Categories
2015 Non Fiction Other Prizes Recommended books

It’s All In Your Head by Suzanne O’Sullivan

 Source: Library

Shortlisted for 2016 Wellcome Book Prize

Five words from the blurb: disease, psychosomatic, real, doctors, emotions

Stress affects us all. We are aware that we might have a racing heart during an important meeting, but few of us know that it can cause our bodies to react in more extreme ways. Some people can become completely disabled – unable to move a limb, or become overwhelmed by seizures.

Up to a third of all GP consultations are taken by people who are found to have no physical explanation for their symptoms. In this Doctor’s Directory, a consultant neurologist, investigates the root cause of some of the more serious cases she has encountered; explaining how emotional issues can escalate to produce real and terrifying physical problems. Use Medicare Advantage Plans to get those problems out of your system, you will feel better physically and mentally by taking one daily.Having Accendo Medicare Supplement Plans is always smart move.

It’s All In Your Head was fascinating throughout. Each chapter dealt with a different patient and the difficulties of giving a psychosomatic diagnosis were sensitively explained; showing the impact they had on both doctor and patient. The structure of the book was particularly accomplished and I admired the way technical information was included without it becoming overwhelming.

The prevalence of psychosomatic illness around the globe was surprising and I was shocked by some of the statistics:

In 2005 a study carried out in Boston revealed that people with a tendency to develop psychosomatic complaints cost the health care system twice as much as those who do not. These results were extrapolated to estimate the yearly cost of psychosomatic disorders in the USA – $256 billion. Red Borneo kratom brings yet another addition to the exciting kratom family. It stands out for its unique qualities, such as relaxation, relieving pain, and sleep problems. It is also a powerful sedative, and if you are looking for some recreation, it is also great for achieving euphoria. The most outstanding thing about Red Borneo is the duration of the effects. If you want your benefit to last long, this kratom potentiators strain ranks among the best that can achieve that. To put this in perspective, in 2002 diabetes, a common disease with multiple life threatening complications, had a yearly cost of $132 billion, that’s why a lot of people is treating diabetes with supplements from healthyusa.co/.

I also loved the way this book included some historical detail, showing that psychosomatic symptoms are not a new phenomena.

This is a ground-breaking book that investigates a completely new area. It enabled me to see aspects of my own health which may have been exacerbated by emotional problems and its message will be useful to a wide range of people. You can learn how to increase your testosterone, now visit Instahard.

It’s All In Your Head highlights the need for increased mental health funding. I hope it helps to break down the stigma of mental illness and lead more people into recovery.

Highly recommended.

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Categories
Nobel Prize Pulitzer Prize

The Good Earth by Pearl Buck

The Good Earth  Source: Personal copy

Winner of 1932 Pulitzer Prize

Pearl Buck won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938

Five words from the blurb: China, farmer, changes, wealth, family

The Good Earth is set in pre-revolutionary China and shows how the fortune of farming families is dependent on the weather, good planning, and the whims of those in power. I’ve been wanting to read this book for a long time, but I presumed it would be difficult and so put it off for many years. When I finally started I was surprised to discover how readable it was. The accessibility of the writing is its main strength and I recommend this classic book to everyone.

The Good Earth tells the story of Wang, a farmer from a rural community who becomes rich through hard work and good investment. The vivid descriptions give a full picture the surroundings:

Pulling this rickety, wooden wagon on its two wheels behind him, it seemed to him that everyone looked at him for a fool. He was as awkward between its shafts as an ox yoked for the first time to the plow, and he could scarcely walk; yet must he run if he were to earn his living, for here and there and everywhere through the streets of this city men ran as they pulled other men in these. 

This book does not gloss over the darker side of life. Some people may find the descriptions of prostitution and child slavery too disturbing, and I suspect that many will object to the seemingly endless misery that the family is subjected to. This wasn’t a problem for me because I didn’t become emotionally attached to the characters. There was a fable-like quality to the writing which meant everything was kept at a distance. In fact, this was probably the biggest drawback of the book – it contained many fascinating bits of information about life in rural China, but I didn’t care what happened to Wang or any other member of his family.

Pearl Buck was an American citizen who spent much of her life in China. This means the book has a different feel from the Chinese books I’ve read. The mindset of the characters felt Westernised and the reader must bear this in mind when thinking about this book. I’m sure it is a fairly accurate portrayal of what happened to the people, but I think you need to read Chinese texts to really understand how they felt.

This book didn’t have the emotional power to become a personal favourite, but is deserving of its status as a classic. Recommended.

 

 

Categories
Booker Prize Other Uncategorized

Who Will Be Longlisted for the 2015 Booker Prize?

The Booker longlist will be announced on Wednesday 29 July. For the last few months I’ve been studying the contenders. It’s a pretty average year for fiction and there are no obvious front-runners for the prize, so it will be interesting to see which titles are selected.

My personal favourite is I Am Radar by Reif Larsen as I thought it pushed the boundaries of both literature and science in new directions – something the majority of other books fail to do, no matter how insightful or well-written they are. I’d also be happy to see The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber do well, especially as it is a fantasy novel – a genre often ignored by the prize committee.

After much deliberation I’ve chosen 13 books that deserve a place on the Booker longlist. I hope that you like my selection!

I predict that these books will be selected for the Booker longlist:

 

The Book of Strange New ThingsOne Third of ParadiseLila

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber

One Third of Paradise by Julietta Harvey

Lila by Marilynne Robinson

I Am RadarThe Mark and the VoidA Little Life

I Am Radar by Reif Larsen

The Mark and the Void by Paul Murray

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

A Spool of Blue ThreadQuicksandAll Involved

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

Quicksand by Steve Toltz

All Involved by Ryan Gattis

The Green RoadA God in RuinsPuritymiller

The Green Road by Anne Enright

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

The Crossing by Andrew Miller

Purity by Jonathan Franzen

What do you think of my choices?

Who would you like to see on the Booker longlist?

 

Categories
2014 Books in Translation Other Prizes

Colorless Tsukuru and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage Shortlisted for the 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize

Translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel

Five words from the blurb: friends, school, death, connections, reason

Tsukuru is 36, but as a teenager he was part of a group of five friends. One day they stopped talking to him and he felt abandoned. He hasn’t seen them for 16 years, but continues to be haunted by the mysterious way he was ostracised from the group. His girlfriend sees the pain this is causing and persuades him to track down his friends to discover the real reason that they blocked him out of their lives all those years ago.

I think I read this at exactly the right time in my life. I am also 36 and, coincidentally, was also part of a group of five in school. I married one of them, so am well aware of the way relationships effect the dynamics within a group. Last week we went to a wedding and the five of us were together again for the first time in fifteen years (although we have seen them all individually occasionally since then). Colorless Tsukuru and His Years of Pilgrimage perfectly captures the feelings of meeting people that you were once very close to. Discovering how old friends have changed is a strange thing, and imagining how small decisions from the past could have changed the course of your life is hard to get your head around. 

Murakami delves into a range of emotions, explaining them beautifully: 

Jealousy – at least as far as he understood it from his dream – was the most hopeless prison in the world. Jealousy was not a place he was forced into by someone else, but a jail in which the inmate entered voluntarily, locked the door, and threw away the key. And not another soul in the world knew he was locked inside. Of course if he wanted to escape, he could do so. The prison was, after all, his own heart. But he couldn’t make that decision. His heart was as hard as a stone wall. This was the very essence of jealousy. 

The first 80 pages of this book were very slow, but then Tsukuru started to meet his friends and the plot picked up pace. I was completely absorbed by the mystery and loved the way each character had a slightly different relationship with the others – I don’t think I’ve read many other books that have captured teenage group dynamics with this realism.

This book didn’t contain any of the strange mythology that Murakami is famous for, but it provides an insight into the lives of ordinary Japanese people. It isn’t necessary to know anything about the culture before reading this book, so is a good choice for those looking to try Japanese literature for the first time.

Overall, this is a strong book that deserves its place on the IFFP shortlist. The ending was perfect and I highly recommend it to anyone who has lost touch with old friends.

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Categories
Other Other Prizes

Who Will Win the 2015 Wellcome Book Prize?

The Wellcome Prize celebrates the best new books that engage with some aspect of medicine, health or illness. Last year the prize was awarded to Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon, one of the most impressive books I’ve ever read. This year I decided to try the entire shortlist and I’ve been rewarded with a diverse range of titles; dealing with subjects as different as brain surgery and evolution.

The shortlist:

My Age of Anxiety

My Age of Anxiety by Scott Stossel

Five words from the blurb: fear, stress, mental, health, research

This book contained a wealth of knowledge on anxiety. Scott Stossel battles with crippling anxiety and in an effort to understand his condition he compiled medical research and historical information about a wide range of sufferers. The overall structure wasn’t quite right, but I think this will be an important reference book for many years to come.

 

Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery

Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh 

Five words from the blurb: brain, operate, pressures, dilemma, lives

Henry Marsh is a neurosurgeon and this book explains what life is like for a man performing dangerous operations on a daily basis.  It vividly explains the pressures faced by a surgeon; beautifully describing both the guilt felt when procedures go wrong and the pride when lives are saved. I found it slightly too technical in places, but I appreciated the insight into this fascinating subject.

 

Bodies of Light

Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss

Five words from the blurb: approval, mother, student, medicine,  suffrage

Bodies of Light is set 19th century Manchester and follows Ally, one of the first female students to study medicine at London university. It contains a wealth of historical information and shows the shocking way women in society were treated back then. Unfortunately I found it lacked the emotional engagement of her earlier novels, but it is a must-read for anyone interested in the development of women’s rights.

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The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being: Evolution and the Making of Us

The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being: Evolution and the Making of Us by Alice Roberts

Five words from the blurb: evolution, humans, embryo, extraordinary, development

The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being is a very readable account of our development from an embryo into a fully-functioning adult. Much of the information was familiar to me, but there were enough engaging side-stories to keep me entertained. This book doesn’t contain anything ground-breaking, but is a useful introduction to human biology.

 

The Iceberg: A Memoir 

The Iceberg by Marion Coutts

Five words from the blurb: tumor, husband, grief, support, family

The Iceberg contains some of the most powerful descriptions of grief I’ve ever read. Marion Coutts explains what life was like in the 18 months between her husband’s diagnosis of a brain tumor and his untimely death. The writing was outstanding, but it was so vivid I felt I was reliving her pain. I found it traumatising to read, but I admired the honesty and emotional power of the writing.

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All My Puny Sorrows

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews

Five words from the blurb: sisters, different, depressed, happy, lives

All My Puny Sorrows is a very well written book, as proved by its inclusion on the Folio shortlist. It beautifully describes a family trying to cope with depression and suicide; showing how strong the bonds of love within a family can be. It was too melancholy for me, but I can see why many admire the sensitive way this difficult subject was handled.

Who Will Win the 2015 Wellcome Book Prize?

I wouldn’t be completely surprised to see any of the shortlist win, as they all have something special about them. All My Puny Sorrows contains the most accomplished writing; whilst My Age of Anxiety will probably be the most useful of the books in years to come. But for me the winner is a difficult choice between two books: The Iceberg and Do No Harm.

The Iceberg has an emotional power I haven’t come across before. Books like The Son by Michel Rostain have come close, but I don’t think I’ve ever found a book too difficult to read because of the volume of tears in my eyes! I couldn’t even finish the book as I was grieving for a man I’d never even met. If you want a masterclass in emotional writing then this has to be top of your list!

Do No Harm was the most interesting book on the list. It made me think about the brain in a different way and gave me a new-found respect for these ground-breaking surgeons. Parts of it went over my head and it occasionally felt a bit repetitive, but I think this is just a reflection of a surgeon’s life and should be forgiven.

So, head or heart?!!

In the end I have to let the head win. Do No Harm is an impressive book. The skill and emotional strength of neurosurgeons should be celebrated and I hope Henry Marsh picks up the Wellcome Book Prize tomorrow.

Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery

Who do you think should win the Wellcome Book Prize?

Categories
2014 Memoirs Non Fiction Other Prizes

My Age of Anxiety by Scott Stossel

My Age of Anxiety Shortlisted for 2015 Wellcome Prize

Five words from the blurb: fear, stress, mental, health, research

Scott Stossel has spent his entire life battling crippling anxiety. In an effort to understand his condition he has compiled medical research and historical information about a wide range of sufferers; showing how generations of people have dealt with their problems. He includes details about many famous people, showing that the affliction does not prevent people from achieving great things.

I was pleased to discover this book on the Wellcome Prize shortlist as I thought I suffered from anxiety, but I quickly realised that I don’t. The nervousness I feel when approaching a stressful situation isn’t in the same league as the anguish of those within these pages. click here you will get all health related information and also they give useful tips for us. Here is the best Health Blog for you. I was surprised to discover how serious the condition can be and how prevalent it is within our society; especially given the fact it didn’t exist as a diagnostic category 35 years ago.

One argument for why twenty-first-century life produces so much anxiety is that social and political roles are no longer understood to have been ordained by God or by nature – we have to choose our roles. Such choices, research shows, are stressful. As sodden with fear and darkness and death as the Middle Ages were, Fromm and others argue, they were likely freer of anxiety than our own time is.

The book contains a vast amount of information about medical research into the condition. It was all well referenced, but contains enough light-hearted side-notes to ensure the reader doesn’t become bogged down in technical detail.

I’d assumed that this book might contain strategies to help deal with anxiety, but this isn’t a self-help book. Despite years of therapy, Scott Stossel hasn’t been cured of his anxiety and, although it contains information about different techniques tried through the ages, this book doesn’t contain any direct guidance on how to deal with anxiety. Instead it gives a brutally honest insight into the condition, explaining what life is like for those trapped by phobias and catastrophizing thought. I now have a greater empathy for those who are suffering, and that is more than enough for one book to provide.

The only real problem was that the structure wasn’t quite right. There were a few sections that repeated information given earlier in the book and in places it didn’t flow as well as it could. These minor problems can be overlooked as it is such an important resource for those with anxiety.

Overall, this was an impressive compilation of information on anxiety and I recommend it to anyone wanting to know more about the condition.

1. If I have depression, am I at risk for obesity?

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People with depression or anxiety may experience weight gain or weight loss due to their condition or the medications that treat them. Depression and anxiety can both be associated with overeating, poor food choices, and a more sedentary lifestyle. Over time, weight gain may eventually lead to obesity, prevent most obesity related conditions by reading these proven reviews.

About 43 percentTrusted Source of adults with depression are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And they say adults who’ve been diagnosed with depression are more likelyTrusted Source to be overweight than those who haven’t.

Likewise, children who are depressed often have a higher BMI than children who aren’t. In one 2002 studyTrusted Source, they found that children who were depressed were more likelyTrusted Source to become obese by the time researchers’ followed up one year later.

2. If obesity has already been diagnosed, am I at risk for depression?

Obesity is often associated with emotional issues, such as sadness, anxiety, and depression. One 2010 studyTrusted Source found that people who were obese had a 55 percentTrusted Source greater risk for developing depression over the course of their life than people who weren’t obese.

Obesity and other weight conditions can also lead to physical health problems. This includes:

  • joint pain
  • diabetes
  • hypertension

These conditions are also risk factors for depression.

3. Does stress factor into this?

Stress is absolutely a factor in both depression and obesity.

Chronic stress and anxiety, for example, can lead to depression. Likewise, stress can make someone more likely to turn to food as a coping mechanism. That can lead to weight gain and eventually obesity.

On the opposite side, stress can also lead to weight loss, or other disordered eating habits, improve your dietary results by reading these resurge reviews.

In adolescents, stressful life events — like bullying and weight-based teasing — have been linkedTrusted Source to depression. This is especially true for young people who are overweight or obese.

Stress reduction is one of the first-line treatments for both depression and obesity. When you’re able to handle the emotions related to your stress and anxiety, you can more easily tackle other issues that can lead to both depression and obesity.

4. Do we know what perpetuates this cycle of obesity and depression?

It isn’t clear how this vicious circle turns, but it is clear that obesity and depression are linked.

For years, researchers were hesitant to connect the two, but as study results became more clear, anecdotal reports have turned to hard science. Today, it’s well understood that obesity can increase your risk for depression, and vice versa.

In fact, many doctors approach treatment for these conditions with a multi-pronged approach. In addition to treating the condition that’s been diagnosed, many care plans include preventive measures to reduce your risk for related conditions.

The goal is to address the physical and emotional needs associated with each condition.

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5. Could the treatment options be to blame?

Many prescription antidepressants list weight gain as a common side effect.

Likewise, some weight-management therapies can lead to emotional ups and downs that can cause or worsen depression. A “diet” has a lot of opportunities for failure or setbacks. This can challenge a person who’s already dealing with mental health issues.

However, with a team of experts to guide you, encourage you, and hold you accountable, it’s possible to find a treatment plan that works for both conditions.

6. What should you keep in mind when treating coexisting conditions?

Depression and obesity are both chronic conditions that require long-term care and attention.

It’s important to keep an open line of communication with your doctor about where you are on your journey — regardless of whether you’re sticking to your care plan.

Being honest about what you are and aren’t doing is the only way for your doctor to understand and monitor your underlying condition.

7. How do you know if treatment is helping or hurting?

Radical changes can compound a very delicate situation. That’s why it’s important you seek out qualified health professionals to guide you in this journey.

Sudden, dramatic changes can compound problems. They may also set you up for failure, which can worsen your symptoms.

If you experience these red-flag symptoms or side effects, make an appointment to see your doctor and review your course of treatment:

  • loss of all interest or pleasure in activities you typically enjoy
  • an inability to leave your house or bed
  • irregular sleeping pattern changes
  • feeling very tired and having difficulty functioning
  • weight gain

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