The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World

The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World by Adam Gazzaley This book outlines a lot of the research that has gone into how we get distracted and why we are wired to be distracted. The consequences of being distracted can of course be very bad. Driving of course, but in everyday life where people think that 'multi-tasking' is a real thing. It actually is a very bad way to operate in the world, and ruins efficiency. The authors offer many strategies and ways of trying to cope with our distracting environments. I found it interesting that the idea of having an extended tech break, days without technology, can actually back fire. When you return to your tech world from the break you often dive in and are even more distracted than before. The strategies outlined really require a way of changing our behavior and changing the proximity of where are tech is at. Even it is not right in front of us, we are always aware that it is somewhere, offering us the latest update on 'vital' information. Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body By Daniel Goleman and Richard J. Davidson

Running to the Edge

Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed by Matthew Futterman. This is a history of competitive running, from the 1950s to the present. It outlines the ways people train, used to train and how that evolved. The academic and economic forces that shaped running. This follows the personalities that helped to shape modern competitive running. Of course the shoe companies have had a big influence on this culture, and the fight to not let them control everything makes this a more interesting story.

The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777

The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 by Rick Atkinson. This is a lot of the history that we know, but told in a non-academic way that makes it a great way to refresh our memories of the start of the American Revolution. This is the history of the revolution up to 1777. It has been easy to forget how much happened before July 4, 1776, and a lot did happen. This is a military history of the beginning of the revolution, not a political history, but of course it is impossible to completely separate the two. The familiar names of places and people are brought to life: Bunker Hill, Washington, Franklin, Princeton. And in an odd twist, I have never read a book where the word sanguine was used so frequently.