Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This is a good book for those who want to really understand the science behind building good habits and getting rid of bad ones. The book is pretty technical, without as many real life examples as some other books about habit, but I really walked away with a lot more information than I expected. Don't be daunted by all the science, give it a read!

An encyclopedic guide to habits how we form them get stuck oin them.This is a book scientific in its facts very informative not as UCLA how to kick habitsbmorea study of habits #netgalley #fsg

It sure is a good book, but not what I expected from the summary.
It is quit heavy on the science part and not on the part of Self Care and what to do with all those bad habits you've got.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for a copy of Good Habits, Bad Habits in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book to be much heavier on the science and research done on bad habits and lifestyle changes and rather lacking on the actual ways you could adapt the findings into your every day life. The only helpful tip I ended up taking from the whole thing was try to make the good lifestyle change you want to make into an easy habit. Which I mostly knew, but am having trouble translating it into actionable goals. I wish there were more examples and less research to wade through.

GOOD HABITS, BAD HABITS by Professor of Psychology and Business at the University of Southern California, Wendy Wood is all about "The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick." Wood divides her work into three parts (How We Really Are, The Three Bases of Habit Formation, and Special Cases, Big Opportunities and the World Around Us). She writes in an accessible manner, opening with an anecdote about a cousin trying to lose weight, and then explains some of the obstacles to success, including the idea that "we act out of habit [approximately forty percent of the time] without having to make a decision to do so." The second part of Wood's text, which deals with context, repetition and reward, is really quite informative. For example, Wood discusses the decline in smoking in America, noting that knowledge of the dangers and willpower (desire to quit) were often not enough until regulations and environment (e.g., limited advertising, fewer vending machines and more non-smoking areas) became prevalent. However, I think I like best her short "useful story" at the book's end which is titled "How to Stop Looking at your Phone So Often" – it provides a wonderful application of her ideas and was recently highlighted in The Los Angeles Times' review of this book. Wood also includes extensive notes, a lengthy bibliography and an index, all of which may interest our Psych student researchers. GOOD HABITS, BAD HABITS received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and was named one of "10 books to read in October" by The Washington Post.

Link in live post:
https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2019-09-23/digital-detox-phone-addiction

A big thank-you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for giving me a copy of this book for an unbiased review.

Rating: 3.5/5, rounded up to 4 - Thoroughly enjoyed it, although I do wish that it had been more concise.

This is the book to read if you want to learn everything there is to know about habits.

And I mean everything.

Wood goes into great detail on what distinguishes a habit from conscious cognition, how the neurology of habit formation differs from that of active choice, why our intentions are often not in line with our habitual actions, which cognitive biases and popularized scientific frameworks prevent us from accurately identifying and working with our habits, the extent to which human behavior is a product of willpower vs. context, how our knowledge of what is good vs. bad for us aligns or misaligns with our habits, what the specific steps of habit formation are, how reward plays into habit, the context of addiction as it pertains to habits, and a plethora of other topics which would make this review far too lengthy.

The thoroughness with which she explores this topic is truly impressive, to the extent where the book sometimes reads like a conversation with a friend who has already gotten their point across, but still keeps going. Although some examples could have been edited out for brevity, overall this is still beneficial, as all of Wood’s claims are backed up with extensive research. Moreover, this research is based in a variety of fields – everything from psychology to neurology to the impacts of urban planning. The studies referenced also present a good mix of controlled lab experiments, as well as field research and observational studies. As a result, the book is a bit cluttered at times, but for the reader who is willing to slog through and adapt to Wood’s excitement for habit-formation, the reward is a fascinating read full of interesting insights.

My two favorite aspects of the book were the fact that it offers a neurological perspective to habit formation, and that it gives real-life applications without entering the self-help genre.

I am currently very interested in neurology, especially in terms of how it plays out in behavior. Wood presented a compelling neurological argument for why habits form and stick as they do, and how this process differs from conscious cognition. She goes into some detail on which parts of the brain are responsible for cognition vs. habits, and illustrates why conscious cognition is so exhausting relative to the formation of efficient habits.

She also provides specific guidelines on how individuals might use this science (as well as the psychology of habit) to create contexts in which positive habits might thrive. While there is some suggestion that the reader might want to employ these methods, she presents them more as an observation than a guide, which I really appreciated. In short, she focuses more on the science than on the how-tos. The result is that the reader gains insight and knowledge into the processes of habits, which she or he can apply at will.

Overall, I would say that this is a fascinating book that I would certainly re-read or recommend to my friends. However, as it focuses on such a specific topic in very finite detail, this may not be a good fit for those who are not already interested in psychology, neurology, or sociology at least to some extent.

I was hoping this one would read easily like The Tipping Point or Freakonomics but it's too fact driven. I thought it was an overwhelming amount of information but it didn't catch my attention. It's clear that Wendy Wood did her research though and I do find the topic very fascinating - it's just not very readable.

Good Habits, Bad Habits is a good overview of the current thinking and science of using habits to improve your life. I would recommend as a primer to anyone new to these ideas. However, as someone who reads a fair amount of self-help, there was nothing new to the information or presentation of these ideas here.