Joni E. Johnston

A fairly substantial introduction to psychology, or at least as substantial as a book that tries to cover all the bases can be. It is certainly much more informative on the various types of psychological disorders: mood, anxiety, personality and so on. The chapter on stress management was also very useful. In addition, the book is sprinkled with various psychological terms and interesting anecdotes that spice up the work. Here's an example: apparently in Japan, there is a cultural taboo on opening a gift in front of the person who gave it to you, in case you make them feel uncomfortable by failing to show sufficient appreciation. I am not Japanese, but I feel the same way. At Christmas I always insist that everyone open all their gifts at once instead of taking turns and just STARING at whoever is opening a gift. Embarrassing.

Anyway, I enjoyed this book. It would almost be a four-star except for some really embarrassing spelling errors (wrong "your"/"you're", wrong "it's"/"its", consistently spelling Hitler's first name with a -ph instead of -f, you know, things that you'd expect an editor to catch). Worth a read if you want a general introduction to psychology written in a highly readable manner with a splash of humour.… (mer)