September 29, 2008
"Child 44"
or "shock, Anna actually read fiction".
If ever a book required a warning on the cover "Child 44" by Tom Rob Smith would be it. I started reading just after 10:00 pm Saturday thinking I would read a couple chapters before bed. The next thing I knew it was past 3:00 am and I could not put the book down. I reached the last page at 5:19 am, even the neighbors children banging on my front door couldn't wake me before early afternoon.
Posted by Anna at 1:38 PM | Comments (0)
July 22, 2007
Who Are You, Really?: Understanding Your Life's Energy
This post is for my fellow self-improvement junkies, if your eyes glaze over and head starts to spin whenever the topic of personal growth comes up, feel free to skip ahead to the next post. I'll be there in a minute.
Friday I visited a little out-of-the-way shop which sells import goods and lots of other interesting stuff, including a nook in the back of the store filled with overstock books all on sale for a fraction of their original price. Seated on the floor I looked over the shelves of books, needing something, anything interesting to help me introvert over the weekend. After perusing and rejecting several options I pulled "Who Are You, Really?: Understanding Your Life's Energy" by Gary Null, Ph.D. off the shelf. Intuitively I knew, this is what I need today.
Dr. Null believes each person's life energy fits into one of seven categories, Dynamic Aggressive, Dynamic Assertive, Dynamic Supportive, Creative Assertive, Adaptive Supportive, Adaptive Assertive or Adaptive Aggressive. He explains briefly how natural life energy works and the effects of conditioning on life energy before heading into detailed explanations of each energy type. Reading definitions of the energy types I could recognize some of the people in my life, almost as if he knew them personally. I read the chapter on Dynamic Assertives and recognized myself, then read the chapter on Dynamic Supportives and felt like he had been following me around with a note pad. I couldn't decide which embodied the true me. Before I finished the book I was emailing recommendations to others, read this book. He explores each energy type at it's high point and low point, stressing the strengths and pitfalls of each, he gives suggestions for avoiding those traps, for staying on the high side of your energy type as much as possible, while accepting low points as normal, he also advises on highly compatible as well as highly incompatible energy types. I couldn't leave the book down for long, it took me less than twenty-four hours to complete it. At the end of the book is a simple assessment for each energy type, true and false questions. As it turns out I was right, I scored equally high (7 of 8) on both Dynamic Assertive and Dynamic Supportive. This book has earned a position in my "reference" library, those few books I turn to again and again when I'm needing insight.
(Update 6-7-2008 follow up post on this review )
Posted by Anna at 9:01 PM | Comments (1)
June 30, 2006
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
A few months ago I read "Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced "chick-sent-mi-hi-yee", don't ask me how I know). I was interested because I frequently experience "flow" while working, but hadn't been able to put a name to what I felt. In fact, achieving flow is often the difference between what I consider to be a good shift and a bad shift, regardless of my production numbers at the end of the night. Since identifying the importance of "flow" in my job, I actively seek it.
Yesterday I found myself identifying "flow" in another area, I went to a nurse practitioner who specializes in pain management. I've had problems with an area of my rib cage for about three months now, and we thought I had a condition known as "slipping rib syndrome". I went to see the practitioner for prolotherapy in order to fix my rib, but he felt more strongly that I was experiencing intercostal neuritis, which is much easier to fix.
He gave me a couple of injections, a local antesthetic followed by a steroid. I'm the biggest wuss in the world when it comes to needles (when he picked it up I had to turn to the wall so I wouldn't see it), and was scared to death, but he was so gentle I never felt more than a pin prick. As he left the room, he turned to me and said "Did I hurt you?" almost teasingly, and I realized the satisfaction he receives in being able to inject sensitive areas without causing pain for his patient. Then it hit me, THAT was his "Flow"!
Posted by Anna at 7:43 PM | Comments (0)
March 14, 2006
Now Discover Your Strengths
Have you ever read a book so great you couldn't wait to pass it on, and couldn't bear to part with it either? That describes how I felt about reading "Now Discover Your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton. Designed for managers, but relevant to nearly everyone, this book will take you on an adventure of self-discovery you will not soon forget.
The authors begin by laying the groundwork for focusing on your individual strengths, and managing rather than attempting to fix your weaknesses. Backed with research by the Gallup organization (most popular for the "Gallup Poll") they identify 34 distinct areas of strength, and provide glimpses of each strength using quotes by people identified as top performers in their organizations. Each book contains a one-time use code for an online assessment to identify the readers top five strengths, which can be referenced in the book for more information.
For me the entire process was energizing, not that it's changed who I am as a person, but it's changed how I look at myself. Gallup press has released several "strengths based" books geared for certain professions, I've not read any of them, but I recommend them based on my experience with this book.
Strengthsquest: Discover And Develop Your Strengths In Academics Career And Beyond (for high school and college students)
Living Your Strengths: Discover Your God-Given Talents and Inspire Your Community
Teach with Your Strengths : How Great Teachers Inspire Their Students
Soar with Your Strengths
Posted by Anna at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)
February 5, 2006
Self Discovery
How do you respond to a threatening situation? Which reptilain response is characteristic of your style? Fight, Flight, Freeze, Food or Sex? According to the Assessment in "Who Are You: 101 Ways of Seeing Yourself" by Malcom Godwin my style is "flight". To find yours, answer the following two questions and then look at the key underneath to find your style.
Your attractive companion at a party gets drunk and behaves very embarrassingly to the other guests.
Do you:
1. Become aggresive and force him or her to leave?
2. Quietly withdraw?
3. Get bored and find the buffet?
4. Find you are sexually excited by the wild behavior?
5. Become helplessly embarrassed and do absolutely nothing?
You have been told you have one day left to live.
Do you:
1. Rage against death and try to find a way to avoid it happening?
2. Ignore it all and carry on as if nothing is going to happen?
3. Throw a party and eat the finest meal you can buy?
4. Throw a wild party and make love to as many partners as possible?
5. Sit alone, paralyzed by fear?
KEY: 1 = Fight, 2 = Flight, 3 = Food, 4 = Sex, 5 = Freeze
I really didn't think I was a runner, but after much introspection, I've come to grips with the reality. The epiphany that brought me to terms with this revelation came this afternoon in the memory of a conversation some years ago. A good friend asked me why I always cracked a joke when something made me uncomfortable. It struck me today that using humor to deal with an awkward situation is a form of withdrawing, or, in other words, Flight.
If self-discovery is your thing, this book is full of fun ways of finding you. It's a quick and easy read, but I can't say every assessment makes sense to me, for example, I'm still working on which animal lives in my heart, it's either the dog or the rat.
Posted by Anna at 7:28 PM | Comments (3)
November 21, 2005
Class Action
The back cover of "Class Action" by Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler carries it's classification under "Law/Women's Studies". After reading the book, I think it should have been classified under "Horror". I find myself wondering if the harrassment the women faced at work was worse than the abuse they suffered in the process of litigation.
I lived way too much of my life on or near the "Iron Range", I know of a lot of the places mentioned, and could picture many of them. Although I lived with it, seeing the regressive mindset of the area spelled out in black and white was shocking. The horrible conditions the women of "Jensen v. Eveleth Mines" faced, and their strength in fighting back, in spite of the physical and emotional cost is something every woman should be thankful for. These ladies may very well be the Rosa Parks of working women's rights. Their victory is the victory of all American women.
The recently released film "North Country" is based on this story, and while I plan to see it at some point in time, I find difficult to imagine it will do justice to the material presented in the book.
Posted by Anna at 1:02 PM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2005
The Undercover Economist
This book caught my eye in particular not because it was recommended by the author of "Freakonomics", which I loved, or because it was recommended on "Marginal Revolution", but because of the part of the subtitle which refers to used cars. So eager to read this book was I, I purchased a used "advanced reading copy" prior to publication. Author Tim Harford engages the reader in a fascinating walk through the world of economics in terms even someone with a foggy memory of high-school economics can understand.
However, I disagree with his evaluation of the used car market. My reason for dissent is based on the fact that for the last 14 months I have owned a decent used car, bought at what I feel was a bargain, and I have said on more than one occasion that I would buy my car all over again. This is not the first time I've owned a decent used car, purchased at what I felt was a bargain and that I would have bought all over again. So how did a brilliant economist miss the mark on this one point? In my opinion, he approached the question from a strictly economical standpoint and failed to take into consideration human behavior.
So why CAN you buy a decent used car? I believe there are two conditions which lead to this possibility. The first condition is the number of car "owners" who are not actually owners, but lease their car (or as Dave Ramsey would say "fleece" their car). At the end of the lease their car enters the used car market as a decent used car, and they have soaked up the bulk of the depriciation. The other condition is one in which otherwise intelligent people believe they need to dump a decent car before the end of the warranty period, and purchase a new car (heaven forbid they would inherit someone else's car problems) even though there is nothing serious wrong with the car. To borrow Harfords "peaches" and "lemons" comparison, owners of "peaches" mistakenly believe they are holding a "lemon" to the benefit of smart used car shoppers.
And that is why I was able to buy a 4 year old car with only minor cosmetic defects and under 60,000 miles on it for a bargain basement price.
Posted by Anna at 1:56 PM | Comments (0)
August 28, 2005
Paradox
As I was sitting outside the laundrymat today, reading "Pathologies of Power" by Paul Farmer, another laundry patron tapped at the window to get my attention. The middle aged, fairly non-descript man, a sharp contrast to the normal male clientelle pointed to my book as if to ask what I was reading. I held the book up so he could read the title, he then held up the paperback book he was reading. I didn't recognize the title, but could tell from the picture that it was a frontier-type fictional story. I laughingly waved his book off, and he shrugged his shoulders as if to say "it was worth a try".
Returning to my reading, I thought how different the perspectives of our books, and yet how much they had in common. Mine, a real-life expose of human rights violations due to what the author terms "structural violence", anything other than entertaining, yet none the less gripping. His, a fictionalized account, but no doubt making entertainment of human rights violations carried out by our ancestors against the Native Americans they encountered while expanding their hold on this country. While we all know the feeling of victory that comes with watching the good guy (in the white hat) mercilessly annihilate the "evil" indigenous people, can there be any feeling of victory while reading of Russian prisoners, hoping to be cured of their multi-drug resistant tuberculosis? What about impoverished Hatians, working for anywhere from seven to fifteen cents a day, denied effective treatment for HIV because it is not "cost-effective"? Not likely to become a blockbuster movie, at any rate.
No, thank you, I'm not interested in trading books.
Posted by Anna at 6:08 PM | Comments (0)
August 1, 2005
For Your Own Good
If I used a "star" rating system for my book reviews, this one would have it's own galaxy. I don't remember how this book came to my attention, it could have been referred to by another book I'd read, or just something I came across by accident, but the subtitle is what grabbed me. "Hidden cruelty in child-rearing and the roots of violence". How could I pass that up? I'm glad I didn't.
Human behavior is a fascination of mine, whether I'm reading the news, or "people watching" at the fireworks, I'm always trying to guess at what lies beneath the surface. Most interesting to me is the puzzle of how an innocent baby turns into someone like Adolf Hitler, and this book examines exactly that.
Alice Miller, a psychoanalist and writer, skillfully avoids the "blame the parents" trap while exposing cruelty in child-rearing practices. But even better, she gives answers. What do children need most to become healthy, well-adapted adults? Love. Respect. Read the book.
Posted by Anna at 5:05 AM | Comments (1)
July 19, 2005
Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America
Several years ago I worked for an auction company in Minnesota. Part of my job was helping to empty the house and arrange the property for sale. While we were boxing up a bookshelf some papers and photographs fell out of one of the books, and we gave them to the property owner, an elderly lady. She showed us one of the photographs, and it left an indelible print on my mind.
The photograph was taken following the unjust lynching of three young black men in Duluth, MN. Surrounding the lifeless bodies of the victims were several men, obviously jubilant at being part of the crowd. Since seeing that, my mind has been full of questions, mostly centering around what drives people to commit such horrible acts.
"Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America" is one of those "lest we not forget" moments. The photographs are chilling, the stories behind them, even more so. How "civilized" people can behave so barbarically without the slightest regard for another human being is something I doubt I'll ever be able to wrap my brain around. This book is sure to change the readers view of the world as we know it, it surely did mine.
Posted by Anna at 1:11 PM | Comments (0)
July 1, 2005
The Introvert Advantage
If you ask me on Monday how my weekend was, I'm likely to answer "good". If you ask me what I did, I'm likely to answer "read a book". If you give me an odd expression in return I won't mind. I'm an introvert, and I'm proud of it.
Thanks to this book, given to me by my equally introverted cousin Ruby, I now understand that just because my idea of a good weekend involves a lot of reading interspersed with frequent cat-naps does not mean there is something wrong with me. Author Marti Olsen Laney, Psy.D. has done an exceptional job of exploring the inner workings of the introverted mind, and provides valuable advice on not just surviving in a world of extroverts, but using your strengths as an introvert to thrive. "Innies" and "Outties" alike will gain insights into their own personal energy renewal sources, and perhaps come to a better understanding of one another.
Posted by Anna at 3:09 AM | Comments (5)
Freakonomics
One of my favorite words is "Why". I love to ask questions, even if I don't ask it outloud. What makes this work? What caused that? Why won't that work? Is there someway to make it work better? How can I keep that from happening? What happens if I try this? Every question is an opportunity to learn something I didn't know before. Everything I learn leads to new questions, and better questions.
The opportunity to explore "the hidden side of everything" was irresistable, so I ordered the book "Freakonomics" off my favorite used book site (half.com) and waited impatiently for it to arrive.
Authors Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner tackle a number of seemingly unrelated topics; crack gangs, real estate agents, school teachers, crime rates, and the Ku Klux Klan to name a few. You would expect a book written by an economist to be incredibly dull, but I was fascinated, unable to put it down for the entire five hours it took me to read it. And, of course, it has left me with even more questions!
Posted by Anna at 2:32 AM | Comments (1)