An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
In Touched with Fire, Kay Redfield Jamison, a psychiatrist, turned a mirror on the creativity so often associated with mental illness. In this book she turns that mirror on herself. With breathtaking honesty she tells of her own manic depression, the bitter costs of her illness, and its paradoxical benefits: “There is a particular kind of pain, elation, loneliness and terror involved in this kind of madness…. It will never end, for madness carves its own reality.” This is one of the best scientific autobiographies ever written, a combination of clarity, truth, and insight into human character. “We are all, as Byron put it, differently organized,” Jamison writes. “We each move within the restraints of our temperament and live up only partially to its possibilities.” Jamison’s ability to live fully within her limitations is an inspiration to her fellow mortals, whatever our particular burdens may be. –Mary Ellen Curtin

Author: Kay Redfield Jamison
Paperback:  240 pages
Company: Vintage  (1995-01-14) (1997-01-14)
ISBN: 0679763309
List Price: $13.95
Amazon Price: $7.79
Used Price: $4.53

Financial Armageddon: Protecting Your Future from Four Impending Catastrophes
According to Michael Panzner, the US is less than two years away from “”financial Armageddon.”" When the stock market bubble burst in March 2000, the collapse that followed wiped out over two-thirds of the value of the technology-laden Nasdaq Index and decimated the hopes and dreams of millions of Americans.

Now, imagine not one, but four such disasters looming on the horizon. Four key elements–Debt, Derivatives, Government Guarantees, and the Retirement system–are quickly unraveling, and because they are so intricately connected, there will be an unremitting domino effect. With time running out, this is a disaster-in-the-making on which every American must be informed so they can protect themselves, their families, and their economic well-being before it’s too late.

Author: Michael J. Panzner
Hardcover:  240 pages
Company: Kaplan Business  (2007-03-06) (2007-03-01)
ISBN: 141959608X
List Price: $25.00
Amazon Price: $13.81
Used Price: $13.71

Indigo Dreams: Relaxation and Stress Management Bedtime Stories for Children, Improve Sleep, Manage Stress and Anxiety (Indigo Dreams)
Book Description Indigo Dreams is a 60 minute CD/audio book designed to entertain your child while introducing them to relaxation/meditation techniques. Four unique stories introduce breathing, visualizations, muscular relaxation and affirmations. Children follow the characters along as they learn to manage their own stress, anxiety and energy with A Boy and a Bear, The Affirmation Web, A Boy and a Turtle and The Goodnight Caterpillar spoken by a female narrator.

Indigo Dreams offers shorter stories for shorter attention spans and beginners.

The narration is accompanied by healing sounds of crickets, gentle breezes and forest animals. An additional music sound track is included to further enhance your child’s relaxation experience.

The Affirmation Web A Believe in Yourself Adventure Voted “Book of the Month” by The IAM Foundation

Affirmations or positive statements build self-esteem and empower children to be the best they can be. Children follow a girl and her animal friends as they weave The Affirmation Web. They learn to believe in themselves while replacing negative messages with positive self talk. Children love this feel good story and the positive effect it has on their lives. Show children just how special life can be. Feel good!

A Boy and a Bear The Children’s Relaxation Story

Breathing for relaxation and wellness is a basic technique practiced by cultures throughout the world. Children love to follow A Boy and a Bear as they experience diaphragmatic/belly breathing. This self calming technique can be used anytime, anywhere. This easy, yet powerful stress management tool can offset the effects stress is having on today’s children. Many children are classified as being hyperactive. Empower your child by teaching them to ground themselves and manage their own energy. Let’s breathe!

A Boy and a Turtle The Children’s Visualization Story

Visualization is an effective technique widely used for achieving sports goals, creating success and attaining wellness. Now children can follow A Boy and a Turtle as they fill their bodies with the colors of the rainbow. Colorful imagery quiets the mind and relaxes the body. Parents as well as children enjoy falling asleep while playing in the field of colors. Some children are sensitive to energy and can often use it for healing. Enhance your child’s abilities to feel and see energy. Relax with colors!

The Goodnight Caterpillar The Ultimate Bedtime Story

Muscular Relaxation is essential to a good nights sleep. Children follow The Goodnight Caterpillar as they learn to unwind, relax and see things more clearly. This easy, gentle exercise relaxes muscles throughout the body as anxiety and tension slip away. Children and parents will fall asleep more easily and experience a deeper peaceful night’s sleep. Sweet dreams!

The 4 stories found on Indigo Dreams are also available in book format. The Goodnight Caterpillar, A Boy and a Bear, The Affirmation Web and A Boy and a Turtle.

Author: Lori Lite
Audio CD:  EP, Unabridged
Company: Lori Lite  (2004-05) (2006-10-17)
ISBN: 0970863349
List Price: $15.95
Amazon Price: $7.21
Used Price: $8.00

The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil
What makes good people do bad things? How can moral people be seduced to act immorally? Where is the line separating good from evil, and who is in danger of crossing it?

Renowned social psychologist Philip Zimbardo has the answers, and in The Lucifer Effect he explains how–and the myriad reasons why–we are all susceptible to the lure of “the dark side.” Drawing on examples from history as well as his own trailblazing research, Zimbardo details how situational forces and group dynamics can work in concert to make monsters out of decent men and women.

Zimbardo is perhaps best known as the creator of the Stanford Prison Experiment. Here, for the first time and in detail, he tells the full story of this landmark study, in which a group of college-student volunteers was randomly divided into “guards” and “inmates” and then placed in a mock prison environment. Within a week the study was abandoned, as ordinary college students were transformed into either brutal, sadistic guards or emotionally broken prisoners.

By illuminating the psychological causes behind such disturbing metamorphoses, Zimbardo enables us to better understand a variety of harrowing phenomena, from corporate malfeasance to organized genocide to how once upstanding American soldiers came to abuse and torture Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib. He replaces the long-held notion of the “bad apple” with that of the “bad barrel”–the idea that the social setting and the system contaminate the individual, rather than the other way around.

This is a book that dares to hold a mirror up to mankind, showing us that we might not be who we think we are. While forcing us to reexamine what we are capable of doing when caught up in the crucible of behavioral dynamics, though, Zimbardo also offers hope. We are capable of resisting evil, he argues, and can even teach ourselves to act heroically. Like Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem and Steven Pinker’s The Blank Slate, The Lucifer Effect is a shocking, engrossing study that will change the way we view human behavior.

Author: Philip Zimbardo
Hardcover:  576 pages
Company: Random House  (2007-03-27) (2007-03-27)
ISBN: 1400064112
List Price: $27.95
Amazon Price: $16.95
Used Price: $16.90

Influence: Science and Practice (4th Edition)

Influence: Science and Practice is an examination of the psychology of compliance (i.e. uncovering which factors cause a person to say “yes” to another’s request) and is written in a narrative style combined with scholarly research. Cialdini combines evidence from experimental work with the techniques and strategies he gathered while working as a salesperson, fundraiser, advertiser, and other positions, inside organizations that commonly use compliance tactics to get us to say “yes.” Widely used in graduate and undergraduate psychology and management classes, as well as sold to people operating successfully in the business world, the eagerly awaited revision of Influence reminds the reader of the power of persuasion. Cialdini organizes compliance techniques into six categories based on psychological principles that direct human behavior: reciprocation, consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. New Reader’s Reports are included in the Fourth Edition and illustrate how readers have used one of the principles or have had a principle of influence used on them.

Author: Robert B. Cialdini
Paperback:  262 pages
Company: Allyn & Bacon  (2000-06-29)
ISBN: 0321011473
List Price: $22.99
Amazon Price: $13.85
Used Price: $10.35