Food Isn't Medicine

 

Author: Dr. Joshua Wolrich

Summary: Do carbs make you fat?
Could the keto diet cure mental health disorders?
Are eggs as bad for you as smoking?

No, no and absolutely not. It's all what Dr Joshua Wolrich defines as 'nutribollocks' and he is on a mission to set the record straight.

As an NHS doctor with personal experience of how damaging diets can be, he believes every one of us deserves to have a happy, healthy relationship with food and with our bodies. His message is clear: we need to fight weight stigma, call out the lies of diet culture and give ourselves permission to eat all foods.

Food Isn't Medicine wades through nutritional science (both good and bad) to demystify the common diet myths that many of us believe without questioning. If you have ever wondered whether you should stop eating sugar, try fasting, juicing or 'alkaline water', or struggled through diet after diet (none of which seem to work), this book will be a powerful wake-up call. Drawing on the latest research and delivered with a dose of humour, it not only liberates us from the destructive belief that weight defines health but also explains how to spot the misinformation we are bombarded with every day.

Dr Joshua Wolrich will empower you to escape the diet trap and call out the bad health advice for what it really is: complete nutribollocks.

My Thoughts:

I've been following Dr. Wolrich on Instagram for a few years now, so when I saw he had written a book, I bought it immediately.  This book is BRAND NEW and because he's based in the UK, it may be difficult to find in the US. I purchased my copy from The Book Depository with free shipping. 

Now, what did I think of it? I thought it was excellent. Whether this book serves as a helpful companion to keep you from believing any of the claims it refutes, or if this book pulls you back out from a world of following every new diet that comes out, it's extremely helpful. My main takeaways from this book include: 

1. BMI is an absolutely nonsense measure for health, and you should absolutely disregard it. 

2. If you see anyone unilaterally demonizing or pedestalizing one specific ingredient or food group, run away.  In truth, all foods can fit within a healthy overall diet and there is no one food or food group that is going to magically solve all your problems. 

3. Eating healthy is really, honestly as simple as adding more vegetables and fiber to our diets. The end. So many of us are searching for the magic bullet, but that's really all there is to it. 

4. There are so many factors that contribute to a person's overall health, we cannot just always assume it's about how they eat. 

5. Your body needs carbs to function. Please stop trying to eliminate them from your diet. 

6. Weight stigma is a problem. 

I loved this book so much, particularly because Dr. Wolrich mentions at front the hierarchy of scientific research, with meta-analysis and systematic reviews at the top (meaning those are the most reliable types of research). And then throughout the book, he frequently references these two types of research papers as he is myth-busting diet claims. It's solid science. 

Language warning - there is a bit of language in the book, but it does not occur with overwhelming frequency. So please don't let that throw you off if the book sounds interesting.

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive

 

Author: Stephanie Land

Summary:

At 28, Stephanie Land's plans of breaking free from the roots of her hometown in the Pacific Northwest to chase her dreams of attending a university and becoming a writer, were cut short when a summer fling turned into an unexpected pregnancy. She turned to housekeeping to make ends meet, and with a tenacious grip on her dream to provide her daughter the very best life possible, Stephanie worked days and took classes online to earn a college degree, and began to write relentlessly.

She wrote the true stories that weren't being told: the stories of overworked and underpaid Americans. Of living on food stamps and WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) coupons to eat. Of the government programs that provided her housing, but that doubled as halfway houses. The aloof government employees who called her lucky for receiving assistance while she didn't feel lucky at all. She wrote to remember the fight, to eventually cut through the deep-rooted stigmas of the working poor.

Maid explores the underbelly of upper-middle class America and the reality of what it's like to be in service to them. "I'd become a nameless ghost," Stephanie writes about her relationship with her clients, many of whom do not know her from any other cleaner, but who she learns plenty about. As she begins to discover more about her clients' lives-their sadness and love, too-she begins to find hope in her own path.

Her compassionate, unflinching writing as a journalist gives voice to the "servant" worker, and those pursuing the American Dream from below the poverty line. Maid is Stephanie's story, but it's not her alone. It is an inspiring testament to the strength, determination, and ultimate triumph of the human spirit.

 

My Thoughts:

This book made me feel ALL the emotions. Frustration, anger, sadness, hope, faith, helplessness, and so many more. I loved the fact that this book took all the stereotypes of a "poor person on welfare" and turned them on their heads. As I read this book, I felt such deep compassion for Stephanie, and then angry that it was so difficult for her to survive. Yes, it all started with an unexpected pregnancy with a man she was not in a committed relationship with, but her struggle to survive could apply to women who end up raising a child on their own due to many different circumstances. Stephanie writes about how she ended up leaving her child's father and living in a homeless shelter with her daughter because he had become abusive. The choice between financial stability with abuse or freedom from abuse but living in poverty is one that so many other women have had to make. Women end up as single parents for a variety of reasons, and it's not easy for any of them.  Stephanie even relates how difficult it was to gain custody of her child. It broke my heart to read it. "While judges were rumored to say 'I don't care if the child sleeps on a concrete floor! They will have overnight visitation with their father,' mothers fighting for sole custody had to provide a sort of life that was simply impossible to obtain...I had to fight for the ability to mother my nursing infant, the infant Jamie (her boyfriend) had screamed at me to abort. I had been ground to a pulp by that judge. Like I had been in the wrong for leaving a man who threatened me."

 

One of the most important themes of this book was how there is a general stigma against those on government assistance in our society. There's this feeling that these people are lazy, just looking for handouts, unwilling to work and better themselves. And there may be SOME people who are that way, but I don't think it describes the majority of those living in poverty. Stephanie describes in the book how her lack of experience made it difficult to find a good job, and many of the jobs available to her would require her to work non-standard hours, hours when day care for her child wasn't an option. She relied on government assistance because she had no other choice. She worked as many hours as she could at the backbreaking and low-paying job of house cleaning. Several times in the book she mentions the hoops she had to jump through to get government assistance. She says "I was overwhelmed by how much work it took to prove I was poor."  She mentions the shame she felt as she used EBT cards and WIC to buy groceries, and others in the line would say things like "You're welcome!" or roll their eyes at her. She talks about the misconception that undocumented immigrants are using taxpayer money to qualify for free health care and free food (that's actually something that is only available to citizens). 

 

Another quote "Anyone who used food stamps didn't work hard enough or made bad decisions to put them in that lower-class place. It was like people thought it was on purpose and that we cheated the system, stealing the money they paid toward taxes to rob the government of funds...When people think of food stamps, they don't envision someone like me...Someone like them...Maybe they saw in me the chance of their own fragile circumstances, that, with one lost job, one divorce, they'd be in the same place as I was."  

Stephanie talks about how although her daughter qualified for Medicaid, she did not. So she was completely unable to afford any doctors visits at all, even though she desperately needed them. Add that to the fact that she was severely traumatized from her abusive relationship, homelessness, and the Herculean struggle to just make it to the next day and keep herself and her daughter alive and safe, and she was in desperate need of some mental health services, which she also couldn't access or afford. 

When she describes the temporary shelter she lives in that doubles as a halfway house, she says "I thought of how many times the police, firemen, and paramedics had come to our building in the last couple of months; of the random checks to make sure living spaces were kept clean or to make sure broken-down cars in the parking lot had been repaired; to patrol us so that we weren't doing the awful things they expected poor people to do, like allowing the laundry or garbage to pile up, when really, we lacked physical energy and resources from working jobs no one else wanted to do. We were expected to live off minimum wage, to work several jobs at varying hours, to afford basic needs while fighting for safe places to leave our children. Somehow nobody saw the work; they saw only the results of living a life that constantly crushed you with its impossibility." 

She also says "When a person is too deep in systemic poverty, there is no upward trajectory. Life is a struggle and nothing else." I will admit that I have been one who used to think that people who were poor just didn't try hard enough, that they just needed to find a better job and work on a budget. This book cleared the last of those lingering prejudices from my mind. Stephanie kept the tightest budget I've ever heard of. She lived on coffee and peanut butter sandwiches in order to make sure her growing daughter had enough to eat. She worked out a trade with the owner of a local kids consignment store - cleaning after hours in exchange for clothing for her daughter. There is this general idea in the world that government assistance keeps people poor. It provides no incentive for them to improve. And this is actually true, but not in the way you would expect. In the book, Stephanie says "The most frustrating part of being stuck in the system were the penalties it seemed I received for improving my life. On a couple of occasions, my income pushed me over the limit by a few dollars and I'd lose hundreds of dollars in benefits....There was no incentive or opportunity to save money. The system kept me locked down, scraping the bottom of the barrel, without a plan to climb out of it." 

Every time I put down this book I was some combination of intensely sad and incredibly angry. It's just absolutely not RIGHT that people in this country should have to struggle so much just to survive. Survival is a bare minimum goal! We want people to thrive. We should want people to be able to enjoy their lives and their children. One quote towards the end of the books really hit me hard. "The [other mothers] at Mia's day care..limited screen time, scheduled craft projects, limited sugary snacks, and served appropriate servings of fruit and vegetables at every meal. [They were mothers] with the privilege, time, and energy to mother well and who might judge me for not doing the same."

Basically everything I do as a mother to ensure that my children grow up in a safe, supportive, emotionally and physically healthy environment is largely only possible because I don't happen to live in extreme poverty. Even the year of our life where we struggled more financially, I was still able to provide a pretty good home environment for my kids. I left this book feeling like there are most certainly some sound policy decisions that could be made that will help kids be able to grow up in better environments than their parents can provide on their own. And for me, the argument that "some people will take advantage" is not a good enough reason to allow all the rest to just keep languishing in poverty, with little to no hope of making it out. 

Please read this book. It is so good. It helped me gain a better perspective on those who are living in poverty, and I will think twice before I start jumping to conclusions about the person at the store paying with food stamps.

How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them

Summary: As the child of refugees of World War II Europe and a renowned philosopher and scholar of propaganda, Jason Stanley has a deep understanding of how democratic societies can be vulnerable to fascism: Nations don’t have to be fascist to suffer from fascist politics. In fact, fascism’s roots have been present in the United States for more than a century. Alarmed by the pervasive rise of fascist tactics both at home and around the globe, Stanley focuses here on the structures that unite them, laying out and analyzing the ten pillars of fascist politics—the language and beliefs that separate people into an “us” and a “them.” He knits together reflections on history, philosophy, sociology, and critical race theory with stories from contemporary Hungary, Poland, India, Myanmar, and the United States, among other nations. He makes clear the immense danger of underestimating the cumulative power of these tactics, which include exploiting a mythic version of a nation’s past; propaganda that twists the language of democratic ideals against themselves; anti-intellectualism directed against universities and experts; law and order politics predicated on the assumption that members of minority groups are criminals; and fierce attacks on labor groups and welfare. These mechanisms all build on one another, creating and reinforcing divisions and shaping a society vulnerable to the appeals of authoritarian leadership.

By uncovering disturbing patterns that are as prevalent today as ever, Stanley reveals that the stuff of politics—charged by rhetoric and myth—can quickly become policy and reality. Only by recognizing fascists politics, he argues, may we resist its most harmful effects and return to democratic ideals.

My Thoughts:

 I found this book to be completely fascinating. It's not very long, and it's a pretty easy read, very accessible and not too philosophical. Simple enough for the average person to comprehend. I just checked out his earlier book "How Propogranda Works" and it is much thicker and denser, so I'm not sure I'll end up slogging through that one. 

I thought this book was really important to read, especially in today's world where most of us can agree that there is a large amount of division going on in our country. The author pointed out how incredibly important it is that we not allow ourselves to get sucked into the "us vs them" rhetoric. I have been worried about that myself, as I have seen a lot of stuff on Facebook and even directly stated by political commentators about how "all" members of certain groups are "evil" "criminals" "rapists" "drug dealers" etc. It's really important to be aware of these tactics so we can prevent truly evil things from happening here in the United States. We have to leave our hearts open with compassion to those who are different from us. There are bad people EVERYWHERE, it's true, but we cannot lump all the bad people into one racial, ethnic, or political group and just be able to make blanket statements that condemn them all. 

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

 

Summary: Americans have lost touch with their history, and in Lies My Teacher Told Me Professor James Loewen shows why. After surveying eighteen leading high school American history texts, he has concluded that not one does a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. Marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict, and drama from our past.

In this revised edition, packed with updated material, Loewen explores how historical myths continue to be perpetuated in today's climate and adds an eye-opening chapter on the lies surrounding 9/11 and the Iraq War. From the truth about Columbus's historic voyages to an honest evaluation of our national leaders, Loewen revives our history, restoring the vitality and relevance it truly possesses.

Thought provoking, nonpartisan, and often shocking, Loewen unveils the real America in this iconoclastic classic beloved by high school teachers, history buffs, and enlightened citizens across the country.

My Thoughts:

I thought this book was fascinating and SO good. I was lucky to have a really great history teacher in high school who did his best to teach us actual history and not just white-washed, feel good history, but there was still so much I didn't know. For example, did you know that Woodrow Wilson was actually super racist, that as President he SEGREGATED areas of government that had previously been integrated? Did you know that at the beginning of post-Civil War Reconstruction, things were actually going pretty well race-relations wise, and Black people were seeing greater equality, until Southern Whites got back the reins and made things awful again? Did you know that Helen Keller as an adult was a strong supporter of socialism? Did you know that Columbus and basically everyone else at the time already knew the earth was round and the whole point of his expedition was to see if he could get rich somewhere? Did you know that the pilgrims likely would not have survived to colonize America if it hadn't been for previous explorers bringing diseases that decimated Native populations? Did you know that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were motivated not because Osama bin Ladin just hates freedom, but as retaliation for what he saw as way too much meddling in the Middle East on the part of America? Did you know that although we like to present the picture of the US being this "international good guy" we've actually stuck our noses where they don't belong many times and completely screwed things up?

I highly recommend reading this book. I thought it was incredibly informative and I think it presented a really important look at how we teach history and how we can do better. I think many of the problems of today stem from a complete lack of accurate understanding of our history. We are taught all our lives half-truths and sometimes outright lies, is it any wonder we still believe them and act as if these things are true (sometimes to our own detriment) as adults? A lot of people think they know history, and they would probably be wrong. Seriously, read this. I am begging you. It was so worth the time. 

Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America

Summary: Living in a racially unjust and deeply segregated nation creates unique conundrums for white children that begin early in life and impact development in powerful ways. Dr. Jennifer Harvey offers age-appropriate insights for teaching children how to address racism when they encounter it and tackles tough questions about how to help white kids be mindful of racial relations while understanding their own identity and the role they can play for justice.

My Thoughts: I loved this book. I thought it had so many compelling points that I never would have thought of before. So many of my generation were raised to be colorblind, to not notice or point out color. And I don't blame our parents generation, they were doing what they thought was best. Unfortunately, colorblindness also leaves us blind to the fact that we're still not done fighting injustice. So, if colorblindness is out, what do we teach our children? Many may say that the right course is to teach them to value diversity, to love everyone and our differences. Which also sounds great but leaves one problem: when we celebrate diversity and difference, whiteness is not one of the things you are allowed to celebrate. There's really no such thing as "white culture" and while the messages of "black is beautiful" are encouraged, nearly everyone would recoil to hear someone chant "white is beautiful!" or "I love my gorgeous white skin!" So where does that leave us? We end up even more racially divided than ever because white kids end up feeling guilty or like something is wrong with their whiteness.

I had never really thought about any of this before. This book left me with so many great ideas about how to raise my children to be kind to others, celebrate diversity, be comfortable in their own skin, and also to actively work to fight against injustice, be aware of the systems that benefit them disproportionately because of their skin color, and cultivate meaningful relationships with people of color throughout their lives.

I highly recommend this book. You may not agree with absolutely everything that the book says, and that's ok but hopefully you can come away with some new ideas you had never considered before.

"Being white in a system of white racial hierarchy negatively impacts white people's humanity and health every day, even as it harms and negatively impacts people of color every day. We cannot fully enable children who are white to be healthy until we have created a truly just world. And so our goal as parents is not - and must not simply be - to teach our children to be more inclusive, embracing, and curious humans....Our goal must be to bring them along with us...as we work to change this world."

What Is a Girl Worth?: My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth about Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics

Author: Rachael Denhollander

Pages: 323

Rating: Due to the subject matter and the sometimes graphic descriptions, I wouldn't allow anyone below probably 15 or 16 to read this.

Summary:
Rachael Denhollander’s voice was heard around the world when she spoke out to end the most shocking US gymnastics scandal in history. The first victim to publicly accuse Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor who sexually abused hundreds of young athletes, Rachael now reveals her full story for the first time. How did Nassar get away with it for so long? How did Rachael and the other survivors finally stop him and bring him to justice? And how can we protect the vulnerable in our own families, churches, and communities?

What Is a Girl Worth? is the inspiring true story of Rachael’s journey from an idealistic young gymnast to a strong and determined woman who found the courage to raise her voice against evil, even when she thought the world might not listen. This deeply personal and compelling narrative shines a spotlight on the physical and emotional impact of abuse, why so many survivors are reluctant to speak out, what it means to be believed, the extraordinary power of faith and forgiveness, and how we can learn to do what’s right in the moments that matter most.

My Thoughts: I haven't written a post on this page in a while, but this one is worth it. I've learned so much over the last few years about how if you want to understand someone, you need to listen to their personal story. And this book does just that. Denhollander walks all of us through the questions many people ask when accounts of sexual abuse are brought forth. Why didn't the victim report earlier? Could they have misunderstood? But the alleged abuser is so NICE! This book was seriously incredible. At the beginning the author tells us that her parents were very involved, very open about sexuality, they taught their children about safety, but that still didn't protect her. We have to be so, so, careful, and even then, it might not be enough.

One of the points she brings up that I loved the most is how people were so unwilling to believe that this man was capable of such depravity, because of how "kind" he was and how many good things he had done. He was involved with charity work, volunteered so many hours to "treat" girls at his own home. He was so personable. But, Denhollander points out that it doesn't matter how much good he did. That DOESN'T cancel out the bad! You can't just erase your crimes by doing lots of other good stuff. It doesn't work that way.

I learned so much reading this book, especially about how difficult it is for victims to be believed, gain justice, or stop their abuser. Society just brushes these things off way too easily and it's not ok. My favorite quote from the book is this, "Why don't victims report? Because most of the time, the only thing reporting accomplishes is heightening the trauma to almost unbearable levels. It invites an audience to view your sexual assault. It's choosing to have no voice in the process after having it stolen from you. That's why victims don't report."  (pg 271).

This book was good. If you have ever thought, "Abuse will never happen to me/my children/the people I love because we are careful/teach them about their bodies/don't go to bad places/we're vigilant" then you need to read this book. If you're in any sort of position where you have the opportunity to listen to children or anyone who may possibly report to you about abuse, you need to read this book. The consequences of failing to take abuse allegations seriously are astronomical. By the time Larry Nasser was brought to justice, numerous girls over several decades had attempted to report him, only to be either completely ignored or find that the investigation was not taken seriously enough. I'm hoping and praying that our culture and practices will keep heading in a positive direction of change, but we all have to keep speaking up.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

Author: Donald Miller

 
Summary:

After writing a successful memoir, Donald Miller's life stalled. During what should have been the height of his success, he found himself unwilling to get out of bed, avoiding responsibility, even questioning the meaning of life. But when two movie producers proposed turning his memoir into a movie, he found himself launched into a new story filled with risk, possibility, beauty, and meaning.
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years chronicles Miller's rare opportunity to edit his life into a great story, to reinvent himself so nobody shrugs their shoulders when the credits roll. Through heart-wrenching honesty and hilarious self-inspection, Donald Miller takes readers through the life that emerges when it turns from boring reality into meaningful narrative.
Miller goes from sleeping all day to riding his bike across America, from living in romantic daydreams to fearful encounters with love, from wasting his money to founding a nonprofit with a passionate cause. Guided by a host of outlandish but very real characters, Miller shows us how to get a second chance at life the first time around. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years is a rare celebration of the beauty of life.

My Thoughts: I feel like that summary doesn't do a good job describing this book. It was AMAZING. I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting into but I finally decided to check it out after one of my favorite podcasters repeatedly recommended it and then did an entire podcast episode based on it. This book was worth all the hype she gave it. Seriously. If I had been reading a personal copy instead of a library one I would have been highlighting stuff all over the place. It was that good. The author starts with talking about how a couple of filmmakers want to make a movie out of a memoir he wrote. They have to write this screenplay and have to change a few things in order to make it a good story that people will enjoy watching. So Don kind of goes on this journey finding out what makes a good story, and then figuring out how to make his actual life into one. And here's the thing - we all can do it.

I think one of my biggest takeaways is that challenges and difficulties in our lives are some of the elements of good story. We won't have a good story to tell our children, grandchildren, or even God someday if nothing really ever happens to us. And we don't have to wait for things to happen. We can go make them happen. We can create amazing stories in our lives, if we want to.

This quote is one of my favorites. "Somehow we realize that great stories are told in conflict, but we are unwilling to embrace the potential greatness of the story we are actually in. We think God is unjust, rather than a master storyteller."

Whoa. That got me thinking so hard. We sometimes get so mad at God for putting us through this or that or the other thing, but...he's just helping us create an amazing story that we can be proud of one day.

Here's another good quote. "If the point of life is the same as the point of a story, the point of life is character transformation. If I got any comfort as I set out on my first story, it was that in nearly every story, the protagonist is transformed. He's a jerk at the beginning and nice at the end, or a coward at the beginning and brave at the end. If the character doesn't change, the story hasn't happened yet. And if story is derived from real life, if story is just condensed version of life then life itself may be designed to change us so that we evolve from one kind of person to another."

If I haven't convinced you to read this book yet, just google the title and "quotes" and keep reading. So many little gems, so much to think about, seriously....SO GOOD. Go read it. 

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

Author: Ina May Gaskin

Pages: 319

Rating: PG - just be aware, there are a few photos of women laboring (some are completely naked) and a few pictures of babies actually emerging from the birth canal. Which I don't think is a BAD thing, but....wanted to put that out there.

Summary:
What you need to know to have the best birth experience for you. Drawing upon her thirty-plus years of experience, Ina May Gaskin, the nation’s leading midwife, shares the benefits and joys of natural childbirth by showing women how to trust in the ancient wisdom of their bodies for a healthy and fulfilling birthing experience. Based on the female-centered Midwifery Model of Care, Ina May’s Guide to Natural Childbirth gives expectant mothers comprehensive information on everything from the all-important mind-body connection to how to give birth without technological intervention.

Filled with inspiring birth stories and practical advice, this invaluable resource includes:

• Reducing the pain of labor without drugs--and the miraculous roles touch and massage play
• What really happens during labor
• Orgasmic birth--making birth pleasurable
• Episiotomy--is it really necessary?
• Common methods of inducing labor--and which to avoid at all costs
• Tips for maximizing your chances of an unmedicated labor and birth
• How to avoid postpartum bleeding--and depression
• The risks of anesthesia and cesareans--what your doctor
doesn’t necessarily tell you
• The best ways to work with doctors and/or birth care providers
• How to create a safe, comfortable environment for
birth in any setting, including a hospital
• And much more

Ina May’s Guide to Natural Childbirth takes the fear out of childbirth by restoring women’s faith in their own natural power to give birth with more ease, less pain, and less medical intervention.

My Thoughts: I found this book to be incredibly helpful. I also read "Birth Matters" also by Ina May Gaskin, and although that one was also great, I liked this book just a tad better because I felt like it got more into the details of natural childbirth and what the benefits are, plus what all the risks are associated with various medical interventions. I also loved how the entire first half of this book is just a bunch of natural birth stories. Those kinds of things are pretty empowering to read!

I just love the overall message that a woman's body is not defective, it's not broken, and pregnancy and childbirth doesn't need to be treated like a disease. If you've ever wondered what might drive someone to choose natural birth, look no further than this book. You'll be considering it yourself after you read this! 

Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting

Author: Pamela Druckerman

Pages: 263

Rating: PG

Summary: 
When American journalist Pamela Druckerman had a baby in Paris, she didn't aspire to become a "French parent." But she noticed that French children slept through the night by two or three months old. They ate braised leeks. They played by themselves while their parents sipped coffee. And yet French kids were still boisterous, curious, and creative. Why? How?
         
With a notebook stashed in her diaper bag, Druckerman set out to investigate—and wound up sparking a national debate on parenting. Researched over three years and written in her warm, funny voice, Bringing Up Bébé is deeply wise, charmingly told, and destined to become a classic resource for American parents

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book! It's a fun, easy read, relatable, and super interesting. I felt like Druckerman did a really good job of bringing out the good in French parenting, but not acting like French parents are all-around completely superior. There were a number of things that the French are not so good at - for example, it's almost unheard of for a baby to still be breastfeeding past the age of about 3 months in France. Despite all the sound research on the benefits of breastfeeding, the French still view it as something only the peasants do, and completely unnecessary for their children. If you go to the doctor with a complain of cracked nipples or clogged ducts, he's most likely to advise you to switch to formula. There are other things the French aren't as great at, and that's ok. No society has perfected parenting (at least, not that I know of).

However, I really got a lot of great little gems out of this book, particularly the part about how French babies are almost universally sleeping through the night by 3 months (and how they manage that). I also really loved the part about how French parents see the wisdom in separating yourself from your children a little bit, and mom's feel no guilt whatsoever about taking time for themselves and to improve their relationship with their significant other. They are unapologetic about needing "adult time."

I also loved the ideas presented about how to get kids to eat just about anything (as French kids do) and how to set firm, loving limits, and stick to them, while allowing a large amount of freedom within those limits. There are a lot of good, basic, parenting strategies in this book and I loved reading about them.

As with all parenting books, you take what you like and leave the rest, and I didn't feel as if Druckerman was trying to argue persuasively that we all need to be more French in our parenting in every single way. She herself has not fully adopted every aspect of French parenting, which I see as a good thing. But I really loved the way the ideas were presented and I'm adding a few of them to my personal parenting toolbelt.

One of my personal favorites is that the French view "discipline" as not a punishment/reward type system, but more like an education. They always say that they are teaching the child, educating him on what is proper and what is not. Being in this mindset of "they don't know any better, they need to be taught" has helped me be more patient with little problems. Kids are like aliens. They don't come into this world automatically understanding the world and how it works. We have to teach them. I think that's my biggest takeaway. 

The Importance of Being Little: What Preschoolers Really Need from Grownups

Author: Erika Christakis

Pages: 299

Rating: G

Summary:
To a four-year-old watching bulldozers at a construction site or chasing butterflies in flight, the world is awash with promise. Little children come into the world hardwired to learn in virtually any setting and about any matter. Yet in today’s preschool and kindergarten classrooms, learning has been reduced to scripted lessons and suspect metrics that too often undervalue a child’s intelligence while overtaxing the child’s growing brain. These mismatched expectations wreak havoc on the family: parents fear that if they choose the “wrong” program, their child won’t get into the “right” college. But Yale early childhood expert Erika Christakis says our fears are wildly misplaced. Our anxiety about preparing and safeguarding our children’s future seems to have reached a fever pitch at a time when, ironically, science gives us more certainty than ever before that young children are exceptionally strong thinkers.
            In her pathbreaking book, Christakis explains what it’s like to be a young child in America today, in a world designed by and for adults, where we have confused schooling with learning. She offers real-life solutions to real-life issues, with nuance and direction that takes us far beyond the usual prescriptions for fewer tests, more play. She looks at children’s use of language, their artistic expressions, the way their imaginations grow, and how they build deep emotional bonds to stretch the boundaries of their small worlds. Rather than clutter their worlds with more and more stuff, sometimes the wisest course for us is to learn how to get out of their way.
            Christakis’s message is energizing and reassuring: young children are inherently powerful, and they (and their parents) will flourish when we learn new ways of restoring the vital early learning environment to one that is best suited to the littlest learners. This bold and pragmatic challenge to the conventional wisdom peels back the mystery of childhood, revealing a place that’s rich with possibility.

My Thoughts: I found this book to be completely fascinating. The summary above gives a really good description of what you can find in this book, although I did feel at the end that the author spent much more time discussing what NOT to do than she did giving solutions of what we SHOULD do. Partly because what we SHOULD be doing is so difficult to quantify, evaluate, and standardize.

I did appreciate that she brings up the idea that just because children are small does not mean that they don't deserve a quality preschool program, and that's even harder to find than a high quality public school, given that preschool teachers are even more poorly compensated than their K-12 counterparts. Then there's the ever present question of when does "preschool" become just "daycare"?

 I bookmarked a million pages in this book, because there was a lot I wanted to remember. For example, this quote "a teacher's educational level and licensure, preschool class size, and teacher to student ratio have only a limited and indirect effect on preschool quality, whereas a warm, responsive teaching style and knowledge of child development...have a direct positive impact on learning." (pg 20)

Another interesting point was the importance of just watching and observing our children. "It's essential to put the gadgets away, dispense with the educational work sheets and the beginner readers...and simply get down on the floor to watch quietly." (pg 56) It's important to interact with children on their terms, to let them tell us about their world, and without foisting our own expectations on them or their experiences. This part made me think of Mr. Rogers, who was somewhat of an expert at this."Loving, unjudgmental observation can help us guide children into the optimal learning zone, where we can see their vitality and power."

There's so much more that I gleaned from this book, and I think it was really useful as a parent and as a former (and possibly future) educator. I highly recommend this, if only to get your wheels turning a little bit about what you teach and WHY. 

I Thought it Was Just Me: Women Reclaiming Power and Courage in a Culture of Shame

Author: Brene Brown

Pages: 285

Rating: PG-13 - There is a bit of language on occasion.

Summary: We live in a culture that tells us we must reject our bodies, reject our authentic stories, and ultimately reject our true selves in order to fit in and be accepted. After talking to hundreds of women and therapists, Dr. Brown illuminates the myriad shaming influences that dominate our culture, and explains why we are all vulnerable to shame.

Outlining an empowering new approach that dispels judgment and awakens us to the genuine acceptance of ourselves and others, I Thought It Was Just Me begins a crucial new dialogue of hope. Through potent personal narratives and examples from real women, Brown identifies and explains four key elements that allow women to transform their shame into courage, compassion, and connection. Shame is a dark and sad place in which to live a life, keeping us from connecting fully to our loved ones and being the women we were menat to be. But learning how to understand shame's influence and move through it toward full acceptance of ourselves and others takes away much of shame's power to harm.

It's not just you, you're not alone, and if you fight the daily battle of feeling like you are -- somehow -- just not "enough," you owe it to yourself to read this book and discover your infinite possibilities as a human being.

My Thoughts: I really loved this book. As a person who has always struggled with connecting well with others, this book gave me some of the reasons why that might be, and some ideas on how to connect even when I don't feel like I know how. It also really opened my eyes to some of the things from my past and my childhood that I may be harboring shame about, which can negatively effect the way I interact with people now. I took screenshot after screenshot of pages of this book so I can review much of it. SO good. Want to know how to respond with empathy when you haven't had the same experience as someone else? Read this book. Want to know how to deal with it when you have a shame experience? Read this book. Want to know how to get better at dealing with shame? Read this book. Want to learn the difference between guilt and shame? You got it, read this book.

Many of us probably think that shame is a good thing, especially when it comes to teaching and parenting. Don't we want our kids to feel shame when they do something wrong? The answer is actually no. We want them to feel GUILT, not SHAME. Guilt is "I did something bad" and shame is "I am a bad person." We don't want to make anyone feel like there is something inherently wrong with them.

This book explores 12 categories where women typically experience shame: appearance and body image, motherhood, family, parenting, money and work, mental and physical health, sex, aging, religion, being stereotyped and labeled, speaking out and surviving trauma. Then Dr. Brown gives you some tools and ideas of what to do when you are experiencing shame in any one of these areas. There are also sections discussing addiction and shame, religion and shame (and how being a spiritual person, connected with God, helps with shame, regardless of whether or not you are a member of an organized religion).

There was also a brief section towards the end that explored how men experience shame about different things and how that works for them. I searched but didn't find that she has written a separate book about men quite yet, but I hope that is eventually coming! I found this book enlightening, empowering, and so helpful in my quest to love and accept others and myself more freely.

The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way

Author: Amanda Ripley

Pages: 232

Rating: G

Summary:
How do other countries create “smarter” kids? What is it like to be a child in the world’s new education superpowers? The Smartest Kids in the World “gets well beneath the glossy surfaces of these foreign cultures and manages to make our own culture look newly strange....The question is whether the startling perspective provided by this masterly book can also generate the will to make changes” (The New York Times Book Review).

In a handful of nations, virtually all children are learning to make complex arguments and solve problems they’ve never seen before. They are learning to think, in other words, and to thrive in the modern economy. Inspired to find answers for our own children, author and Time magazine journalist Amanda Ripley follows three Americans embed­ded in these countries for one year. Kim, fifteen, raises $10,000 so she can move from Oklahoma to Finland; Eric, eighteen, trades his high-achieving Minnesota suburb for a booming city in South Korea; and Tom, seventeen, leaves a historic Pennsylvania village for Poland.

Through these young informants, Ripley meets battle-scarred reformers, sleep-deprived zombie students, and a teacher who earns $4 million a year. Their stories, along with groundbreaking research into learning in other cultures, reveal a pattern of startling transformation: none of these countries had many “smart” kids a few decades ago. Things had changed. Teaching had become more rigorous; parents had focused on things that mattered; and children had bought into the promise of education.

My Thoughts: This book was incredible. I can hold my own in a heated conversation about what is wrong with the education system in our country. I have a lot of opinions and thoughts on the subject, so this book was right up my alley. Interestingly enough, this book didn't affirm all the opinions I already have. In fact, it challenged some of my ideas, and maybe even changed some of them!

For example, academic achievement actually has LESS to do with socioeconomic status and parent involvement than we may have thought. Yes, those things matter, but the author found that children living in poverty in Poland are still performing better than children in the US who live in similar conditions. A teacher in Finland says he tries as much as possible to ignore the various challenges of each student, because he finds when he treats them all the same, they tend to perform much better.

Other questions this book brought to light - In America, are we actually spending TOO MUCH on technology and other classroom toys that don't seem to actually make any kind of difference? Do we allow our schools to spend too much money and time on sports, instead of academics? Do we churn out too many teachers who aren't really all that qualified? What would happen if we truly had a common standard across the US of what kids should know in each grade? What would happen if instead of dumbing everything down, we instead increased rigor and expected MORE of our students?

One quote I loved towards the end "High school in Finland, Korea, and Poland had a purpose, just like high school football practice in America. There was a big, important contest at the end, and the score counted."

A fascinating aspect of a Finnish education was that almost half of kids there have received special education services by the time they turn 17. Children in special ed are seen as having temporary problems, not permanent setbacks, and all kids can improve. This actually reminded me of the attitude we had at the school I worked at for years. I worked helping kids who didn't qualify for special ed, but still needed help. Our goal was to get them out of our program as soon as possible. And not in like a hooray we got rid of that kid type of way, no. We saw it as they graduated and no longer needed our help and that was always a huge victory.

Lest you think this is just a book to make you feel worse about our education system, there's a handy appendix in the back listing things to look for in a good school. I found that really helpful and interesting, as actually most of the ideas are ones that I would not have considered.

I feel like this book should be required of every teacher, parent, administrator, and lawmaker! You won't regret reading this one, and it's not full of technical scientific jargon. I found it easy to read and keep reading. I was finished with it in 2 days.

The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are

Author: Brene Brown

Pages: 126

Rating: G

Summary: In this groundbreaking New York Times best seller, Dr. Brene Brown, a research professor and thought leader on vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame, shares ten guideposts on the power of Wholehearted living - a way of engaging with the world from a  place of worthiness.

My Thoughts: Ok, I could NOT find a decent summary of this book. BUT, it was so good. This is the first Brene Brown book I've read and I LOVED it. I wish I had more time to look through it and highlight and specifically put things into action, but it has to go back to the library! HOWEVER, I love that at the end of each chapter, she lists 3 things to do to get going in making a change in your life. I love it! For reference sake, I will list the chapter titles so you can see how awesome this book is.

1. Courage, Compassion, and Connection: The Gifts of Imperfection
2. Exploring the Power of Love, Belonging, and Being Enough
3. The Things that Get in the Way
4. Cultivating Authenticity: Letting Go of What People Think
5. Cultivating Self-Compassion: Letting Go of Perfectionism
6. Cultivating a Resilient Spirit: Letting Go of Numbing and Powerlessness
7. Cultivating Gratitude and Joy: Letting Go of Scarcity and Fear of the Dark
8. Cultivating Intuition and Trusting Faith: Letting Go of the Need for Certainty
9. Cultivating Creativity: Letting Go of Comparison
             A favorite quote from this chapter was "There's no such thing as creative people and non-creative people. There are only people who use their creativity and people who don't. Unused creativity doesn't just disappear. It lives within us until it's expressed, neglected to death, or suffocated by resentment and fear."
10. Cultivating Play and Rest: Letting Go of Exhaustion as a Status Symbol and Productivity as Self-Worth
11. Cultivating Calm and Stillness: Letting Go of Anxiety as a Lifestyle
12. Cultivating Meaningful Work: Letting Go of Self-Doubt and "Supposed to"
13. Cultivating Laughter, Song, and Dance: Letting Go of Being Cool and "Always in Control"

I really thought this book was excellent, and like I said, I wish I had more time with it to study it more in depth! Highly recommend.

Catch Me if You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake

Author: Frank W. Abagnale with Stan Redding

Pages: 293

Rating: PG - I was pleasantly surprised at how clean this book is. I had been worried that it might go into detail about some of his sexual encounters, but it never ever did. The most detailed it gets was once he says "We stopped at a cabin for the night and in the morning she was no longer a virgin." That's it. Also there is almost no language that I can remember.

Summary:
Frank W. Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Monjo, was one of the most daring con men, forgers, imposters, and escape artists in history. In his brief but notorious criminal career, Abagnale donned a pilot's uniform and copiloted a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as the supervising resident of a hospital, practiced law without a license, passed himself off as a college sociology professor, and cashed over $2.5 million in forged checks, all before he was twenty-one.

Known by the police of twenty-six foreign countries and all fifty states as "The Skywayman," Abagnale lived a sumptuous life on the lam--until the law caught up with him. Now recognized as the nation's leading authority on financial foul play, Abagnale is a charming rogue whose hilarious, stranger-than-fiction international escapades, and ingenious escapes-including one from an airplane-make Catch Me If You Can an irresistible tale of deceit.

My Thoughts:  I devoured this book in just a couple of days! I have seen the movie several times and even still, the book was fascinating and held some surprises. Obviously, the movie embellished and changed a few things. A lot of it is very true to the actual story but some of it is different and there is also a lot MORE in the book. You can't cover everything in a 2 hour movie.

As I said above, I was pleasantly surprised by how clean this book is. There are no graphic sexual descriptions, and I don't remember encountering any language other than the occasional "damn".  This made the book incredibly addicting to read because I never got uncomfortable. There is also a neat little interview in the back where you learn even more inside information.

Not only was Abagnale smart, he was also incredibly lucky. He escaped more times than he should have done, flew under the radar for years, and just managed to always be in the right place at the right time. He even pulled off a bank robbery, completely alone, without guns or weapons of any kind, and without anyone even noticing until he was long gone.

Honestly I want to just start back at page one and read it again! Highly recommend this one.

And There Was Light

Author: Jaques Lusseyran

Pages: 282

Rating: PG (there is no language and he doesn't even ever get super descriptive about violence either. However, this is definitely an adult book because the writing is too...dense? for a younger audience. It's very deep and intense)

Summary:
When Jacques Lusseyran was an eight-year-old Parisian schoolboy, he was blinded in an accident. He finished his schooling determined to participate in the world around him. In 1941, when he was seventeen, that world was Nazi-occupied France. Lusseyran formed a resistance group with fifty-two boys and used his heightened senses to recruit the best. Eventually, Lusseyran was arrested and sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp in a transport of two thousand resistance fighters. He was one of only thirty from the transport to survive. His gripping story is one of the most powerful and insightful descriptions of living and thriving with blindness, or indeed any challenge, ever published.

My Thoughts: I found this book...a little tough to get through. There is very little dialogue, and some of the philosophical ideas the author expounds upon went a bit over my head. The story was very interesting, that's for sure, but I felt like he spent way too much time on his childhood and very few pages on his work with the Resistance and subsequent imprisonment. I did enjoy the many reflections on how although he could not see with his eyes, he could still see in many other ways, and most of the time he did not consider himself handicapped at all. I think his general attitude about life is incredibly admirable and worth emulating. He also was one who survived the concentration camps by focusing on helping others instead of on his own difficulties. He fully believed in God the entire time, and realized the importance of just letting each moment of life be what it is and just accepting it.

I think in order to get the full effect of this book you have to pause a lot to reflect on what has just been said. It's not a book you can just read through quickly (like I did). It was definitely a different perspective than I have read before though and was very good!

The Continuous Conversion

Author: Brad Wilcox
Pages: 216
Rating: Awesome - in all seriousness, I feel it's odd to give a faith based book a movie type rating, so I'm not going to.

Summary: (From the Author)
I wrote this book because I know too many people who are giving up! One discouraged friend said, I can't do this Mormon thing. I've tried, and the expectations are just way too high. ... I know returned missionaries who spent their entire missions teaching about the Atonement, but now they have made some mistakes and feel like the Atonement won't work for them. I know people who have gone to the temple to be sealed and then never returned. I know others who are feeling burned out in their callings. Too many Latter-day Saints feel like they will never measure up.

I wanted to write something that will provide hope and motivation next time we or those we love are tempted to toss in the towel. I wanted to write something that would remind people why we do what we do and that it's worth it--not because of all we are earning, but because of all we are learning. Instead of just going through the motions, I wanted people to read this book and once again feel the emotions of discipleship. That's what they are missing. Whether the challenge is getting more out of the temple endowment or dealing with callings or juggling the many aspects of our lives and feeling like we are dropping too many balls, I wanted to provide a shot in the arm.

I started writing The Continuous Atonement when I was serving as the bishop of a young single adult ward.... I realized that there was an aspect of the Atonement they didn't get. They knew about how the Atonement could cleanse and console us, but they didn't grasp how it can transform us and how Christ offers us His enabling power however long that transformation process takes--even continuously. This book picks up that same theme and answers the question, How?;How do I apply the Atonement and feel it's transforming power on a continuous basis?; True conversion is not a onetime event, but a process that takes time. Most people accept that in theory, but we still beat ourselves up when we fall short. My message is; Be patient. You are doing better than you realize. Hang in there! We are not paying our way into heaven. We're practicing for it!

My Thoughts: I LOVED this book. Seriously, now that I've finished it I actually intend to read the entire thing again, immediately! But this time, writing down thoughts and impressions I have. It was really that good. Our perspectives really need a change sometimes. I loved the chapter that talks about callings in the church - it's not a ladder that we climb, it's more of a train track that we just move around on. When you go from being Primary President to nursery leader, it's not a "step down" because callings are not placed on a ladder! It's just a move to a different place, a different opportunity for growth and development. It's just a new place on the train track.

I also appreciated the final chapter that talks about how difficult it can be to juggle all of our responsibilities, commitments, and service opportunities. We are constantly being told to simplify, prioritize, and give more attention to the most important things. But even when we've cut unnecessary things out of our lives, it can still feel overwhelming. Wilcox suggests that we make our relationship with Christ our number one priority, and then after that, the Spirit will help us know what to put second. And what comes second will change depending on the day, the hour, even the minute. Family history work may be something I need to prioritize this week, but next week another matter may take precedence, and that's ok! As long as we are letting the spirit dictate what we spend our time on, it will all work out and we should not feel any guilt for the things that we did not do.

Anyway, this book is highly recommended!

The Inner Game of Music

Author: Barry Green with W. Timothy Gallwey
Pages: 221
Rating: Non-fiction - G

Summary:
The Inner Game of Music is that which takes place in the mind, played against such elusive opponents as nervousness, self-doubt, and fear of failure. Using the same principles of “natural learning” Timothy Gallwey developed so successfully for tennis, golf and skiing and applying them to his own field, noted musician Barry Green shows how to acknowledge and overcome these internal obstacles in order to bring a new quality to the experience and learning of music. And for those who don’t play an instrument but who feel their appreciation of music will be enhanced if they understand more about the process of playing, this book is ideal.

In precise, easy to understand language, Green and Gallwey explain how natural skills can be nurtured and enhanced, and through a series of special exercises they demonstrate the ways in which musicians can achieve exact intonation, artistic phrasing, and improved technique.

There are also chapters on ensemble playing, improvisation, composition and creativity. All of these along with listening skills – an essential part of the Inner Game – are discussed throughout.
A methodology with a proven track record, The Inner Game of Music will be invaluable to anyone seriously interested in music, whether professional or amateur, composer, performer, or simply an appreciative listener.

My Thoughts: I found this book to be fascinating, both as a musician and a music teacher. It's been around for about 30 years so as I was reading it, I recognized several of the ideas and suggestions as things I've heard before in music lessons and ensembles, which was awesome! Reading this book also helped me realize WHY I hated my flute teacher so much. I started with him, then went to several other teachers, and when my mom sent me back to him, I bawled for like an hour. The reason? He was no fun at ALL! I didn't enjoy my lessons, I didn't understand what was wrong with how I played something, only that he would make me play it again and again until I "got it right" even though I still never could tell the difference. This book reminds us that first and foremost, music should be enjoyable, and there are lots of things you can do to make it more fun. Also, teaching works best when the student is led to their own discoveries, instead of being told "Do this, do that, that was wrong, that was right."

I particularly enjoyed the way the book encourages you to let feeling come into your music, to kind of let go and let your body take over, shove your mind to the side. I definitely need improvement in that area. There were so many awesome ideas on how to overcome nervousness, difficult musical challenges, etc. There's too much to even summarize!

There is one quote I really loved. In a chapter on improving the quality of musical experience, the author discusses the difficult of getting stuck in a rehearsal that is not challenging you. This has happened to most of us at one time or another. Here's what he said "I can always choose to find challenge in what would otherwise seem boring circumstances." For example, if your part is not interesting, memorize it, listen more carefully to the other parts and how yours fits in, etc. 

If you are a musician or music teacher, I highly recommend picking up this book and giving it a glance-through. You may learn something!

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Author: Daniel James Brown
Pages: 370
Rating: G - no language or sex.

Summary:
It was an unlikely quest from the start. With a team composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew team was never expected to defeat the elite teams of the East Coast and Great Britain, yet they did, going on to shock the world by defeating the German team rowing for Adolf Hitler. The emotional heart of the tale lies with Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not only to regain his shattered self-regard but also to find a real place for himself in the world. Drawing on the boys’ own journals and vivid memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, Brown has created an unforgettable portrait of an era, a celebration of a remarkable achievement, and a chronicle of one extraordinary young man’s personal quest.

My Thoughts: I have to be honest, I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if I actually liked rowing as a sport. That being said, this book is written in a way that by the end of it, you totally DO care about rowing! Not that I would probably watch it on purpose but I definitely cared about these boys from Washington and how things were going for them. I loved that this book mainly focuses on Joe Rantz, and the difficulties he had to go through growing up, and how that translated into his rowing success. I think it's amazing to read books like these because Americans today mostly don't have that stamina. They aren't willing to work so hard. There was a lot of background history in the book too on the Depression and what was going on in Germany at the time. I find history to be very interesting, so I found this book fascinating because of the history aspect, and I was never bored. It's a true underdog story too, so that's always fun. By the time the boys got to their gold medal race, even though as a reader you already know the outcome, you find yourself wondering how in the world they manage to pull this off? It seems highly unlikely given the circumstances they boys find themselves in by race time. Give this one a read. It's educational, interesting, and inspiring.

This is Your Brain on Music

Author: Daniel J. Levitin
Pages: 261
Rating: G

Summary:
What can music teach us about the brain? What can the brain teach us about music? And what can both teach us about ourselves?
 In this groundbreaking union of art and science, rocker-turned-neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin (The World in Six Songs and The Organized Mind) explores the connection between music - its performance, its composition, how we listen to it, why we enjoy it - and the human brain. Drawing on the latest research and on musical examples ranging from Mozart to Duke Ellington to Van Halen, Levitin reveals:

• How composers produce some of the most pleasurable effects of listening to music by exploiting the way our brains make sense of the world
• Why we are so emotionally attached to the music we listened to as teenagers, whether it was Fleetwood Mac, U2, or Dr. Dre
• That practice, rather than talent, is the driving force behind musical expertise
• How those insidious little jingles (called earworms) get stuck in our head

Taking on prominent thinkers who argue that music is nothing more than an evolutionary accident, Levitin poses that music is fundamental to our species, perhaps even more so than language.

My Thoughts: I felt that parts of this book were very interesting (basically the parts that expounded on the bullet points above) but a lot of it was very sciency and technical and I ended up skimming through it. Levitin does a nice job of putting everything into laymans' terms, it's still a rather complicated subject with a lot to explain. I had a hard time with all of that. One of my favorite parts was learning about how the songs that we like the most are also the ones that most surprise our brains and do things that we aren't expecting. Because they are at just the right balance between predictable and unpredictable, we end up enjoying those songs for years. The Beatles were able to find this balance, and that's why everyone still listens to their music. That chapter was really fun to read. All in all, this book wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it was still interesting, and I felt good because I was learning something. 

Behind Every Great Man: The Forgotten Women Behind the World's Famous and Infamous

Author: Marlene Wagman-Geller
Pages: 329
Rating: PG-13 (a few of the people profiled were very sexually open and into drugs, etc. But there is no language)

Summary:
From ancient times to the present, men have gotten most of the good ink. Yet standing just outside the spotlight are the extraordinary, and overlooked, wives and companions who are just as instrumental in shaping the destinies of their famous―and infamous―men.
This witty, illuminating book reveals the remarkable stories of forty captivating females, from Constance Lloyd (Mrs. Oscar Wilde) to Carolyn Adams (Mrs. Jerry Garcia), who have stood behind their legendary partners and helped to humanize them, often at the cost of their own careers, reputations, and happiness. Through fame and its attendant ills―alcoholism, infidelity, mental illness, divorce, and even attempted murder―these powerful women quietly propelled their men to the top and changed the course of history.
Meet the Untold Half of History, Including:
•Alma Reville (Mrs. Alfred Hitchcock)
•Elena Diakonova (Mrs. Salvador Dali)
•Winifred Madikizela (Mrs. Nelson Mandela)
•Ann Charteris (Mrs. Ian Fleming, a.k.a. Mrs. James Bond)
•Ruth Alpern (Mrs. Bernie Maddoff)
And 35 more!

My Thoughts: I felt that this book was really very interesting. I loved learning about the women behind some of these famous men. My favorites were Mrs. Gandhi,  Mrs. Schindler, and Mrs. Charlie Chaplin. I had no idea that Gandhi's wife fasted right alongside him, and usually was imprisoned with him as well. Schindler's famous list was a joint brainstorm between husband and wife. You always just kind of think of these men as single, you never consider that they had wife who was just as much involved in their rise to fame! Each chapter is only 4-5 pages long, so it's easy to read small pieces at a time. My biggest complaint is that sometimes the sentence structure is awkward, occasionally there's a phrase that doesn't seem to fit within a given paragraph, and it's a little disjointed. The author tends to jump from topic to topic without smooth transitions. I got a little lost more than once. Other than that, this was an informative, fun read.