How We Decide ($0.99), by prominent science writer Johan Lehrer, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day.Book Description
The first book to use the unexpected discoveries of neuroscience to help us make the best decisions.
Since Plato, philosophers have described the decision-making process as either rational or emotional: we carefully deliberate, or we blink and go with our gut. But as scientists break open the mind's black box with the latest tools of neuroscience, they re discovering that this is not how the mind works. Our best decisions are a finely tuned blend of both feeling and reason and the precise mix depends on the situation. When buying a house, for example, it's best to let our unconscious mull over the many variables. But when we're picking a stock, intuition often leads us astray. The trick is to determine when to use the different parts of the brain, and to do this, we need to think harder (and smarter) about how we think.
Jonah Lehrer arms us with the tools we need, drawing on cutting-edge research as well as the real-world experiences of a wide range of deciders from airplane pilots and hedge fund investors to serial killers and poker players. Lehrer shows how people are taking advantage of the new science to make better television shows, win more football games, and improve military intelligence. His goal is to answer two questions that are of interest to just about anyone, from CEOs to firefighters: How does the human mind make decisions? And how can we make those decisions better?
Blue Heaven ($1.56 / £0.99 UK), by C. J. Box, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $7.99). I'd be a bit jealous on this one, if I didn't already have it in my library.Book Description
THEY WERE RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME, NOW THEY'RE RUNNING FOR THEIR LIVES
If twelve-year-old Annie hadn't been angry with her mother, she would never have taken her younger brother William on a secret fishing trip deep into the North Idaho woods and they would never have witnessed the execution nor looked straight into the eyes of the four executioners.
Now they're running for their lives.
They can't go home: the killers know exactly who they are. And where they live.
They can't turn to the law: the killers are four respected Los Angeles policemen.
There's nowhere for William and Annie to hide. And no one they can trust.
Until they meet Jess Rawlins.
Rawlins, an old-school rancher, knows something is wrong with the law in Blue Heaven. But he is only one against four men who will stop at nothing to silence their witnesses...
The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by Elisabeth Hasselbeck, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. I won a hardcover copy of this on a blog a couple of years ago and have been meaning to replace it as an ebook, the first time I saw it on sale (I gave the book away at a Christmas party). There's nothing mind-blowing in it, if you've been gluten free for a while, but for those who are newly diagnosed (or relatives who are clearly showing symptoms, but haven't been tested), this is a good introduction to living gluten free; unlike some TV shows that portray it as the end of the world (or eating out), she shows you that it is possible to manage (even without all of her resources). There aren't many recipes, though, which I was a bit disappointed in; she's now corrected that by releasing Deliciously G-Free: Food So Flavorful They'll Never Believe It's Gluten-Free, which I might have to get a sample of (then again, there are a LOT of foods people eat every day which should be gluten free, although they sometimes are not, if you get them in a restaurant or as a highly processed prepared food, including most of your Thanksgiving Dinner). Note that this isn't "the best" source of information on a gluten free life that is out there (although the latest edition seems to have less misinformation) and some people don't like that she calls it a 'gluten allergy' (then again, the broad definition of allergy does fit, it just isn't an iGE mediated allergy that will give you hives and send you into anaphylactic shock). A lot of it is about her life and symptoms and I don't agree with her (old-school) attitude towards eating out with others or attending a function/party with them (the old, "it's ok, I don't have to eat, I'm just there for the company" -- after all, if that were true for any of them, then they could make a choice to eat at a place where you can, too, instead of nibbling plain lettuce and passing out from starvation). If you have someone who won't read a dense textbook about celiac disease, but you'd like them to learn a bit about eating gluten free (coworkers, friends or family you wish would get tested), this can make an inexpensive gift that is easy to get thru. If you are ready for something with a bit more depth (and more recipes), check out Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves Me Back...And How You Can Too, by Shauna James Ahern (this is an updated ASIN from the edition I purchased, so you may have to check your library to see if you already have it). I do know one I've already put on my wishlist and that's The Gluten-Free Table: The Lagasse Girls Share Their Favorite Meals, which is currently a pre-order for October. I may just go ahead and pre-order it, as I don't see any of his cookbooks from Hatchette in the e-libraries that I belong to and it doesn't appear that they go down much in price from where this one is listed.
Book Description
For years, Elisabeth Hasselbeck couldn't figure out what was making her sick. She asked doctors and consulted nutritionists, but no one seemed to have any answers. It wasn't until spending time in the Australian Outback, living off the land on the grueling Survivor TV show, that, ironically, her symptoms vanished. Returning home, she pinpointed the food that made her sick -- gluten, the binding element in wheat. By simply eliminating it from her diet, she was able to enjoy a completely normal, healthy life. But that wasn't all. Hasselbeck discovered the myriad benefits that anyone can enjoy from a gluten-free diet: from weight loss and increased energy to even the alleviation of the conditions of autism.
In this all-inclusive book, Hasselbeck shares her hard-earned wisdom on living life without gluten and loving it. She gives you everything you need to know to start living a gluten-free life, from defining gluten - where to find it, how to read food labels - to targeting gluten-free products, creating G-Free shopping lists, sharing recipes, and managing G-Free living with family and friends.
