This book is one of the most loved middle-grade novels. It is a combination of a classic spy novel in a context of a fantasy school resulting in something unique. In just two chapters the writing will fly you right off the page. When the word “Weredragon” is mentioned, you cannot stop reading the book. The new character, a supernatural being is introduced. Amari Peters only knows the following three things; her brother Quinton is missing, no one talks about it, and Quinton’s mysterious job holds the secret. In the face of constant bullying wherever Amari goes, she is filled with bravery. This makes the reader adore Amari more and more as it is this role of a leading young lady every book need. Through her own experiences, she was able to identify that her recent new roommate was a Weredragon.
It is interesting to see how she accepts this fact so fast and hence teaching the reader different lessons to see a bigger picture of past differences in every individual. The love she had towards her brother is very adorable, and the reader is thrilled to read about siblings being so close. As the story often can portray them being at war with one another. It is awesome to read how she relentlessly purses the truth on what befalls Quinton although she is reckless at times. Thus, making her wonderful to the reader. You just do not need a good lead with great books, but you also need a cast of wonderful and adorable characters which is reflected in this book. Your blood will boil by reading about how creepy villains make other characters see what they want them to see, friends with mysterious motives, supportive buddies, and other bullies.
Dylan is one of the favorite characters, and you will read most of the book trying to understand him and his traits. You will enjoy trying to work the reason as to what made him tick as he developed a complicated relationship with Amari. There are other characters like Dylan but it would be good to read the book and enjoy the adventure of reading it all yourself. The book is full of magic. From classic fantasy literature characters to mythical beasts, there is much on offer to keep young minds entertained and alight. The words magic system and building are particularly excellent the reader is never confused about any elements described. This will make the reader picture himself or herself walking on the halls of the bureau. There are little nods here and there to things, adult readers might be aware of, but young readers might not be.
Hence there is something for everyone in the book. It would be fun for one to read together with a young or less confident reader. A sense of realism is brought in through Amari’s background as a black girl who ails from an area being looked down on, accompanied by the magical side of things. This makes Amari more relatable. Readers are unable to read it without comparing the book to Harry Potter, and it is much better as more elements have been incorporated into it. It is not easy to put the book down once you start reading it and the reader finds himself or herself compelled to read it slowly in detail. Hence a good sign and characteristic of an amazing book. Readers are always eagerly waiting for the next release of the new volume of the book. They can’t wait to find out what will happen next, and they would be happy to be part of this adventure and fun.
Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
Children of Virtue and Vengeance is the sequel to the groundbreaking debut novel Children of Blood and bone from legendary author Tomi Adeyemi. It is the second book in the trilogy dubbed ‘Legacy of Orisha’. Because it is a sequel, it is almost impossible to read the second book without reading the first one. So before we go on, head on over and read her debut novel Children of Blood and Bone that we have already reviewed right HERE. As a summary, in the first book, we are introduced to Zelie Abedola, a young girl who is born into a somewhat lost culture of Maji, a lineage of people with the gift of magic. When she was still young, the people around her such as her family and friends were massacred because of who they were and the magic they wielded. This left her to grow up in total fear of her physique and her unique ability to use magic for the good of Orisha and its people.
Book two continues the story fro where the first one left us with Zelie, after having such a shattering loss, is fully focused on getting revenge on the monarchy. The twist, however, is Zelie and her people did not anticipate getting a stronger adversary who is actually more powerful than her, in terms of magic. This leaves Zelie with the challenging task of realizing the magic within her to give her the capacity to fight back and win or else she might again end up losing another person that she loves, or worse, have the entire Maji wiped out permanently.
Just like in the first book, Adeyemi moves the story reasonably fast, because of her unique ability to break down the book into short and efficiently consumable chapters. The book, while maintaining its thrill, still goes into the different Maji clans and their powers, the elders, and the history giving a good back story that both precedes and succeeds the first novel while maintaining a good flow and very great continuity. As you read through the book, you will often cringe at Zelie’s and Princess Amari’s decisions a number of times but that is what makes them human and helps them grow. Though their stubbornness often gets them into trouble, especially at the expense of the clan, they always learn from their mishaps giving them the human nature of doing mistakes and learning from them.
As initially stated, Children of Virtue and Vengeance is not a stand alone book and it is very difficult to just pick it up and read it on its own. You will enjoy it to its full potential if you are familiar with the first book and its plot and characters. The second book maintains the thrill of twists and turns of the first one but sadly does not entirely live up to Children of Blood and Bone. Writers, filmmakers, musicians, and other art creators often say that the second creation never outshines the first one and this is true for this book series. Though Children of Virtue and Vengeance does a superb job of telling a nice story, it really does not do such a great job as the first book. The ending was also a very suspenseful one and it sets the stage for a beautiful closure to a great trilogy. I am very sure that with the phenomenal writing prowess of Tomi Adeyemi, and her unique storytelling and visualization, we are in for a treat in the conclusion of this epic trilogy.
Who moved my Cheese by Spencer Johnson
Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life has been hailed as a great guide to dealing with change in every human beings life. Written in 1998 by acclaimed writer Dr. Spenser Johnson, this book has changed the lives of many and has sold several million copies worldwide spending quite some time in the best seller’s list. With less than 100 pages on its hard copy, making it a quick read in a few hours, what significance could this book hold to make it this phenomenal? What makes this book that extremely popular and a darling to many? Why do the testimonials of many reveal that the book has helped them deal with change in their lives efficiently? I dug into the book and finished it in three hours and I have to say this about the book ”Who moved my Cheese by Spencer Johnson”
Very great story
The story is just simply wonderful. Simple, concise, relatable, and downright catchy. The author takes us into the fictitious world of four characters in their quest to find cheese which is their source of nutrition and in effect, wellbeing. There exist 2 humans who are mice-sized as well as 2 actual mice. The mice, Scurry and Sniff adapt with change quite fast when their cheese is ‘moved’. Unlike the mice, the humans; Hem and Haw, take longer to adapt to change when they realized that the cheese has been ‘moved’ as well. Throughout the book, we are taken through the journey of these individuals as they discover how to deal with the change in their lives and to adapt effectively.
Very important lessons
Because of the versatility of the book, many individuals draw different lessons from the book. As with each character, there exist different paths that individuals take to change but the primary lesson is ‘Change always comes, learn to adapt’
Like Sniff, we need to smell change while it is still a distance away.
Like Scurry, we need to run quickly to the new destination when change occurs.
Unlike Hem who denies the occurrence of change and actually resists it, we need to do the opposite and accept and move on with the change
Both like and unlike Hem who takes a while to adapt and eventually succeed, we need to pick ourselves faster when change occurs rather than waiting for the last minute to accept and effect change
Very beautiful narration
In other self-help books, we often meet a tough-talking motivational speaker talking loudly and giving instructions on how he has done it and the reader should do it. This is often a bot exhaustive to any reader and could easily throw off the reader from even benefiting from the book. Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life however takes a different approach. In a parable-like manner, the writer narrates the entire story intertwining it with change and how to effect and handle it. In the entire narration, the writer draws you into the life of his characters and you see how they handle change as you reflect and relate with at least one of his characters. This taps into the human mind concisely as it is easier to remember stories, fables, and parables with a meaning than it is to just read and understand lessons.
This is one of those books you just have to get and quickly go through as the message in it is very vital to every single human being’s life. It is a very important story told in a smart way.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Many people fear discussing death, the holocaust, and the devastating burning of taboo books during Nazi Germany all at once, well, unless you are Markus Zusak. In this great novel, Markus Zusak tells us an amazing fictional story about a little girl who loves stealing books and has several encounters with death himself. It is a witty, humorous novel that will make you laugh, cry, and fear all within some 500 pages. The fact that the book was quickly adapted into a motion picture just shows the magnitude of influence the book has had since it got published in 2005.
Narrated by Death himself, the book tells the story of a young girl called Liesel, who steals books. After the tragic death of her brother, Liesel goes to live with her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann. She has to part ways with her mother because her mother cannot afford to look after her.
Liesel does not know how to read but Hans supports her and teaches her slowly and steadily how to read a whole manner of different things. She picks up her reading passionately and her curiosity is aroused further and further till she decides to start stealing books that they have been taught are very bad.
We are then introduced to a Jewish boy called Max Vandenburg who suddenly comes knocking on the door of the Hubbermans. He requests to be secretly hosted by them as a favor owed to Max’s father by Hans. Being a family with a kind heart, then take in the boy and host him in their basement. Max’s father had died sometime back during the first world war.
As the story continues unraveling, Liesel also grows up further as she realizes that the world might be more dangerous than she thought. All through her life, she meets, bonds, and interacts with many people including Rudy; a great fan of American athlete Jesse Owens. He sheepishly always asks for a kiss from the adamant Liesel. We see several characters die through time as the horror of war is depicted. Death continues narrating as he is uncannily drawn to this particular ‘book thief’.
When the story draws towards its conclusion, Max is forced to leave the family that has kept him safe for so long, in order to keep them, as well as himself, safe. The departure is teary as well as much of the book but the comical nature keeps a great balance that makes for a very sweet story that churns up your emotions. A fair warning is that as you read this book, have your box of tissues near because you will probably cry like a little child.
The most interesting aspect of this story is just how the entire story fits very well. It is like different puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly to give you a wonderful story. While the book addresses very serious issues, it does not lag behind on its comical nature. It is a book that fits perfectly for audiences of all ages and demographics. If you want a book that will make you appreciate the little things in life while taking you to a different world fully (where Death is a narrator), then this is the book for you.
There are so many lessons to be learned throughout the book and a simple blog cannot exhaust it. So the best alternative is to grab this book for yourself and go through this journey that might leave you gasping for more. I am not even hesitant in saying that this might actually be Markus Zusak’s best work yet.
Richest Man in Babylon- George S. Clarson
Referred to as the ”Financial Freedom Bible”, Richest Man in Babylon is indeed one of the greatest financial lessons books any individual can ever read in their lifetime. It is creatively depicted as a series of short stories, teaching direct lessons whose purpose is to show that the secrets to building wealth which are basically unchanging and remain the same throughout history. The one theme that cuts across all tales is that a person can indeed work hard and become wealthy while learning from everything that goes wrong.
The story is about Arkad, the supposed richest man in Babylon. Upon the King’s request, Arkad teaches his “seven cures to a lean purse” to individuals and society as a whole so that it can reap the benefits of what he has learned in his wealth-building journey.
Here are Arkad’s seven principles for wealth creation:
Start to fatten thy purse. (Saving)
This is actually the ignition key of the wealth-building journey. The classic principle of paying yourself first from your earnings. Clason, through Arkad, encourages paying yourself at least 10% of all the income that you earn. Even for those who are paying off debt, he still encourages setting aside this one-tenth from what you earn all for yourself. You can’t possibly be working but then spend all your fortunes paying other individuals and ignoring yourself.
Control thy expenditures. (Live below your means)
Basically, Clarson here teaches us the importance of living below your means and avoiding lifestyle inflation if you are ever to accumulate wealth. Arkad famously says to his students ‘”I say to you that just as weeds grow in a field wherever the farmer leaves space for their roots, even so freely do desires grow in men whenever there is a possibility of their being gratified. Thy desires are a multitude and those that thou mayest gratify are but few.‘
Make thy gold multiply. (Invest)
Your wealth streams have to extend beyond your income if you are ever to become financially stable. Put your money to work by making smart investments that pay off in a stable and consistent way. Also, take advantage of time and compounding interest when saving to ensure your money does not sit idly without growth.
Guard thy treasures from loss. (Protect your money from unsound investments)
Here, Arkad encourages the protection of your principle savings from loss. In as much as an investment such as stocks is a risk as prices may fall, it is very vital to make sound investment decisions backed by professionals and those with experience to protect you from loss. It is better to have little profits than have a larger risk that could potentially sink your entire amount. You know, those too good to be true deals!
Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment. (Own a home)
Clarson declares here that it makes more sense to make payments that will eventually become equity in terms of owning a home rather than giving money to a landlord. Though this point is debatable, this is one of those instances where Arkad’s argument makes perfect sense; for it is beautiful to pay towards owning rather than just paying to stay.
Insure a future income.
This is basically having a plan for retirement, insurance, and having enough for the tough days. It is very vital, according to Arkad, that you have enough wealth accumulated to sustain you and your family during the tougher days or just in case you cross over into the darkness (die)
Increase thy ability to earn.
Ensure you always find ways to make more money by improving your skillet thereby yourself more valuable even to employers. Go for classes, train yourself, take side jobs; whatever you can, set SMART performance goals, and start working to earn more money as soon as possible.
A beautiful book for anyone who desires to break away from the shackles of financial slavery.
Rich Dad Poor Day by Robert Kiyosaki
This is one of the most quoted financial literacy books in modern history. Written by Robert Kiyosaki and published in 1997; this is one of those books you will hear about in seminars and self-help conventions. It is quite the masterpiece. I personally really liked the book solely because of one purpose: It changed my perception of money as well as financial literacy.
In the book, the author talks about his two dads; one is the poor dad who is his biological father, and the other is the rich dad who is the father of his friend Mike. Robert’s father has a 9-5 job and is actually quite learned as he holds a Ph.D. degree. In Robert’s eyes, he sees his father as the perfect definition of the ‘Poor Dad’ since has a single source of income which he spends his entire life dependent on.
On the other hand, Mike’s father is a college dropout. However, he has multiple sources of income, he is always open to opportunities, and makes the money work for him and not the other way around. This makes Robert conclude that he is the ‘rich dad’.
It is vital to note that Kiyosaki does not dismiss the importance of college education and is in no way suggesting you drop out; the point he seeks to make is that formal education only teaches us how to make money but leaves us clueless on how to manage and grow it.
In simple terms, the Rich Dad Poor Dad book draws out from the financial wisdom that Robert received from his “Rich Dad” in comparison to his “Poor Dad”. That being said, let us have a look at 3 of the greatest lessons Robert Kiyosaki teaches us in this great book that have personally impacted me as an individual.
Money works for the rich; not the other way around
In this lesson, Rich dad explains to Robert how rich people recognize opportunities in life and hurriedly take them while the poor ignore them as they are too preoccupied running after little money for security and sustenance. The poor and middle-class always work under fear and greed since they are taught that risks are dangerous and they, therefore, prefer the comfort of salaried jobs. This allows the rich to have money working for them while the poor work all their lives for money.
Teach yourself financial literacy
The Rich Dad also emphasized on the importance of financial literacy because, without it, the rich as well could lose all their fortune. Bad financial decisions and poor financial habits often come from a place of not knowing. That is why the rich continue to get richer by investing in assets and keeping their liabilities to a bare minimum. On the other hand, the poor remain poor because they pile up their liabilities and do not purchase assets.
Mind your own business
A very key lesson in this book that Robert learns from Rich Dad is that you should not mind your employer’s business because it is not yours. If you ever want to be financially free, you should strive for ways to build your own business and become your own boss. When your employer gets a better replacement, they will often desert you without thinking twice. It is therefore very vital to spend time, effort, money, and emotions building your own business. Also, the author reminds us that instead of just focusing on a job from a temporary employer; build assets, for example, stocks, bonds, real estate, royalties, mutual funds, etc. Anything that generates a cash flow will give you the independence to quit your job and start your business.
Well, there you have it: if you ever want to achieve financial independence, start by reading this wonderful book.
Blackout Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget by Sarah Hepola
This is one of those books that you just read and are like; yes, these things do happen to real people. One of the most frankly told memoirs about the real life of Sarah Hepola, Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget is a book that will dive deep into many societal issues that ail us in the 21st Century such as addiction, cynism, misogyny and how the society expect us to handle it all. This book reveals, creatively and laughably, yet still very serious, the devastating effect of alcohol addiction in a modern-day woman who seeks to affirm her place in the society. Some few things that stood out for me as a male reader in this book include the deep struggle that women go through to try to make an impact in a male-dominated society and how they sometimes get themselves in awful ‘manly’ behaviors in an attempt to certify themselves as strong but end up losing all the strength in their femininity.
A common occurrence in modern times is women desiring to be cool, fit in and be empowered by picking up all the bad habits in men. These women will never hide their wine or drinking habits. They would take shots and be praised for it. This memoir talks of how this drug equality affects women; about the impact drinking as one of the boys has on women.
The author clearly shows how the different perceptions of women and alcohol affected her drinking making her an unruly addict, and how this habit can affect other women. The book carefully explores how young women are encouraged by their peers to drink excessively and how the blame persists even for all the things that go wrong within the drinking spree. Sarah reveals how much she struggled and used alcohol to fit in even in her first job where she drank with her colleagues almost every evening. With the habit of going for beers after work, she felt empowered because it was not feminine to do such an activity and she was breaking the norm.
By adopting such behavior that is perceived by culture as hyper-masculine, women want to be taken seriously and considered equal. Women do the same in other places. Sarah Hepola points out the electric suits or short hair that are popular with power-conscious women. Our culture undermines what is considered feminine and promotes what is considered masculine. There are a lot of problems with this power plays and deficiency associations, but the important thing this book highlights is that what alcohol does to women’s bodies is just not what it does to men’s bodies and Sarah Hepola goes into this in detail. In reality, women get drunk faster than men, which means women get drunk more easily and eventually black out way faster. This puts women on the path of predators such as rapists and other people who prey on drunk women- and there are lots of them.
This book led me to see that the reality of women and alcohol has changed in the 21st century, and cultural narratives have totally changed. Women no longer drink in private to alleviate their secret feminine discomfort in a rather masculine world. They drink heavily and take pride in themselves because they want to be empowered and taken seriously and yes until they are considered cool. While we can talk about finding more ways to empower, I think it is also important that as a culture we strive to stop putting negative masculine traits on women. Things should be respected based on their impact on the world and not on the gender of the perpetrator. Young women should no longer feel compelled to act like a man when men and women are treated equally. All these toxic masculinity, I dare say, also affects men and their drinking habits too. If you think guys don’t drink too much to hype their masculinity, you are terribly mistaken. Men are equally pressured by society to drink more as a masculine trait. How devastating!!
Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians
Ever wanted to read a book that will make you laugh, sympathize, cry and even cheer at some point while all along giving you a scoop into the life of the Chinese super-rich; a new class of individuals and families who are keeping five-star hotels, restaurants, and luxury shops around the world alive? Well, that is what Kevin Kwan’s debut novel will make you see. An inside scoop on one of the most interesting and crazy stories of Super Rich Asians that you will ever get to read.
The novel is set in Singapore, the birthplace of the author as well as that of his main character, Nick Young. For two years, He has been dating a professor of economics at New York University called Rachel Chu while living in Greenwich Village. Rachel Chu actually comes from a wealthy Taipei family, but she has no clue what wealth really is.
That is until he invites her to come with him to his home in Singapore since he is going to be the best man at his friend’s wedding. This sets the stage for one of the most hilarious rollercoaster rides for Rachel. She soon discovers that the life they had in New York in no way compares to what she is about to witness in Singapore.
The intricacies of this family are seen in almost every scene. The vivid description of Kevin Kwan highlights almost all issues that typically happen in crazy rich Asian families. For starters, Collin Cho, Nick’s best friend, is being married to the daughter of a rich Chinese businessman and it has all been planned to the finest details. He tells Nick “You know this merger has been choreographed down to the most minute detail, it’s good for business and anything that’s good for business is good for the family… I have not been in the position to make a single choice since I was born, and you know that.” This highlights the orchestration of this union in an attempt to ‘preserve the wealth’.
Then there is Eleanor, Nick’s mother, who has the exact idea of the kind of woman Nick should marry. And she makes sure Rachel knows that she does not approve of her. Rachel comes to sadly find out that the sweet and humble man she knew from New York is being headhunted by an army of socialites who want him all to themselves. So, as she came to find out, not only does she face rejection from Eleanor, but she also must battle the numerous women circling her man like vultures circling a carcass.
Kwan is very descriptive when it comes to the lifestyle of the super-rich. He describes in rich details their extravagant houses, their enormous wardrobes, their love for good and expensive food, and the desires of the older generation to retain their wealth within the family.
As the intricacies unfold, we are drawn into a world of wealth, secrets, betrayals, and high standards. While we are drawn into this world, we are also cognizant of the fact that there are gentle souls that wish well and do not regard money as the heartbeat of everything. All the characters in this novel are so carefully intertwined to reveal a great web of family drama almost incomparable to any other novel.
This is one of the best love stories ever written and it takes a couple of themes to intertwine them properly. Just the magnitude of the accuracy and details in this book has made it to be developed into a major motion picture with both critical and box office success. This is a good book to read.
Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days
Everyone has thought of it: How do I start my business successfully? And how has it been done in the past? Have multi-million entrepreneurs ever undergone the start-up journey? In this amazing book by Jessica Livingston, we get to hear the intimate stories of start-up founders and how the journey was for them to get to their millionaire status with firms that employ thousands of employees. From big names such as Steve Wozniak (Apple), Caterina Fake (Flickr), Sabeer Bhatia (Hotmail), Max Levchin (PayPal), and Mitch Kapor (Lotus), we get an inside look at the intricacies of starting a business and watching it grow through all stages- sometimes to levels that they had not anticipated. In simple terms, this is a memoir for all entrepreneurs to take a leap of faith, and who knows, they might ultimately become the next big thing.
This book, published in 2001, has sometimes been referred to as the ‘Entrepreneur bible’ because of just how much impact it has had on different individuals all over the world. It is one of those books that gets you pumped up for your next big business. As an entrepreneur or an aspiring entrepreneur, I would recommend you reading this book before you begin your business. Either way, if you have already kickstarted the business, this is still an ideal place to draw insights from if you want your business to ever be a Billion Dollar Company. There are a few things that stood out for me from the entire book that seems to have cut across all experiences of this millionaire businesspeople and are probably the reasons why this book is a best seller.
- Rejection is a must
We have probably heard it before and taken it for granted but all great ideas were at some point rejected. Even these big business names were rejected several times as start-ups. It is amazing just how much investors can be blind to a brilliant idea and this is one of the most reverberated aspects of this book across all the multiple testimonies by the billionaire businessmen interviewed. Therefore, do not expect a smooth sail as a businessman. You will be rejected often, and this book does emphasize it.
2. Perseverance separates the chaff
Another key issue that is highlighted in this book is the need to persevere while you are starting out in your entrepreneurship journey. Most of the testimonials from these billionaire entrepreneurs emphasize on the high probability of almost losing all hope. However, the book reminds us, through the interviews, that when you want to give is, is probably the time you are closest to success. As an entrepreneur, Founders at Work reminds us that you can never really succeed in business if you give up way too easily. The sail is not smooth.
3. Most work happens in the beginning
In all the greatest entrepreneur stories, the founders testify to spending sleepless nights and working sometimes above 20 hours a day. When the business starts in a dorm room or even a tiny office and there are only 3 employees, that is when the work is the most. Compared to a multi conglomerate with 1,000 employees, start-ups have single individuals managing entire departments. Therefore, Founders at Work reminds us that more than just the fancy we see after companies succeed, there is the hard work stage often characterized by exhausted by ambitious individuals.
This great gem by first-time author Jessica Livingston uses one of the most creative ways to get the message home. If you want to understand the entrepreneur journey, what better way to do it than to read words from the horse’s mouth.
Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst.
We have all thought about it: Why do we behave how we behave and which factors have affected us so drastically yet so imperceptibly that when we do the most involuntary of things, they can still be traced back to a particular motivation? This exciting science of understanding behavior, character, and motivations is well documented in this exciting book by Robert Sapolsky. This 2017 non-fiction novel has been hailed as one of the most daring, investigates human behavior carefully summed up into a single book. Interestingly, this book provides insurmountable insights to a professor of neuroscience as well as to a novice who just wants to know the basic understanding of behavior. So, what exciting insights exist in this book, and why do some Wall Street Journal reviewers say ”It’s no exaggeration to say that Behave is one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read”?
For starters, the book is written by a celebrated neurobiologist and primatologist. Robert Sapolsky has taken his time to research on this field of study extensively. This book is a landmark, world-changing look into human behavior on both ends of the spectrum both good and bad, and everything in between. In simple terms, Sapolsky seeks to simply answer the question: Why do we do what we do?
One interesting aspect is Sapolsky’s mode of storytelling. His premise is quite delightful mixing severe and scientific logic with warm and hearty storytelling. He begins by examining everything that affects a person’s reaction in the exact moment a certain behavior occurs, and then reversely goes back, through several stages, to the genesis of this particular involuntary reaction to a certain thing which inadvertently forms human behavior. In the long run, Sapolsky ultimately ends up at the very beginning, through our deep evolutionary legacy and the history of the human species.
Therefore, the writer starts his explanation of human biology through neurobiology. When a behavior occurs; a positive reaction, a negative reaction, or anything in between is visible to the human eye. Is there something that, however, went on in a person’s brain just a second before the behavior occurred? Then Sapolsky also examines that slightly beforehand, something happened that must have influenced that reaction and behavior. Maybe a smell, sight, or even sound, caused the nervous system to produce that behavior. Also, some biological triggers such as hormones could have acted hours to days earlier to influence the response that occurred because of that stimuli. As it stands now, as you read the book, the author has greatly expanded your scope of vision making us think broader about endocrinology, neurobiology, and the impact of our environment on our most involuntary behaviors.
But that is not all, the author further takes us deeper to understand behavior. Did preceding structural changes in the nervous system affect the behavior? Changes such as physical trauma, adolescence, or childhood? And what about genetic make-up and structure? Finally, Sapolsky brings into focus events beyond the individual such as society and culture. What ecological factors influenced the formation of that culture? Finally, what evolutionary factors, which might be millions of years old, influenced certain cultural tendencies and behaviors?
When it’s all said and done, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst is one of the best rides through human psychology that anyone can ever take. The author uses scientific research with proven methodologies to try and dissect one of the scariest questions of human existence: Why do we behave how we behave? And in this, we are forced to deal with some of society’s most crucial yet thorny subjects including morality, free will, war, peace, corruption, discrimination, democracy, and a host of other issues.