I was on holiday last week. In a bookstore in Ithaca, New York, I found the Anywhere Travel Guide: 75 Cards for Discovering the Unexpected, Wherever Your Journey Leads by Magda Lipka Falck. This is a deck of 75 cards, each containing a suggestion to follow to help you get to know or understand the …
This past week I read a book recommended to me by one of my teenage patients. “You said laughter is good for you,” he said, “Well, it’s hilarious!” This comes from a person who told me that my advice to read funny stories because it helps improve your mood is the best advice I’ve ever …
Have you ever wanted to skin a rabbit? Or make cheese? Perhaps that’s more self-sufficiency that you really want, but John Seymour’s The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It is still a guide that anyone can use if they wish to commit to a more simplified lifestyle. This book has excellent sections on growing …
Two great stories will occupy the minds of millions of humans today. Most of the people listening to these stories will have heard them many times before – and know that they will likely also hear them many more times before their life ends. Do you not also have stories that you read or listen …
Everyone who knows me would tell you that I love the various BBC programs about historical farms: Victorian Farm, Edwardian Farm, etc. One of the two archeologists in these series, Dr. Alex Langlands, has written a book, Craeft: How Traditional Crafts Are About More Than Just Making. What is important about this book for me …
As a Canadian doctor, my experience with the American health care system is limited. While the research evidence supports that we have an more equitable system that the United States, it is difficult to believe this when we Canadians are waiting for essential medical tests or procedures. We have the impression that, in the United …
This is the second book I have read in the last two months concerning the fear that robots and other machines powered by artificial intelligence will take over many professions in the next twenty years. Jay Richards’ book, The Human Advantage: The Future of American Work in an Age of Smart Machines, the author reminded …
Meditation is an excellent practice for health and mental health, but it can be challenging to learn. Just Sit: A Meditation Guidebook for People Who Know They Should But Don’t is a book for anyone familiar with the challenge, but who wants to learn to meditate. The book is exactly what the title says. It …
I have been reading and considering the message of Streetopia for about one month. The book Streetopia provides an account of the exhibition Streetopia held in May 2012 in San Francisco. The exhibition was intended to be a celebration of the radical art and political movements in San Francisco since its founding. The book considers …
About 30 years ago, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole was one of my favourite books. I read it over and over. As a psychiatrist who sees adolescents, the reflections of Sue Townsend’s 13 year old hero reminded me of all my young patients – he still does today. However, the other element of this …
