ON THE SHELF: Enlightenment and self-help titles to peruse
Published 8:00 am Sunday, November 6, 2022
- Pictured is the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library. (File photo/The Vicksburg Post)
This column was submitted by Evangeline Cessna, Local History Librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.
This week the library is featuring a variety of titles from our New Adult Nonfiction collection.
“Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns and Abstractions” is the latest title from Temple Grandin, Ph.D. In her memoir, “Thinking in Pictures,” Temple Grandin changed how the world understood autism. Now, she reveals the different ways our brains are wired and advocates for the special minds and contributions of visual thinkers. If you have a keen sense of direction, a love of puzzles, the ability to assemble furniture without batting an eye, then you are likely a visual thinker. Grandin draws on the latest research to take us inside the minds of visual thinkers. It seems that they comprise a larger portion of the population than previously believed. They are also a more varied group, from the photo-realistic object visualizers like Grandin herself, with their intuitive ability for design and problem solving, to the abstract, mathematically inclined “visual-spatial” thinkers who excel in pattern recognition and systemic thinking. She also touches on how the world is increasingly geared toward the verbal and how it sidelines visual thinkers, screening them out at school and passing over them in the workplace. Grandin proposes new approaches to educating, parenting, employing and collaborating with visual thinkers.
Melissa Urban helps readers improve all kinds of relationships with her latest, “The Book of Boundaries: Set the Limits That Will Set You Free.” If your relationships often feel one-sided or you are always giving in just so things go more smoothly and if you want to say no, but, nicely or if you feel tired of putting everyone else’s needs above your own, then you need to set some boundaries. Clear limits are needed to protect your time, energy and health. Boundaries are the key to feeling secure, confident and free in all areas of your life. The author offers 130+ scripts with easy-to-use language so that you can establish boundaries with bosses, co-workers, romantic partners, parents, in-laws, friends, neighbors, strangers and even yourself. She also offers practical advice on communicating your needs with clarity and compassion and tips for any feelings of guilt, pushback, pressure or overstepping by those with whom you wish to set boundaries. This book is user-friendly and gives you the tools needed to stop justifying, minimizing, and apologizing so that you can have more rewarding relationships and a life that feels freer and healthier.
Author Cassandra Cummings offers advice for building generational wealth with clear investment strategies in her book “Fearless Finances: A Timeless Guide to Building Wealth.” Cummings is the founder of The Stocks & Stilettos Society and a leading financial expert who shows women how to set and meet their financial goals, overcome their fears and grow their wealth through investing. This book will teach you how to conquer longstanding fears around money, develop a firm foundation for you and your family, invest in the stock market for wealth creation and legacy building and prepare for lifelong financial independence. She walks you through the keys to building your success team of trusted experts, as well as women who overcame their fear to achieve their financial dreams.
Renowned gastroenterologist and liver specialist Dr. Paul J. Thuluvath offers a concise and practical guide for those living with liver disease in his book “Your Complete Guide to Liver Health: Coping with Fatty Liver, Hepatitis, Cancer and More.” Liver disease is on the rise around the world, and it is already a common cause of morbidity and mortality. There are approximately 3.3 million Americans living with hepatitis B or C and 25 percent of them will go on to develop cirrhosis, cancer or liver failure. Cases of fatty-liver disease and alcohol-related liver disease are on the rise with the latter becoming a leading cause of preventable death in young people. This book will teach you how your liver works, how to prevent liver infections and disease, how those diseases affect the liver, which foods, drinks, and supplements to avoid and how to take care of your liver for the rest of your life.
“Navigating Life with Dementia” by James M. Noble offers Alzheimer’s and dementia patients and their caregivers advice on successfully facing the challenges that these diseases present. These diseases often introduce personal and financial strains that can be difficult to understand. Unfortunately, most forms of dementia have no definitive treatments for the prevention nor the slowing or stopping of the progression. This handbook includes tools to manage both day-to-day issues and to prepare as best you can for the long-term impact of the disease on patients as well as their friends and families. This book is designed to help families in all stages of dementia care, beginning with the earliest hints of cognitive problems all the way through the advanced stages. The book uses easy-to-understand language to cover the complexities of the disease, how to establish a diagnosis, what to expect in each stage and how to anticipate and manage common problems.
With the holidays coming up, you may want to check out “The Cookie Bible” by Rose Levy Beranbaum. This must-have cookie book features nearly every kind of cookie imaginable. Try the rustic Cranberry Chocolate Chippers, fancy French macarons, Brandy Snap Rolls, Double Ginger Molasses Cookies or Gingerbread Folks. Each recipe features detail-oriented instructions to eliminate the guesswork as well as notes for planning ahead, tips and tricks and other rules for success. Easily whip up a batch of yummy, crowd-pleasing cookies for any occasion.