TLC Book Tour: Book Review of New: Understanding Our Need for Novelty and Change

At the get-go, Dear Reader, let me get this business out of the way:  I was given a free copy of Winifred Gallagher's latest book, entitled New: Understanding Our Need for Novelty and Change by TLC Book Tours in exchange for my agreement to read and review the book here on Everyday Simplicity.  Disclosure done, here's my opinion:

This is another book coming out of publishing houses these days where journalists attempt to provide perspective, if not answers, to why things are the way they are right now.  Think Malcomb Gladwell.  Think Stephen Dubner.  Maybe Chris Anderson.

Here we have a journalist who has written extensively in the area of behavioral science, Winifred Gallagher, who offers her take on things.  From its publisher (Penguin Press):

[i]n today's fast-paced world, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the mind-boggling number of new things-whether products, ideas, or bits of data-bombarding us daily. But adapting to new circumstance is so crucial to our survival that "love of the new," or neophilia, is hardwired into our brains at the deepest levels. Navigating between our innate love of novelty and the astonishingly new world around us is the task of New: helping us adapt to, learn about, and create new things that matter, while dismissing the rest as distractions. With wit and clarity, acclaimed behavioral science writer Winifred Gallagher takes us to the archaeological sites and neuroscience laboratories exploring our species' special affinity for novelty. ... As individuals, however, we vary in how we balance the sometimes conflicting needs to avoid risk and approach rewards. Some 15 percent of us are die-hard "neophiliacs" who are biologically predisposed to passionately pursue new experiences, and another 15 percent are "neophobes" who adamantly resist change. Most of us fall squarely in the spectrum's roomy middle range. Whether we love change, avoid change, or take the middle path, neophilia plays a crucial role in all of our lives.  No matter where we sit on neophilia's continuum, New shows us how to use it more skillfully to improve our lives.... This big-picture perspective has long been missing, and New will jump-start that discussion by offering the tools we need to control our love of the new-rather than letting it control us.

If you like this sort of thing, then you'll probably like this book.  It's receiving mostly good reviews (if you don't count NPR); moreover, it's got lots of fun facts and delves into all sorts of areas of interest: anthropology, archaeology, psychology, sociology, economics -- you can even find a reference to Charles Dickens here (Bleak House, which was interesting to discover since I'm reading Bleak House now).

Gallagher also provides suggestions on how to do things differently so life is better.  In her lingo, she's giving guidance on how to cope with all this new so that you control it and it doesn't control you.


Again, if you read these kind of books then you'll like this one.   

I Miss My Milton's MultiGrain Bread - Because It Will Go Moldy

There's a certain brand of bread that I prefer, and it's becoming impossible to find on the shelves anymore.  It's Milton's MultiGrain (you can see it for yourself, over there in the image). 

Here's the thing: not only is this bread vetted by WholeFoods and the American Heart Association, it tastes really good and you can actually see the seeds and nuts that are a part of the recipe. 

Plus, and Dear Reader, this may sound yucky but it's the truth nevertheless: this bread goes bad quick.  You can't just leave it in a bread box or setting on the counter and expect it to be just fine whenever you get around to grabbing a slice or two.  No, no, no.  Do that, and you're gonna find mold.  That's right: mold.

Which sounds bad, but it's good.  Why?  Fresh food goes bad.  Food with preservatives does not.  Well, maybe eventually - but it will take awhile. 

For example, take a slice of white bread and a slice of Milton's and place them side by side on the counter.  Leave them there.  Milton's will get icky pretty darn quick.  Toss it.  Then, keep count on how many days .... or weeks ... it takes for that other piece of bread to go bad.  And it may never get mold on it; it may just dry out. 

Yes, I've done this -- Milton's vs a slice of thick white store brand "Texas Toast" bread that my friend Bill likes to use for sandwiches.  

The dried out white bread slice might be less icky ... but think about it.  All those preservatives keep that white bread slice from getting green mold all over it, but do you want to have all those preservatives in your body?  Or your kids? 

Bacteria isn't bad.  That's why Jamie Lee Curtis is selling you that yogurt and why you're reading more and more about probiotics. 

And that's why I prefer Milton's MultiGrain and I'm thinking about contacting the company to find out where I can buy their product here in San Antonio (the search function on their web site for my zip code tells me nowhere, but I'm not giving up yet).

Energy Saving Curtains – I’m Loving Mine So Far

This week, the temperatures here in San Antonio dropped from a pleasant low 70s/high 50s range to yesterday, where the high was something like 48 and the lows got into the 20s.  Which means this week was my first chance to really test out how my new Energy Saving curtains really worked.

I love them.

Not only do these things block noise, which gives me a better night’s sleep, but the heater isn’t coming on nearly as much.  I haven’t got my new utility bill yet, but I know it’s going to be less – it’s that obvious. 

There are negatives, of course.  In the bedroom, I replaced some very pretty Battenburg Lace curtains with these babies, and the new ones are not as pretty and there’s a lot less light now.  I didn’t buy full blackout curtains, but these “energy savers” do make the room lots darker. 

This can be solved by a tie-back or two, so I’m not that concerned with this issue.  Truth be told, at night the thicker curtains make the room much cozier for sleeping than the lace curtains did.  I’m losing the beauty of the sunlight coming through the lace to get this, but right now I’m okay with it. 

I’ll keep you posted on what the utility bill does this month and next month, too.  I’ve been these curtains in most of the house now, so there should be a big difference.