There were some helpful tips in this book, but overall I felt this philosophy was putting the cart before the horse. The message came across as, "You There were some helpful tips in this book, but overall I felt this philosophy was putting the cart before the horse. The message came across as, "You feel depressed because you think depressive thoughts." It was sort of invalidating, implying, "You caused your depression and did this to yourself by thinking negatively." Also, many of the tactics revolved around combating depressive thoughts such as, "I am going to feel this way forever." But I don't think that way, and so all the suggestions for countering those thoughts were not of use to me. I feel my depression is mostly due to chemical imbalances in the brain causing depressed mood, anhedonia, and fatigue, but I don't think that I will feel this way forever and that there is no help. But again, there were some useful tactics in this book, and there are probably many people for whom it is a better fit....more
Loved it! Some of the drawings are incredible. They are made to be colored in if you'd like, and all the pages are perforated. There are a lot of inspLoved it! Some of the drawings are incredible. They are made to be colored in if you'd like, and all the pages are perforated. There are a lot of inspirational snippets here, plus Lawson's hilarious writing. This was exactly what I needed in my life right now....more
I found this book to be incredibly interesting. I enjoyed learning about HeLa cells - what makes them so unique, as well as all the scientific discoveI found this book to be incredibly interesting. I enjoyed learning about HeLa cells - what makes them so unique, as well as all the scientific discoveries and medical advances that came around in part because of them. Learning about Henrietta and her family really lent to the human interest part of the story.
The book talks about the history of informed consent and ethics in research with human subjects. It was crazy to hear about some of the research done before there were federal laws and IRBs to protect people, like the physician who injected live cancer cells into people without telling them what it was (including cancer patients, prison inmates, and anyone who has gynecological surgery done at Sloan Kettering)!
The second part of the book deals more with Henrietta’s children and grandchildren learning that her cells were still alive in massive quantities 20+ years after her death, and being used in all sorts of research. Her children did not have many opportunities for education, and their health literacy was pretty much zilch. So when they learned that half of HeLa’s DNA was combined with half plant DNA to make a hybrid cell, they believed there was a creature in a lab that was half plant and half their mother. When a scientist in London used HeLa in his cloning research, her family legit believed there were clones of their mother living in London. Even years later, when other medical professionals asked to draw the family members’ blood, the consent was not at all informed - they thought their blood was being tested to see if they had the same cancer that killed their mother, and had no idea their DNA was being used for research.
Then there’s the question of who “owns” and has rights in regards to tissue taken from patients (in Henrietta’s case, without her knowledge). All of the HeLa cells that have existed since they were taken from Henrietta’s cervix in 1951 would probably add up to weigh more than 50 million metric tons, according to one scientist’s estimate made 10 years ago when this book was published. HeLa cells are still sold, often at prices of $100-300 per vial at the time of publication. So how fair is it that Henrietta Lacks’s children and grandchildren can’t afford even health insurance?
And there is a brief foray looking into the horrible things that likely happened to Henrietta’s eldest daughter at an institution for “the negro insane”. I don’t recall the second experiment they said she was likely subjected to her before her death there at the age of 15, but learning about the pneumoencephalographs they performed on residents was bad enough.
A very interesting read, with some really interesting facts reported in the Afterword as far as what rights people have over their own tissues today. Since the book is now 10 years old, I do wonder if anything has changed since then, and plan on looking into it myself....more
A personal account full of tons of fascinating information that makes you rethink important issues, all delivered in an entertaining package.
The authoA personal account full of tons of fascinating information that makes you rethink important issues, all delivered in an entertaining package.
The author took a microdose of LSD every three days for thirty days and writes about her experience. The goal of the microdosing protocol was to improve her mood - to treat her depression and anxiety, increase productivity and sense of well-being. Not only was it interesting to read about the effect this had on Waldman's mood, it was nice to recognize so much of myself in the personal anecdotes of her life and relationships. Plus, she's pretty hilarious!
More than that, though, this book taught me so much about the War on Drugs and the need for drug policy reform. There are promising indications that a single dose of a psychedelic may help successfully treat depression and anxiety in the terminally ill, as MDMA may do for PTSD. And yet these drugs have been criminalized despite being less harmful than, for instance, alcohol and nicotine, or even the SSRIs and benzodiazepines routinely prescribed for these conditions.
If that sounds at all like something that strikes your fancy, please give this a read!...more
With each chapter, Jahren alternates between lessons in geobiology and accounts of her own life as a research scientist. She attempts to draw parallelWith each chapter, Jahren alternates between lessons in geobiology and accounts of her own life as a research scientist. She attempts to draw parallels as well as point out impactful differences between our own lives and those of plants. In the meantime, she touches on the difficulties of being a woman in a male-dominated field, and the uncertainty of obtaining grant money to keep your research going.
Still, I couldn't help but find it all a bit boring.
By far the most entertaining part of this book, in my opinion, was the dynamic between Hope and Bill. Their relationship was really very heartwarming to me.
Beyond that I'm afraid this book, albeit well-written, just didn't do much for me....more
The subject matter of this book is utterly fascinating, albeit at times also the stuff of nightmares.
McAuliffe broaches many subjects dealing with parThe subject matter of this book is utterly fascinating, albeit at times also the stuff of nightmares.
McAuliffe broaches many subjects dealing with parasites, describing scientific experiments performed for each issue and their results. She begins with the smallest parasites, like viruses and fungi, that make their hosts out of insects and small animals. In time she moves on to those that affect humans directly, like the toxoplasma that, once a person has been exposed, hunker down in our brain cells for the rest of our lives. Conventional medical wisdom has assured us that this latent infection has no effect on the people it calls home, but theories now abound about how that might not be as true as we once thought (people with toxo are significantly more likely to be involved in traffic accidents). McAuliffe goes on to discuss the ways certain human behaviors may have evolved to lower our chances of exposure to infection.
Some of the tidbits I found most interesting: how parasites might play a hand in certain human mental illnesses, and thus provide a potential route for new treatment options; the fact that the males of species that are anatomically capable of licking their own penises after sex are much less prone to STDs (so sorry, human men!); rabies was likely the initial inspiration for vampire stories; eating clay is an accepted treatment for nausea in many parts of the world, animal kingdom included, and so perhaps the pregnant women we've been diagnosing with pica actually just know what they're doing; seeing something "gross" actually increases the white blood cell count in your bloodstream by up to 24%; and that how religious a certain society is directly correlates to how close they are to a "parasitic hot zone" - in other words, how likely you are to be exposed to infectious agents where you live may predict how religious you are.
Many interesting hypotheses are put forth in this book, along with the results of trials that have been to test them, with the caveat always clearly expressed when it's still a work in progress. If you can stomach reading about wasps performing lobotomies on cockroaches before moving on in later chapters to how human behaviors evolved to avoid infection may actually have a hand in our political views, then I recommend giving this book a read....more
As the blurb says, this book examines the question of what makes life worth living, even in the face of death. Dr. Paul Kalanithi wrote it in between As the blurb says, this book examines the question of what makes life worth living, even in the face of death. Dr. Paul Kalanithi wrote it in between his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer at 36 years of age and his death less than 2 years later. It's a moving story about an individual, but also eloquently addresses a matter of undeniable importance to us all.
Kalanithi spends the first half of the book describing his path to becoming a neurosurgeon and neuroscientist, as well as what drove him to start on such a trajectory. There are plenty of interesting anecdotes here that shine some light on what it's like to be a med student and then a neurosurgery resident. Mixed in with those are Kalanithi's feelings about how literature, another of his loves, reflects that which we feel makes life meaningful, while science helps explain the physiology behind it all. He seeks the crossroads where the brain and the mind, life and death, all intersect.
The second half of the book tells us about how Kalanithi dealt with learning of his diagnosis. Having met patients at similar points in their lives and helping them traverse the unnerving landscape, he is surprised to discover that it's still completely unrecognizable to him once it has become personal. What do you do with yourself after receiving that kind of news?
Having also obtained an M.A. in English Literature, Kalanithi has a talent with words as well as with surgical tools. His book is well written, as engaging as it is touching. Some of my favorite parts are as follows:
"I began to realize that coming in such close contact with my mortality had changed both nothing and everything. Before my cancer was diagnosed, I knew that someday I would die, but I didn't know when. After the diagnosis, I knew that someday I would die, but I didn't know when. But now I knew it acutely. The problem wasn't really a scientific one. The fact of death is unsettling. Yet there is no other way to live."
"That morning I made a decision: I would push myself to return to the OR. Why? Because I could. Because that's who I was. Because I would have to learn to live in a different way, seeing death as an imposing itinerant visitor but knowing that even if I'm dying, until I actually die, I am still living."
"The tricky part of illness is that, as you go through it, your values are constantly changing. You try to figure out what matters to you, and then you keep figuring it out...Death may be a one-time event, but living with terminal illness is a process."
"Grand illnesses are supposed to be life-clarifying. Instead, I knew I was going to die-but I'd known that before. My state of knowledge was the same, but my ability to make lunch plans had been shot to hell. The way forward would seem obvious, if only I know how many months or years I had left. Tell me three months, I'd spend time with my family. Tell me one year, I'd write a book. Give me ten years, I'd get back to treating disease. The truth that you live one day at a time didn't help: What was I supposed to do with that day?"
And then, before his wife's moving epilogue written after Kalanithi's death in March of 2015, the last of his own words in this book are a message to his baby daughter, a plea:
"There is perhaps only one thing to say to this infant, who is all future, overlapping briefly with me, whose life, barring the improbable, is all but past.
The message is simple:
When you come to one of the many moments in life where you must give an account of yourself, provide a ledger of what you have been, and done, and meant to the world, do not, I pray, discount that you filled a dying man's days with a sated joy, a joy unknown to me in all my prior years, a joy that does not hunger for more and more but rests, satisfied. In this time, right now, that is an enormous thing."...more
Jenny Lawson is hilarious, even when writing about horrible things.
Lawson acknowledges the dark moments in the lives of those with mental illness, butJenny Lawson is hilarious, even when writing about horrible things.
Lawson acknowledges the dark moments in the lives of those with mental illness, but stresses the importance of recognizing that those moments never last forever. You will feel better again, and when you do, she urges you to make up for time lost by making sure your good days are damn good. This is what being Furiously Happy is all about.
And while receiving such sound advice, you'll likely also find yourself laughing out loud when reading the stories in this book. I know I did on more than a few occasions. Funny stuff! Never before have I found myself this (or at all) amused by taxidermy.
I will definitely be checking out Lawson's previous book and following her blog. Consider me a fan....more
I don't usually do audiobooks, but I've started downloading some in anticipation of the need to rest my eyes soon after having LASIK performed. This wI don't usually do audiobooks, but I've started downloading some in anticipation of the need to rest my eyes soon after having LASIK performed. This was my first foray. I feel like, for some reason, I personally just would have enjoyed it more reading it rather than listening, but still it was pretty funny and I had some laugh-out-loud moments. ...more
This book was actually my first official introduction to Felicia Day, and I am very glad I finally got around to getting to know her!
My husband and I This book was actually my first official introduction to Felicia Day, and I am very glad I finally got around to getting to know her!
My husband and I are both gamers (although my preference is adventure PC games and some RPG console games - never actually played an MMORPG). I remember my husband telling me about Felicia a couple of years ago, saying I would like her. I agreed, she sounded like someone of interest, but never got around to actually watching anything of hers. More recently, I was "chatting" via Twitter with one of the writers for a favorite TV show of mine, and he also suggested I check out Felicia and her work. Once more, I agreed she sounded great.
Finally, it was Goodreads that gave me the final push I needed. I was looking at reviews of a book I was thinking of reading, and Felicia's review was one of the first listed. I was excited to learn she was also an avid reader! Another check in the awesome category. Clicking on her profile led to discover the book club Vaginal Fantasy, and also Felicia's own book.
This was a fun read. Day's writing is always amusing, and I admit I actually had tears rolling down my cheeks a couple of times - about the violin teacher from the "a little abuse very good" Soviet school of thought, and when her words weren't sinking in past the math professor's ear pelt :)
Further into the book, things get more serious. I have to say I was not comforted at the end of the chapters about online bullying, a HUGE problem today. She highlights the problem, but unfortunately doesn't have a solution to offer, which just left me feeling uneasy. Which of course is not a criticism of her writing or anything, it's just a fact that this is a problem and we are in great need of finding a way to address it that might actually make a difference.
I enjoyed this book also because I saw a lot of myself in there, which I think is kind of the point. I was a violinist in school, love to read and play video games. Day's story is also inspirational, as a testament to how it's possible to achieve success doing something you love even if the road there is a bumpy one.
And yes, after reading this book, I have finally actually started watching The Guild :) ...more
I have a degree in anthropology, I work in healthcare as an RN in a NICU, and have considered going There was so much about this book for me to love!
I have a degree in anthropology, I work in healthcare as an RN in a NICU, and have considered going on to become a midwife at some point. In Monique and the Mango Rains we get a glimpse of village life in Mali, the work of a midwife facing a statistic of women having a 1 in 12 chance of dying in pregnancy and childbirth, and her endeavors as the village's only healthcare worker to educate and promote community health in a way that was feasible for villagers restricted by finances and cultural norms.
This memoir of a Peace Corps volunteer who worked with Monique from 1989-1991 was a very interesting read. Kris Holloway and Monique Dembele developed a heartwarming friendship over the course of their time together. Thus, we get an account not only of the projects done to help the village, but also of village life from the standpoint of one of their own. As a friend, Kris learned not only about Monique's work, but also the state of her marriage, the family ties and societal norms that bound her, and where her heart truly lay. Above everything else, Monique was dedicated to her children and to teaching others to take better care of themselves and their own children.
The friendship between these two women (and also John Bidwell, the author's husband who she met when he was also a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali) lasted beyond the two year assignment. While reading this book, I felt like Monique was MY friend, and I miss her.
Proceeds from this book go to help a health clinic founded in Monique's honor, and also for the education of children in the area. ...more
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