Psychology Reading Suggestions

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Psychology Reading Suggestions

• Cathy Belben, Librarian
• Burlington-Edison High School
• Updated September 2003

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Categories

• The Psychology of Happiness
• CrimeWho? What? Why?
• The Psychology of Advertising and Marketing
• Overcoming Obstacles
• The Senses and their Mysteries
• Food and the Brain
• Eating Disorders and Body Image
• Living with Mental Disorders
• Treating Mental Illness
• Gender Issues
• The World of Words Language and the Brain
• Personality Development
• Multiple Personality Disorder
• Living with and Overcoming Depression
• Coping with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Coping with Autism
• Animals and Animal Psychology
• Books about Various Cultures

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The Psychology of Happiness
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Laughter A Scientific Inquiry

• The author, a neuroscientist, examines the role
  of laughter in our lives as well as its evolution
  over time. He examines its role in social
  relationships, its contagiousness, its neural
  mechanisms, and the truth about its health
  benefits.

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The Criminal MindThe Science of Catching Killers
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The Mad, the Bad, and the Innocent The Criminal
Mind on Trialby Barbara Kirwin

• Kirwin, a forensic psychologist, discusses some
  of her experiences with various criminals
  including serial killer Joel Rifkin, and
  challenges the current use of the insanity
  defense. This study of forensics and its
  application to criminal detection is fascinating.

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MindhunterInside the FBIs Elite Serial Crime
Unit by John Douglas

• One of the foremost forensic detectives for the
  FBI details a number of high-profile crimes he
  has helped to solve in his career. Using
  psychological profiling, the author has developed
  a method for determining the likely perpetrator
  in a given crime

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Anatomy of a Motive the FBI's legendary
mindhunter explores the key to understanding and
catching violent criminals.By John Douglas

• Presents a look at the development and evolution
  of the criminal mind, attempting to discover what
  motivates arsonists, hijackers, bombers,
  poisoners, serial and spree killers, and mass
  murderers to commit their violent acts.

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The Mad, the Bad, and the Innocent The Criminal
Mind on Trialby Barbara Kirwin

• A forensic psychologist discusses some of her
  experiences with various criminals including
  serial killer Joel Rifkin, and challenges the
  current use of the insanity defense. This study
  of forensics and its application to criminal
  detection is fascinating. A forensic psychologist
  discusses some of her experiences with various
  criminals including serial killer Joel Rifkin,
  and challenges the current use of the insanity
  defense. This study of forensics and its
  application to criminal detection is fascinating.

10
The Island of Lost Mapsby Miles Harvey

• The true story of a man who, in 1995, was
  arrested for stealing antique maps from a book in
  the library at Johns Hopkins University. Miles
  Harvey, fascinated by the story, delves into the
  psychology of the man and his reasons for these
  unusual thefts.

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The Psychology of Advertising Marketing, and Media
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Life The MovieHow Entertainment Conquered
Reality

• Motion pictures introduced a new way of seeing
  that has so dominated the national consciousness
  that everything including religion, politics,
  art, and news seem like branches of show business.

13
Cant Buy My Loveby Jean Kilbourne

• Why women and girls must fight the addictive
  power of advertising. Many advertisements these
  days make us feel as if we have an intimate, even
  passionate relationship with a product. But as
  Jean Kilbourne points out in this fascinating and
  shocking expose', the dreamlike promise of
  advertising always leaves us hungry for more. We
  can never be satisfied, because the products we
  love cannot love us back. (amazon).

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Hope in a Jar The Making of Americas Beauty
Cultureby Kathy Peiss

• A social history of cosmetics, looking at the
  ways in which women have used make-up to express
  their own sense of self and their role in
  society, and discussing the reasons why
  cosmetics--once primarily concocted in home
  kitchens--has grown to be a multi-billion dollar
  industry.

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Branded The Buying and Selling of Teenagers by
Alissa Quart

• Author Alisa Quart examines the increasing
  pressure placed on teenagers to purchase items
  based on their brand names. She also looks at the
  phenomena of teen consultants, who work for major
  companies and keep them informed about what's
  popular with other teens.

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Why We Buy The Science of Shopping by Paco
Underhill

• Underhill, a retail anthropologist describes
  how people shop, why they get pleasure from
  shopping, and how marketers use psychology to
  attract customers.

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The Beauty Myth How Images of Beauty are Used
Against Womenby Naomi Wolf

• Wolfs research carefully documents how women in
  American culture are pressured to look and act in
  certain ways in order to be considered beautiful.

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Overcoming Obstacles Books About People With
Brain Injury Disease, and Disability
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Where is the Mango Princess?By Cathy Crimmins

• After her husband is brain-injured in a boating
  accident, Cathy Crimmins must rebuild her life
  and help her young daughter understand and cope
  with the changes in her father's personality. In
  addition, she must battle her HMO to get the
  company to pay for the tremendous recovery needs
  of her husband.

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My Sister from the Black Lagoonby Laurie Fox

• Lorna Person grows up unintentionally neglected
  in the shadow cast by her crazy sister, and it is
  not until she grows older that she finally gets
  the attention she needs when she takes to the
  stage.

21
Lucky Manby Michael J. Fox

• In September 1998, actor Michael J. Fox revealed
  to the world that he had be struggling with
  Parkinson's Disease for seven years. In his
  memoir, he describes his reaction to the
  diagnosis, his ongoing efforts to find a cure,
  and his family's support in helping him live with
  the degenerative disease.

22
Rescuing Jeffreyby Richard Galli

• When his seventeen-year-old son is paralyzed
  from the neck down in a swimming accident, the
  author, Richard Galli, is convinced that his son
  would rather be dead than live without any
  physical mobility, but after his son awakes from
  a coma and is able to communicate his wishes,
  Galli realizes that a happy life is not
  necessarily determined by what the body is able
  to do.

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The Diving-Bell and the Butterflyby
Jean-Dominque Bauby

• The author, who died two days after the French
  publication of his book, tells of his life and
  feelings after suffering a brain stem stroke that
  left him unable to move his body or communicate
  in any way except through the blinking of his
  left eye.

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Riding the Bus with My Sisterby Rachel Simon

• Rachel Simon chronicles the experiences she had
  and shares the lessons she learned during the
  year she spent riding the bus which her mentally
  handicapped sister rides on each day.

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Look Up for Yesby Julia Tavalaro

• The autobiography of Julia Tavalaro, a woman who
  suffered two severe strokes at the age of
  thirty-two and remained in a coma for seven
  months before waking up totally paralyzed, and
  then had to endure six more years of pain and
  abuse before a young speech therapist noticed she
  was awake, aware, and in complete control of her
  mind.

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The Psychology of the Senses
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A Natural History of the Sensesby Diane Ackerman

• In this fascinating book, Diane Ackerman
  explores the history of the senses and their role
  in our everyday lives and behavior. She looks
  closely at each sense, seeking out the most
  fascinating historical facts and new research
  findings about the senses and their abilities and
  roles in our lives. An excellent, often
  entertaining, read.

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The Man Who Tasted Shapesby Michael Cytowic

• Synesthesia is a neurological disorder in which
  the circuits sending signals from the sensory
  organs are crossed resulting in a bizarre and
  astonishing phenomena victims perceptions are
  strangely skewed so that they taste shapes, or
  smell colors, or have other disordered sensual
  perceptions. This book traces the authors
  discovery of the disorder and his research into
  its causes. Contains intriguing case studies and
  some challenging scientific information.

29
Planet of the Blindby Stephen Kuusisto

• Kuusisto was raised to disavow his blindness,
  and spent much of his life trying to pass a
  sighted person. He struggles with anorexia,
  obesity, ridicule, and derision, but he persists
  nonetheless, becoming a talented writer and
  student. When a devastating injury forces him to
  acknowledge that he cannot see, he picks up the
  white can and acquires a seeing eye dog, a yellow
  Lab who becomes his guide and changes his life
  forever.

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The Seeing Glass by Jacquelin Gorman

• The author recounts her experiences dealing with
  an optic nerve condition that left her blind,
  while also struggling with a difficult childhood.

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Slackjaw A Memoirby Jim Knipfel

• The author describes his sometimes harrowing,
  sometimes hilarious experiences as a
  thirty-year-old man facing impending blindness as
  his eyes deteriorate due a condition called
  retinitis pigmentosa.

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Seeing Voices A Journey into the World of the
Deafby Oliver Sacks

• Provides a history of deaf people in the U.S.,
  looking at the ways in which they have been seen
  and treated in the past and their ongoing
  struggle for acceptance examines Sign, the
  visual language of the deaf and discusses the
  uniquely human gift of language.

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Why We Hurt The Natural History of Painby Frank
Vertosick

• Includes information about how the body responds
  to various types of pain including cancer and
  other diseases, back pain, arthritis, childbirth,
  and carpal tunnel syndrome.

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Food and the Brain
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The Crazy Makers How the Food Industry is
Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children
by Carol Simontacchi

• Can food make you crazy? Find out how fast food
  and other highly processed food products may be
  harming our mental health.A revealing look at how
  American food manufacturers and the impact of
  their industry on humans, especially children.

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The Best Thing I Ever Tasted The Secret of
Foodby Sallie Tisdale

• The author explores society's public and private
  attitudes about foods by examining her own
  experiences with food and cooking, the role of
  food in our society, our roles as customers of
  the food industry, and how food is a powerful
  force in our lives.

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Eating Disorders and Body Image
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Wasted A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimiaby Marya
Hornbacker

• The author reflects on her 14-year battle with
  the two eating disorders, and describes how they
  have impacted her self-image and her life.

39
Stick Figure A Diary of My Former Selfby Lori
Gottlieb

• Lori Gottlieb spent several years of her
  childhood trying to become the skinniest girl in
  her school. Pressured by her mother and by
  messages from the media, Gottlieb was convinced
  that she was fat. Eventually, her anorexia landed
  her in the hospitalat age eleven.

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You Remind Me of You A Poetry Memoir

• A startling autobiographical account of a young
  woman¹s battle with eating disorders that put her
  in and out of hospitals over a span of four years
  and led to her own parents fighting for the right
  to commit her. When her last source of support,
  her boyfriend, attempts suicide and ends up in a
  coma, she is forced to find strength from within.
  A courageous story about the strange paths we
  take to recovery.

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Food and Loathingby Betsy Lerner

• The author chronicles her long struggle with
  depression and binge eating, including her years
  in therapy, her experiences with Overeaters
  Anonymous, and her six-month stay in a mental
  institution.

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Living with Mental Illness
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Girl, Interruptedby Susanna Kaysen

• At age 18, Susanna Kaysen was sent to a mental
  institution for an undefined mental
  problemprimarily that she wouldnt conform to
  the rules and expectations of her parentsand she
  spent several years living among the mentally ill
  before finally being released.

44
Angelhead My Brothers Descent into Madnessby
Greg Bottoms

• In a terrifying memoir of a family held hostage
  by a son with schizophrenia, Greg Bottoms
  chronicles the events that kept his family in
  fear of his brother, Michael and eventually led
  to Michael's psychotic breakdown and his
  admission to the psychiatric wing of a maximum
  security prison.

45
The Day the Voices Stopped A Schizophrenics
Journey from Madness to Hopeby Ken Steele

• Ken Steele chronicles his struggle with
  schizophrenia, discussing how he was diagnosed
  and treated, how it affected his family, and what
  he is doing to help others with schizophrenia
  cope with the disease.

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Treating Mental Illness
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Madness A Brief Historyby Roy Porter

• Explores the radically different perceptions of
  mental illness and approaches to its treatment
  from antiquity to the present day.

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Mad in America Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and
the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Illby
Robert Whitaker

• Tracing over three centuries of "cures' for
  madness, Whitaker shows how medical therapies
  have been used to silence patients and dull their
  minds, deepening their suffering and impairing
  their hope of recovery.

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Gender Issues
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The Frailty Myth Redefining the Physical
Potential of Women and Girls by Colette Dowling

• Using the latest research and anecdotal
  evidence, Dowling argues that women are gradually
  catching up to men in terms of physical
  strength.  In previous generations, she argues,
  women were often denied opportunities to realize
  their full physical potential and discouraged
  from athletics, and as those attitudes change, so
  do women's perceptions of themselves, and so do
  their physical abilities. A provocative read, and
  an enlightening look at culture and history.

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The Last Time I Wore a Dressby Daphne Scholinski

• Daphne Scholinski lived in mental institutions
  from the time she was fifteen until her 18th
  birthday, committed because she was ruled an
  "inappropriate female," a teenage tomboy whose
  lack of interest in make-up and other "feminine"
  things was ruled a mental problem. For those who
  also enjoyed "Girl, Interrupted," this story of
  life in a mental institution and a sane girl's
  attempt to escape the expectations of those
  around her will appeal to all readers.

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The World of WordsLanguage and the Brain
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Genie A Scientific Tragedy by Russ Rymer

• The true account of the girl whose tragic life
  story has taught researchers a great deal about
  language acquisition. Genie was discovered at age
  13 living in a closet, where she had apparently
  been kept by her mentally ill parents for years. 
  She had not acquired any verbal skills, and after
  her discovery, an intense rehabilitation process
  began, in which researchers attempted to teach
  her how to speak.  When she was only able to
  learn very basic sounds, they concluded that
  language must be acquired very early in life and
  throughout childhood in order to be complete.

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Personality Development
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The New Birth Order Book Why You are the Way
You Areby Kevin Leman

• Are you the oldest child in your family? The
  youngest? Research suggests that your birth order
  may affect your personality. Read about how the
  order in which a person was born ties into
  marriage, stepfamilies, vocation, and the
  business world.

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Twins and What they Tell Us About Who We Areby
Lawrence Wright

• Examines studies of identical twins who have
  lived entirely separate lives, and discusses what
  that research reveals about the relative
  contributions of heredity and environment to the
  makeup of individual human natures.

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Multiple Personality Disorder
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The Flock by Joan Casey

• The author describes her years-long struggle
  with Multiple Personality Disorder, a time period
  in which she managed a normal life, despite the
  chaotic comings and goings of her twenty-four
  separate personalities, all of which were unaware
  of each other.

59
Sybilby Flora Rheta Schreiber

• Sybil is the true story of a woman whose severe
  childhood abuse led to the formation of 16
  different personalities. In this book, her past
  is examined and details about the behaviors of
  each of her distinct personalities are given.

60
First Person PluralMy Life as a Multipleby
Cameron West

• Cameron West describes his experience with
  multiple personality disorder. He experienced
  the mental illness in his thirties, when he was
  already a successful businessman, happily
  married, and a new father. Over a period of
  several months, twenty-four distinct
  personalities emerge and recount specific
  incidents of abuse West had encountered as a
  child--and kept long hidden.

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Living With and Overcoming Depression
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Coping With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
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Everything in its PlaceMy Trials and Triumphs
with Obsessive Compulsive Disorderby Marc
Summers

• Television personality Marc Summers, former host
  of MTV's "Double Dare," shares the story of his
  sometimes harrowing, often humorous struggles
  with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and provides
  information about the causes and treaments of OCD.

64
The Boy Who Couldnt Stop Washing by Judith
Rappaport

• The author clearly explains the phenomena of
  obsessive-compulsive disorder, using numerous
  case studies to illustrate her research findings.

65
Passing for Normal by Amy Wilensky

• Passing for Normal is Amy's emotionally charged
  account of her lifelong struggle with the often
  misunderstood disorders of obsessive-compulsive
  disorder and Tourette's Syndrome. A powerful
  witness to her own dysfunction, she describes the
  strain it bore on her relationships with the
  people she thought she knew best.

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Coping With Autism
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Emergence Labeled Autisticby Temple Grandin

• The author describes her experiences as a
  high-achieving adult with autism, who was once
  unable to function socially, but has found a
  treatment for her own disorder and teaches
  college classes.

68
A Slant of Sunby Beth Kephart

• Kephart chronicles the life of her young son,
  who is born with an assortment of developmental
  disabilities, including autistic tendencies. With
  the help of dedicated parents and teachers, he is
  able to gain some social abilities and aim for a
  normal life.

69
Somebody Somewhere Breaking Free from the World
of Austismby Donna Williams

• Chronicles the four years since Donna's diagnosis
  as autistic and continues the journey begun in
  her first memoir, Nobody Nowhere, including
  sessions with her therapist, her experiences
  attending college to obtain a degree in
  education, and her work with autistic children.

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Animal Psychology
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How to Speak Dogby Stanley Coren

• Coren provides research-based insights into the
  structure and form of the simplified language
  that many dog owners use to communicate with
  their pets. He offers examples of words, sounds,
  actions we can use to communicate more
  effectively with our pets, and decophers the
  signs--ear motion, tail wagging, head-tilting,
  etc.--that dogs give to humans to communicate
  happiness, fear, playfulness, and other emotions.
  

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The New Work of Dogs to Life, Love, and Family
in a Changing Worldby Jon Katz

• The author explores the increasingly changing
  role of dogs in the lives of humans, focusing on
  specific dogs and their owners to show how dogs
  are being required to provide more and more
  emotional support for their human companions.

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Pack of Two The Intricate Bond Between People
and Dogs

• Knapp, a recovering alcoholic, recounts how she
  overcame her loneliness and helped face sobriety
  with the help of her dog, Lucille. In the
  process, she gives information about how dogs and
  humans form bonds and support one another.

74
The Parrots Lament and Other True Tales of
Animal Intrigue, Intelligence, and Ingenuityby
Eugene Linden

• Examines the behavior, intelligence, and
  ingenuity of animals through true tales of their
  amazing interaction with humans and other species.

75
The Emperors Embrace Reflections on Animal
Families and Fatherhood by Jeffrey Masson.

• The author describes animal fathers around the
  globe, and how various species produce fathers
  which especially attuned to the needs of their
  offspring and responsible for much of their care.
  Among the animals discussed are wolves, dogs,
  beavers, sea horses, marmosets, penguins, lions,
  bears, and humans.

76
When Elephants Weep The Emotional Lives of
Animalsby Jeffrey Masson

• The author explores what is known about animal
  behavior, including evidence that animals, like
  humans, experience and express intense emotions.

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Animals as Teachers and Healersby Susan McElroy

• The author discusses how she was able to triumph
  over cancer with the help of the animals in her
  life, and shares the stories of other people
  whose lives have been touched by the loving
  energies of animals.

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Inside the Animal Mind A Groundbreaking
Exploration of Animal Intelligenceby George C.
Page

• Studies animal intelligence, cognitive ability,
  problem solving, and emotions in various animal
  species.

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Sheldrake, Rupert. Dogs That Know When Their
Owners are Coming Home and Other Unexplained
Powers of Animalsby Rupert Sheldrake

Filled with captivating stories and
thought-provoking analysis. This book is an
exploration of animal behaviour that will
profoundly change the way we think about animals,
and ourselves. After extensive research
Sheldrake proves what many pet owners already
know-that there is a strong connection between
humans and animals that lies beyond present-day
scientific understanding.
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Books About Cultural Norms, Biases, and
Differences
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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne
Fadiman

• This amazingly poignant story illustrates the
  clash of cultures that occurs in the United
  States far too often, but in some cases, with
  tragic results.
• Anne Fadiman retraces the story of a Hmong
  family that moved to L.A. in the 80s and
  discovered their youngest child was seriously
  ill. Suffering from violent seizures, she was
  rushed to the emergency room again and again,
  where doctors eventually diagnose severe epilepsy
  and prescribe medication that will control the
  seizures and prevent brain damage.
• The family rejects Western medicine, believing
  that the epilepy is a form of spiritual
  possession, and that their daughter is blessed.
  As she grows older, the seizuresand the conflict
  with doctors and between culturesgrow more and
  more severe.
• A beautifully written, heartbreaking story.

82
The Middle of Everywhereby Mary Pipher

• The author connects us with refugees and
  describes how, in cities all over the country,
  refugees arrive daily from Sudan, Kosovo,
  Afghanistan and Vietnam The Middle of Everywhere
  moves beyond the headlines into the homes of
  refugees from around the world. Working as a
  cultural broker, teacher, and therapist, Mary
  Pipher has once again opened our eyes--and our
  hearts--to those with whom we share the future
  (description from Barnes and Noble).

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The Psychology of Bullying and Harassment
84
Please Stop Laughing at MeOne Womans
Inspirational Story by Jodee Blanco

• The author, a victim of bullying, provides her
  inspirational story of her miserable school
  career, telling how being an outcast affected her
  life, and sharing her perspective on the events
  now that she is an adult.

85
Odd Girl Out The Hidden Culture of Aggression in
Girlsby Rachel Simmons

• Explores the issues surrounding aggression in
  girls, discussing why the signs of aggression are
  harder to recognize in girls than boys, how
  parents can help their daughter's deal with
  aggression, and the negative impact aggression
  can have on teenage girls' lives.

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Psychology in Everyday Life
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The Psychology of Everyday Thingsby Donald Norman

• People often comment that computers hate them
  or that they are terrible with mechanics, but as
  Donald Norman points out, many of our
  difficulties with technology stem not from our
  own faults, but with poor design weird-shaped
  door handles, for example, and other designs that
  make the use of an object difficult or confusing.
  Find out why design and psychology must work
  together in order for people and objects to
  co-exist in peace.