10. How to Not Hate Your Husband After Kids -

I listened to this book through Libby and my local library.  It is fun, quick listen.   Jancee Dunn quotes a lot of my favorite researchers including Brene Brown and the Gottman Institute.  If those types of people are you jam, you'll enjoy this book.  It's chalked full of helpful tips and research on relationships.  My favorite take-away:  lower your expectations.  It's better to present and enjoy your family and husband than to obsess over a perfect house.   Dunn is witty and open as she shares anecdotes of her own journey through motherhood and marriage.  I recommend it to friends.

I give it a 3 on my rating scale.  I enjoyed the library book quite a bit, but I don't need to add it to my collection!

8. Atomic Habits - James Clear

I really enjoyed this book.  The main take away is we can change our lives by making tiny changes to our daily habits.  He shares tangible steps on changing your habits.  What is the secret of highly productive people?  Why do some people not have to think about productivity as much as others?  It all boils down to habits!   I do a lot of his tips intuitively.  I'm obsessed with my pursuing my goals, and I've started forming daily habits to pursue them.   One technique/concept in the book I found particularly thought provoking was habit stacking.    This starts with a base habit then slowly builds habits on top of the base habit.  For example:  habit 1 is putting work out clothes on when you first get out of bed.  Then building up habits to actually work out.    This is basically carving out a new neural pathway.  Once you start on the pathway, you naturally follow it to the desired result.

This one is a 4.  I might read it again so it's worth having in my collection, but I'm not obsessive about it...so I don't need it both on Audible and Kindle :)

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson

In a existential, mid-life crisis I found myself questioning my career choices.  I signed up for therapy, and reached out to other veterinarians.  I was giving too many f*cks about too many trivial matters.  I was taking the f*cks of others too seriously.   Other vets recommended the book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson.   I ask for your tolerance in advance for the language of this post, but the use of the F-bomb seems appropriate in the face of this book.  If you can't tolerate the use of that particular 4-letter word, this book is definitely not for you.   Just to keep my blog more consistent with my usual, I'm going to use the word flip instead.

So what is this book all about?  Basically if you asked Deadpool to rewrite a combination of Boundaries by Townsend and Cloud and other self help books, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck would be the result.  It's fun to read with numerous anecdotes...and the profanity is significantly reduced in the second half.

We all are human beings...finite creatures with limited energy, time, and resources.  We will all have problems, but Manson encourages the reader to choose your problems wisely.  Choose what problems are worth the struggle!  We have a limited amount of flips to give so give them out wisely! Instead of focusing our life on outward values, inward values will bring greater content.  For example, if your goal is to be more successful than Bob, you won't appreciate your personal success as long as Bob is more successful than you.   Values like integrity, doing your personal best, work/life balance etc...will define your personal contentment.   Another theme of this book that provoked great thought was the concept that suffering leads to self improvement.   Suffering is expected and a normal part of life.  It's what propels us into becoming better people, better workers, better spouses...and better-ness in general.

Overall this was a fun summer read, but you can find the information presented more eloquent (more PC way) in other books.   There will be certain people that I recommend this book for, but not all!

The How of Happiness - Foreword

The How of Happiness; A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want by Sonja Lyubomirsky

I’ve decided to blog about this book a little differently than previous books and blog as I read.  We could all use a little more happiness in our lives.  It’s one of the most common pursuits of mankind.  But what is happiness?  How does one go about increasing her level of happiness?  Why are some people happier than others in a similar situation.   As a scientist, I am fascinated by the concept of this book as a scientific, research based look at happiness.  While I consider myself a very happy person (most of the time), I want to be a positive influence on those around me.  Maybe in this book I’ll find some insights into happiness and how I can make the world around me a better place.     According to the Foreword of this book, 40% of your happiness is in your hands.  How fascinating!  She goes on to discuss why she believes empirical research is important for understanding happiness and implementing strategies to increase happiness.  I can’t wait to really delve into this book as I believe it will challenge my thinking and compel me to examine my own thoughts.  Look forward to more installments as I read through the chapters of this book!