Before You Know It

Before You Know It: The Unconscious Reasons We Do What We Do by John Bargh Summary: Financial Times: One of the Best Books of 2017 Business Insider: One of the Best Science Books of 2017 Dr. John Bargh, the world’s leading expert on the unconscious mind, presents a groundbreaking book, twenty years in the making, which gives us an entirely new understanding of the hidden mental processes that secretly govern every aspect of our behavior. For more than three decades, Dr. John Bargh has been responsible for the revolutionary research into the unconscious mind, research that informed bestsellers like Blink and Thinking Fast and Slow. Now, in what Dr. John Gottman said “will be the most important and exciting book in psychology that has been written in the past twenty years,” Dr. Bargh takes us on an entertaining and enlightening tour of the forces that affect everyday behavior while transforming our understanding of ourselves in profound ways. Telling personal anecdotes with infectious enthusiasm and disclosing startling and delightful discoveries, Dr. Bargh takes the reader into his labs at New York University and Yale where he and his colleagues have discovered how the unconscious guides our behavior, goals, and motivations in areas like race relations, parenting, business, consumer behavior, and addiction. He reveals what science now knows about the pervasive influence of the unconscious mind in who we choose to date or vote for, what we buy, where we live, how we perform on tests and in job interviews, and much more. Because the unconscious works in ways we are completely unaware of, Before You Know It is full of surprising and entertaining revelations as well as tricks to help you remember to-do items, shop smarter, and sleep better. Destined to be a bestseller, Before You Know It is an intimate introduction to a fabulous world only recently discovered, the world that exists below the surface of your awareness and yet is the key to knowing yourself and unlocking new ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Angie’s comments: A good look into your own brain, which is acting in ways you didn’t know. It is very much a pop scientific work, aimed at people who haven’t studied psychology or the brain. There are scientific studies mentioned, along with anecdotes. Recommended for readers interested in the brain and psychology.  Request this item

The Resurrectionist

The Resurrectionist by Matthew Guinn Summary: At South Carolina Medical College, Dr. Jacob Thacker is on probation for Xanax abuse. His interim career―working university public relations―takes an unnerving detour into the past when the bones of African American slaves are unearthed on campus. In a parallel narrative set in the nineteenth century, Nemo ("no man"), a university slave purchased for his unusual knife skills, becomes an unacknowledged member of the surgical faculty by day―and by night, a "resurrectionist," responsible for procuring bodies for medical study. An unforgettable character, by turns apparently insouciant, tormented, and brilliant, Nemo will seize his self-respect in ways no reader can anticipate. With exceptional storytelling pacing and skill, Matthew Guinn weaves together past and present to relate a Southern Gothic tale of shocking crimes and exquisite revenge. A 2014 Edgar Award Finalist for Best First Novel. Angie’s comments: A tale about choices – choices that are made and situations in which there is little to no choice – and racism. The two main characters are intriguing, and the depiction of slavery and racism is heart-breaking. Recommended for readers interested in historical fiction and/or depictions of slavery and racism. Request this item