The Best Books That I Have Ever Read

I wanted to write this down to spread the word about the best book that I have ever read. I always loved reading, as a kid I would devour books. I loved how they would transport you to a new world. I remember as a kid reading for eight hours straight in the car on our way to Orange, Texas to visit my grandparents (mom's parents). Sadly I developed car sickness as an adult and I can no longer read in the car. 

I also remember devouring books as a kid, reading in the summer reading program in order to earn free tickets to the state fair of Texas for my family and I. There is not much that I enjoy more than holding a good book in your hands and smelling the pages. Reading digitally is OK. It does save weight and trees. However, it just doesn't feel the same.

After I had all of my brain surgeries, I lost my ability to read anything for an extended period of time. It was too much for me to concentrate on mentally. When I went through my depression, I lost all interest in reading. That was until around 2024. I suddenly found the joy that I once had in reading had again returned thankfully.

Now onto the reason why I wrote this blog. The first book which impacted me so greatly is Factfulness-Reasons-World-Things-Better it is an amazingly interesting and inspiring book about how things are better globally than you think. This was always my favorite book for years. Also, Picking Cotton is a very inspiring read. It is about a woman who misidentifies her rapist. An innocent man spends over thirty years in prison. He eventually gets released via DNA evidence which showed that he was innocent. His accuser (the woman whose eye witness testimony put him in prison) eventually become friends after he is released. They now tour together and talk about forgiveness. It was a powerful read. 

That is until I was recently given a copy of The Brain's Way of Healing by my uncle Richard (mom's younger brother). Reading this book has literally changed my life. It has given me so much hope and good, useful information to help me with my recovery. There is a lot of stuff in the book which I considered hippie, new age stuff like the mental visualization technique. However, I can personally say that I am no longer skeptical. It really works!

The book which I linked to above, is actually his second book. My next read is going to be his first book The Brain That Changes Itself I am looking forward to it. This neurosurgeon, Dr. Norman Doidge has done a great deal of research and a great service by writing all of this down to help out tbi patients.

Finally, I wish to recommend The Glucose Revolution. It was given to me again by my uncle Richard (he has a talent for finding helpful books). In the book the author describes how to regulate your blood glucose levels. That is the hormone in your body which controls your appetite, energy levels, weight gain and sleep among many other things. 

She does advocate cutting out artificial sugar where possible. Also cutting out the ultra processed fake chemically processed foods. In addition, she advocates not radically changing your diet but eating a savory breakfast instead of a sweet one (thereby avoiding a glucose spike and crash). Also, not really changing what you eat but changing the order that you eat it in. Not everyone can do this, because it requires you to eat one thing at a time. However, I love it. You must first eat anything green or veggies that you have. Second, you go for your protein, third, you eat your starches, lastly you go for bread and dessert. I lost eight pounds of stubborn belly fat almost immediately after trying this method. Additionally, I sleep better and have more energy throughout the day. 

That's all for now, Tyler