Recently Read Books in 2022
I love reading and I read a book about every 2-4 weeks. Here is my recommended book list for 2022 along with a little review and my take of the book. There are also links to Amazon to make ordering the book easier in case you want a copy too.
I tend to binge read certain topics so you will usually see a theme in the book selection. Some of these are eBooks, Audio, and physical books depending on the book.
Nutrition Made Clear
By Roberta H. Anding, (Roberta H. Anding – adaptor)
Audiobook Finished 2/20/22
An 18 hours course on nutrition was definitely worth the several months to get through it but not the most exciting material. None the less, I recommend the book. Here’s why.
Nutrition is core to everyone’s lives. If you don’t eat right you will never live right. You would never put water in your gas tank or gas in your water bottle, so why would you put processed foods and other poor choice items into your body. The motto “You are what you eat” rings true, but you will never know what your body needs unless someone teaches it to you. And this is exactly what this book will do.
The second take away is for those who think they know enough about nutrition and do an OK job at it, but really don’t know it enough. We all know to avoid sugar and fat from our diets but do we know why? Actually we are often ‘feed’ nutrition facts and best practices from the companies why are just trying to sell us their products. They do not have our best interests in mind when they made the products, only their profit margin.
Knowing and understanding nutrition is key to navigating the massive marketing you see in grocery stores these days. Knowing the items that go into each product and how to properly balance your diet will only come from doing your own research, and this book (and many others like it) are the first step.
The key take away for me is not anything that will benefit others. We are all unique people and have different needs (needs means how we plan to use our body or our current medical needs). Long story short, learn about nutrition from an expert and apply what you learn. It will pay you back for many healthy years to come.
No Stopping You!
How to Win the Game of Life
By Roger E. Flax, (Roger E. Flax – adaptor)
Audiobook Finished 3/20/22
I read about 75% of the book before I had to stop reading it. Very disappointed in most of the conclusions and false title. “How to Win the Game of Life” should be renamed “How to Sell Yourself and get Promoted”, or “How to Sell Anything to Anyone”.
I would agree on some of his points but the under lying premise is the purpose of life is to make more money and climb the corporate ladder. I disagree. If you ask anyone who has done it what they regret most about their lives it is the pursue of these false goals. The game of life is to be happy and we all know money, respect from others, and a corporate title never can bring us happiness.
Still, because the book does not resonate with me, it doesn’t mean others wouldn’t want to get ahead in business by selling themselves and if that brings them happiness, good for them. All I can say is this was a terrible fit for me.
Payoff
The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations
by Dan Ariely, Narrator Simon Jones
Audiobook Started 3/20/22, Finished 3/27/22
Great book, but not for the typical reasons. Motivation has many faces, as defined in the book chapters
I am happy I found and read this book. It is relatively short and packed with great information to help me learn more about others, and more importantly, myself.
As expected, the book was filled with past experiments showing how humans react to different situations. The results are often predictable, buy when applied to the self, can reveal a lot about what makes you tick, and what motivates you, and most importantly, what is your life’s calling.
There was one part of the book that I am still reflecting on and I suspect I will be for some time. How will you spend your time if there were no tomorrow AND your life would be totally forgotten. We all have a desire to create our perfect lives and hold on to it for as long as possible. A book I read from 2 years ago taught me that holding on to these things is a source of unhappiness because we will always be fearful of losing it. Holding on to fear can never lead to happiness.
Overall, I would recommend this book as a way to better understand oneself and others, and what motivates you everyday to do the things you do.
The Worry Trick
How Your Brain Tricks You into Expecting the Worst and What You Can Do About
By David Carbonell PhD, Stephen Paul Aulridge Jr. (Narrator)
Audiobook Started 3/27/22, Finished 4/20/22
If I were a person who worried about anything, then this book would cure me of that just by reading this book. Its approaches worry from all angles so no matter how it effects you or how your brain works, his techniques will work.
The book is more then brain tricks to “un-Trick” your brain in the worry. It pulls back the curtain on how your brain works, what the worry item really is, and gives you common sense “tricks” to remove all the power away from the worry.
I have several people in my family who suffer from constant worry and I have recommended this book to all of them. I don’t think any of them will ever read it but knowing the simple solution is there, when they are ready, I will have the magic item to help.
Caffeine
Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World
By Michael Pollan (Author and Narrator)
Audiobook Started 4/20/22, Finished 5/2/22
Slightly interesting to learn the history of caffeine and Michael’s experiences with this common and required drug of today’s society. I, like many others, suffer from this addition and wonder if its time for me to cut it from my life.
Throughout the book, Michael seems to romanticize his relation and coffee lifestyle to the point that the conclusions seems obvious. His balanced approach seems doable for most people and may be something I too will be willing to try. In short, make your coffee (caffeine) an event and not some thing you need to start each day. Maybe once a week or when you need to be creative. Either way, recognize what caffeine is and its affect on you, so you can realize you too are addicted.
I have been thinking about moving to tea (from Diet Coke) for many years. Maybe its time for a change.