Category Archives: Psychology

Mindset Review: A Useful Idea That Promised Too Much

Dweck's growth-mindset idea is worth knowing and easy to apply, but the book is repetitive [...]

Man’s Search for Meaning Review: Finding Purpose in the Worst Place

Frankl's short account of surviving the Nazi camps, and the therapy he built from it, [...]

Nudge Review: How Small Design Choices Shape Big Decisions

Thaler and Sunstein's case for gently steering people toward better choices changed government policy worldwide [...]

Thinking, Fast and Slow Review: A Map of Your Mind’s Blind Spots

Kahneman's masterwork on how intuition misleads us is dense and partly dated, but it remains [...]

Grit Review: Passion and Perseverance, Overstated

Duckworth's case for sustained effort is warm, readable and sensible, but grit turns out to [...]

The Myth of Normal Review: Big Compassion, Shaky Causation

Gabor Maté's humane case that our culture makes us sick is moving and often insightful, [...]

The Coddling of the American Mind Review: Sharp Ideas, Thin Proof

A clear, useful diagnosis of campus fragility built on cognitive behavioral therapy; strong on ideas, [...]

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat Review: Wonder, With Caveats

Sacks's case histories of strange brain disorders remain beautifully written and humane, but his own [...]

The Interpretation of Dreams Review: Brilliant, Influential, Unproven

Freud's dream book is a founding text of modern thought and a daring piece of [...]

Emotional Intelligence Review: A Big Idea, Oversold

Goleman's bestseller made emotional skills a mainstream topic and still offers useful insight, but its [...]

Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) Review: Why We Never Admit Fault

A lively, readable tour of self-justification that changes how you hear your own excuses, though [...]

Blink Review: Snap Judgments, Mixed Messages

Gladwell's book on split-second judgment is gripping and full of great stories, but it never [...]