Narrative Non-fiction / Self Help

MUSIC AND THE BRAIN

Are Brean / Geir Olve Skeie

About the magic power of music and its amazing effect on the brainCreativity in music and the skills to play and appreciate music are uniquely human characteristics. All mammals seem to enjoy a tune but only human beings show true musicality and ability to communicate through music. The brain composes music to please itself: one can learn much about how the brain works by studying its responses to music and music-making.This book is written as three parts: The first part discusses what brain does with music, that is: how music is sensed and perceived, processes grouped together as the basis for "perception of music".The second part describes what music does to the brain: how it affects its functioning and enables it to change – effects known as manifestations of neuroplasticity. The authors then go on to analyse the characteristics of "the musician's brain" – the brains of musicians have shared features that set them apart from other people's brains.In the third part, the authors give an account of the ways in which the brain-changing effects of music can be used to aid recovery after blows to the head and to treat neurological and related disorders such as dementia, Parkinson's disease and mental illnesses. Music for the brain, not for the earsThe easy read, exciting and intriguing popular science book Music and the Brain is warmly recommended fro anyone who would like to learn more about the grey lump of water and fat that we carry between our ears.BALLADE Musically about the brainThis is a fascinating rendition of the power that music has over man. Music and the Brain is an engaging presentation of extremely advanced processes in the brain. The book is full of interesting facts and reflections around how we relate to music. It contains exciting and brand new research on the topic, well balanced and knowledgeable.AFTENPOSTEN

Else sees a shrink

Else Kåss Furuseth

One day, Else Kåss Furuseth receives a phone call from her grandmother. Else's brother Lars Kristian hasn't come for supper. As he always does. At the door to his flat, Else finds a pile of newspapers. No response from inside. She calls the police and tells them that her brother is dead. Her Condolances is based on Else Kåss Furuseth's take on one of the great taboos of our time: suicide. Against the odds, her approach made the performance an amusing and touching experience, a tale of a moving, timeless act and a blackly humorous exploration of our relationship to death. In It is the smart ones who die, Kåss Furuseth investigates more deeply the mystery surrounding her brother Lars Kristian. Why did he make these decisions? A diary note for the day after his self-inflicted death shows that he had planned to spend seven hours watching a film about the extermination of the Jews. A few days after Lars Kristian's death, Else said to her father: “If I knew I had to watch that documentary, I‘d have killed myself, too.” Smiling, her father replied: “Me too. But you mustn't say this to anyone else. It's the kind of joke no one gets, except the two of us.”

The Immune mystery

Jørgen Jelstad / Anita Kåss

This is the story of a young researcher who thought outside the box, and about the immune system's unsolved conundrum autoimmunity. On the day of her mother's funeral, 13-year-old Anita Kåss took an encyclopedia down from the bookshelf and for the first time read about arthritis. She wanted an answer to the question Did Mom get sick because I was born? and decided to find out everything about arthritis, and to find a treatment. It was the beginning of her life as a researcher. When she was 20 years old, she began to study medicine. 15 years later, her research lead to a possible hormonal breakthrough, and pharmaceutical companies fought over the rights to this new treatment. It resulted in the biggest licensing agreement in the Norwegian medical history. Her quest towards more knowledge of autoimmune diseases forms the framework for a popular-science journey, hunting for the solution to a mystery no one has managed to solve yet: the mystery of autoimmunity.FULL ENGLISH TRANSLATION AVAILABLE.

Body Squeeze

Kari Løvendahl Mogstad

Kari Mogstad is a doctor and mother of five, a passionate mediator and avid article writer. As a doctor, she daily meets children and young adults who are struggling with increasing body image issues and focus on their appearance. Many of them have headaches or stomach-aches, depression and eating disorders. In this book, she tries to find out more about how children and young adults are really doing, and show parents what a child's reality looks like. She also tackles the role of today's parents and asks what kind of role models we really are. The book helps parents to become more aware, and you will likely replace a few princess dresses after having read it. She also uses her extensive experience as a mother to give advice on how to help children and young adults have a good life and resist external pressures. "Body Issues is an important contribution in the struggle against just talking about the tyranny of beauty and the body pressure that is destroying the quality of life for so many young people today. Right now, the most important thing is that we join forces to give the young generations of our time the possibility to have a possitive image of their bodies, and to shift the focus from the cosmetic body to the functioning body."Jorunn Sundgot-Borgen, professor at the Norwegian Sports College

Everyday Emotions

Carina Carl / Rebekka Egeland

Many people suffer in today's highachievement society. Very many of us will experience depression and/or stress in the course of our lives. Everyday Emotions gives us answers and help us meet and cope with the challenges we face in life. The book is about how we can have fewer negative thoughts and less worry, and instead experience more joy and increase our self­confidence. The author combines theory and case studies in a practical and accessible way to show how we can appropriately and effectively deal with problems such as anxiety, depression, stress and low selfesteem. ‘This is important and well written! Recommended!’ TV2

Adventures in Memory

Ylva Berger / Hilde Østby

Take a plunge into the science of memory, together with sisters Hilde and Ylva Østby, in Diving for Seahorses.The writers explore the many facets of memory and how it influences our lives, both from a neuroscience perspective and through conversations with some of the most influential memory researchers of our time. They meet people with a special kind of memory – at both ends of the memory spectrum from mnemonists, actors and taxi drivers, to amnesiacs – and discover that most memories are transformed and some are best forgotten. In the middle of winter, they send divers deep into the Oslo fjord in search of where our memories are stored. They wonder if what lies at the heart of memory is what will change our future.Diving for Seahorses explains memory through personal and vivid tale telling, combining the best of two craftsmanships: Hilde is a novelist, and Ylva is a neuropsychologist.‘… readable and interesting. … Reading this book will leave you baffled about how complex memory is.’ FÆDRELANDSVENNEN‘Diving for seahorses is a unique book about memory … science and research presented with wit and energy.’ BOKSTAVER.NO

Naked and Alone

Tormod Huseby

Alene naken is an exceptionally warm, tolerant and insightful book about what really controls our behaviour. Tormod Huseby is a psychiatrist deeply engaged with his patients and colleagues. In the book he shows what becomes of our lives when we are not ourselves. Why do we not turn out as we were meant to be, and why as adults do we continue to conceal who we are? The author also explains how we can be affected when other people haven't been able to be their true selves – children, spouses, colleagues or friends. That can lead to weakened self-esteem in those of us who have been rejected by them. We can suffer loss of energy, conflict in relationships at work and worry about our friendships. We may also fear violence and terrorism. Through many stories from his meetings with people – and from his own life – he invites us to reflect on why we are who we are, why we make the choices we do, and how we can make different choices to enable us to find a life where we dare to be fully ourselves. ’Honest, open-hearted and well written reports of some of the problems and people a psychiatrist can meet in his everyday work.’AFTENPOSTEN

A Good Decision

Nils Tore Meland

Why did I buy a flat with a balcony when I really needed a garage? Which candidate shall I employ? Do we need a turnaround at work? Should I set up this project? These are important questions with major consequences. Decisions are to do with making choices and putting an end to uncertainty and doubt. Unfortunately, an overwhelming mass of good research indicates that more than half of all our decisions turn out badly. Most of us think that it is difficult to make complex choices which involve risk and serious consequences. We put off and wait, or we just leave things as they are. We base our decisions on too much, too little or incorrect information. So we identify too few possibilities and propose inadequate solutions. Or we simply solve the wrong problem. Those who use a little more time, especially at the start of the decision process, identify more opportunities and formulate better solutions. In the whole process they make quicker and better choices, up to six times better in fact. Good decision-making can be both learned and practised to a high standard, and the process can be both exciting and fun. This book will give you seven practical steps towards better decision-making. ’A superbly good book about decision-making. An example for future authors of non-fiction’Elin Ørjaseter ’ … one of the year’s most exciting Norwegian books on management’HR Norge ’… a fantastic book for all who want to develop their skills at making better decisions … which many will get great benefit from reading.’ Hans-Petter Nygård-Hansen ’some of the best I have read on the subject. The book is so elegantly written that the main message never becomes boring.’Edvard Noer Bjørge

A Whole Person in Half a Body

Anne Grethe Solberg

Anne Grethe Solberg was shot by her ex-husband eight years ago. One shoulder and arm had to be amputated, and her hip was shot to pieces. It was uncertain whether she would survive, and whether she would be able to walk. She was certainly not expected to be able to run a marathon. In this book she tells the dramatic story of the shooting episode. She relates how she saved her life by playing dead. Not least, she describes what happened after the shooting; how she escaped from the scene of the shooting and how she was saved. She has a strong survival instinct. She wants to look after her children, work and pay the bills herself. She develops strategies for self-mastery, and as she herself is a coach, she coaches herself in the recovery period after the shooting. After an impressive amount of practice, Anne Grethe teaches herself to walk. However, it becomes apparent that it is easier to run. She decides to run a marathon and she writes grippingly about her progress to the New York Marathon. Finally, she shares her ten strategies for self-mastery which we can all make use of. A story of self-mastery, strong will, hard work and a strong wish to survive in order to be able to make a difference.

Harvest Outdoor Handbook

This book is about enjoying the outdoors with children and all the enjoyable, exciting and educational activities you can find there. It comes to us from the editors who publish the magazine Harvest on the internet: Torbjørn Ekelund, Simen Tveitereid, Kjetil Østli and Anders Aakre. Like many others, they have learned by experience that it is often better to be outdoors than in. All age-groups find that crossing the threshold is the longest mile, but once the bags are packed and the troops assembled and the whole family is trotting into the woods, along the shore or up into the mountains, a type of calm settles. Everybody suddenly feels content to be there, and it seems that the children have long forgotten that just a short time ago they were insisting on staying indoors. The aim of this book is to inspire families with small children to go out more – or at least give it a try.