Raylene's bookshelf: all en-US Mon, 09 Apr 2018 19:39:15 -0700 60 Raylene's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Year of Yes 29540318 Grey's Anatomy and Scandal and executive producer of How to Get Away with Murder and Catch, reveals how saying YES changed her life -- and how it can change yours too. With three hit shows on television and three children at home, Shonda Rhimes had lots of good reasons to say no when invitations arrived. Hollywood party? No. Speaking engagement? No. Media appearances? No. And to an introvert like Shonda, who describes herself as 'hugging the walls' at social events and experiencing panic attacks before press interviews, there was a particular benefit to saying no: nothing new to fear. Then came Thanksgiving 2013, when Shonda's sister Delorse muttered six little words at her: You never say yes to anything. Profound, impassioned and laugh-out-loud funny, in Year of Yes Shonda Rhimes reveals how saying YES changed -- and saved -- her life. And inspires readers everywhere to change their own lives with one little word: Yes.]]> 352 Shonda Rhimes 1471157326 Raylene 4 4.04 2015 Year of Yes
author: Shonda Rhimes
name: Raylene
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2015
rating: 4
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date added: 2018/04/09
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]]> <![CDATA[Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking]]> 40102 The Tipping Point a classic, Blink changes the way you'll understand every decision you make. Never again will you think about thinking the same way.

Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant - in the blink of an eye - that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work - in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others?

In Blink we meet the psychologist who has learned to predict whether a marriage will last, based on a few minutes of observing a couple; the tennis coach who knows when a player will double-fault before the racket even makes contact with the ball; the antiquities experts who recognize a fake at a glance. Here, too, are great failures of "blink": the election of Warren Harding; "New Coke"; and the shooting of Amadou Diallo by police. Blink reveals that great decision makers aren't those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of "thin-slicing" - filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables.]]> 296 Malcolm Gladwell 0316010669 Raylene 4 3.97 2005 Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Raylene
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2005
rating: 4
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date added: 2016/10/05
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]]> <![CDATA[The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing]]> 22318578 Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you'll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo's clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house "spark joy" (and which don't), this international best seller featuring Tokyo's newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home - and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

]]> 213 Marie KondĹŤ 1607747308 Raylene 4 3.88 2010 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
author: Marie KondĹŤ
name: Raylene
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2010
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind]]> 23692271 512 Yuval Noah Harari Raylene 4 4.34 2011 Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
author: Yuval Noah Harari
name: Raylene
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2011
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear]]> 24453082 Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.]]> 276 Elizabeth Gilbert 1594634718 Raylene 4 3.95 2015 Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
author: Elizabeth Gilbert
name: Raylene
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2015
rating: 4
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]]> The Interpretation of Dreams 93981 630 Sigmund Freud 1566195764 Raylene 4 3.86 1899 The Interpretation of Dreams
author: Sigmund Freud
name: Raylene
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1899
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business]]> 12609433
Marketers at Procter & Gamble study videos of people making their beds. They are desperately trying to figure out how to sell a new product called Febreze, on track to be one of the biggest flops in company history. Suddenly, one of them detects a nearly imperceptible pattern—and with a slight shift in advertising, Febreze goes on to earn a billion dollars a year.

An untested CEO takes over one of the largest companies in America. His first order of business is attacking a single pattern among his employees—how they approach worker safety—and soon the firm, Alcoa, becomes the top performer in the Dow Jones.

What do all these people have in common? They achieved success by focusing on the patterns that shape every aspect of our lives.

They succeeded by transforming habits.

In The Power of Habit, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg brings to life a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation.

Along the way we learn why some people and companies struggle to change, despite years of trying, while others seem to remake themselves overnight. We visit laboratories where neuroscientists explore how habits work and where, exactly, they reside in our brains. We discover how the right habits were crucial to the success of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and civil-rights hero Martin Luther King, Jr. We go inside Procter & Gamble, Target superstores, Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, NFL locker rooms, and the nation’s largest hospitals and see how implementing so-called keystone habits can earn billions and mean the difference between failure and success, life and death.

At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary companies and social movements, and achieving success is understanding how habits work.

Habits aren’t destiny. As Charles Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.]]> 375 Charles Duhigg 1400069289 Raylene 4 4.13 2012 The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
author: Charles Duhigg
name: Raylene
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us]]> 6452796 The New York Times bestseller that gives readers a paradigm-shattering new way to think about motivation

Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret to high performance and satisfaction—at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does—and how that affects every aspect of life. He examines the three elements of true motivation—autonomy, mastery, and purpose—and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action in a unique book that will change how we think and transform how we live.]]> 242 Daniel H. Pink 1594488843 Raylene 4 3.94 2009 Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
author: Daniel H. Pink
name: Raylene
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2009
rating: 4
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]]> The Art of Loving 14142
Most people are unable to love on the only level that truly matters: love that is compounded of maturity, self-knowledge, and courage. As with every art, love demands practice and concentration, as well as genuine insight and understanding.

In his classic work, The Art of Loving, renowned psychoanalyst and social philosopher Erich Fromm explores love in all its aspects—not only romantic love, steeped in false conceptions and lofty expectations, but also brotherly love, erotic love, self-love, the love of God, and the love of parents for their children.]]> 180 Erich Fromm 0061129739 Raylene 3 4.05 1956 The Art of Loving
author: Erich Fromm
name: Raylene
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1956
rating: 3
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]]> How We Decide 3860977
Since Plato, philosophers have described the decision-making process as either rational or emotional: we carefully deliberate, or we “blink� and go with our gut. But as scientists break open the mind’s black box with the latest tools of neuroscience, they’re discovering that this is not how the mind works. Our best decisions are a finely tuned blend of both feeling and reason—and the precise mix depends on the situation. When buying a house, for example, it’s best to let our unconscious mull over the many variables. But when we’re picking a stock, intuition often leads us astray. The trick is to determine when to use the different parts of the brain, and to do this, we need to think harder (and smarter) about how we think.

Jonah Lehrer arms us with the tools we need, drawing on cutting-edge research as well as the real-world experiences of a wide range of “deciders”—from airplane pilots and hedge fund investors to serial killers and poker players.

Lehrer shows how people are taking advantage of the new science to make better television shows, win more football games, and improve military intelligence. His goal is to answer two questions that are of interest to just about anyone, from CEOs to firefighters: How does the human mind make decisions? And how can we make those decisions better?]]> 259 Jonah Lehrer 0618620117 Raylene 4 3.84 2009 How We Decide
author: Jonah Lehrer
name: Raylene
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2009
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants]]> 15751404 The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell has explored the ways we understand and change our world. Now he looks at the complex and surprising ways the weak can defeat the strong, the small can match up against the giant, and how our goals (often culturally determined) can make a huge difference in our ultimate sense of success. Drawing upon examples from the world of business, sports, culture, cutting-edge psychology, and an array of unforgettable characters around the world, David and Goliath is in many ways the most practical and provocative book Malcolm Gladwell has ever written.]]> 305 Malcolm Gladwell 0316204366 Raylene 4 3.97 2013 David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Raylene
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2013
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging]]> 28119237 War and The Perfect Storm, takes a critical look at post-traumatic stress disorder and the many challenges today’s returning veterans face in modern society.

There are ancient tribal human behaviors-loyalty, inter-reliance, cooperation-that flare up in communities during times of turmoil and suffering. These are the very same behaviors that typify good soldiering and foster a sense of belonging among troops, whether they’re fighting on the front lines or engaged in non-combat activities away from the action. Drawing from history, psychology, and anthropology, bestselling author Sebastian Junger shows us just how at odds the structure of modern society is with our tribal instincts, arguing that the difficulties many veterans face upon returning home from war do not stem entirely from the trauma they’ve suffered, but also from the individualist societies they must reintegrate into.

A 2011 study by the Canadian Forces and Statistics Canada reveals that 78 percent of military suicides from 1972 to the end of 2006 involved veterans. Though these numbers present an implicit call to action, the government is only just taking steps now to address the problems veterans face when they return home. But can the government ever truly eliminate the challenges faced by returning veterans? Or is the problem deeper, woven into the very fabric of our modern existence? Perhaps our circumstances are not so bleak, and simply understanding that beneath our modern guises we all belong to one tribe or another would help us face not just the problems of our nation but of our individual lives as well.

Well-researched and compellingly written, this timely look at how veterans react to coming home will reconceive our approach to veteran’s affairs and help us to repair our current social dynamic.]]> 168 Sebastian Junger 1455566381 Raylene 4 4.01 2016 Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
author: Sebastian Junger
name: Raylene
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2016
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain]]> 1297985 400 Oliver Sacks Raylene 5 3.95 2007 Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain
author: Oliver Sacks
name: Raylene
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2007
rating: 5
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date added: 2016/10/05
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]]> <![CDATA[The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You]]> 923950
Most of us feel overstimulated every once in a while, but for the HSP, it's a way of life. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Elaine Aron, a clinical psychologist, workshop leader, and an HSP herself, shows you how to identify this trait in yourself and make the most of it in everyday situations. Drawing on her many years of research and hundreds of interviews, she shows how you can better understand yourself and your trait to create a fuller, richer life.]]> 251 Elaine N. Aron 0553062182 Raylene 4 3.86 1996 The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You
author: Elaine N. Aron
name: Raylene
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1996
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It]]> 10865206 The first book to explain the new science of self-control and how it can be harnessed to improve our health, happiness, and productivity.

After years of watching her students struggling with their choices, health psychologist Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., realized that much of what people believe about willpower is actually sabotaging their success. Committed to sharing what the scientific community already knew about self-control, McGonigal created a course called "The Science of Willpower" for Stanford University's Continuing Studies Program. The course was an instant hit and spawned the hugely successful Psychology Today blog with the same name.

Informed by the latest research and combining cutting-edge insights from psychology, economics, neuroscience, and medicine, McGonigal's book explains exactly what willpower is, how it works, and why it matters. Readers will learn:

Willpower is a mind-body response, not a virtue. It is a biological function that can be improved through mindfulness, exercise, nutrition, and sleep. People who have better control of their attention, emotions, and actions are healthier, happier, have more satisfying relationships, and make more money. Willpower is not an unlimited resource. Too much self-control can actually be bad for your health. Temptation and stress hijack the brain's systems of self-control, and that the brain can be trained for greater willpower.

In the groundbreaking tradition of Getting Things Done, The Willpower Instinct combines life-changing prescriptive advice and complementary exercises to help readers with goals ranging from a healthier life to more patient parenting, from greater productivity at work to finally finishing the basement.]]> 275 Kelly McGonigal 1583334386 Raylene 4 4.11 2011 The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It
author: Kelly McGonigal
name: Raylene
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2011
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom]]> 96884 297 Jonathan Haidt 0465028020 Raylene 4 4.08 2006 The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: Raylene
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2006
rating: 4
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date added: 2016/10/05
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]]>