A HUNDRED SMALL LESSONS by Ashley Hay

A HUNDRED SMALL LESSONS by Ashley Hay is an introspective and well-written, but at times melancholy story. Its focus is on two women and the Brisbane, Australia house in which they lived. One is Elsie Gormley, now elderly and forced to leave the home where she and husband Clem raised two children, Donny and Elaine (twins already in their 70’s). The other woman is named Lucy Kiss; she, husband Ben Carter, and their very young son Tom are the new owner occupants.

I think that more mature readers will readily emphasize with both women.  Lucy is often lonely, left to care for a young child and give up some of her former self.  She imagines Elsie visiting as a friendly presence. And Elsie, experiencing dementia, is having trouble letting go of her home, of her married life (even though Clem has been dead for years) and of her role as a mother. Thus, parts of the story are told in vivid flashbacks.  Both struggle with change and a revised self-image:
“Standing at the kitchen sink, she saw a line of Lucys at a line of sinks, each drinking a tall glass of water.  She saw rainbows darting out from the prism of each, reflecting and refracting all those other versions of herself.”  and
“Who would she be now, she wondered, without him? Who was Elsie Gormley if Clem Gormley’s idea of her was no longer alive?”

There’s a bit of mystery here – will the two ever truly meet?  What advice and solace would they offer each other? What insights from the past and courage for the future? Perhaps they would realize the value in this advice: “If you are having a bad day … take a moment and flick through some photographs. You never take photos of your bad moments – so when you flick through some of the happy things, you let yourself remember there'll be other happy times.”

Diet for the Mind and Why You Eat What You Eat

DIET FOR THE MIND by Martha Clare Morris is subtitled “The Latest Science on What to Eat to Prevent Alzheimer’s and Cognitive Decline.” It is generally shelved with books about the brain’s functioning rather than with cookbooks which, given its content, is appropriate; however, I would have liked to have seen more pictures and at least a few simpler recipes. Morris has split the book into two parts, and the first, mind-healthy science, explains cognitive decline and essential nutrients. She also lists foods for everyday (leafy greens, vegetables, whole grains, and vegetable oils) and for every week (berries, nuts, seafood, poultry, and beans).  Then, in Part II she describes a mind-healthy lifestyle and provides 80 recipes.  Obviously healthy, but those seemed to have at least seven ingredients and many involved more because of an accompanying sauce. How can we make recipes simpler (for shopping and for preparing) so as to more actively encourage changes in eating habits?     

That question is indirectly addressed in WHY YOU EAT WHAT YOU EAT by Rachel Herz, a neuroscientist specializing in perception and emotion who teaches at Brown University and Boston College.  That text is filled with unusual facts, details, and summaries of studies.  I have ordered a copy because I think our Psych classes will be surprised at and fascinated by the findings that explore the “science behind our relationship with food.”  For example, did you know that eating from a red plate generally results in eating less? Or that the more often you eat a food (e.g., rice vs. potato), “the more appetite-appeasing you believe it to be – and thinking makes it so.”  

There’s an entire chapter titled “eye candy” which supports the Chinese proverb that says, “you eat first with your eyes, then with your nose and then with your mouth” and talks about how art and color influence taste and perception. Other chapters deal with “the sound and the feeling” (with experiments you can try yourself) and “comfort food.”  Herz’s text is, unfortunately, a bit too jammed with numerous tasty tidbits at times – kind of like the puns in that sentence - overwhelming the reader with information, although there is much useful self-help type, too.  In WHY YOU EAT WHAT YOU EAT, Herz herself points out that “globally, more people die today from obesity-related illnesses than from starvation” and it seems critical to learn all we can about how food impacts our mood and behavior as well as how our senses and our surroundings (labels, packaging, etc.) relate to our motivation to eat.  One last tip: artichokes (containing cynarin) make other foods taste sweeter so blend them with the often more bitter leafy greens recommended by Harris for a tastier, healthier salad. Enjoy!   

How to Think and Who Can You Trust?

Before we close out the year, it seems appropriate to add some reviews about a couple of books related to communication and technology.  

Alan Jacobs’ HOW TO THINK has been recommended by David Brooks and Jacobs was interviewed in The Atlantic magazine where he summarized his argument about how “in a pluralistic society, people struggle to deal with difference;” he continued by bemoaning our tendency to label others as belonging or not belonging and arguing that is “the number-one impediment to thinking.” The text itself is rather short, with some chapters titled “Attractions,” “Repulsions,” and “Beginning to Think” where he quotes Henry James and then says “we just need to learn how to be more aware, how to act more responsibly.” McKibben raises some of the same points (“I think you’re wrong, but you may be right”) in a more fanciful way in Radio Free Vermont.

 

Subtitled: “How Technology Brought Us Together and Why It Might Drive Us Apart,” WHO CAN YOU TRUST? by Rachel Botsman is a very intriguing look at what the publishers describe as a paradigm shift.  Botsman notes that we have lost faith in our leadership, in institutions and organizations, but at the same time we are willing to trust strangers, riding in Uber vehicles, renting from Airbnb, and investing in digital currencies. Botsman argues that this “distributed trust” is enabled by networks and systems and she goes on in a conversational tone to explore others’ research and examples like shopping online, consulting Wikipedia, and providing Kickstarter funds.  Roughly twenty percent of the text is devoted to a glossary of terms, notes with further reading suggestions, and a detailed index, all of which – along with Botsman’s Ted Talks -  will be if interest to students who are definitely intrigued by the impact of technology on society. WHO CAN YOU TRUST? received a starred review from Kirkus.