As an experimental social psychologist, who has conducted years of empirical research on bullshitting behavior and bullshit detection, Iâve found compelling evidence that the worst outcomes of bullshit communications are false beliefs and bad decisions. Iâm convinced that all of our problems, whether they be personal, interpersonal, professional, or societal are either directly or indirectly linked to mindless bullshit reasoning and communication. Iâm just sick and tired of incompetent, bullshit artists who capitalize by repackaging and selling what I and other experimental psychologists do for free. Itâs time the masses learn that some of us who actually do the research on the things we write about can actually do it better.
If there is one book I wish Iâd written myself, it is How to Become a Really Good Pain in the Ass. One of the things I admired most about the people who shaped my education and career path most was their ability to listen carefully and ask critical questions that uncovered even more than what was first expressed. Christopher DiCarloâs book is a manual to practicing these traits. The book provides all of the tools needed to question beliefs and assumptions held by those who claim to know what theyâre talking about, while at the same time providing practical solutions for todayâs world of misinformation. The book also convinced me that faulty reasoning can be spotted by asking the right sorts of questionsâwhat better gift to give someone?Â
In this witty, incisive guide to critical thinking the author provides you with the tools to allow you to question beliefs and assumptions held by those who claim to know what they're talking about. These days there are many people whom we need to question: politicians, lawyers, doctors, teachers, clergy members, bankers, car salesmen, and your boss. This book will empower you with the ability to spot faulty reasoning and, by asking the right sorts of questions, hold people accountable not only for what they believe but how they behave.
By using this book you'll learn to analyze your ownâŚ
âShaunti and Jeff have unearthed a treasure chest of insightsâeye-opening and life-changing.â âAndy Stanley, senior pastor, North Point Community Church
Finally, you can understand her!
If youâre like most men, youâve burned up lots of energy trying to figure out what a woman wants, what makes her tick, how to make her happy.Â
The good news: success is simpler than you ever thought. In their groundbreaking classic, For Men Only, Jeff and Shaunti Feldhahn reveal the eye-opening truths and simple acts that will radically improve your relationship with the woman you love. For example: ⢠Why she canât âjust notâŚ
When Elliot finds herself dead for the third time, she can't remember her past, is getting the cold shoulder from her best friend, and has no idea why she keeps repeating the same mistakes across her previous lives. Elliot just wants to move on, but first, she'll be forced toâŚ
Throughout my life, I have been fascinated by humanityâs place within deeper time. As a boy, I collected rocks and fossils, and at university studied geology. The long term has also been a theme running throughout my journalism career at New Scientist and the BBC, and it inspired my research during a recent fellowship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US. I believe we need to embrace a deeper view of time if we are to navigate through this centuryâs grand challenges â and if we can, thereâs hope, agency, and possibility to be discovered along the way.Â
The concept of the âgood ancestor,â originally coined by physician Jonas Salk, is the focus of Roman Krznaricâs excellent book about our relationship with future generations.
Iâve known Roman for a few years now: he spoke about long-term time on a panel I organised at the Hay Festival a few years ago, and he makes an appearance in my own book on a trip we both made to the House of Lords to watch a debate about future generation policy.
He is a crystal clear thinker and communicator, and Iâve learnt a lot from him. One of the most interesting (of many) ideas in his book is the idea that we are âcolonisingâ the future: treating it as some distant no-manâs land where we can dump environmental degradation, malignant heirlooms, carbon emissions, and so on.
Of course, the future belongs to the people living there: our grandchildren. Roman makes aâŚ
'This is the book our children's children will thank us for reading' - The Edge, U2
How can we be good ancestors?
From the first seeds sown thousands of years ago, to the construction of the cities we still inhabit, to the scientific discoveries that have ensured our survival, we are the inheritors of countless gifts from the past. Today, in an age driven by the tyranny of the now, with 24/7 news, the latest tweet, and the buy-now button commanding our attention, we rarely stop to consider how our actions will affect future generations. With such frenetic short-termism atâŚ
I love reading about artists and creators because Iâve been around them most of my life and they are the people I feel I understand the best â though Iâm always surprised by the new crafts, facets, and ideas I learn! I grew up in and around my motherâs ceramic shop, my best friends in high school were artists and I was their dorky theater friend, and the two YA books I wrote centered on issues that face young creators. The passion of creative people and artistic friends has always driven me to do my best and not give up on my dreams.
This is one of my favorite YAs combining the modern influence of technology on art, friendship, and love. Quiet sophomore Ivy ends up becoming a semi-public figure at her school and the world after she starts using an app, VEIL, to help other artists and students who are asking for supplies and support. While her impact is meaningful and it all sounds well and good, her own creative steps have sent her on a more public, emotionally-vulnerable journey than she ever wanted or expected.
Social media meets Amelie in this perfect romantic comedy from First Draft podcast creator and YA lit rising star Sarah Enni.
Your secret's safe...until it's not.Ivy's always preferred to lay low, unlike her best friend Harold, who has taken up a hundred activities as sophomore year begins. But Ivy has her own distraction: the new anonymous art-sharing app, VEIL. Being on the sidelines has made Ivy a skilled observer, and soon she discovers that some of the anonymous posters are actually her classmates. While she's still too scared to put her own creations on the app, Ivy realizes that sheâŚ
I have been on an inward and outward journey to help first myself, and now others to feel less alone for many years now. It all started when I was working as a broker in London. From the outside, it looked like I had everything anyone could want money, success, the house, and the car. But inside I felt alone and unfulfilled. After watching a very inspiring film, I left my job, moved to the US, and set out to change my life and try to help make the world a better place by spreading kindness anywhere I could. I have traveled the world twice on my TV show The Kindness Diaries, surviving only on the kindness of strangers. Through all of this I have gained a unique outlook on life and how we can each use kindness and connection to help each other feel less alone.
Kute has been a dear friend of mine and has made a huge impact on my life. He is one of the wisest, most spiritual men I know, and he guided me through India as my life coach, teaching me more about myself and the world than I had ever known. I love the idea that to be kind, first, you have to be kind to yourself, and this book really helped me learn that. Reading You Are the Onewas a vital part of my journey to feeling less alone.
A charismatic visionary and transformational teacher offers a bold new look at spiritual awareness providing the tools needed to live a life truly inspired by love for a whole new generation.
Kute Blackson comes from a long line of spiritual leaders and works with people from all walks of life, offering his own uniquely powerful process to transform lives from the inside out. His inspirational and life-changing YouTube videos, seminars, and conferences are known throughout the world, but itâs his trademark transformation experiences that sets him apart. The intensive one-on-one and one-of-a-kind transformational mother of all trips is a 14-day,âŚ
I was a late reader. I was, in fact, forcefully against reading. Youâd have had to drag me by my ear to get me anywhere near a book. I was dyslexic, suffered with Irlen syndrome, and detested the embarrassing fact that I found reading too difficult. I thought my mother had invented some kind of cruel torture when she insisted I read to her every day. It never worked. And then⌠it did. I read my first book at the age of 12, and it was written in the form of letters. It was Animorphs Book 1 by KA Applegate, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Thornhill tells the story of two girlsâElla, recently moved into a new house, which has a perfect view of the abandoned Thornhill Institute next door, and Mary, the mysteriously evasive girl who seems to live in the dilapidated building. Ellaâs narrative is told in a graphic novel style with blackwork drawings, heavy and bold, while Maryâs narrative is told via diary entries. Each narrative informs the other until they eventually meet to reveal the truth on both sides. Thornhill was one of those rare gems that pull me firmly into the story by use of the unusual formatâand keeps me there until the end.Â
Parallel stories set in different times, one told in prose and one in pictures, converge as a girl unravels the mystery of the abandoned Thornhill Institute next door.
1982: Mary is a lonely orphan at the Thornhill Institute For Children at the very moment that it's shutting its doors. When her few friends are all adopted or re-homed and sheâs left to face a volatile bully alone, her revenge will have a lasting effect on the bully, on Mary, and on Thornhill itself.
2017: Ella has just moved to a new town where she knows no one. From her roomâŚ
When Elliot finds herself dead for the third time, she can't remember her past, is getting the cold shoulder from her best friend, and has no idea why she keeps repeating the same mistakes across her previous lives. Elliot just wants to move on, but first, she'll be forced toâŚ
In Breathe and Count Back From Ten, VerĂłnica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, wants to be mermaid in a mermaid show at a theme park in her town.
I related to this book so much as an immigrant to this country. There is a quote in the book that really resonated with me. Veronica is talking about her parents âwho constantly remind you, either in words or by actions, that the endless hard work they endure in this country is so you can have a better life than they did.â
I really felt this growing up. I knew I had to work hard in everything I did to honor their sacrifices. There were so many important themes in this book, and is an essential book for teens.
In this gorgeously written and authentic novel, Veronica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body.
Veronica has had many surgeries to manage her disability. The best form of rehabilitation is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool, but not just to strengthen her body.
Her Florida town is home to Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks . .âŚ
For 20 years, I tried to write politically relevant, âimportantâ novels. I teach. One day I told my students that to succeed as a writer, they needed to write about things they knew and loved. Honesty was the key. That night, I resumed work on a novel set in Prague involving Cold War intrigue, capitalism, communism, and some other "isms" Iâve forgotten. I wrote a paragraph and then stopped. My advice was good. Write about things you know and love. So why not follow it myself? What section of the newspaper did I read first? The sports page. Did I live and die with my favorite sports teams? Yes. I put my hopeless Prague novel aside and started On the Devilâs Court. For better or worse, a sportswriter is who I am.
When I was a boy, Iâd get up early, go outside to retrieve the SF Chronicle, and look at the headline of the sports page. If the Giants had lost, Iâd put the rubber band back around the newspaper and leave it on the lawn to rot. If theyâd won, Iâd bring it in and devour the recap and the box score.
This old-fashioned, hero-worship book works because Willie Mays is an old-fashioned hero. Great baseball player, great teammate, great showman, fascinating life. Birmingham to New York to San Francisco. Joy in playing the game at every stop. A wonderful pick-me-up of a book with great photos, great stories, and the greatest player of all time smack dab in the middle of it all. Say Hey!
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE BESTSELLER
The legendary Willie Mays shares the inspirations and influences responsible for guiding him on and off the field in this reflective and inspirational memoir.
"Even if, like me, you thought you had pretty much read and heard all there was to read and hear about Willie Mays, this warmhearted book will inform and reward you. And besides, what true baseball fan can ever get enough of Willie Mays? Say Hey! Read on and enjoy." -From the Foreword by Bob Costas
"It's because of giants like Willie that someone likeâŚ
I have a passion for people who do whatever it takes to improve themselves and their circumstances under the worst of conditions. I grew up very poor in north Texas country towns and knew Iâd be a successful writer while in the second grade, only hardly anyone encouraged me. The most inspiring movie I saw growing up was To Kill A Mockingbird and it got me orientated toward helping people find justice. I was only in jail once, overnight on a driving while intoxicated charge, and that was enough. I saw the error of my ways, and I appreciate other writers who not only do the same but inspire others to improve no matter what.
Author Wes Moore wrote the Foreword to this book he called âa philosophy that we should all take to heartâ and suggested we âhonor the redemptive possibilities inherent in every person.â This was reminiscent to me of Greg Lindbergâs interaction with convicted cocaine dealer Willie Colon who, like Chris Wilson, grew in in a very rough neighborhood.
Wilsonâs crime was even more serious, as he killed a man at age 17. His plea of self-defense didnât work; he was sentenced to life in prison. Not giving up, he came up with a list of things he wanted to do â his Master Plan â and 16 years later, he was triumphant. Itâs a memoir that can inspire anyone to accomplish greater things.
"The Master Plan is less of a road map and more of a philosophy that we should all take to heart: We are all better than our worst decision, our sense of justice should honor the redemptive possibilities inherent in every person, and our destinies are truly intertwined."--Wes Moore, author of The Other Wes Moore
Growing up in Washington, DC, Chris Wilson was surrounded by violence and despair. He watched his family and neighborhood shattered by trauma, and he lost his faith. One night when he was seventeen, defending himself, he killed a man. He was sentenced to life inâŚ
As an engineer for multiple space projects (including the ISS, Gateway, and commercial space), it seems like I should be a strict sci-fi person. But I love sci-fi and fantasy equally, and I love books that break through the wall between them. Especially in space opera, you can play with how much technology and how much magic shaped a world and a culture. Zooming in, that will greatly influence the characters. Some make it esoteric and exclusive, where others make it more common.All of them transport readers to magical, expansive universes.
Nyxia, the first in a young adult trilogy, introduces the reader to an Earth that has found a foreign substance called nyxia on another planet. Use of nyxia basically grants magical abilities to the user, and the more clever the user, the more capability it has. The cast is very diverse, the main characterâs voice is refreshing, and the dialogue is realistic. Itâs a fast, easy read with a relatable main character. And the plot only thickens as the series goes onâŚ
âA high-octane thriller . . . Nyxia grabs you from the first line and never lets go.â âMarie Lu, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Warcross
Every life has a price in this sci-fi thrillerâthe first in a trilogyâthat has the nonstop action of The Maze Runner and the high-stakes space setting of Illuminae.  What would you be willing to risk for a lifetime of fortune?  Emmett Atwater isnât just leaving Detroit; heâs leaving Earth. Why the Babel Corporation recruited him is a mystery, but the number of zeroes on their contract has him boarding their lightship and hopingâŚ
