The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do and How to Change It by Charles Duhigg

I love love loved this book! It was like Imagine on crack (and much more applicable to real life). I feel like I learned so much and it could be applied to any area of life. It begins with the basis of habit and what happens in your brain when you are learning something new vs after you have been doing the same thing for a while and know what to expect (a "reward"). My mind was quite frankly blown learning that brain activity levels spike before a reward is earned when an activity is done out of habit. Duhigg used the examples of monkeys and juice, and rats/mice and cheese. It also explains why I, at least, have a tendancy to "space out" when doing extremely repetitious things (like my job)...it is a habit. Then Duhigg moved into specific people/situations where habit occurs and why addictions (habits!) are hard to break. I definitely recommend...!

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

This book I had ridiculously high hopes for. I thought it would be a morbid version of Imagine, but alas, it was not. It was essentially a random smattering of stories of morbid things people like/enjoy, such as horror movies. Pretty boring and non-cohesive, do not recommend. The only, only, only upside of this book is on a personal note. For years, my family has owned a freaky children's book with bizarre stories, words cannot describe its weirdness. But as soon as Wilson started talking about Struwwelpeter, I had a feeling it was this book we own. So I Wikied it (see  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struwwelpeter to get a feel for the strange) and lo and behold, there it was. The way I knew, you ask? The boy with the crazy fingers. You don't forget an image like that.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This is a very...different...sort of story. I had heard really good things about it, but not necessarily what it was about. Midway through it, I was reminded of the book Maine I had read last fall, a book that was basically without plot, but very character-driven. I think The Book Thief falls under the same category. Even now, I cannot think what the plot really was of this book. The story centered around Liesel during World War II Germany, when she is becoming a teenager and Nazism is sweeping the country. It basically is 550 pages chronicling life over 4 years on Himmel street in Molching, with life including hiding a Jew, stealing books (thus the title), and avoiding first kisses. The first couple chapters really confused me and nearly turned me off to this book since it is told from the point of view of Death (not someone who typically narrates a story), but I stuck with it and finished it, and don't really feel like I have anything to show for it. I'm open to hearing other opinions...maybe there was something I missed?

The Boyfriend List (15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, and Me, Ruby Oliver) (Ruby Oliver #1) by E. Lockhart

This book is the first in a quartet of Ruby Oliver books (all published, since this book is from 2005 or so). Ruby Oliver (goes by Roo) is your stereotypical high school student, where every interaction with a boy must be discussed with your closest friends (and recounted to your shrink) and made a much bigger deal out of than it deserves. And sometimes, your friends woo your beau, which makes him dump you and go out with her, leading no one to talk to you and leaving you as a "leper." I was quite honestly disappointed with this book, considering how much I enjoyed The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, which characterized a strong female who wouldn't take no for an answer. I yearned for Roo to be like Frankie, but alas, she was not.



Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti

This book is a really great intro to feminism, although slightly outdated since it is from 2006, but also makes it interesting to see what is going on now (namely, the War Against Women) compared to where women were 6 years ago. Let's just say...it seems like things have gotten worse, much worse, particularly regarding women's choices, like abortion and the "personhood" movement (which, amazingly, is not a new idea since Valenti discusses it here). I do have a couple of issues with this book. I understand that Valenti is from Queens and blah blah blah, but does she really have to say "I shit you not" a million and a half times, along with all her cursing? She also does not fully research particular subjects, or just assumes what she knows to be true or thinks things are odd and assumes the reader will agree (this reader does not). For example, this reader had a grave issue with Valenti's misunderstanding about purity rings and purity balls and pledging purity. She does not think that this is important to some people, especially religious folks who believe the Bible when it says that you should not have extramarital sex, and that includes premarital sex. It is part of a religious belief system and she should not want feminism to change that. It is also up to each person to decide what they believe regarding that. Another issue I had is that she sees labiaplasties is frivolous when in fact, some women desperately need them because their labia are so long it hurts for them to walk or sit in certain positions. All things said, I was already a follower of feministing.com and will continue to read it. She didn't need to advertise it so much, but oh well.

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston

This is the most unusual of stories. Not told in a typical fashion, this is an actual (fictional) scrapbook that Frankie Pratt created of her life, starting with her romance with a married man (the married part unknown to her) and going to college in Vassar. It leads to her adventures during her life, about living with a roommate in college and meeting the roommate's family, about romantic steps and missteps, and travelling. A book I definitely recommend, if only to look at the ephemera from the 1920s.

End This Depression Now! by Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman is pretty darn amazing and level-headed, especially when it comes to economics. Well, I'll be darned, he even received one of those Nobel Prize thingies! How this story goes it that it is essentially a recap of how we got to where we are and how to get to where we need to be, aka people with jobs and a growing economy and away from austerity measures. He talks about all the different parts of the economy and how they interact...especially about gridlock in Congress (it is ridiculous that the GOP has pledged to not raise taxes to Grover Nordquist...I thought they were supposed to serve America, but what do I know), the issues that Europe is having and how that could cross the Atlantic, and kind of has with the GOP wanting to cut spending without raising taxes, or having to offset a debt ceiling increase with spending cuts...so frustrating to me!...and also what the Fed could do to help things along. It really was a very interesting read and it sounds like a deceivingly easy solution to get America back to full employment (aka 5% unemployment), but I doubt it will happen, as Krugman does, too. He even says at this rate, it will take 5-7 years for us to get back to full employment, and he does call what we are in a depression, not just a recession or Great Recession. It is also really interesting to read the exerpts at the beginning of each chapter--some are taken from during the Great Depression and scarily echo current sentiments and others are from only a few years ago declaring that the recession was over and we were on the path to growth. I enjoyed Krugman so much, don't be surprised if you see more reviews of his books here.

Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer

I really, really enjoyed this book. It is about exactly what it says it is. It begins by explaining where creativity happens in the brain. The book as a whole is divided into two sections; the first is about creativity on your own and the second about creativity in groups. I found it absolutely amazing to find out that larger cities have more patents due to its citizens' interaction with one another, essentially bouncing ideas off of one another. There were a lot of other gems in it, and all the examples from Pixar to a degenerative brain condition that leaves people especially creative before killing them just blew my mind (pun not intended). I definitely recommend this book.

The Odds by Stewart O'nan

Every chapter in this book begins with an odd, like 1 in 6 marriages make it to their 25th anniversary. The book centers around Marion and Art, a long-timed married couple up against unemployment, bankruptcy, house foreclosure, and divorce, but give it one last go at Niagra Falls on a second honeymoon. While there, they bring thousands of dollars with them in the hope to not only rekindle their romance, but to also gamble their way out of debt. Art had had an affair twenty years prior, and so had Marion, but with a woman--an affair she has not told Art about, nor plans to. Finally, after three days in Canada, they have all their money traded into chips and set out to get back what they lost in life.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This book was a much, much faster read than 1Q84. It helps that it was YA and only took me 3 days to read. It is about Hazel, a 16 year old who lives with lung cancer, who meets Gus in a cancer support group for teens. Gus is missing part of one of his legs from cancer, but has been cancer-free for a while. They immediately click, but Hazel worries about Gus being more interested in her than she is with him, but eventually that worry is resolved. She introduces him to her favorite book (that ends mid-sentence) and Gus to his favorite book (which is part of a series that she breezes through). Through this, they create a budding romantic relationship. Hazel tells Gus about the times she has written to the author of her favorite book, and he also writes to him, but emails it (rather than snail mails it). He ends up getting a response--amazingly!--and the author invites them to visit him in Amsterdam. Gus then informs Hazel that he had not used his Wish (she had already to go to Disney), so they will go to see the author! During their time in Amsterdam, their relationship deepens and they found that the author was not quite how they pictured him would be. Also, Gus revealed a secret to Hazel that changes their relationship forever.