The Normal Bar is an insightful book that gives readers the chance to peek into the relationships of thousands of couples in America and across the globe. 
Combining statistics and participant comments, this book presents the reader with what is “normal” in relationships today. Highly recommended.
You probably think you would notice if a Gorilla came onto a basketball court, and beat its chest-center stage right? Actually chances are pretty good that if you were counting bounce passes versus aerial passes, you would miss the gorilla – yep 50% of people don’t notice the gorilla.
We think we know how our minds work, but this proves to be an illusion. Know exactly where you were at, and who you talked to on 9/11? We feel pretty certain about our memories for these things, but again, the more certain we are about our memories, the less likely they are to be accurate. Read this book to figure out where your blind spots are!
Paul Tough explores how we often overestimate how important cognitive skills are compared to self-control or emotion regulation. These skills turn out to be particularly important for children living in poverty, who experience more trauma than other other segments of society.
These skills Tough terms character include the ability to work hard toward a goal and stick to it in the face of adversity and setbacks, the ability to rebound after failure, the inclination to do one’s best even in the absence of obvious external rewards, the ability to delay gratification. I think of honesty, compassion, kindness, etc as character.
There is an interesting chapter on a low income school with a fabulous award winning chess team. One of the youngsters becomes a grandmaster as a teenager, obviously a smart kid, but is unable to score well on a high school entrance exam, because he lacks basics like where is Australia on a map.
Tough posits that early interventions will be more successful if they focus less on cognitive skills and more on self-control and emotion regulation. He also looks at ways children from rich families need to learn how to fail.
Interesting, and I’ll bet you’ll learn quiet a few things about childrearing that you didn’t know before.
There are very many books about Michael Jordan, he has written a few too. I Can’t Accept Not Trying is an inspirational book of Jordan’s wisdom he has learned playing collegiate and professional sports. This is a book you carry on your bookshelf and when times are tough, you take it, read it and be inspired by it.