Books That Change How You Think

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   Sapiens(2011)

   Book· ★ 8.4· Technology and civilization · Human beings · Historical Chronology

   From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.”
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   Thinking, fast and slow(2011)

   Book· ★ 8.2· Intuition · Thought and thinking · Reasoning

   In his mega bestseller, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, world-famous psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think.
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   Man's Search for Meaning(1998)

   Book· ★ 8.6· Nazi concentration camps · psychotherapy · meaning of life

   Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Based on his own experience and the stories of his patients, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. At the heart of his theory, known as logotherapy, is a conviction that the primary human drive is not pleasure but the pursuit of what we find meaningful. Man's Search for Meaning has become one of the most influential books in America

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   Meditations

   (1635)

   Book· ★ 8.2· Philosophy · Nonfiction · Classics

   Meditations is a collection of personal reflections and notes by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (reigned 161 to 180 AD), offering a profound look into the philosophy of Stoicism. It was never intended for publication, making it a raw and intimate self-help manual for the emperor during his campaigns and rule. The central theme revolves around living a good, rational, and virtuous life in harmony with nature and the cosmos.
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   The Selfish Gene

   (1995)

   Book· ★ 8.7· Evolution (Biology) · Genetics · Sociobiology

   As influential today as when it was first published, The Selfish Gene has become a classic exposition of evolutionary thought. Professor Dawkins articulates a gene's eye view of evolution - a view giving centre stage to these persistent units of information, and in which organisms can be seen as vehicles for their replication. This imaginative, powerful, and stylistically brilliant work not only brought the insights of Neo-Darwinism to a wide audience, but galvanized the biology
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   Guns, Germs, and Steel

   (1998)

   Book· ★ 8.3· prize:pulitzer=1998 · Ethnology · Criticism and interpretation

   An epic detective story that offers a gripping expose on why the world is so unequal. Professor Jared Diamond traveled the globe for over 30 years trying to answer this question.
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   Antifragile

   (2012)

   Book· ★ 7.8· Resilience (Personality trait) · PSYCHOLOGY / General · BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / General

   "The acclaimed author of the influential bestseller The Black Swan, Nicholas Nassim Taleb takes a next big step with a deceptively simple concept: the "antifragile." Like the Greek hydra that grows two heads for each one it loses, people, systems, and institutions that are antifragile not only withstand shocks, they benefit from them. In a modern world dominated by chaos and uncertainty, Antifragile is a revolutionary vision from one of the most subversive and important thinkers of our time. Praise for Nicholas Nassim Taleb "[This] is the lesson of Taleb. and also the lesson of our volati
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   Quiet

   (2012)

   Book· ★ 8.2· Extraversion · Introverts · Interpersonal relations

   Passionately argued, impressively researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet shows how dramatically we undervalue introverts, and how much we lose in doing so. Taking the reader on a journey from Dale Carnegie's birthplace to Harvard Business School, from a Tony Robbins seminar to an evangelical megachurch, Susan Cain charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal in the twentieth century and explores its far-reaching effects. She talks to Asian-American students who feel alienated from the brash, backslapping atmosphere of American schools. She questions the dominant values o
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   The Denial of Death

   (1973)

   Book· ★ 6.3· Death · Heroes · Myth
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   Flow

   (2007)

   Book· ★ 8.0· Nonfiction · Psychology · Lebensfreude

   Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's famous investigations of "optimal experience" have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state called *flow*. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. In this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates the ways this positive state can be controlled, not just left to chance. *Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience* teaches how, by ordering the information that enters our consciousness, we can discover true happiness and greatly i
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   Mindset

   (1007)

   Book· ★ 7.5· Belief and doubt · Nonfiction · Psychological aspects

   Mindset is one of those rare books that can help you make positive changes in your life and at the same time see the world in a new way.A leading expert in motivation and personality psychology, Carol Dweck has discovered in more than twenty years of research that our mindset is not a minor personality quirk: it creates our whole mental world. It explains how we become optimistic or pessimistic. It shapes our goals, our attitude toward work and relationships, and how we raise our kids, ultimately predicting whether or not we will fulfill our potential. Dweck has found that everyone has one of
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   Atomic Habits

   (2016)

   Book· ★ 8.0· Habit · Habit breaking · Behavior modification

   No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.
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    The Body Keeps the Score

    (2014)

    Book· ★ 8.3· Post-traumatic stress disorder · Treatment · Therapie

    Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In _The Body Keeps the Score_, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments
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    Why We Sleep

    (2017)

    Book· ★ 8.9· sleep · health & fitness · sleep & sleep disorders

    With two appearances on CBS This Morning and Fresh Air's most popular interview of 2017, Matthew Walker has made abundantly clear that sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when it is absent. Compared to the other basic drives in life—eating, drinking, and reproducing—the purpose of sleep remains more elusive.
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    Behave

    (2017)

    Book· ★ 7.7· Neurophysiology · Neurobiology · Animal behavior

    Why do we do the things we do?
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    The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

    (1983)

    Book· ★ 8.4· Sciences · Histoire · Philosophie

    Thomas S. Kuhn's classic book is now available with a new index.
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    Emotional Intelligence

    (1997)

    Book· ★ 7.9· Emotions and cognition · Intellect · Success, psychological aspects

    ¿Por qué algunas personas parecen dotadas de un don especial que les permite vivir bien, aunque no sean las que más se destacan por su inteligencia? ¿Por qué no siempre el alumno más inteligente termina siendo el más exitoso? ¿Por qué unos son más capaces que otros para enfrentar contratiempos, superar obstáculos y ver las dificultades bajo una óptica distinta?
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    Nudge

    (2008)

    Book· ★ 7.6· Business · Choice (Psychology) · Consumer behavior

    Thaler and Sunstein develop libertarian paternalism as a middle path between command-and-control and strict-neutrality choice architectures. Libertarian paternalism protects humans against their damaging psychological traits (inertia, bounded rationality, undue influence) by exploiting those habits to nudge people into making better choices.
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    Being Mortal

    (1899)

    Book· ★ 8.9· dying · geriatrics · medicine

    Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End is a 2014 non-fiction book by American surgeon Atul Gawande. The book addresses end-of-life care, hospice care, and also contains Gawande's reflections and personal stories. He suggests that medical care should focus on well-being rather than survival. Being Mortal has won awards, appeared on lists of best books, and been featured in a documentary.
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    On Writing

    (2001)

    Book· ★ 8.2· writing · Salem’s Lot · science fiction

    On Writing is both a textbook for writers and a memoir of Stephen's life and will, thus, appeal even to those who are not aspiring writers. If you've always wondered what led Steve to become a writer and how he came to be the success he is today, this will answer those questions.