- Hey everyone, it's your girl Jenn,

and if you've clicked on this video,

then you are probably searching

for books to add to your list.

Well, you're in luck, because today I'm sharing five books.

So first up we have "The Coddling of the American Mind"

by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff.

So Greg Lukianoff is an attorney

and a First Amendment expert,

and Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist and a professor.

This book is a specific critique and observation

from the iGen that is currently

studying in college campuses today

or have recently graduated from college.

So this book points out three lies

that are being pumped into college campuses today,

and how it's actually ruining our ability

to critically think and to be able to be resilient.

So the first great untruth is that

what doesn't kill you makes you weaker.

This is a lie, because it encourages us

to not take any risks and to avoid pain and discomfort,

and potentially all bad experiences.

But the thing is, humans are not fragile beings.

In fact, the more we withstand

pain and discomfort and adversity,

we get stronger.

It's called being antifragile.

When I reflect on anything that I'm proud of in my life,

they were not just, like, walks in the park and being chill.

They required me to be uncomfortable and diligent.

There's a reason why you always need

to go out of your comfort zone in order to grow.

So the second lie is "always trust your feelings."

Now, feelings are compelling.

However, they are not reliable.

I don't know about you, but every day

I have different waves of feelings and emotions,

from feeling motivated, to happy,

to down, insecure, envious.

This lie isn't about ignoring your feelings,

but it's about being aware of them.

I found this chapter so interesting

because this is where they talk about cognitive distortions.

It's this list which I'll put over the screen,

but these are ways of how our minds/feelings trick us

from believing something that isn't true.

So the third lie is that life is a battle

between good and evil people.

It's pretty much drawing a line in the sand

and saying, "You're either with me or against me."

Now, this way of thinking

is ingrained in our primitive brains.

This is why we love teams,

and pitting people against each other.

It's essentially our tribalism flaring up,

and that is our evolutionary ability

to band together and prepare for conflict.

So this is why we love sports teams.

This mentality completely destroys our ability to empathize

and to remember that there are always

two sides to the story.

Either way, I found this book incredibly enlightening.

I think this is the first kind of book

where it really challenged my way of thinking.

Obviously, please read this with a critical mind

and not absorb everything in this book as truth.

If you do decide to read this book,

this is actually October's book pick

for my book club, Curl Up Club.

We are gonna do a discussion on this,

so please feel free to check out the Instagram page,

I will leave the details in the description box.

So my next book is called

"How to Change Your Mind" by Michael Pollan.

Now this book is a trip, literally.

It's all about psychedelics and psilocybin, LSD,

entheogens, if you will,

and how they can help provide relief

to people suffering from depression, addiction, and anxiety.

Quite frankly, LSD and shrooms have had a bad reputation,

especially from the late 60s,

because it was overabused from Timothy Leary

and other radical thought leaders from this time.

However, you can't let that override

the incredible studies and results

that were happening before this time.

There were a lot of studies being done

in the 1950s and the early 1960s,

and doctors suddenly regarded these two chemical compounds

as miracle drugs, because they were healing their patients.

When they're used properly,

it can really change somebody's life.

Now, this book is extremely thorough,

and goes over the whole history of LSD, psilocybin,

and he actually tries each one

and describes his experiences as well.

I found that really interesting. (chuckles)

He mentions that there are two most important things

on having an optimal trip,

and that is set and setting.

So the mindset that you're going into the experience,

and the setting, which is where you decide to have it,

are so, so important.

So psychedelics put your brain into a state of wonder,

as if you're looking through the world for the first time,

and it can have some transformative effects

if done properly and dosed properly.

I just love books where they expand on taboo subjects

and make it incredibly informative,

packed with data, information, and a fresh perspective.

So yeah, definitely go check it out.

Next up we have "Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller.

A couple of months ago I read "Circe,"

and I absolutely love that book.

It was mentioned in my last books video,

and so many of you guys recommended "Song of Achilles."

So this story is about the relationship

of Achilles and Patroclus.

Now, I'm pretty sure we all know who Achilles is,

but Patroclus is the narrator.

So Patroclus was exiled from his home as a young boy,

and he is sentenced to live in King Peleus' kingdom.

Now, King Peleus just accepts exiles

from all around the world

because that way he can grow his army.

It's actually a brilliant tactic.

But anyway, this is where Patroclus and Achilles meet,

and they're both kind of outcasts in their own way.

Patroclus has always had trouble fitting in,

and Achilles is a bit of an outcast

because he is a half-god, half-mortal, like a demigod,

so in a sense people just hold him to a different standard

and find him really intimidating.

But yeah, they end up being fast friends,

and then eventually lovers, and then life partners.

It's really beautiful and just tragic all around,

it will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions.

They end up going to war against the Trojans,

and you are just in it for the journey,

you just gotta buckle up.

It's very action packed, emotional, heart-wrenching.

Just get ready to get transported to another world

when you're reading this.

Next on the list we have "Antkind" by Charlie Kaufman.

Charlie Kaufman is one of my favorite

screenwriters, directors,

and he actually wrote my favorite film,

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,"

and when I saw he wrote a book,

I was like, add to cart immediately.

Now, this book is thick. She's like 720 pages thick.

This book will definitely have polarizing opinions,

you'll either love it or you hate it,

but it's pretty obvious where I stand.

So this book is about B. Rosenberger Rosenberg,

who is pretty irritating, but a hilarious narrator.

He's like a middle-aged, neurotic film critic,

and he happens to watch the greatest film ever created,

which is a three-month-long film in stop motion.

Then, unfortunately, the only copy of the film

ends up getting destroyed,

and it becomes his job and his life mission

to try to remember it.

It's insane, and of course, extremely cerebral,

you're basically traveling in his mind.

I love Kaufman's writing style because he takes his time

to build the world of B., who is so unlikable,

but you just can't take your eyes off of him.

He's like...

How do I describe him? He's like...

He's like an overthinking "woke" train wreck.

And when you get to the core of him,

he's just an extremely insecure person

who is desperate to be liked,

and in a way I find that quite relatable.

So my last recommendation is my most recent read,

which is "Convenience Store Woman" by Sayaka Murata.

If you follow my girl Weylie,

you guys know that she has been raving about this book,

so I decided to pick it up, and I ended up loving it.

So this book follows the life of Keiko Furukura,

who is a 36-year-old woman,

and she works part-time at a convenience store.

Now, she is a very unique character,

definitely wired a bit differently from your average person,

because she finds all her purpose working at this store.

She lives and breathes this store.

She has been working there for 18 years,

and she just loves working there.

But the issue is that the people around her

are constantly questioning her and nagging her

on why she's still working there

and why she's not striving for anything higher.

And it makes Keiko feel some type of way

because she's genuinely just happy working at the store,

but because she feels this weighted pressure,

she ends up trying to go outside of her comfort zone

and take a stab at living life a little bit differently.

This is an extremely fast read,

I finished this in a day and a half,

and I found it really relaxing.

I personally loved the descriptions about the store,

how it worked, how it functioned,

and I think it's because

I've had so many part-time jobs growing up,

so it reminded me of getting in the zone

when I was working at the smoothie shop, restocking items,

checking in for the expired dates on the chips,

and moving them closer to the front of the store.

I don't know, there's just something very satisfying

about the routine of working at a store

and making it a well-oiled machine.

Also, convenience stores in Japan are immaculate.

When Ben and my brother and I went to Japan,

we pretty much ate at the convenience store

once a day for delicious sandwiches and onigiris.

So this book definitely took me back to Japan.

All right everyone, that is a wrap for this video.

Please let me know in the comments down below

if any of these five selects are ones that you might read

or that you were intrigued by, I would love to know.

And also, if you have any book recommendations,

please write it in the comments down below,

I truly find a lot of my suggestions that way.

And the final announcement is,

if you would like to be a part

of my book club, Curl Up Club,

please join, I will leave a link

in the description box as well.

Whoo, okay, well thank you so much for your time,

and I'll see you guys in the next one.

Bye! (smooches)

(upbeat music)