Book Review - The Survivor's Club by Ben Sherwood

This was a recommendation from mom and dad (i.e. not on our reading list).  Not a novel, but more of an exploration of real-life traumatic scenarios and the people that survived them. It was a really cool book, though I do give fair warning to anyone easily worried.  There are lots of descriptions of horrible scenarios, but luckily it usually points out why you shouldn't worry too much about it (though it still tells you how to be better prepared).  Case in point: It talks about several plane crashes, what happened to the people who did and did not survive, and plane crash safety training describing the things that cause someone to be more or less likely to survive a plane crash. Then he goe s on to tell you that, across all plan crashes, 95.7% of people survive, and overall your chance of dying in a plane crash is 1 in 60,000,000 (as opposed to the chance of dying in a car crash, 1 in 9,000,000). It is definitely not a depressing book (though there are plenty of traumatic and sad stories), but it focuses on those qualities that helped people overcome and survive scenarios that could very easily have killed them.  Not only is it very interesting to read all the stories, but it is cool to have a resource for things to do to help in emergency situations (as well as avoid the emergency situations in the first place). It also lists a lot of resources that are available to learn even more about various risks and ways to prevent/prepare for them. An additional feature is the associated website, http://www.survivorprofiler.org/ Here, anyone can go and take an online quiz that then gives you your survivor profile. There is a bunch of info in the book about putting together the quiz, but I'll leave that up to you reading :-). The last chapter of the book actually goes through a lot of the information you get in your survivor profile, which adds a cool component to the overall experience of the book.  I would definitely recommend this as a very interesting (and potentially useful) read.  And to finish, here's my survivor profile:

Your Survivor Type: THINKER

Your Survivor IQ tells you precisely which kind you are. After analyzing your answers, it's clear that you're a Thinker. You use your mind to overcome your obstacles. Your intelligence has many dimensions. You rely on a combination of smarts, creativity and ingenuity to solve problems. Book learning isn't your only resource. You've also got street smarts and common sense. You see your challenges clearly and are good at diagnosing the underlying nature of a problem. In tough times, you look at all the angles, generate new ideas and discover unexpected solutions. You don't get distracted easily. You're highly focused, analytical, and rigorous and you concentrate on what needs to get done. Your mind is practical, not up in the clouds. You're good at turning ideas into action. When others get stuck, you can improvise and find a way out. Logic and reason help you understand the real facts of your situation and the consequences of your choi ces. Common sense helps you apply your knowledge and experience in creative and productive ways. While some people depend on muscle and brawn to win life's battles, you rely on your mind. Above all, you're a Thinker. To see what it really means to be a Thinker, consider the true story that appears in the Survivor Case Studies.

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