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Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise August 2020
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Grand: A Grandparent's Wisdom for a Happy Life by Charles Johnson What it is: a moving, stylistically complex reflection on life stages and the artistic process, written as advice to the author's grandson but filled with observations we can all benefit from.
Author alert: MacArthur fellow, scholar, and political cartoonist Charles Johnson also wrote the novel Middle Passage, which won the National Book Award in 1990. | |
Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World
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Vivek H. Murthy, MD
What it's about: the problem of loneliness as a public health concern, with a look at the ways isolation can negatively impact seemingly unrelated physical conditions like heart disease.
About the author: Dr. Vivek H. Murthy served as the Surgeon General of the United States from 2014-2017.
You might also like: Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam; The Lonely City by Olivia Laing.
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The Power of Showing Up: How Parental Presence Shapes Who Our Kids Become...
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Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D.
What it's about: childhood attachment styles and actionable advice for how parents can "show up" in ways that that foster their child's self-esteem and emotional well-being.
Why you should read it: This thorough yet accessible exploration of early emotional development is the book you'll wish your own parents had access to.
About the authors: Psychiatrist Daniel J. Siegel and clinical social worker Tina Payne Bryson have previously collaborated on other parenting books such as The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline.
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The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It
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John Tierney and Roy F. Baumeister
What it is: a thought-provoking and engaging evaluation of negativity bias (in which negative experiences can have a stronger effect on people than positive ones) and how to use it to your advantage.
Topics include: the evolutionary advantages of negativity bias for early humans; the uses of constructive criticism; the constant exposure to negativity from the 24-hour news cycle.
You might also like: Rethinking Narcissism by Craig Malkin; Is Shame Necessary? by Jennifer Jacquet.
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It's About Time: The Art of Choosing the Meaningful over the Urgent
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Valorie Burton
Our culture makes it so that even the most organized and efficient among us feels the pressure of the ticking clock and the possibility and regret of missing out. Bestselling author describes an approach to life that she calls “living timelessly.” You will come to understand 1) the gradual changes that have led us to a place where having too much to do and too little time to do it is the norm, 2) the vision for what it could look like if you were free from the stress of time and how to blast through the obstacles to those possibilities, and 3) the practical steps to choosing the meaningful over the urgent so that your life is unhurried yet purposeful and reflects the values and impact that are unique to you.
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Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything by BJ Fogg, PhD What it's about: the scientific underpinnings of habit formation, with insights about how to manage your expectations, motivations, and emotional responses.
Why you might like it: The advice presented here is well-grounded in research but is written in an inspiring tone and broken down into practical, approachable steps. | | When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel H. Pink What it is: an accessible and thought-provoking look at how time (and our perception of it) impacts us in unexpected psychological, biological, and economic ways.
Topics include: how the time of day might affect the decisions we make; the wide-ranging ripple effects of afternoon energy drops; how to best harness the power of your own circadian rhythm.
Want a taste? "If you want to measure the world’s emotional state, to find a mood ring large enough to encircle the globe, you could do worse than Twitter." | | Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do by Eve Rodsky What it's about: the unequal expectations faced by many working women and how they spend their "free" time, with a focus on common disparities in household labor and ways to shrink the gap.
Why you should read it: with the rapid increase of people working from home, these issues could not be more important or timely.
Reviewers say: Fair Play is "potentially revolutionary" and gives readers "the right combination of venting and commiserating balanced by practical solutions" (Booklist). | |
Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Michigan City Public Library 100 E. 4th Street Michigan City, Indiana 46360 219-873-3044mclib.org/ |
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