Kat

This book touts itself as a scientific look at the mechanism of love in the human animal. It's a little fruity at the beginning and end, but there was some good stuff in the middle. I give it 4/5 for its theories about limbic resonance, which I found very interesting (from a poetic perspective if nothing else).

The last story, titled “Another Story, or A Fisherman of the Inland Sea”, is one of my favorites, and if I could rate just that, would get five stars.

The rest of the stories are good but not fantastic.

I honestly can't remember why I liked this when I read it in high school. So. Depressing. And the protagonist is not even a real person, with actual emotions and motives you could relate to. I mean. I know that's also the point, but still. This book just makes me angry.

I read this in conjunction with taking a variant of the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction workshop, but I think it would also stand on its own.

A very readable, practical, secular guide to mindfulness: what it is, why you might want to practice it, and how to incorporate it into your day-to-day life. The revised edition also includes a lot of information on the ever-increasing body of scientific knowledge about how the practice of mindfulness can rewire your brain.

Only time will tell whether this book CHANGED MY LIFE, but since reading about a topic is one of my stronger learning styles, I personally found it helpful as a complement to the workshop and daily practice.

A pleasant enough read, but not nearly as good as [b:Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell 14201 Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell Susanna Clarke http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/410A553CR8L.SL75.jpg 3921305].