, gray tones for Chapter 1), Charlie Adlard (pencils, inks for Chapter 2), and Cliff Rathburn (gray tones for Chapter 2, gray tone assists for Chapter 1), 297 pages

Small town cop Rick gets shot on the job, falls into a coma, and wakes up in an eerily quiet hospital.  It doesn't take him too long to figure out why, as one rotting corpse after another slowly lurches after him, hungry for his flesh.  Desperate to find his wife and son, Rick heads toward Atlanta, hoping they've gone there ahead of him and are safe under the protection of the authorities in the big city.  But the zombie plague is neither isolated nor contained, the authorities are nowhere to be found, and Rick soon realizes that if anyone's going to survive, they'll have to make it happen themselves.

I am not a horror fan and normally have no interest in stories involving icky things like zombies (Heather, you are braver than I!  hee!).  But I've heard so much about this series that I figured I'd be a pretty poor comics lover if I didn't give it a shot.  And now I can see why it's so popular.  Yes, there are gross, ravenous zombies around most corners and, yes, things look pretty dire for the lucky (?) humans momentarily still alive, but what keeps me interested (and has me putting Book Two on hold) is the book's focus on character over shock value.  The individuals who make up the evolving ensemble cast have their own personalities and complicated relationships.  Even the most likable and capable characters have weaknesses and the potential for instability.  I like that level of realism and find watching them deal with the stress of their precarious situation surprisingly engaging.  The story offers an intriguing psychological / sociological study and makes me wonder what I and my friends and family would do if we suddenly found ourselves in the same boat (I don't imagine I'd fair too well in a zombie apocalypse, sadly....).

The gore-minimizing black-and-white art's a nice fit (though I prefer Moore's style over Adlard's) and I give the writing in this series credit for making me voluntarily consume a zombie story that's not parody (Shaun of the Dead = *squee*).   It surprises me that I actually (sorta) look forward to seeing what happens to these poor folks next.

I think the popular television adaptation will remain untested by me for now, though, as I don't need to see all that blood and guts in full color or "live" action....  :-P

"The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" by Charles Duhigg

400 pages

Every day, we do thousands of things out of habit, even without realizing it. Without habits, our minds would be overwhelmed with mundane decision making. Still, habits can be a disadvantage when we get into a routine that is bad for us, whether it's personally, physically, or professionally. Duhigg argues that in order to change our habits, we have to understand how they work. He does a good job of explaining that, with plenty of examples from all kinds of situations. He makes it all easy to understand. I do wish there were more practical suggestions for changing habits, though. The focus is definitely on how our brains work when it comes to habits, not on what to do about it. Duhigg is right; it's useful knowledge, and sometimes just being aware of what your brain is doing can help you get out of a bad routine. For more entrenched habits, however, a little more is needed. Still, this is an interesting and useful book that make me more conscious of the things I do without thinking.

Stuff

Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things
by Randy O. Frost & Gail Steketee
290 pages

I don't know about you, but I am *slightly* obsessed with the show "Hoarders" on A&E and "Hoarding: Buried Live" on TLC.  It boggles my mind that some people can live among what most people would call trash.  The more severe hoarders also live among waste and dead animals. How can they not see how detrimental to their well being their living situation is?

 "Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things" gets inside the minds of those with this disorder.  Some psychologists label hoarding under Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, due to the fact that many believe hoarding to be a compulsion.  Other psychologists would label hoarding under it's own label.

The study of hoarding is fairly recent, although it's been mentioned in literature since at least the 1400's.  The onslaught of these hoarding shows, however, is bringing the study into the light.  This book definitely helps with the understanding of how people become hoarders in the first place.

"Everyone Loves a Good Train Wreck: Why We Can't Look Away" by Eric Wilson

224 pages


The title of this book pretty much sums it up: Why are we so fascinated by evil, death, scandal, and other dark parts of life? What does this say about human nature? To answer these questions, Wilson consults biologists, sociologists, and psychologists, and also relates stories and examples from his own experience. He shares several different theories.  The traditional idea is that we all have a good side and a bad side; horror movies and gossip allow us to indulge our bad sides in (relatively) harmless ways. Wilson, however, concludes that there is value in the darkness itself, because without it goodness has no meaning. 


I just couldn't get into this book. The subject is really interesting, but it jumps around too much for me. It seems like Wilson is just randomly listing thoughts, with info from other sources thrown around to emphasize his points. There are a few good ideas, but a lot of it is repetitive. It wasn't a total waste of time, but I don't think I'll be recommending it to anyone. 

Crazy: Notes On and Off the Couch
Rob Dobrenski, PhD
201 pages

Rob Dobrenski is a licensed psychologist and the creator of Shrinktalk.net.

This book is a collection of his experience as a psychologist, starting from his years as a graduate student still learning to his first few years as a licensed psychologist. He works with all types of people: grieving widows, victims of sexual abuse, sexual offenders themselves, and even other mental health technicians. 

Each client Dr. Dobrenski profiles is different and unique, and he explains their illness or situation in a way that the general public can understand. I ended up learning so much more about how the brain works from this one book than from any of my undergrad psychology textbooks.

I loved this book just for this one line from the prologue:

"You can ask for help when your feelings are broken"