Thanks! and Three More

194. Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier by Robert A. Emmons

Emmons serepititiously began to study gratitude during a conference on the classical sources of human strength: wisdom, hope, love, spirituality, gratitude, humility; he signed up for humility but was assigned gratitude. Emmons was surprised to find that by practicing gratitude, people can increase their happiness. Apparently, the brain can not experience both negative and positive emotions at the same time. Emmons proposes ten ways for adults to practice gratitude: keeping a gratitude journal; remembering the bad parts of the past and being grateful for getting through those times; asking three questions (”What have I received from ___?” “What have I given to ___?” and “What troubles and difficulties have I caused ___?”); learning prayers of gratitude; “coming to your senses”; using visual reminders to be grateful; making a vow to practice gratitude; using the language of gratefulness; going through the motions; and thinking outside the box for things for which to be grateful. He also calls for gratitude training in childhood, in order to develop a tool that will foster well-being.

195. Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost

Just in time for the 2008 Olympic Games, I get a behind the curtain look at China. And that look at China is not pretty. Despite all attempts to appear as a modern nation, China’s leaders continue to rule the country with an iron hand. The law is wielded despotically and seemingly at a whim. Capitalism has somehow managed to sneak into the country, but it is an ugly capitalism, run with the tired hands of a weary people desperate to make a living and with side effects of rampant pollution that threatens the air and water of every large city in China. And there are people, people, people everywhere, one and a half billion altogether, with all the horrors that such a large population brings.

Not a place I wish to visit.

196. Queen of the Road: The True Tale of 47 States; 22,000 Miles; 200 Shoes; 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband; and a Bus with a Will of Its Own by Doreen Orion

After the virtually joyless trip I just took with Troost in Lost on Planet China (not Troost’s fault…China is just not a pretty world these days), I was happy to climb aboard with Doreen Orion in Queen of the Road and travel around the (relatively) clean U.S. of A. Orion’s husband convinces her to buy an enormous bus, convert it to a travel-mobile, and set out on a yearlong adventure across America. Orion is a fun traveling companion and seems to find every quirky spot and person in the country. A great summer read.

197. A Death in the Family by James Agee

There are good reads that satisfy and are thoughtful and have lovely writing. And then there are the truly great reads that leave the reader longing to start the book over and reread it just as soon as one turns to the final paragraph. A Death in the Family is a great read.

The story is very simple. Jay Follet, the dad and the husband in the family, receives a call from his brother that his father is very ill and is near death. Jay goes to be with his father and on his return is killed in an automobile accident.

But there is so much more to this book that makes it a great read. The writing is beautiful, filled with wonderful words and phrases that feel fresh and new without feeling artificial. Agee gets inside each character’s head so that each character seems unique and genuine. The reader is left with the mysteries of the story that so often occur in real life: Had Jay been drinking when the accident took place? Was Jay’s father really seriously ill and, if not, why did Jay’s brother call? What will happen to Jay’s wife and children? How will the accident change their lives?

A must read.