The Self-Help Books to Keep on Your Shelf

I'm sure you've noticed that self-help books are frequently best sellers. Just a glance at The New York Times' current nonfiction best sellers finds 10% Happier by Dan Harris (how the co-anchor of "Nightline" used meditation to improve his life) and Thrive by Arianna Huffington (personal well-being as a measure of success, along with money and power). I've read my share of self-help books, but I've thrown out (and forgotten) more career, health, relationship, and spiritual guides than I've kept. So I began to wonder which entries in the self-help genre have stood the test of time and may merit a permanent place on my bookshelf -- and maybe yours. There are lots of recommendations out there, but when I combine them all together, I come up with two winners per pundits, popular acclaim and my own experience: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Harvard MBA Stephen Covey, and How to Win Friends and Influence People by super-salesman Dale Carnegie, published in the 1930s and still going strong. Other consistently championed books are The Power of Now by philosopher Eckhart Tolle, Man's Search for Meaning by concentration-camp survivor Viktor Frankl, Awaken the Giant Within by motivational guru Anthony Robbins, The Road Less Traveled by psychiatrist M. Scott Peck, and The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, bringing the "law of attraction" of earlier writers to new audiences. So if you find yourself troubled by basic questions -- who am I, what do I really want, and how do I get from where I am now to where I want to be -- check out these books. For more top-rated self-help guides, consider other picks by sources as varied as Amazon, Reader's Digest, and Elle magazine.

Regional Mystery Rewards Sleuth and Tourist

Sometimes the setting of a mystery novel goes beyond a dash of "local color" into the realm of regional fiction, offering a special atmosphere, unique characters and local accents so integral to the story that it's hard to imagine the same plot in another place. Here are just a few regional mysteries that may appeal to fellow armchair detectives and tourists. Take a trip to New Mexico and its blend of Hispanic, Native American and Anglo cultures courtesy of the late Tony Hillerman; Skinwalkers or A Thief of Time is a good first read. Closer to home for me, Raymond Chandler may have been the pioneer of Los Angeles noir, but Michael Connelly is a worthy heir, winning every major award given to mystery writers, with his novels featuring LAPD detective "Harry" Bosch and defense attorney Mickey Haller. I also like Jonathan Kellerman's L.A.-based series with child-psychologist sleuth Alex Delaware, starting with the award-winning debut When the Bough Breaks. On the opposite coast, Dennis Lehane draws powerful, wrenching literary mysteries out of a gritty Boston landscape; a great example is Mystic River, winner of multiple book awards. Or follow the cases of the late Robert B. Parker's Boston private detective Spenser; with so many books in the series, a good start is Edgar Award-winning Promised Land. If New York City tops your tour agenda, Linda Fairstein and her Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper provide satisfying reads, including Nero Award-winning The Deadhouse. If you think drizzly gloom is the perfect setting for murder and mayhem, you'll be drawn to J.A. Jance's Seattle-based detective J.P. Beaumont series, starting with debut Until Proven Guilty. Or you can move further north to the wilder shores of Alaska, and meet Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak, kicking off the series with Edgar Award-winning A Cold Day for Murder. There are a lot more regional mysteries worth sampling, of course. For more suggestions, take a look at the post by Marvin Lachman, author of The American Regional Mystery, at http://somethingisgoingtohappen.net/2012/10/17/the-american-regional-mystery-by-marvin-lachman/

Sleuthing 101: Are You a Good Lie Detector?

Most of us hear a slew of lies each day, and before you dispute it, realize that most of us are also bad at spotting lies (about a 50-50 chance of being duped, per research). We solicit and embrace relatively harmless deceptions ("Do these pants make me look fat?"), but when it's the case of a murderer, a crooked politician or a cheating spouse, failure to detect a liar has serious consequences. Think you're good at lie detection? Try the simple Lie-Q quiz at http://liespotting.com/liespotting-basics/quiz/. Here's one hint: If you suspect the nervous guy who can't make eye contact, you're chasing the wrong clues; liars can be glib and engage in more eye contact to sell their stories.  Since lies are at the heart of mystery writing -- both deceits plotted for fictional characters and deceptions by authors to keep readers guessing -- understanding why people lie and how to catch liars are basics. A lot of research on deceptive behavior's cues comes from psychologist Paul Ekman, who pioneered research in facial expressions, gained a reputation as "the best human lie detector in the world," and inspired the brief Fox TV series "Lie to Me."  While liars can be skilled at controlling their words and facial expressions, studies show there are still verbal and nonverbal "tells" to alert trained observers. One of Ekman's finds is how micro-expressions (complete but very brief expressions of hidden emotion) and squelched expressions (an angry response quickly masked by a smile, for example) can reveal deceit. For more, including examples of famous lies, read Ekman's book Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics and Marriage, available at http://www.amazon.com/Telling-Lies-Marketplace-Politics-Marriage/dp/0393337456/

What If the Lady Is a Psychopath?

The dangerous psychopath is a stock figure in modern mysteries and thrillers, but most stories focus on menacing males. What if the psychopath is a lady? Is she just a male psychopath with lipstick and high heels? Not quite.There isn't as much research on the female psychopath, but she's like her male counterpart in being superficially charming while, behind the mask, she's an egocentric, manipulative, deceitful and impulsive risk-taker who lacks empathy, remorse and respect for social norms. It's a personality compatible with criminal acts, which is why psychopaths, who are estimated to represent 1% to 3% of the general population, are over-represented in prisons and murder mysteries. One study pegged psychopaths at 16% of the female prison population (although that's lower than the 25% of male prison inmates). It's the manifestation of the disorder that differs between the sexes, including violent behavior. Where male psychopaths are prone to physical aggression, for example, females tend to resort to relational or verbal aggression -- such as manipulating social networks to exclude a victim, engaging in self-injury, or using sexual seduction and coercion. Male and female psychopaths may have more in common when it comes to sexual behavior. A recent U.S. study of "hypersexual" people, meaning those with the most casual sexual partners, found that psychopathy is the key predictive personality trait for hypersexuality in both men and women. The female psychopath is more likely to be a sexual thrill-seeker because she is impulsive and immune to the anxieties and social taboos that usually discourage risky encounters, and she is successful in using socially and sexually exploitative tactics to snare partners. By the way, female psychopaths apparently are also more interested in coercive and sado-masochistic sex (pause to consider this if you enjoyed 50 Shades of Grey). For more on psychopathy and sexuality, read http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-raj-persaud/male-and-female-psychopaths-get-more-sex_b_1845750.html