Outliers

     Everyone kept talking about the ideas in Outliers.  I loved Blink, so I was excited to try another Malcolm Gladwell book, but I didn't really like Outliers very much.
     The ideas are interesting, but are difficult to do anything about them.  For example, without living in China and appreciating the Rice Paddy lifestyle, it is hard to change the format of schools in America - unless you are able to start your own charter school.  If your child is born in the summer, the only option you have to put your child ahead in school is to delay them for a year.  This isn't very helpful advice for parents who have no choice but start their kids in kindergarten at 5; it just gives them guilt about the harm they have inflicted on their child.
     I did like the sections on 10,000 hours of practice being the magic number of hours required to be truly great at something.  In our modern culture, we like to think that we can find shortcuts and easy access to wealth and fame.  This section shows how important the hours of practice behind the scenes really are.
     I also liked the point Malcolm Gladwell made about how individuals do not self create, they have an array of help and support behind the scenes that allowed them to become great.  It reinforces the idea that we are all rely on one another.  By helping one another, all of us can achieve success.
     

The Time Keeper

     Time has always been my enemy.
     As a child time seemed to take forever...holidays to come back around...being old enough to do everything I ever wanted...
     As an adult, there never seems to be enough time to accomplish everything that remains undone each day.  Now the years speed by and I can't believe how quickly time slips by.  As the people I love leave for the last unknown, I cry for one more moment with them.  When they were here, the time was lost running on ice, trying to finish everything that needed to be done.  
     This book changed me.
   

50 Things You Can Do Today to Manage Fibromyalgia

If you suffer from Fibromyalgia, or know someone who does, this book offers 50 things that may bring you relief.  This book is especially helpful if you are newly diagnosed.  If you have been living with this disease for a while, like I have, it serves as a good reminder of things that help.  

     The book starts with a chapter about Fibromyalgia.  The remaining chapters focus on different aspects of the illness and how to help manage these areas of your life.  It looks at pacing yourself, stress reduction, sleep, diet, and exercise.  It also goes over medications that help and homeopathic treatments that have helped some people.

     This is a quick book that can be read as an overview and then as a reference book when you have a specific question or face a flare-up.