The Houseful Reads: A Good American

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A Good American

Look at this! Two books in one month. I have personal reasons for staying so busy, but I’m not quite ready to speak on them, so what better way to throw the scent then to talk literature?

A Good American is a novel by Alex George, about the Meisenheimer family set in Beatrice, Missouri. It is told from the point of view of the grandson James. He gives insight about his grandparents coming to America from Germany and how they literally strive to be Good Americans.

This novel has a bit of everything, food, music, and history lessons all balled up into one emotional dip after another. I found that I got a little misty eyed because of thinking about how I remember my sister in the wake of her death, and how I literally can place music and food with memories of her.

Who knew that reading this novel would allow me to for once to grieve in a way that left me with more smiles than tears, and a desire to really get her small history written down in a more collective way.

This read took me a little over two full days to finish because of little ones wanting to be paid attention to (the best thing) and dinners that needed to be fixed. I did realize though, in the midst of being interrupted, I was in fact creating the same types of memories that James rehashed for us about his grandparents, Jette and Frederick. I sure hope that my grandchildren will be amazed by stories of me and their grandfather Shomari long from now, and will continue to pass those stories on to the following generations.

For once, I’ve found a book that’s so deeply rooted in family and the regular ups and downs of being in one that hits close to home.

You can join me in discussion on BlogHer and tell us how the book made you feel too!

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

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The Houseful Reads: The Willpower Instinct

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Lucky for me, I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review. Lucky for you all opinions expressed are my own.

The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It6

How Self Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It
~Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D

Okay, I’ll just go ahead and admit it. I am not really good with my willpower.
There.
I admitted it.
I have a bit of an issue when it comes to lots of things (not to be shared at the moment, maybe when I get better with controlling it.) and I know that I need to do better, yet I still don’t.

Enter the opportunity to give myself a virtual slap with The Willpower Instinct: How Self Control Works, Why it Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D

Enter another opportunity for me to get an even bigger slap in a chapter that starts off with McGill University, a rat, and the pleasure center of the brain, and ends with me realizing why seeing a new purse in Target sends me into a fit of glee.

My biology loving brain was engrossed so much in this book that it took me a while to realize that I might possibly be the only person with no sheer amount of willpower when it comes to shopping. All because of dopamine. The anticipation of a reward will send me over the fiscal cliff if I allow it.

>sigh<

Such a hard pill for me to swallow, yet I got it down.

She brings to light some other arenas that get the dopamine levels in our bodies heightened. Guess what? FACEBOOK is one of them. I’m pretty sure most of you know the main culprits:

Food, Alcohol, Shopping, Sex. But, FACEBOOK? Say it isn’t so!

McGonigal breaks down the how and why we are able to be seduced by big markets, and how we can go about practicing self control better than our elementary school teachers ever imagined.

So, tell me, how good is your willpower? Are there areas in your life where you know if you go to a certain place, or see a certain thing, you just HAVE to have it?

Let me know in the comments, OR come and join the conversation HERE. I’m pretty positive you’ll make some interesting discoveries about your willpower.

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