The Male Brain, Louann Brizendine M.D

"Dr. Louann Brizendine, the founder of the first clinic in the country to study gender differences in brain, behavior, and hormones, turns her attention to the male brain, showing how, through every phase of life, the "male reality" is fundamentally different from the female one. Exploring the latest breakthroughs in male psychology and neurology with her trademark accessibility and candor, she reveals that the male brain:

*is a lean, mean, problem-solving machine. Faced with a personal problem, a man will use his analytical brain structures, not his emotional ones, to find a solution.
*thrives under competition, instinctively plays rough and is obsessed with rank and hierarchy.
*has an area for sexual pursuit that is 2.5 times larger than the female brain, consuming him with sexual fantasies about female body parts.
*experiences such a massive increase in testosterone at puberty that he perceive others' faces to be more aggressive.

The Male Brain finally overturns the stereotypes. Impeccably researched and at the cutting edge of scientific knowledge, this is a book that every man, and especially every woman bedeviled by a man, will need to own."

Loaned to my by Jim, my Father in law, who is a counsellor and Psychologist, this is a compulsively readable breakdown of what's going on inside Men's heads through their lives, from childhood to old age, and how the competing biological drives and hormones their bodies release.

It's endlessly fascinating, both as an insight into typical human development, and for the knowledge it contains. Facts about every aspect of the brain are astonishing anyway, and to see them explain and predict the conscious and unconscious desires and demands of a person is incredibly interesting.

The mix of science and anecdotal experience is jarring, however, and the constant use of Male friends or clients of the author and their actions that provide examples and evidence to back up her claims is unnecessary. I trust that the author knows what she's discussing, and her use of case studies I can't study doesn't make it more readable or reliable.

But this is probably brilliant if you have a male child; I would certainly say it's provided insight into my own thoughts and actions, and stuff I can always use to prove JJ wrong. So that's good, anyway.

Also Try:
Louann Brizendine, The Female Brain

What God Has Joined Together, The Christian Case For Gay Marriage,David Myers and Letha Scanzoni

"Gay marriage has become the most important domestic social issue facing twenty-first-century Americans -- particularly Americans of faith. Most Christians are pro-marriage and hold traditional family values, but should they endorse extending marriage rights to gays and lesbians? If Jesus enjoined us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and the homosexual is our neighbor, does that mean we should accept and bless gay marriages? These and other, related questions are tearing many faith-based communities apart."

Subtitling your book as 'The Christian Case For Gay Marriage' is an inflammatory prospect considering the difficulty in convincing many Christians that there's a case for gay anything, let alone marriage. Thankfully this is a book that is by an large an altogether subtler and more nuanced tome that the title suggests - albeit one with a very specific axe to grand.

Starting on the supposition that the two sides of the argument (reduced down to conservative Christians and liberal everything's) can be convinced through logic and reason seems a more challenging idea than the actual argument. As the authors freely acknowledge most people's opinion is made up in advance and they choose the arguments that reinforce that stance. Despite the overwhelming evidence (both scientific, psychological and biblical) to reinforce their case it's unlikely that anyone who seriously stands opposed to homosexuality will be convinced by reason - but it does provide a wealth of arguments for those who would take up that battle to those who choose to ignore it.

Setting the argument within the context of years of church-science battles (astronomy, global warming, contraception, women) and the changes to biblical marriage that have been accepted (divorce, interracial partnerships, female roles) they create a compelling argument in favour of strengthening marriage by welcoming gay couples that can be sold as a conservative and liberal victory.

It contains a great breakdown of actual evidence, philosophy and biblical teaching about homosexuality and marriage, whilst never descending to platitudes. Definitely worth picking up if you want a way to advance the conversation past 'Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve'.

Also Try:

Phillip Yancey, What's So Amazing About Grace

Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis

Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl

"Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of those he treated in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory—known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")—holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful."



JJ and I had a disagreement about this book, based on the fact that I think it's a too psychology heavy history book, and she thinks it's just a psychology book. Admittedly, Frankl is setting out his 'lifes work', an explanation of his theory of Logotherapy, and illustrating it with examples and anecdotes from his time in a concentration camp.

Weirdly, reading it now the book is a victim of its own success - too much of it reads as common sense, and it was hard to take it seriously because it seemed far too simple. Presumably when first released the insights Frankl brings from his own experiences had a larger impact on the field of psychology and therapy (certainly the quotes and back-ups would suggest so).

Whilst it was enjoyable in its own way it never seemed to be able to set the tone - not quite historical enough to captivate my interest (and the wartime stories are the most powerful pieces, never failing to shock) and not quite revolutionary enough to make me want to know more.

The back up on Logotherapy again serves as a simple primer - interesting in its own way but not memorable and far too brief to constitute anything other than an introduction to ideas, something already covered in the main section.

(I have no idea what you could also try, sorry).