Let's be honest. You've tried the sticky-note inspirations, the motivational calendar, and the cute (but ineffective) “carpe diem" mug—yet your attitude hasn't changed. It's time to apply cutting-edge science to the challenges of daily life.
While everyone desires self-improvement, we are quickly frustrated when trying to implement the contradictory philosophies of self-appointed self-help gurus. Too often, their advice is based on anecdote and personal opinion, not real research.
Bestselling author of What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite David DiSalvo returns with Brain Changer: How Harnessing Your Brain's Power to Adapt Can Change Your Life. Drawing on the latest research in neuroscience, cognitive psychology, behavioral economics, communications, and even marketing, DiSalvo replaces self-help with “science help." He demonstrates how the brain's enormous capacity to adapt is the most crucial factor influencing how we feel and act—a factor that we can control to change our lives.
Findings show our brains are fluid and function much like a feedback loop: stimulants from both our environment and from within ourselves catalyze changes in the brain's response. That response then elicits additional inputs that the brain identifies and analyzes to further tailor its response. DiSalvo shows that the greatest internal tool we have to affect the feedback loop is metacognition (“thinking about thinking").
Littered with relatable examples and tackling major aspects of our lives including relationships, careers, physical health, and personal development, Brain Changer shows you how to harness metacognition to enrich your life.
"This is an engagingly told, eyebrow-raising story of a nice guy with a bad past; a manipulative, brazen almost-murderess; and thugs, both softhearted and heartless, that is spiced with trial excerpts and the intricacies of Florida's legal system."
—Eloise Kinney, Bookist Online
"Like a real-life story by James M. Cain, Poison Candy has a beautiful dame who's full of venom and a trusting mug who's too blinded by her charms to know she's taking him for all he's worth—or that she's planning to kill him. Told from the perspective of a tough-talking woman prosecutor, Elizabeth Parker, and veteran crime writer Mark Ebner, this tale of greed and manipulation in Palm Beach County is impossible to put down."
—Nancy Jo Sales, Vanity Fair, author of The Bling Ring
"Start with a South Florida trifecta of cash, cocaine, and call girls. Throw in Nancy Grace, street gangs, and even a cop reality show. Then top it off with an absorbing courtroom drama starring the beautiful aspiring black widow. A great read—and it's all true."
—Roy Black, senior partner at Black, Srebnick, Kornspan & Stumpf, P.A. and legal commentator
"Elizabeth Parker presented a compelling case at trial, and now gives us all the juicy tidbits banned from the courtroom. Poison Candy proves the adage that truth is stranger than fiction. This is a must-read for true-crime aficionados."
—Beth Karas, Legal Analyst and former Correspondent for Court TV's In Session
"Not even Hollywood could come up with a character as evil and calculating as Dalia Dippolito! For anyone who wants to truly understand how diabolical criminals operate—and get away with what they do—Poison Candy is a must read. I couldn't put it down!"
—Diane Dimond, investigative crime reporter and author
"Poison Candy is an essential read. Destined to become a true crime classic."
—Mandy Stadtmiller, XOJane.com
"Elizabeth Parker, the prosecutor who convicted Dalia Dippolito, tells the behind-the-scenes story of what really happened behind the femme fatale sting and subsequent trial. One of Florida's most skilled and experienced criminal trial attorneys, she unfolds little known details of the case in a narrative that is rich with the insights of a veteran litigator and is very hard to put down. Parker and co-author Mark Ebner have produced a captivating account of one of Florida's most notorious cases."
—Bob Butterworth, Former Florida Attorney General
"The only thing more riveting than having experienced this already legendary Florida crime saga in real time is reliving it via Parker and Ebner's page-turner. Who needs fiction when you can devour Poison Candy?"
—Billy Corben, director of Cocaine Cowboys, The U, and Raw Deal: A Question of Consent
"If the Coen Brothers ever decide to do an up-to-date version of Billy Wilder's cynical, similarly caustic Ace in the Hole, they need look no further than Poison Candy."
—George Hunka
