Theme

Psychology & Mind

Attention, memory, trauma, habit, and belief — the machinery underneath the decisions people think they reasoned their way to.

44 books

most recent read first
A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness by Michael Pollan A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness Michael Pollan · 2026 · read Apr 2026After writing about how psychedelics change consciousness, Pollan goes after the question they raise: what consciousness actually… Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters by Charan Ranganath Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters Charan Ranganath · 2024 · read Jul 2025Your brain forgets most of what happens to you, and it does that on purpose. Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds David Goggins · 2018 · read Feb 2025When you think you're finished, you've used only about 40 percent of what you can do, according to David Goggins. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness Jonathan Haidt · 2024 · read Dec 2024A play-based childhood traded for a phone-based one in the early 2010s: that's the great rewiring Haidt blames for surging teen… Mindfulness: HBR Emotional Intelligence Series by Harvard Business Review Mindfulness: HBR Emotional Intelligence Series Harvard Business Review · 2017 · read Jun 2024If you've ever been too busy to meditate, two of these pieces argue you can still practice mindfulness in small doses through the… Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam M. Grant Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things Adam M. Grant · 2023 · read Jun 2024Potential shows in how far you've climbed, not in how high you end up. The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery by Brianna Wiest The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery Brianna Wiest · 2020 · read May 2024Wiest's argument is that self-sabotage comes from needs that conflict, which is why you can resist the very change you say you… Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence by Anna Lembke Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence Anna Lembke · 2021 · read Jan 2024When you keep chasing easy pleasure, your brain pushes back with pain to restore its balance. Happiness (HBR Emotional Intelligence Series) by Harvard Business Review Happiness (HBR Emotional Intelligence Series) Harvard Business Review · 2017 · read Nov 2023Happiness is something you can define, measure and deliberately build at work, according to much of this short Harvard Business… Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment by Robert Wright Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment Robert Wright · 2017 · read Oct 2023Much of what your mind tells you was shaped to help your ancestors survive, not to show you reality, and Robert Wright's case is… The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness Morgan Housel · 2020 · read Aug 2023Morgan Housel's case is that doing well with money depends more on how you behave than on what you know. The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward by Daniel H. Pink The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward Daniel H. Pink · 2022 · read May 2023Regret has a bad reputation, and the no-regrets creed tells you to ignore it. How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics by Michael Pollan How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics Michael Pollan · 2018 · read May 2023Pollan was known for writing about food. Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge by Terence McKenna Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge Terence McKenna · 1992 · read Apr 2023McKenna's claim is that psilocybin mushrooms were humanity's original tree of knowledge, and that early hominids who ate them… Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving Pete Walker · 2013 · read Apr 2023Fight, flight, freeze and fawn. Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness by Steve Magness Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness Steve Magness · 2022 · read Mar 2023Toughness has long meant fear, bravado and hiding weakness. Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free by Linda Kay Klein Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free Linda Kay Klein · 2018 · read Feb 2023Twelve years of research, hundreds of interviews, and a teenager who broke up with her boyfriend because she believed God… Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention— and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention— and How to Think Deeply Again Johann Hari · 2022 · read Feb 2023If you've ever blamed yourself for not being able to concentrate, Hari's case is that it isn't a personal failing. How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self by Nicole LePera How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self Nicole LePera · 2021 · read Feb 2023The self-sabotaging cycles you keep repeating as an adult may trace back to childhood adversity, and the stress it leaves behind… How Clients Buy: A Practical Guide to Business Development for Consulting and Professional Services by Tom McMakin How Clients Buy: A Practical Guide to Business Development for Consulting and Professional Services Tom McMakin · 2018 · read Jan 2023Selling a service isn't like selling a product, and the book is for experts trained in their craft, not in sales. What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry What Happened To You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing Bruce D. Perry · 2021 · read Jan 2023Swap what's wrong with you for what happened to you, and behavior starts to make sense. Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Nir Eyal Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life Nir Eyal · 2019 · read Jan 2023Most of what pulls you off task isn't your phone. A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science & Spirituality by Ken Wilber A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science & Spirituality Ken Wilber · 1996 · read Oct 2022Every major worldview gets some real part of reality right, and none of them gets all of it. The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science—and Reality by Chris C. Mooney The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science—and Reality Chris C. Mooney · 2007 · read May 2022Why do American conservatives more often reject mainstream findings on climate change, evolution, economics and history? Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience Brené Brown · 2021 · read May 2022Naming what you feel doesn't hand the feeling more power. The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process: Transcend Your Toughest Times by David Berceli The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process: Transcend Your Toughest Times David Berceli · 2008 · read Apr 2022Animals shake after a stressful event, and young children tremble the same way until socialization suppresses it. Yoga and the Quest for the True Self by Stephen Cope Yoga and the Quest for the True Self Stephen Cope · 1999 · read Mar 2022Yoga is a practical path of liberation roughly 4,000 years old, in Stephen Cope's telling, and it works on your psyche, not just… The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma Bessel van der Kolk · 2014 · read Feb 2022In Bessel van der Kolk's account, abuse and violence build a hyperactive alarm system that keeps your body in fight-or-flight,… The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever Michael Bungay Stanier · 2016 · read May 2021When you jump in with advice, you take away someone's chance to find the answer. Liminal Thinking by Dave Gray Liminal Thinking Dave Gray · 2016 · read Mar 2021Liminal comes from the Latin for threshold, the boundary between one state and another. How to Train Your Mind: Exploring the Productivity Benefits of Meditation by Chris Bailey How to Train Your Mind: Exploring the Productivity Benefits of Meditation Chris Bailey · 2021 · read Mar 2021According to Chris Bailey, every minute you spend meditating earns back about nine minutes. The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love – Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits by Judson Brewer The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love – Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits Judson Brewer · 2017 · read Jan 2021Smoking, checking your phone, binge eating and romantic obsession look like separate problems. Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day by Jay Shetty Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day Jay Shetty · 2020 · read Jan 2021Your mind is either a focused monk mind or a distracted monkey mind, in Jay Shetty's telling. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead Brené Brown · 2012 · read Dec 2020Vulnerability, which Brené Brown defines as uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure, isn't weakness. Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown Braving the Wilderness Brené Brown · 2017 · read Dec 2020Brené Brown's case is that true belonging doesn't ask you to change who you are. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari · 2011 · read Nov 2020What put Homo sapiens in charge of the planet? The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connections and Courage by Brené Brown The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connections and Courage Brené Brown · 2013 · read Nov 2020Six lecture sessions recorded before a live audience, about six and a half hours in all, make up this Sounds True audio course,… Dare to Lead by Brené Brown Dare to Lead Brené Brown · 2018 · read Nov 2020Leadership can look like a matter of personality or rank. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed Lori Gottlieb · 2019 · read Sep 2020Therapists aren't exempt from the problems they treat. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business Charles Duhigg · 2012 · read Jun 2020Keep the cue, keep the reward and swap the routine. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones James Clear · 2018 · read Jun 2020Getting 1 percent better a day doesn't sound like much. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie How to Win Friends & Influence People Dale Carnegie · 1936 · read Nov 2019Sinclair Lewis mocked it as a guide to faking interest for gain, and later critics called it manipulative. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Miguel Ruiz The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom Miguel Ruiz · 1997 · read Nov 2019Domestication is don Miguel Ruiz's word for the beliefs you absorbed from family and society without choosing them, agreements… The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts by Gary Chapman The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts Gary Chapman · 1990 · read Oct 2019If you show love the way you'd most like to receive it, your partner may not register it at all.

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