Suggestible You: The Curious Science of ...

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I received a copy of this book through Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.

This was an absolutely fascinating read that examines placebos, hypnotism, false memories, and related topics. While in no way comprehensive, it is an interesting examination of some of the science, history, and explanations behind such occurrences.

The book was well-constructed and well-written. It has a good balance of personal experience, anecdotes, and research and science through studies and interviews with experts. The science of it is very simplified, making it fairly easy for non-science people to understand. This is broken up by interesting stories as well as Vance's own experiences growing up as a Christian Scientist and experimenting with various topics covered in the book such as having a curse placed upon him and trying hypnotism.

A great popular science book for people interested in learning more about the strange phenomenons surrounding placebos and hypnotism as well as related topics such as the effectiveness of alternative medicines, nocebos, false memories, and the power of expectations. It was so interesting to see how various areas were related and the variety of topics that came up including addiction, PTSD, alien sightings, and Haitian zombies.

The science and writing of the book were very good, however I did feel that the promise to teach the reader how to harness the power of expectation was a bit vague. Its fun to play around with but is certainly not a step-by-step guide on how to take advantage of expectation. It is rather some rules and suggestions.

A fantastic read that is interesting, informative, and mind-blowing. There is even a sample hypnotism script at the end for those interested in experimenting with hypnotism. Great read.

I came to this book, "BLACK TULIP: The Life and Myth of Erich Hartmann, the World's Top Fighter Ace" with rather high expectations. As a longtime aviation enthusiast, I first became aware of Erich Hartmann (1922-1993), the great Luftwaffe fighter ace, as a teen in 1978 from reading Edward Sims' book 'The Aces Talk.' I later went on to read several other books that either exclusively focused on Hartmann's wartime achievements on the Eastern Front and life postwar or referred to his combat career in passing.

This book "BLACK TULIP" was a setup by both its author and publisher to convince the reader that some startling new revelatory information about Hartmann himself and his wartime service in the Luftwaffe had been uncovered that would cast serious doubt on the veracity of earlier works about Hartmann and show him to be a disreputable character shaped by his experiences from growing up in Nazi Germany. Frankly, what the author had to say about Hartmann was not revelatory nor original. What's more: some of what he added in the book as a way to lend clarity to his argument about Hartmann were either historically inaccurate or little more than an empty filler to make the book more weighty and scholarly than it really is. For instance, the author referred several times to the German military of World War I as the Wehrmacht. There was no Wehrmacht between 1914 and 1918! The German military between 1871 (when Germany became a unified country) and 1918 was known officially as 'das Deutsche Heer' or the German Army. The Wehrmacht did not come into being until 1935, which was also when Hitler introduced mandatory conscription and the Luftwaffe was formally established as a distinct branch of the German armed forces.

This is the author's first book and I think - as some budding writers will do - he tried too hard to impress readers with weak arguments meant to show Hartmann as disingenuous and dishonest with his war record and his attitude about having fought for Germany. Well, if you're going to indict Erich Hartmann, the top fighter ace of all time, then you might as well indict every German man and woman who served in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. Certainly, some of them committed crimes against humanity. But one cannot indict the Wehrmacht en masse for war crimes carried out by some in its ranks.

A saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance during the Blitz

From newly available sources, declassified files and personal diaries, Erik Larson chronicles Winston Churchill’s life during his first year as prime minister and during the London Blitz. This compelling portrait shows in a cinematic way how Churchill taught the British people the art of being fearless. The story is more than a political one it also tells us the domestic drama and the day to day experience of Churchill, his family and his inner circle.

We are taken in a time of unrelenting horror with eloquence. Mr. Larson artfully weaves a tapestry of events, speeches, daily routines and tells us how the Prime Minister was determined in his pursuit to obtain aide from the USA and how it was up to him to hold his country together during Hitler’s relentless bombing campaign. Mr. Larson is definitely a master of narrative non-fiction work.

Although the Battle of Britain has been told many times there are always new discoveries and some omissions. This book ninety-some chapter tackles in depths the experience of the Battle as well as describing Churchill’s eccentric behaviour. For those who are fan of historical events, we learn a bit more, and for the dye hard definitely this book is an added bonus.

Whether a non-fiction or historical fiction I love reading war time accounts. Mr. Larson did not disappoint, his vivid details brought the era alive with all the screeching, whistling and hissing sound that bombs do to scare the population and to obliterate everything. With the resiliency of the population and good leadership Britain survived and with the contribution of allies, the Axis defeated. ……..”Never forget”……..

I received the Arc from Crown Publishing via NetGalleys in exchange for an honest review.

A saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance during the Blitz

From newly available sources, declassified files and personal diaries, Erik Larson chronicles Winston Churchill’s life during his first year as prime minister and during the London Blitz. This compelling portrait shows in a cinematic way how Churchill taught the British people the art of being fearless. The story is more than a political one it also tells us the domestic drama and the day to day experience of Churchill, his family and his inner circle.

We are taken in a time of unrelenting horror with eloquence. Mr. Larson artfully weaves a tapestry of events, speeches, daily routines and tells us how the Prime Minister was determined in his pursuit to obtain aide from the USA and how it was up to him to hold his country together during Hitler’s relentless bombing campaign. Mr. Larson is definitely a master of narrative non-fiction work.

Although the Battle of Britain has been told many times there are always new discoveries and some omissions. This book ninety-some chapter tackles in depths the experience of the Battle as well as describing Churchill’s eccentric behaviour. For those who are fan of historical events, we learn a bit more, and for the die hard definitely this book is an added bonus.

Whether a non-fiction or historical fiction I love reading war time accounts. Mr. Larson did not disappoint, his vivid details brought the era alive with all the screeching, whistling and hissing sound that bombs do to scare the population and to obliterate everything. With the resiliency of the population and good leadership Britain survived and with the contribution of allies, the Axis defeated. ……..”Never forget”……..

I received the Arc from Crown Publishing via NetGalleys in exchange for an honest review.

I can´t be bothered to pick out ten new books from my shelves, so it´s essentially the same list as the last time in another order and Theodor Fontane´s travelogue about Scottland as a new addition.

1. Provenance

2. The Remedy

3. The Poisened Chocolates Case

4. China Mountain Zhang

5. Jenseit des Tweed

6. The Silence of the Girls

7. A Woman of No Importance

8. Becoming

9. Abanddon´s Gate

10. Isaac´s Storm

And the random number generator says:

The winner this time is:

The Silence of the Girls is a retelling of The Iliad told from the perspective of the women in the war (and especially Briseis´ point of view). In the past I struggled with retelling of greek myths, so I´m curious if this book is going to work for me.