The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life by Chris Guillebeau

The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life by Chris Guillebeau
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I was really hoping to learn something new about happiness from this book. That definitely did not happen. This book could easily have been understood just by reading the first appendix. In the first chapter, he decides to define what a quest is. I didn't agree with his findings. According to the author, worthy personal pursuits like losing weight, getting fit, or quitting smoking are not lifelong focus types of activities. Suffice it to say we didn't get off on the right foot with this book.

Further reading resulted in long explanations of goal setting and alternate statements of Just Do It. Anyone who has had a big dream will know immediately what he is talking about. The anecdotes were disappointing in some respects. He justifies their pursuit of a quest over other life values, like friends and family.

Overall, this is a book I should have skipped reading.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

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The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life by Francine Jay

The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life by Francine Jay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have read many books on de-cluttering and organizing and getting rid of stuff. This book had some very good insights into why we hold on to things and how to let them go. Some of this was about me being ready to hear the message, and some of it was the way the author explained the reasons for letting go of things. My closet is only half full now, and it is a little closet. It is not a walk-in or a double door kind of thing. I realized when I read the book that I wasn't wearing most of the clothes and some of the clothes I was only wearing because it fit. I didn't like it anymore. I realized that I didn't have to keep anything I don't like. Even if I spent good money on it, even if it was a gift. Someone else might really like it and use it, instead of it sitting in my closet year after year. I would have given the book 5 stars, but the last couple of chapters got a bit preachy about researching purchases even the small ones. After all the talk about minimizing stuff and minimizing what we commit our time to, the author wants to add a bunch of to-dos to our list. No thanks.

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Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Many of the ideas were not new to me, but much of the book was thought provoking and changed my mind about what being minimalist is and choosing what is essential.

Only in the here and now are you able to execute. We spend so much time planning for the future or thinking about our past that we fail to execute what is essential in the moment.

This book details how to change your thinking so that you can reduce your activity to what is essential for your goals, your life, and your stuff. Learning to say no. Getting enough sleep. Figuring out what to de-clutter. My favorite question in this book - If you didn't already own it, would you buy it now? I got rid of so many things in my house asking this one question. Things I had been holding on to for years. Things I don't like or use, but I kept because I had spent good money on them.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

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Think Like a Freak by Steven D. Levitt

Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain by Steven D. Levitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

None of the ideas to "think like a freak" are really new. Coming at problems or questions from a different angle. Approaching an issue with fresh eyes (like a child). The book is told in such an interesting way that it is still a very enjoyable book. From my personal experience, an education or experience in a line of work that involves routine problem solving (science, engineering, programming, etc.) would expose you to these concepts.

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City at the End of Time by Greg Bear

City at the End of Time by Greg Bear
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So confusing. What was this story about? I couldn't put it down; I had to finish it. The character development was okay. It focused on some characters, but sort of glossed over some of the main characters. Can you even say this story had main characters? It's about beginnings and endings and gods and chaos and nothing and everything. It's a weird story.

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Fat Chance by Robert H. Lustig

Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease by Robert H. Lustig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"A calorie is not a calorie." I have seen some evidence of this personally. When I eat sugar, I gain weight faster. Some of this information was new to me. I especially liked the detailed descriptions of how our bodies process food. Some parts of the book seemed distorted, like he was playing with numbers to get you to believe his point of view. I still prefer a whole foods approach, still has less sugar, but you evaluate your food based on nutrient density rather than sugar and fiber content. I do agree that sugar at the levels most Americans eat it is toxic and that needs to change.

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Superparenting for ADD by Edward M. Hallowell

Superparenting for ADD: An Innovative Approach to Raising Your Distracted Child by Edward M. Hallowell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great book for focusing on the strengths of a child who has ADD. After being constantly told about what my daughter could not do and would always have problems doing, this book calmed my fears. School will always be a struggle in a traditional classroom, but my daughter doesn't learn everything at school. Later in life, there are plenty of jobs that actually use the strengths that a lot of people with ADD have.

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The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is another one of those books that really changes the way I see myself. My day to day actions may not be the conscious decisions I thought they were. It is too hard for our brains to evaluate every situation in our lives and make decisions, so our brains learn routines - habits that help us make it through the day. Some habits we cultivate, like exercise, because they are good for us, and some we just can't seem to stop. This book helped me see my habits in a different way. I am hoping that I change some of the habits that I really don't like.

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