Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - A 20-minute Summary: Medicine and What Matters in the End


Instaread Summaries - 2014
    Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - A 20-minute Summary Inside this Instaread Summary: • Overview of the entire book• Introduction to the important people in the book• Summary and analysis of all the chapters in the book• Key Takeaways of the book• A Reader's Perspective Preview of this summary: Chapter 1 Gawande grew up in Ohio. His parents were immigrants from India and both were doctors. His grandparents stayed in India, and there were few older people in his neighborhood, so he had little experience with aging or death until he met his wife’s grandmother, Alice Hobson. Hobson was seventy-seven and living on her own in Virginia. She was a spirited widow who fixed her own plumbing and volunteered with Meals On Wheels. However, Hobson was losing strength and height steadily each year as her arthritis worsened.Gawande’s father enthusiastically adopted the customs of his new country, but he could not understand the way in which seniors were treated in the US. In India, the elderly were treated with great respect and lived out their lives with family.In the United States, Sitaram Gawande, Gawande’s grandfather, likely would have been sent to a nursing home like most of the elderly who cannot handle the basics of daily living by themselves. However, in India, Sitaram Gawande was able to live in his own home and manage his own affairs, with family constantly around him. He died at the age of one hundred and ten when he fell off a bus during a business trip.Until recently, most elderly people stayed with their families. Even as the nuclear family unit became predominant, replacing the multi-generational family unit, people cared for their elderly relatives. Families were large and one child, usually a daughter, would not marry in order to take care of the parents.This has changed in much of the world, where elderly people end up struggling to live alone, like Hobson, rather than living with dignity amid family, like Sitaram Gawande.One cause of this change can be found in the nature of knowledge. When few people lived to be very old, elders were honored. Their store of knowledge was greatly useful. People often portrayed themselves as older to command respect. Modern society’s emphasis on youth is a complete reversal of this attitude. Technological advances are perceived as the territory of the young, and everyone wants to be younger. High-tech job opportunities are all over the world, and young people do not hesitate to leave their parents behind to pursue them.In developed countries, parents embrace the concept of a retirement filled with leisure activities. Parents are happy to begin living for themselves once children are grown. However, this system only works for young, healthy retirees, but not for those who cannot continue to be independent. Hobson, for example, was falling frequently and suffering memory lapses. Her doctor did tests and wrote prescriptions, but did not know what to do about her deteriorating condition. Neither did her family… About the Author With Instaread Summaries, you can get the summary of a book in 30 minutes or less. We read every chapter, summarize and analyze it for your convenience.

The Hurt


Dylan Hartley - 2021
    It demands mental resilience and resistance to pain. It explores character, beyond a capacity to endure punishment. Dylan Hartley, one of England's most successful captains, tells a story of hard men and harsh truths. From the sixteen-year-old Kiwi who travelled alone to England, to the winner of ninety-seven international caps, he describes with brutal clarity the sport's increasing demand on players and the toll it takes on their mental health, as well as the untimely injury that shattered his dreams of leading England in the 2019 World Cup.The Hurt is rugby in the raw, a unique insight into the price of sporting obsession. 'Few have had more twists and turns in a pro rugby career' Robert Kitson, Guardian ' Anyone who cares about the game, in which he won 97 caps for England and played 250 times for Northampton, should read Hartley's book' Don McRae, Guardian

Hero on a Mission: A Path to a Meaningful Life


Donald Miller - 2022
    These four characters live inside us. If we play the victim, we’re doomed to fail. If we play the villain, we will not create genuine bonds. But if we play the hero or guide, our lives will flourish. The hard part is being self-aware enough to know which character we are playing.In this book, Donald will use his own experiences to help you recognize if the character you are currently surfacing is helping you experience a life of meaning. He breaks down the transformational, yet practical, plan that took him from slowly giving up to rapidly gaining a new perspective of his own life’s beauty and meaning, igniting his motivation, passion, and productivity, so you can do the same.The lessons in this book will teach you how to:Help you discover when you are playing the victim and villain.Create a simple life plan that will bring clarity and meaning to your goals ahead.Take control of your life by choosing to be the hero in your story.Cultivate a sense of creativity about what your life can be.Move beyond just being productive to experiencing a deep sense of meaning. Donald Miller will help you identify the many chances you have of being the hero in your life, and the times when you are falling into the trap of becoming the victim. He will guide you in developing a unique plan that will speak to the challenges you currently face so you, too, can take find the fulfillment you have been searching for in your life and work.

Portal to Genius


Leslie Householder - 2009
    Follow Richard and Felicity who are at the end of their financial rope, Morgan who needs a medical miracle for his son, and Ray who needs to find $4.5 million dollars by Wednesday as they each discover their portals to genius. Built on the premise that the solution to every problem is just an idea away, Leslie Householder (award-winning best selling author of The Jackrabbit Factor: Why You Can) and Garrett B. Gunderson (New York Times best selling author of Killing Sacred Cows), bring you an experience you'll never forget through this brilliant work true to its name: Portal to Genius.

Lecretia's Choice: A Story of Love, Death and the Law


Matt Vickers - 2016
    In Lecretia’s Choice, Matt tells the story of their life together, and how it changed when his proud, fiercely independent wife was diagnosed with a brain tumour and forced to confront her own mortality. The death she faced—slow, painful, dependent—was completely at odds with how she had lived her life. Lecretia wanted to die with dignity, to be able to say goodbye well, and not to suffer unnecessarily—but the law denied her that choice. With her characteristic spirit, she decided to mount a challenge in New Zealand’s High Court, but as the battle raged, Lecretia’s strength faded. She died on 5 June 2015, at the age of forty-two, the day after her family learned that the court had ruled against her. Lecretia’s Choice is not only a moving love story but compulsory reading for everyone who cares about the dignity we afford terminally ill people who want to die on their own terms. In 2015 Matt Vickers supported his wife, Lecretia Seales, in her campaign to gain the right to choose how she died. Lecretia’s Choice is his first book.

My Bonnie: How Dementia Stole the Love of My Life


John Suchet - 2010
    During the past three years he has gone from lover to carer, and he has found his new job exceptionally tough. In this moving and bitterly honest account, the newsreader reveals his loneliness and his despair. For John, it was love at first sight. For many years he had admired Bonnie from afar, hoping and dreaming one day she would feel the same way. Nearly a decade after they first met, their passionate and romantic love affair began. They married in 1985—head over heels in love—and have enjoyed more than 20 years of love and laughter. Both had been married before (she had two children and he had three) but both felt, the day they married, they finally joined their other half. In March 2004, John began to notice strange quirks in Bonnie's behavior. She underwent her first set of neurological tests in March 2005, which brought back no definite results. Then, in February 2006, following a second set of tests, she was diagnosed with Dementia. For three years John personally cared for his beloved wife, keeping her condition secret from all but family and close friends. But in the middle of September this year, more than 26 years after his life with Bonnie began, John made the agonizing decision to move his wife to a full-time care home. Written in passionate and vivid prose that captures both the warmth of the good times and the utter despair of the bad times, John weaves together a series of moving and heartfelt stories. In this combination of present day descriptions of life with Bonnie as her carer and memories of the romantic years they shared together, John gives a unique—and at times stark—insight into the pain of witnessing a loved one lose their memory. This is a story of pain and despair, of anger and guilt. But above all, it is a story of love; a story of devotion, dedication, and the pleasure that those little moments of recognition, those glimmers of joy, can give—even in the hardest times.

Heroin: A True Story Of Drug Addiction, Hope, And Triumph


Julie O'Toole - 2008
    

The Delusion of Passion: Why Millennials Struggle to Find Success


David Anderson - 2016
    A brilliantly written, simple, and practical guide to develop a life that you are truly excited about living!Long DescriptionWe ve all grown up hearing statements that sound like There are more important things in the world than money...follow your passion or When you find your true passion, you'll never feel like you're working a day in your life.In our culture, there is a premium placed on finding our passion, as though somehow once we've found it, our lives will finally start to come together as we've always imagined. We've held onto these beliefs about passion and have made daily and even life-changing decisions based on the principle of following our passion.Is passion important in living a fulfilled life? Absolutely. But as the famous adage goes, It s not the things that you don t know that hurt you... It's the things you think are true that aren t that really mess you up.Unfortunately, there are a number of beliefs we have about trying to find our passion that are creating more questions, frustrations and confusion in our lives. Of course, something in these beliefs must be true (or they wouldn't resonate with us so strongly), but how do we separate fact from delusion? Instead of hoping to find a life of passion, how do we CREATE a life we are passionate about living?The Delusion of Passion: Why Millennials Struggle to Find Success was written to clarify truth from delusion in our commonly held beliefs about passion, and to put people in the driver's seat, creating a life they are passionate about living. It is written for Millennials and by Millennials to help our generation tap into new levels of productivity and intentionality in everything we do, and in our pursuit of personal excellence. Even those not in our generation have gained insights from this book into the Millennial mind, on how to work with Millennials effectively, and helping to clarify their own personal journeys as well.

Sit. Stay. Heal.: How Meditation Changed My Mind, Grew My Heart, and Saved My Ass


Spike Gillespie - 2015
    It traces my journey from a brutal Depression in 2012 to some amazing healing over the course of 2013 through a dedicated daily meditation practice. It also includes Twelve Lessons for those of you who wish to get a meditation practice started without tracking down a guru, without converting to a particular religion, and without investing in $500 yoga pants. All you need is your ass, your lungs, and a desire to try.

Read Better Faster: How to Triple Your Reading Speed and Comprehension Without Speed Reading, Skimming, or Skipping


Debbie Drum - 2017
    These poor reading habits hold us back, and it’s why so many people don’t enjoy reading. You see, your brain is a lot like Goldilocks. When you read too slow, your mind wanders, you get distracted, and reading feels like a chore. When you try to read too fast, you can't comprehend what you're reading. The key is to read at the right speed using the best reading strategies for your learning type. In this short read, you’ll discover proven strategies to read faster without having to: Practice speed-reading techniques for hours and hours Skim text and risk missing crucial information Read cliff notes or shortened versions of a book This book combines the best lessons from speed reading techniques, neuroscience, and modern technology to allow you to read faster and comprehend more than you ever thought possible—and you can start to see the results today! Say Goodbye to Slow Reading Forever! I was always a slow reader. I could never focus long enough to read an entire book. I often forgot what I had just read, and had to re-read sentences over and over again. Reading was a frustrating, slow, and painful experience, so I tried to make up for my poor reading skills by studying more and working harder. But studying hard will only get you so far when you're using the wrong strategies. I wanted to be able to read more, learn more, and, most importantly, remember more of what I was reading. If you’ve quit reading more books than you can remember because of boredom or frustration, this book will change your life—and every book from now on will be a “quick read” for you. Everything changed when I developed a better way to read entire books very fast… Incredible Reading Results in 7 Days I was able to read four large books in my first week of using these methods. In Read Better Faster: How to Triple Your Reading Speed and Comprehension Without Speed Reading, Skimming, or Skipping you will discover: The exact methods anyone can use to read books faster than you ever imagined Never again struggle to finish a book, no matter how big or complex it is Start reading (and finishing) more books your friends and colleagues recommend to you How to guarantee laser-focused reading so you never have to re-read or forget what you just read How to comprehend and retain everything you read using a method that forces your brain to turn what you read into long-term memory storage How to accelerate your ability to learn more by reading faster and remembering more information than ever before This book is perfect for you if: You need to study for an exam, improve your grades, or do better in school You need to learn new business skills to improve your career or company You want to easily breeze through your favorite fiction books so you can enjoy reading even more You’ve always wanted to read more books but just can’t find the time or struggle to get through a book I encourage you to in

The 30 Minute Happiness Formula


Rachel Rofe - 2014
    It's easy to read so you can get moving right away.To get started, simply scroll to the top of the page, select the "Buy" button, and start reading.

Forever In My Heart: The Story Of My Battle Against Cancer


Jade Goody - 2009
    Bubbly, fun, and full of infectious laughter, Jade quickly captured the hearts of a nation. This volume--which covers Jade's amazing rags-to-riches story--was initially banned after allegations of racism in the "Celebrity Big Brother" house, but is now back in print. Jade reveals all about her life, from her troubled childhood to how she found fame and fortune. Packed with incredible highs and tearful lows, Jade tells the story of her successes, failures, and her life with beloved sons Bobby and Freddy.

The True INTJ (The True Guides to the Personality Types)


Truity - 2014
    From Isaac Newton to Mark Zuckerberg, these visionary, determined INTJs have made an impact. But what drives these self-possessed, sometimes mysterious Masterminds? What makes them so uniquely equipped to improve the systems we live with every day?This book is for INTJs and those who live with them, work with them, or just want to know more about them. With an eye toward the INTJ's natural strengths, The True INTJ takes an in-depth look at the talents, motivations, values, and unique qualities of the INTJ. You'll discover what drives the INTJ, and how this innovative, dedicated personality type can use their gifts to change the world.

Riding with the Blue Moth


Bill Hancock - 2005
    Bicycling was simply the method by which he chose to distract himself from his grief. But for Hancock, the 2,747-mile journey from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast became more than just a distraction. It became a pilgrimage, even if Hancock didn't realize it upon dipping his rear tire in the Pacific Ocean near Huntington Beach, California in the wee hours of a July morning. On his two-wheel trip, Hancock battled searing heat and humidity, curious dogs, unforgiving motorists and the occasional speed bump--usually a dead armadillo. Hancock's thoughts returned to common themes: memories of his son Will, the prospect of life without Will for him and his wife, and the blue moth of grief and depression.

Embrace the Work, Love Your Career: A Guided Workbook for Realizing Your Career Goals with Clarity, Intention, and Confidence


Fran Hauser
    This book helps put you in the driver's seat to embrace the journey and love your career." —Rebecca Minkoff, Founder of Rebecca Minkoff & The Female Founder CollectiveYOU ARE DESERVING OF A CAREER YOU LOVE.Fran Hauser, best-selling author of The Myth of the Nice Girl , follows up with a workbook for women who want to get more out of their careers. Embrace the Work, Love Your Career combines accessible advice, time-tested strategies, creative prompts, and thoughtful exercises into one holistic resource. Stemming from years of experience in senior leadership at Time Inc.'s People, InStyle and Entertainment Weekly as well as AOL and Coca-Cola Enterprises, Hauser centers her career guidance around six main actions:Fall in love with your careerDesign your career action planCreate time and spaceKnow your valueBuild your dream teamReflect and resetEach chapter starts with practical advice and includes prompts and exercises to help readers create their own personal career action plans. Palate-cleansing meditations and coloring breaks conclude each chapter, offering chances for calming reflection. Through simple, inspiring, and actionable tools, Embrace the Work, Love Your Career teaches women to be empowered to focus on the things that truly matter, set boundaries and, ultimately, realize their full potential.PRAISE FOR FRAN HAUSER:Named one of the "6 Most Powerful Women in NYC's Tech Scene" by Refinery29 "Is it possible to be both kind and a total badass? Yes—and Fran Hauser tells us how." — goop "Fran Hauser turns the 'nice girl' notion on its head."— Forbes "Fran gets into the mess—and gets specific—explaining how she has learned to handle all kinds of uncomfortable moments with authenticity and grace" — Refinery29