What We Are Reading Today: ‘Good Vibes, Good Life’

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Updated 16 June 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Good Vibes, Good Life’

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Author: Vex King

“Good Vibes, Good Life: How Self-Love is the Key to Unlocking Your Greatness” by Vex King is a self-help book on cultivating a positive mindset and emotional well-being. The author shares his own personal journey of overcoming adversity and tells how he developed practical strategies to improve his outlook on life.

It has an approachable and conversational tone. King writes in a personable manner, sharing his personal experiences and lessons acquired, making it relatable and relevant for readers.

The book covers a wide range of themes, including how to manage negative thoughts, practice appreciation, set boundaries, and discover your purpose.

King presents a variety of real exercises and tactics that readers may use right away to transform their mentality and improve their mental health.

The chapter on self-love is particularly impactful. King emphasizes the importance of being compassionate and accepting toward oneself, which he argues is the foundation for developing healthy relationships and achieving personal growth.

However, I felt that “Good Vibes, Good Life” sometimes tried to simplify complex emotional and mental health issues. While I appreciate the author’s goal of providing easy-to-understand self-help advice, there were times where the messaging felt too simplistic.

Another thing that gave me pause was that the author often did not use scientific research to support ideas. As someone who likes to see evidence-based information, I would have preferred if the author had included more references to psychological studies and expert opinions to back up his recommendations.

Instead, the book mostly relies on the author’s own personal stories and experiences. While those personal anecdotes can be compelling, I don’t think that automatically makes the strategies universally applicable to everyone.

Finally, I had mixed feelings about the work’s broad scope. On the one hand, I appreciated the wide range of topics covered; but on the other, I felt that certain areas could have benefited from a more in-depth, nuanced exploration, rather than a relatively surface-level treatment.

Overall, “Good Vibes, Good Life” is an uplifting and practical guide that can help readers develop a more positive and fulfilling outlook on life. The author’s personal anecdotes and straightforward advice make it an easy and engaging read.

It is a good option for those seeking to cultivate more joy, peace, and emotional well-being in their life.

 


What We Are Reading Today: The Power to Destroy

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Updated 16 February 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: The Power to Destroy

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Author: Michael J. Graetz

The postwar US enjoyed large, widely distributed economic rewards — and most Americans accepted that taxes were a reasonable price to pay for living in a society of shared prosperity.
In 1978 California enacted Proposition 13, a property tax cap that Ronald Reagan hailed as a “second American Revolution,” setting off an antitax, antigovernment wave that has transformed American politics and economic policy.
In The Power to Destroy, Michael Graetz tells the story of the antitax movement and how it holds America hostage — undermining the nation’s ability to meet basic needs and fix critical problems.

 


What We Are Reading Today: Habitats of Africa

What We Are Reading Today: Habitats of Africa
Updated 15 February 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: Habitats of Africa

What We Are Reading Today: Habitats of Africa

Authors: Ken Behrens, Keith Barnes & Iain Campbell

With breathtaking wildlife and stunningly beautiful locales, Africa is a premier destination for birders, conservationists, ecotourists, and ecologists. 

This compact, easy-to-use guide provides an unparalleled treatment of the continent’s wonderfully diverse habitats. 

Incisive and up-to-date descriptions cover the unique features of each habitat, from geology and climate to soil and hydrology, and require no scientific background. Knowing the surrounding environment is essential to getting the most out of your travel experiences.


What We Are Reading Today: An Untraceable Life

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Updated 14 February 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: An Untraceable Life

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Author: Stephen J. Campbell

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) never signed a painting, and none of his supposed self-portraits can be securely ascribed to his hand. He revealed next to nothing about his life in his extensive writings, yet countless pages have been written about him that assign him an identity: genius, entrepreneur, celebrity artist, outsider.
Addressing the ethical stakes involved in studying past lives, Stephen J. Campbell shows how this invented Leonardo has invited speculation from figures ranging from art dealers and curators to scholars, scientists, and biographers, many of whom have filled in the gaps of what can be known of Leonardo’s life with claims to decode secrets, reveal mysteries of a vanished past, or discover lost masterpieces of spectacular value.

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Snakes of Australia’

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Snakes of Australia’
Updated 13 February 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Snakes of Australia’

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Snakes of Australia’

Authors: Tie Eipper & Scott Eipper

With more than 1,000 photographs, Snakes of Australia illustrates and describes in detail all 240 of the continent’s species and subspecies—from file snakes, pythons, colubrids, and natricids to elapids, marine elapids, homalopsids, and blind snakes. It features introductions to each family, species descriptions, type locations, distribution maps, and quick-identification keys to each family and genera.

It also covers English and scientific names, appearance, range, ecology, disposition, danger level, and IUCN Red List Category.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Bees of the World’ by Laurence Packer

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Bees of the World’ by Laurence Packer
Updated 12 February 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Bees of the World’ by Laurence Packer

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Bees of the World’ by Laurence Packer

When many people think of bees, they are likely to picture the western domesticated honey bee, insects that live in large, socially complex societies inside a hive with a single queen and thousands of workers. 

But this familiar bee is just one of more than 20,000 species of bees—and almost none of the others is anything like it. In “Bees of the World,” Laurence Packer, one of the world’s foremost experts on wild bees, celebrates the amazing diversity of bees—from size and appearance to nests and social organization.