Amen Does It Again!

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life was first published in 1998 and has remained among the top bestsellers. Fast forward 17 years, later, and Daniel G. Amen, MD thoroughly revised his book taking into account new research on the topics of neuroscience and psychology. In addition, unlike in the first edition, Amen shies away from psychiatric medications, which can have a number of bad side effects, choosing instead to "first do no harm and use the least toxic, most effective treatments." Indeed, as the current research shows, people "choose more natural ways to heal and support the brain, such as supplements and lifestyle interventions." The mere fact that the book focuses on natural ways to change your brain is a big step forward from the first edition.

The author does a great job explaining difficult to grasp neuroscience and psychology concepts in plain language easy enough for a layperson to understand. In addition to his explanation, Amen provides countless anecdotes from his practice as a physician to further connect with the reader and make the book fun and interesting to read. Finally, he provides the reader with an action plan to change their brain and their life.

Overall, I found this book to be an extremely interesting read. It's an invaluable resource to anybody looking to improve themselves and those around them.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book through Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Without You There Is No Us

Without You There Is No Us is a memoir by South Korean author Suki Kim that details her job as a Christian missionary teaching English to the sons of North Korean government bigwigs. The account she gives is worthy of praise. Her writing is explosive yet concise.

Suki Kim's memoir definitely connects with the reader. At around 300 pages, the book makes for easy reading, and there's even a reader's guide in the end with questions for discussion in a class or a book club.

The Other Son

The Other Son is the second book in an exciting crime trilogy by Alexander Soderberg. The first book, The Andalucian Friend introduced us to the main character.Sophie Brinkmann, who is a nurse in a Stockholm hospital. Hector Guzman, a Spanish criminal kingpin falls in love with Sophie while recovering from a hit by a rival crime syndicate,

The Other Son takes place after the events of the first novel. The characters are pretty much the same. Sophie is already part of the Guzman crime family. She is now heavily involved in its business dealings. This is a great novel that has all the elements of a great suspense read, such as loyalty and betrayal. Also, while action packed, the story still has great character development. We see the relationship between Sophie and her son as well as Hector Guzman.

I strongly recommend you read the first novel, The Andalucian Friend as it is difficult to grasp the full picture if you just read The Other Son. All in all, it's a great read and I highly recommend it.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Black Earth: A Review

Timothy Snyder gives a fresh account of the Holocaust through the prism of Hitler's worldview. He starts out in the introduction explaining Hitler's reasoning for the extermination of Jews and subsequently creating what he called Lebensraum or "living space" for the Aryan race. Hitler's sick and twisted worldview hinged on science and politics, or rather them being combined into one whole. Hitler viewed science through the prism of politics, and viewed politics through the prism of science. It was precisely this combination of science and politics that fueled Hitler's genocidal quest to dominate the world. According to Snyder, when there is no distinction between science and politics, the state institutions become irrelevant, taking away order, and paving the way for monsters like Hitler to come to power and advance their sick agenda.

Through the prism of Snyder's thesis we can see the motivations of key players during that period. The author masterfully weaves the perspectives of different countries' leaders whether Allied or Axis, and their policies toward Jews. He then explains the reasoning behind their motivations for either collaboration or resistance. Towards the end of the book, Snyder argues that we must not take the lessons of the Holocaust lightly. While we might not see a second Holocaust, the fact that science is dependent on politics is a recipe for disaster whether it is climate change or overpopulation.

Although this book is not dry with historical facts, reading it is hard. It really makes you think about Snyder's point. 

Masterful Account of Brave American in the French Resistance

Alex Kershaw's new book Avenue of Spies tells a little known story about an American named Sumner Jackson who was in Paris when the Nazi army occupied France. To make things even worse, he, his wife, and son lived next door to the Gestapo headquarters. Nevertheless, when Americans were evacuated, he chose to stay in France and help the resistance fight the Nazis as well as save Jews from their ultimate demise.

As it can be inferred from the title, Kershaw's book is a story of espionage. Granted, it has classic elements of a good spy novel, namely loyalty, trust, and betrayal. We see a man devoted to the free world who absolutely would not stand for what Hitler and the Nazis stood for, and who would actually do something about it instead of being an armchair warrior. Sumner Jackson is a true hero worthy of praise.

Avenue of Spies is not a particularly lengthy book. At 230 pages of text, Kershaw definitely gets the job done without boring the reader with unnecessary details.

Patriot by Ted Bell

Ted Bell has written yet another thriller masterpiece, this time more closely resembling current events. In Patriot, we follow the story's protagonist, a MI6 agent Alex Hawke as he investigates the deaths of CIA agents in different parts of the world. Being a smart operative, he links these deaths to a rogue CIA operative who fell out with the Agency and is now on a path of blood. Not only that, but Putin's Russia has set its sights on world domination.

Ted Bell is a master storyteller. Reading this book, I could not help but imagine myself being a part of the story. I could feel the bullets whizzing by, I could feel the wind in my hair during chase scenes, and I could sense the villain's knife slicing into my flesh. Bell's Patriot is what you would expect from a spy thriller novel with loyalty, betrayal, and love all being key elements of the book. I don't think I can compare Alex Hawke to any one hero from other novels, indeed, Patriot has elements of James Bond, Jason Bourne, Jack Ryan, Bob Swagger, and Gabriel Allon combined to form one superspy that we see in Alex Hawke.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

End of Discussion

End of Discussion is a timely book written by conservative bloggers Mary Katharine Ham and Guy Benson. It describes how America has become less free due to the policies of the left. There is a common misconception that conservatives are most commonly found among older people, but as Ham and Benson demonstrate, conservative ideals can appeal to the younger population.

Ham and Benson do a brilliant job of describing how the liberal policies have undermined American freedoms and ideals. For example, we cannot make a certain comment without the left coming at us full force because it deems that comment offensive. Indeed, in the age of social media, speaking the truth can get your life ruined because of the ridiculous non-sequitur beliefs and convictions held by liberals.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Ham and Benson tell the story with bits of humor, while not losing the seriousness of the topic. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is tired of the left's manipulation of American freedoms to suit their agenda, and who truly believes in the America like our Founding Fathers had envisioned.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book through Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.