Mixed Signals (2023) sheds light on the power of incentives, drawing on behavioral economics research to explore how various factors like money, social status, and external nudges can influence our choices. It explores how incentives often have complex and counterintuitive effects, offering an understanding of these dynamics to improve decision-making and outcomes. Introduction: Make better …
Medical
The Easy Way to Stop Smoking (1985, 2011) isn’t just a book about giving up cigarettes; it aims to put smoking in a completely new light. Smoking is no habit and nicotine no hard drug; smoking is an addiction, but one that can be overcome with the right mindset. These summaries outline the necessary steps …
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1948) is a seminal work of comparative mythology. It reveals that foundational myths from around the world share similar structures and themes, which trace back to some of our earliest stories and continue to hold a strong power over us today. Introduction: Discover the psychological power of the classic …
Love & Respect (2012) uses biblical scripture, the author’s experience as a marriage counselor, and insight from other relationship therapists to help couples connect. By following the principles it lays out, husbands and wives learn to show each other the kind of love and respect they both crave. In the process, conflicts get resolved and …
Proust and the Squid (2007) tells the fascinating story of how the human brain learned to read. From the invention of the first writing systems to our brain’s amazing capacity to rearrange itself, reading expert Maryanna Wolf explains how the incredible skill of reading developed over the course of human history. That is, how it …
In a Different Key (2016) takes you on a journey through the history of autism, from the first diagnosis to the different and often conflicting opinions about how it should be treated. This summary also show us that those with autism have a powerful and important voice and that, despite numerous complexities and many unsolved …
The Undying (2019) is a searing, poetic account of the author’s journey through an aggressive form of breast cancer. It’s also a seething appraisal of women’s experience of this illness, in history and literature, as well as in the present-day United States. Genres Health, Nutrition, Biography, Memoir, Autobiography, Medicine, Writing, Essays, Poetry, Science, Medical, Diseases, …
Brain surgeons don’t just hold their patients’ lives in their hands; they quite literally hold all of their patients’ thoughts, memories, and feelings. “Do No Harm” examines the challenges of becoming, practicing, and defining oneself as a brain surgeon over the course of 40 years of experience in the operating theater. The brain holds all …
Writer Mary Roach has traveled the world in search of strange and interesting things to write about, and now she explores a topic we often cover with a mental sheet: the experiences of dead bodies. In this book review of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, you’ll learn about the all-important contributions cadavers have …
“(T)he volume and complexity of what we know has exceeded our individual ability to deliver its benefits correctly, safely, or reliably.” – Atul Gawande, MD Each day we process an overwhelming amount of information and take on more responsibility. As the complexity of our life increases, we make small consequential oversights in our work, despite …
