Friday Finds: Eclectic Reading

Friday Finds is hosted by Should Be Reading and allows readers to showcase books they have discovered over the past week.  This week I've found quite an eclectic assortment of reads, check it out:

I've been looking around for books that touch on Buddhism and came across Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom by Rick Hanson and Richard Mendius

Goodreads Summary:
Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and other great teachers were born with brains built essentially like anyone else's. Then they used their minds to change their brains in ways that changed history.

With the new breakthroughs in neuroscience, combined with the insights from thousands of years of contemplative practice, you, too, can shape your own brain for greater happiness, love, and wisdom.

Buddha's Brain joins the forces of modern science with ancient teachings to show readers how to have greater emotional balance in turbulent times, as well as healthier relationships, more effective actions, and a deeper religious or spiritual practice.

Well-referenced and grounded in science, the book is full of practical tools and skills readers can use in daily life to tap the unused potential of the brain-and rewire it over time for greater peace and well-being.

Then I came across the fun YA steampunk novel called The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith

Goodreads Summary:
Sixteen-year-old Jack gets drunk and is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is kidnapped. He escapes, narrowly. The only person he tells is his best friend, Conner. When they arrive in London as planned for summer break, a stranger hands Jack a pair of glasses. Through the lenses, he sees another world called Marbury.  There is war in Marbury. It is a desolate and murderous place where Jack is responsible for the survival of two younger boys. Conner is there, too. But he’s trying to kill them.  Meanwhile, Jack is falling in love with an English girl, and afraid he’s losing his mind.  Conner tells Jack it’s going to be okay. But it’s not.  Andrew Smith has written his most beautiful and personal novel yet, as he explores the nightmarish outer limits of what trauma can do to our bodies and our minds.

Lastly, I found this delightful little book that I thought would be fun to listen to on audio entitled How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg

Goodreads Summary:
Over the course of history men and women have lived and died. In fact, getting sick and dying can be a big, ugly mess-especially before the modern medical care that we all enjoy today. How They Croaked relays all the gory details of how nineteen world figures gave up the ghost. For example:

• It is believed that Henry VIII's remains exploded within his coffin while lying in state.
• Doctors "treated" George Washington by draining almost 80 ounces of blood before he finally kicked the bucket.
• Right before Beethoven wrote his last notes, doctors drilled a hole in his stomach without any pain medication.
• Readers will be interested well past the final curtain, and feel lucky to live in a world with painkillers, X-rays, soap, and 911.