The Book of Moods

 The Book of Moods: How I Turned My Worst Emotions Into My Best Life by Lauren Martin 256 pages

Summary from Goodreads: Five years ago, Lauren Martin was sure something was wrong with her. She had a good job in New York, an apartment in Brooklyn, a boyfriend, yet every day she wrestled with feelings of inferiority, anxiety and irritability. It wasn't until a chance encounter with a (charming, successful) stranger who revealed that she also felt these things, that Lauren set out to better understand the hold that these moods had on her, how she could change them, and began to blog about the wisdom she uncovered. It quickly exploded into an international online community of women who felt like she did: lost, depressed, moody, and desirous of change.

Inspired by her audience to press even deeper, The Book of Moods shares Lauren's journey to infuse her life with a sense of peace and stability. With observations that will resonate and inspire, she dives into the universal triggers every woman faces -- whether it's a comment from your mother, the relentless grind at your job, days when you wish the mirror had a Valencia filter, or all of the above. Blending cutting-edge science, timeless philosophy, witty anecdotes and effective forms of self-care, Martin has written a powerful, intimate, and incredibly relatable chronicle of transformation, proving that you really can turn your worst moods into your best life.

And here's what I thought: This book had some interesting insights, but I sometimes grew really tired of the author. Her reactions to things sometimes seemed really overwrought to me and as a result, I didn't usually identify with her and sometimes found I was pretty unsympathetic. But, it was interesting to read about how she learned about the science of brains and emotion to better understand herself, and how she could change her reactions.  I think just about every daughter I know can identify with the trigger that a random comment from your mom can have on your mood. And understanding how emotions work with your brain, and how you can then understand and control your reactions and stress levels, was interesting.  But, I often felt like I wasn't quite the audience for this book (maybe too old?).  

Against Empathy

Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion by Paul Bloom, 285 pages

Bloom has written multiple articles on this topic so the book is meant to be an expansion of his ideas and arguments. Most people take for granted that empathy and more of it is a good thing but Bloom disagrees. He states that compassion is better. 

He starts by giving an overview of his arguments, then he goes into more detail about the psychology and neuroscience of empathy in further chapters. He also examines empathy in relation to politics, intimacy and evil. Finally, he argues for human rationality.

Bloom contends that, upon analysis, empathy is a bad moral guide because it leads to bias. The bias is usually towards those closest to us or like us which comes into conflict with broader considerations. He shows there are multiple things that can lead our morality.

Bloom does a good job of making arguments against empathy but then he backtracks and says something along the lines of, "...it may not be that bad." So, at the end of the book all of his arguments seem wishy-washy. Other criticisms include the rigorousness of his arguments and not being as concise as he could be. Lastly, I would say that he could have gone deeper into his case for rational compassion. Despite its shortcomings I would still recommend this book. I think Bloom's core argument holds up. Empathy may not be as great as people think it is.

No Hard Feelings; The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work

No Hard Feelings; The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work by Liz Fosslien  304 pages

This book takes a visual approach to explaining how you can embrace emotion at work and become a happier, more fulfilled person at work (and outside of work, too).  The authors take a deeply researched look at how emotions affect our professional lives and how we can navigate our emotions at work.  For example, "Real, valuable feedback is not going to feel like a gift. Realize that negative feedback often means the criticizer cares about helping you improve and is willing to bear the awkwardness of a difficult conversation."

I started reading this book and quickly realized this is something where I want to buy a copy for myself and then stick a bunch of post-its and notes in it so I can keep it on my desk and refer to it.  I found it incredibly helpful and interesting, and I think a lot of people would benefit from reading it.  I feel a lot of us at work find it's hard to have a good balance of emotion at work; you might work somewhere where it's buttoned-up and people never express emotion at all, or you might be somewhere where people share everything they're feeling in the moment.  Finding a balance can be tough, especially if you come from a work culture where you've felt that it can show weakness to express many types of emotions.

Really valuable book!

One to Ten: Squirrel's Bad Day

One to Ten: Squirrel’s Bad Day by Carole P. Roman; Illustrations by Mateya Arkova   38 pages

 

Poor Squirrel is having a bad day. As Squirrel is running along a limb with an armful of acorns, he/she stumbles and all the acorns tumble into the stream below. Squirrel is devastated.

Friend Rabbit comes along and give Squirrel some advice as to how to cope with what has happened. I got it, but I’m not sure that the age groups targeted would get it. Rabbit told Squirrel what to do, but not how to do it. Rabbit did give some instructions, but it didn’t go far enough in my opinion. Therefore, One to Ten: Squirrel’s Bad Day receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.