This Is Why You Dream: What Your Sleeping Brain Reveals About Your Waking Life by Rahul Jandial

This Is Why You Dream: What Your Sleeping Brain Reveals About Your Waking Life Reviews

• 
  Anya Thompson

  An interesting examination of the sleeping brain and the power of dreams on our waking lives. Rahul Jandial uses his extensive experience as a brain surgeon and neuroscientist to delve into a relatively unexplored part of all our lives. Dreams have long been interpreted and there are many theories as to why we dream, Jandial explores some of these theories, referencing the research which has been carried out in this field. This is grounded in science but written in a clear and accessible way. The referencing is thorough throughout and useful for further reading. The chapters exploring lucid dreaming were especially interesting, something which has been recorded historically and practised, but only fairly recently explored by cognitive scientists. This is not a sleep dictionary which will interpret your dreams, but a far more insightful study into why we dream and what we can learn from our sleeping brain.
  
  Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone publishers for an advanced readers copy of this book.
• 
  Rob Sedgwick

  (Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley)
  
  Why we dream has always been a topic that has interested me and I have occasionally read books about it. This book covers a lot of ground. A lot of it is culled from other research and there doesn't seem to be a huge amount that the author has seen himself during his career (unsurprisingly as nearly everyone works in very narrow areas).
  
  The author emphasises the role of the Executive Network and the Imagination Network in our dreams. He believes our dreams partly train us for the future by rehearsing scenarios and that we can learn about ourselves by studying our dreams. I'd always thought dreams were more for information processing and organising our memories, which was my recollection from other books. So it was good to read this side of the debate on why we dream (so much is still unknown).
  
  The book looks at nightmares but the most interesting areas are lucid dreams and the hints of what might be possible in the future such as better dream interpretation and even dream engineering.
  
  I would have liked a few more interesting case studies. It was quite a short book and covers a lot of ground skimming over related research and dipping into history (e.g. Graham Greene) for examples.
  
  This book offers some advice on how to lucid dream, recording your dreams, and what you can learn from your dreams. I think I would have preferred a more practical step-by-step book just about lucid dreaming or dream interpretation. This is a very broad overview of the whole area of our dreams with snippets of advice here and there.
  
  There is a huge bibliography but it's not divided into chapters or subject areas so it's hard to know where to go for more information about the bits I was interested in.
• 
  Nic Harris

  I have inadvertently landed on a reading theme this month - dreams. Having read a more creative approach to understanding your dreams; this book offered a contrasting scientific explanation which was interesting to read.
  
  The author draws on his background as a neuroscientist to explore the world of dreams - what are they? Why do we have them?
  
  This book achieves a great balance of delivering scientific explanations but in a way that is accessible and understandable to someone who doesn’t haven’t a great scientific understanding of(me!).
  
  This isn’t a spiritual book but still holds dreams as holding importance in human life. I liked this and felt the author did a great job of offering weight to this area.
  
  Some chapters were more interesting than others and I particularly liked the chapters about types of dreams, themes and I found it really interesting to learn about dreams that are particularly predominant across the world. The information around nightmares was also really interesting.
  
  I think it probably would have been helpful to have more of understanding on neuroscience and I would probably have gained even more from this reading experience if I had this background however I still felt I understood a lot of the book and it didn’t interrupt my reading experience.
  
  This was a fascinating read
• 
  Rosh (read in the A.M.)

  Thank you to Netgalley for an e-arc!
  
  I enjoyed my time with this which is always a plus, it's written in an easy to comprehend style with clearly laid out explanations. I thoroughly enjoyed the physiology part because that's the thing that drew me in in the first place. In the end I am underwhelmed because the question at the heart of this, also the title of the book, was not answered to my satisfaction. In the beginning strides were made to try and answer it but we sadly veered off the path. I found the chapter on nightmares to be the most intriguing and would recommend anyone who comes across this book to peruse it. A pro for it is that it gave me somethings to look into further and research on my own time. To that point I am looking for books that cover this topic further and would appreciate recommendations. 
  
  CW: mention of suicide
• 
  Catherine

  Coming from a technical background this book interest me. The author a neurosurgeon delves into the reasons why we dream. The book goes into great detail of what happens within our brain when we lay down to rest. At times, this is not an easy read, but it is certainly interesting and gives you food for thought.
  
  Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to see a DLC
• 
  Sharon

  This book offers an informative, interesting insight into dreams, the brain and why we dream.
  
  The author is a credible expert and although at times I didn’t find it an easy read, it’s overall an interesting book that made me want to explore more of the subject matter.
  
  Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the opportunity to preview.
• 
  Tina

  I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
  
  I have an interest in dreams and have interpreted dreams as a hobby since being a teenager. I am naturally drawn to books about dreams although I was a little worried this might be a bit too scientific for me. The author is a neurosurgeon and as such goes into detail as to what is happening to our brains whilst we sleep. He does this in quite an accessible way. For myself I am more interested in dreams from a psychological perspective but I would think that if you are more interested in the science of dreaming then you will enjoy this book.
• 
  Lucy

  This book is fascinating! I really enjoyed all the scientific studies behind the dreams and brain surgeries and everything was explained well. I particularly enjoy the lucid dreaming and PTSD sections.