The Address Book addresses why addresses are important. So why are addresses important? “Addresses are one of the cheapest ways to lift people out of poverty, facilitating access to credit, voting rights, and worldwide markets.” And, “most households in the world don’t have street addresses.” Before Americans feel too superior,Continue Reading
Which comes first, the feeling of fear or the physical expression of it? Surprisingly, in Nerve: Adventures in the Science of Fear, the author presents scientific studies showing that the physical symptoms are interpreted by our brain into the feelings—rather than the other way around. The author of this bookContinue Reading
What could be more exciting than a large cruise ship on a collision course to disaster? I thought of A Night to Remember, The Poseidon Adventure, or Titanic. The Last Voyage of the Andrea Doria has the potential to be an equally great movie. However, as a book, not soContinue Reading
Mind over Weight looks at how important motivation is to achieving weight loss. However, most of the ideas will be familiar to Psychology 101 alumni or anyone who has read a few other diet books. For example, SMART goals, intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivators, and meditation as a stress-reliever are fairlyContinue Reading
Esports are coming. If you’re a Millennial, especially a male Millennial, they are already here. The Young Guns of the title are not just the gaming players but also the Silicon Valley titans starting and financing an entirely different type of esport league in 2016. Traditional sports like the NFLContinue Reading
Instead of telling graduates to scrimp and save to pay off their student debt, Buy the Avocado Toast takes a unique approach. Don’t cut your expenses, raise your income. Luckily, it backs up its theory with concrete ways to do just that. From saving on taxes by working overseas toContinue Reading
On Good Friday 1964, the earth beneath Anchorage began to rock and roll with the biggest earthquake yet in North America at 9.2. A wife, mother, and news reporter was about to have her seminal moment. Her sign-on to local radio channel, KENI, was, “This is Chance.” Her name wasContinue Reading
Writing, of course, matters. However, Why Writing Matters, doesn’t. At least not to those looking for a writing guidebook. This book is half memoir and half a literary history lesson. It has a few interesting ideas. But many of the ideas are obvious. Reading your favorite books later in lifeContinue Reading
So you want to be an artist. A painter or a writer? It’s no matter. What is the matter is you have no idea how to start? Sure, it’s easy to say writers write and painters paint. But what does that really mean? What you really need to know isContinue Reading
Have your diet mostly in hand but looking to continue to improve your other behaviors? The 4 Season Solution, by the author of the Whole30 diet, expands the behavioral change beyond food to include sleep, movement, and meaningful connection. He also suggests adapting all four of those areas based onContinue Reading
The bad news is that there is a hidden (and not so hidden) Velvet Rope Economy in the United States right now. The author explains that the rich top one-percenters are different. They essentially coast down an EZPass paid express lane through life’s difficulties. Meanwhile, the losers below them struggleContinue Reading
I have watched every season of Drag Race (even the blurry first one). However, I never fully understood the history of drag before reading Legendary Children. This book adds context to Rupaul’s Drag Race that I was completely missing. Each chapter starts with some section of the show and explainsContinue Reading
This is literally a book about Beautiful Sheep. With photos of forty different champion sheep representing their breed. Each breed page includes features, use, related breeds, size, origin, and current world distribution of each breed. As a born and bred city girl, I’m not sure why I have a fascinationContinue Reading
Plunk! You have woke up in a war zone! Just a few days ago you were a pink-clad USC sorority girl. Now you are in an unnamed desert madhouse working as the most Unexpected Spy. Get a bird’s eye view of what it’s like to be one of only threeContinue Reading
In 1950 at age six, Marvin Hamlisch was the youngest student to be accepted to Juilliard, the famous New York City music school. He auditioned with a then-modern pop song, Goodnight Irene, instead of the usual classical music selection. Marvin was the American son of Jewish Austrian immigrants forced outContinue Reading
Yin Yoga focuses on still stretches that are held for 1-5 minutes. Their goal is two-fold: to stretch the tendons and ligaments, but also to support meditation and mindfulness. Along with twenty yin poses are five yang, or moving, poses. In addition, there are four balanced sequences of poses. OneContinue Reading