The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture

The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Mate and Daniel Mate // 576 pgs

⭐⭐⭐⭐

In this revolutionary book, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health?

Over four decades of clinical experience, Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “normal” as false, neglecting the roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance. Now Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society—and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing. Co-written with his son Daniel, The Myth of Normal is Maté’s most ambitious and urgent book yet.

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I listened to this via audiobook and enjoyed it a lot! I loved the introspective nature of it. There's a lot to this and while it was a joy to listen to, I wish I had a physical copy. It's one of the very few books that I think I'd enjoy annotating, and regret not taking any notes to refer back to later. I don't think it's necessarily groundbreaking, but the way Mate weaved his thoughts together was highly engaging.

Cat Body Language: 100 Ways to Read Their Signals by Trevor Warner

 Cat Body Language: 100 Ways to Read Their Signals by Trevor Warner, 208 pages

This book is a sort of beginner's primer on life as a feline servant.  It wasn't the sort of information I was looking for, but would be a nice starting point for newbies. The pictures are cute, though. 

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

320 pages

★★★★★

The psychology and sociology behind past and current cults are revealed in the power of language by Amanda Montell in this collection of nonfiction essays. The way Montell addresses the fact that many things found “normal” in modern day society use language to control people and can be considered a cult by this standard was extremely interesting. Things such as SoulCycle, MLMs, social media influencers, QAnon, etc. all use language to manipulate the everyday person into following them blindly and wholeheartedly with nothing but the power of words, just as Jonestown, the Manson family, and Scientology have. 

This was eye opening and gripping from start to finish, not using words or ideas that are too technical for the average reader, who are the ones who need to learn this information the most.

Motive by Jonathan Kellerman

Motive by Jonathan Kellerman - 352 pages
Book 30 in the Alex Delaware series

The latest entry in the series follows the standard format.  Detective Milo Sturgis is stumped by an unusual homicide case so he calls in consulting help from his friend psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware.  This series has been going on so long that it has begun to read like an episode of Law & Order meets Castle.  The police procedural aspects are interesting as they investigate mysterious stabbing deaths with ritualistic elements but the character development is pretty much non-existent.  I really wish the books would follow some of these cases to trial to see how they would justify Delaware's participation in the investigation, much like I'd like to see that done on Castle.

I am starting to wonder if Delaware has totally given up on his regular psychology practice as it is never mentioned in the course of the entire book.  He is able to drop everything to help Sturgis whenever needed.  Delaware's girlfriend Robin still is pretty pointless and just serves as a means of exposition and brief interlude before Delaware is back to the crime scene.  The cases are intriguing enough for me to keep reading this series but I really wish the characters were seemed to be progressing towards something besides just more of the same.

What Should We Be Worried About? by John Brockman

What Should We Be Worried About?  by John Brockman  
published in 2014   478 pages
John Brockman is the publisher of  the website Edge.org and has compiled 150 essays by some of the smartest people in the world. These essays are about what worries scientists the most.

Is it the idea that with 3D games becoming more and more real, will young people have trouble telling if game reality is the real reality?
When, not if, machines become smarter than humanity who will serve whom?
With technology responding faster and faster, will we lose the capacity for patience?
Civilization as we know it depends on people to maintain it. With the population shrinking, will civilization implode?

Of these 150 worries, most will never happen. But which of these worries will be the ones that do happen?
A fun book that raises interesting questions.

Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl, 184 pages

I have heard this called one of the most important/moving/influential/inspiring books ever written, and I have to agree.  Viktor Frankl survived the concentration camps, and wrote this memoir/explanation of logotherapy to reflect on the idea of survival, finding purpose, and allowing life's meaning to find you.  It's hard to sum up, but this is a really good book for personal reflection and development.  It's self-help, but without the feeling that the author is trying to sell you a product or develop their brand.

Say You're Sorry by Michael Robotham

Say You're Sorry by Michael Robotham, 433 pages
Joe O'Loughlin series book 7

The Oxford police ask psychologist Joe O'Loughlin for help in profiling a murder suspect.  Joe gets more than he bargains for when the murder becomes connected to a larger case involving missing children who have been lost for years.  The narrative alternates between Joe working with the police and the journal entries of one of the missing girls.  The suspense builds slowly as more facts are revealed.  The plot brought to mind for me some elements of the Shawn Hornbeck kidnapping which made it seem more believable.

Shatter by Michael Robotham

Shatter by Michael Robotham - 496 pages

Psychologist Joe O'Loughlin is transitioning his life from having a practice to teaching seminars at the local college.  A twist of fate draws Joe into assisting the police in trying to talk down a female jumper from a local bridge.  Joe isn't able to save her and is haunted by wondering if he could have done anything different.  The jumper's teenage daughter finds Joe and demands answers since her mother wasn't suicidal in the least.  Joe's quest for the truth unravels a criminal mastermind's plot to dominate victims by preying on their deepest fears.  This very suspenseful book shares elements with the new movie Compliance that lead you to wondering how far would you go based on what you are being told by a voice on the phone.

Suspect by Michael Robotham

Suspect by Michael Robotham - 368 pages

Kudos to Robotham's publisher for their strong cover art.  So many books' covers are so bland that you just walk on by but this one makes you stop to pick it up.

London psychologist Joseph O'Loughlin seems to be living the perfect life with a rewarding job and a great family.  But behind this facade lies a wealth of secrets. Joe's life was shattered by a Parkinson's diagnosis that he is hiding from his family.  When he is asked to consult on the stabbing death of a young girl, Joe's perfect life starts to unravel.  He is forced to re-examine his life choices and to truly understand how far he would go to save his family from threats from within and from outside. 

This is the first book in a series that I accidentally started on the third book so some of the suspense was lost on me since I knew the status of the characters in book three.  But this is a strong psychological thriller that harkens back to the classic Primal Fear. 

Bleed for Me by Michael Robotham

Bleed for Me by Michael Robotham - 432 pages

I picked up this book solely based on cover art and title alone so bravo to the book publisher!  Unfortunately I didn't realize this is the author's third book in his Joseph O'Loughlin series because it isn't noted anywhere on the book jacket or the description inside.  The mystery is resolved within this book but it did feel a little like I entered the characters' lives mid stream which makes sense when accidentally entering a series at book three. 

Joe O'Loughlin is a former practicing psychologist who is trying to adjust to a new life separated from his wife and children along with no longer seeing patients.  Joe is afflicted with Parkinson's disease which makes for awkward social interactions and frustrations over lack of mobility.  Joe is drawn back into the darker side of the human mind when his teenage daughter's best friend, Sienna, shows up on his former doorstep covered in blood and runs into the woods.  The mystery of what happened to Sienna is far reaching and takes Joe from hospitals, to jail, and to the halls of power.  Child predators and anti-immigration protestors are just a few of the forces at play.  The characters are very modern and real and the plot could be taken from a current newspaper.  As soon as I finished this book, I went and picked up the first two to fill in Joe's backstory.     

"Are You There ALone?"The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates

"Are You There Alone?" The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates by Suzanne O'Malley, 279 pages.  I don't usually read true crime stories but I do read a lot of biographies.  I choose to read this book recently when I read in the news that Andrea Yates had requested the right to attend church.  I remembered her crime had something to do with her religious beliefs and that the crimes happened right before 9/11.  I was interested in discovering if there was more behind her awful crime.  There was some interesting background on how she and her husband had met and their decision to live in a bus temporarily and home school their children.  The book dove into her psychological background, her commitments to mental institutions, and her depression and medications, and how a month before she drowned her children she had actually filled a bathtub also with a similar intent.  Although her crime is unspeakable, the book gave background to what may have driven her to such a tragic crime. Her words echoed throughout the book she was not a good mother and she had damaged her children and she was told by Satan to kill them.  A very, very sad tale.                                      

Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain --- 333 pages

A fascinating discussion of the way contemporary society undervalues the gifts and strengths that introverts bring to the table. Cain talks about the contributions of quiet people like Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, Vincent Van Gogh and Steve Wozniak. She traces the shift in emphasis from the "culture of virtue" to the "culture of personality" that has occurred over the last century.

Cain looks at how overemphasis on collaboration and working in groups, starting early on in our schooling and continuing in the workplace and in our social activities, can actually hinder creativity and thinking outside the box. She summarizes research on personality, on brain structure and physiology, psychology and education, and gives examples of what factors determine introversion and extraversion.

Using real life examples from her own experience and the experience of others, she describes how introverts develop coping mechanisms --- some good, some bad --- in order to succeed in environments that feel indifferent, foreign and even hostile to them. She talks about other cultures that have different values, where the strengths of introversion are honored and appreciated, and how this affects social interactions and achievements.

Finally she provides some ideas for families, friends, educators, employers and colleagues who want to engage and encourage introverts and create an environment where they can thrive and be true to themselves.