September Bestsellers

Here are our bestsellers for the beginning of September:

1  The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2  Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

3  Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

4  The Unbroken:  A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

5  A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

6  Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

7  A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

8  A Dance With Dragons by George R. R.

9  Skippyjon Jones Class Action by Judy Schachner

10  A First-Rate Madness:  Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness by Nassir Ghaemi

Turn of Mind

Alice LaPlante’s debut novel Turn of Mind is incredible.  This is the story of Dr. Jennifer White’s descent in to Alzheimers and the murder of her friend and neighbor, Amanda.  Jennifer is starting to have trouble recognizing her friends and family.  She finds herself easily slipping into the past, and just as easily slipping into a present that makes no sense.  Now she is the prime suspect for Amanda’s murder, but no one is able to figure out if she did it due to her failing memory.

This book is written from Jennifer’s perspective as well as from her journal entries.  It was fascinating to learn the story in this method and so well executed.  The police’s attempt to uncover the murderer was such an intriguing aspect of the novel, as were the dynamics between the characters.  The timeline does jump around a bit to highlight the effects of Alzhiemers, but was in no way confusing.  LaPlante has done such an excellent job with this novel that it is hard to believe it is her first.  We can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Order this as an E-book from mostlybooskaz.com, otherwise feel free to stop in the store for a copy or order the hardback from the above mentioned website.

This Is Your Brain On Music

Daniel J. Levitin’s non-fiction work entitled This is Your Brain on Music:  The Science of Human Obsession is an eye-opening look at the connection between music and our mind.  Levitin tells us why we are emotional attached to the music from our youth, why jingles get stuck in our head, and how composers produce pleasurable music by exploiting the way our brain views the world, among many other intriguing theories.  The book is easy to read even though the ideas are complex and often mix science and psychology together.  After reading this book you are sure to look at music and the brain in a whole new way.  This is a perfect read for anyone interested in the working of the mind.

The Psychopath Test

The Psychopath Test:  A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson was an incredible fascinating read.  This non-fiction book looks at the experiments that were once created to identify a psychopath.  Often the experiments are now considered illegal to perform, such as giving the subject a countdown to an electric shock.  However, much was learned from this beginning research.  Ronson finds in his search that most psychopaths have abnormal amygdalas causing them to react differently to tragedy or pain.  They don’t have  the feelings that trauma usually invokes.  The book looks at the Hale test, which is the official test used today to determine if a person is a psychopath or has psychopath tendencies, giving examples of the questions asked and the process involved in both administering the examine and taking it.  Ronson also looks at CEO’s and other people in power to determine if they are psychopaths.   Overall, this book was just filled with interesting information and would be great for any true-crime fan to read, as well as anyone else interested in psychology.  Ronson’s book will be out May 12th.