Great Books to Read

Divergent - Veronica Roth (2 part book series)

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Back in Japan I was blown away with The Hunger Games series, the setting in the post-apocalyptic world, stories of rebellions, the area, uprisings, factions, etc etc. Amazing book that later went on to become a movie, which as always fell short by the books standard vs. what movie producers could do to appease the eyes. Another great series that I haven't heard as many people talking about is the Divergent series, another book that follows a young girl living in a post apocalyptic world divided into factions.

This book manages to capture your attention in a matter of pages and does a great job making you emphasize with the main characters. If you never read the Hunger Games series and are too focused waiting for the movie series at this point, try reading this book to feed your "young girl battling the odds in a post-apocalyptic world thats divided into factions" interests.

Infected - Scott Sigler

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Takes place in modern US, a new series of infection is spreading. It starts as a triangle like fungus somewhere on your body, then as time passes it grows into a bone like structure that starts to root and learn from you. As it grows, it spreads and forms more triangles and eventually forms a system linked to your own that has a mind of its own.

Personally I thought this book was awesome, it had a creepy medical reason for everything and was very well researched to create a great reader if you want something more creepy. Personally I love a good horror novel, pulls you back into reading so you don't want to put the book down.

The Dead Zone - Stephen King

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This book rapidly became my favorite Stephen King novel. Its a story about a man who has a head injury as a small boy, who later gets into a car wreck and goes into a 5 year coma. When he awakes he has a special gift to see into the future and can unknowingly predict people's deaths. Stephen King pulls out all his skills to make you get those chills down your spine while making sure to keep this book full of emotion for the characters. I was near tears at the ending. Amazing book, I would highly suggest.

Thats all I will suggest for now, if you happen to stumble upon these books I'd love to hear what you thought.

Weekly Reading

The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head - Lately in my reading I have been looking for a book that could help me answer some of the more complex questions in my life. A friend of mine pointed me on to a series and this is one of many books suggested. This book follows the career of an Ivy League M.D. who is entering the psychology field. Having briefly worked on a psych ward myself, this book peaked my interests. Dr. Gary Small does a brilliant job taking what could be very dry material and turns it into a book that has you laughing, questioning, and looking deeper into your own connections with the people around you. A must read if you are interested in books that make you want to research more into other topics. A few of my favorite quotes from the book:

"In any given year, an estimated one in four adults -nearly sixty million people- in the United States suffer from a mental disorder. Despite the public's misconceptions, psychiatric interventions have been shown to diminish and often eradicate the symptoms of psychosis, depression, and anxiety; yet many people do not have access to care, and often those who could improve with treatment never seek out a specialist"

"It has always amazed me that people feel such a stigma about the psychiatric conditions. Most people wouldn't feel embarrassed if they had a broken leg and needed help. Despite the remarkable advances in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, many still believe that mental illness is a sign of personal weakness and something to be embarrased about. The effects of these attitudes can be devastating. Patients feel self-doubt and shame, so they isolate themselves. Many who would likely respond to treatment pretend that nothing is wrong and refuse help. They are often rejected by family and friends and discriminated against at work."

Parenting and Electronics - 2013 edition

While reading through some of my favorite tech sites I found a site that uses Question and Answer for a lot of today's challenging questions about your children and technology.

http://quib.ly/

Check it out if you have kids and are curious or if you simply want to brush up on your "soon to be a parent" skills.