In today’s society we work hard to make ourselves and our homes dirt and germ free. But is this good for our health? Mary Ruebush’s book Why dirt is good : 5 ways to make germs your friends says it is not. She discusses this dilemma in a light-hearted way with scientific evidence to back up her claims and challenges us to think about our obsession for cleanliness.

Can we lose weight by writing? – author Julia Cameron noticed a reduction in a number of her students’ weight when doing a class in creative writing. Her findings are in The writing diet : write yourself right-size.  What is the connection?  Could this help you lose weight?

Is someone watching us? Modern day society has the ability to follow our movements through technology but when does this become sinister in some minds. Paranoia : the 21st century fear outlines the prevalence of paranoia, the effect it can have on some people’s well-being and discusses ways to deal with paranoid thoughts.

Read more about these titles, plus new books on kidney failure, heart disease, arthritis and dementia via this month’s Recent Health Picks.