Weekly Non-Fiction Reading List 12.19.22
This week, I finished 5 books from some amazing authors, and it was one of my favorite weeks of reading. The list starts with an awesome book on cults, and then we have our first ever book from a sex therapist on the lit. Then, we discuss an incredible book on free will and one on how mindwandering can improve our lives. Enjoy!
Each of the links to the books are affiliate links, so if you use my link to purchase any of these books, some comes back to support what I do (and it also helps fund my reading habit).
Cults: Inside the World's Most Notorious Groups and Understanding the People Who Joined Them by Max Cutler
A fellow book reviewer buddy of mine reviewed this book and didn’t like it much. I’ve always been fascinated with cults and how people get duped into joining, and this book was at the library, so i decided to check it out anyways. While I respect the other reviewer and their opinion a ton, I definitely disagree. I absolutely loved this book.
I’m typically not a fan of books that just tell stories or dive into history, but this book taught me so much. As mentioned, I’m interested in cults, but this book covered so many cults that I was completely unfamiliar with. There are so many crazy cults discussed in this book that most of us have never heard about. Whenever I read books like this or watch a documentary, I just can’t understand why we keep talking about the same cults or serial killers all the time like the Manson Family or Jonestown when there were arguably much crazier cults out there.
If you’re interested in this topic like me, definitely check this book out. The cults you’ve heard about are covered in this book, but you may learn some additional details like I did. But there are also many more.
Sexual Intelligence: What We Really Want from Sex - and How to Get It by Marty Klein
I’ve been getting bored with books, so I’m trying to branch out. And if I’m being honest, I debated on whether or not to even mention that I read this book, but it was really good. Marty Klein has been a sex therapist for 30 years, and this is such a well-written book. It’s not just about “sprucing up your sex life”. It dives into a ton of topics like sexual trauma and having a better, loving relationship with your significant other outside of sex.
The main focus of this book that’s repeated throughout, which I think is a great topic for everyone to read about, is that what we consider “normal” needs to be assessed when it comes to sex. I’ve lived in Las Vegas my whole life and maybe I’ve just been desensitized knowing a lot of sex workers and people into different things, but it blows my mind that it’s 2022 and people are still so puritanical about sex.
Even if your sex life is great, this is a good read just so we can start having better conversations about sex. Marty Klein sounds like a great therapist, and the last part of this book is how more healthcare professionals also need to change their views on sex so they can better treat their patients.
Schopenhauer in 90 Minutes by Paul Strathern
I’m continuing to try to learn a bit more about Schopenhauer, and this was a great, short book. It’s partially about his philosophy of pessimism and cynicism, but it also has quite a bit of biographical information in here as well. Great read if you’re interested in learning about this famous philosopher.
Mindwandering: How Your Constant Mental Drift Can Improve Your Mood and Boost Your Creativity by Moshe Bar
This is definitely one of the best books I’ve read that came out in 2022. Moshe Bar is a cognitive neuroscientist who researches how our minds wander as well as how focused attention can improve our lives. There’s a ton of research in this book that will help you live a better life and hopefully pique your interest in mindfulness. Mindfulness helped save my life when I got sober, and Moshe does an excellent job discussing the research, what’s true about it and what’s overhyped.
I guess my only criticism would be that this book is less about mindwandering, and it’s more about focused attention. I got the book because I’ve come across a few studies on how mindwandering is useful, so I thought that’d be what this whole book is about, but most of it is about mindfulness, which is really about paying attention. Nevertheless, one of my fav books of the year, and you should check it out.
Freely Determined: What the New Psychology of the Self Teaches Us About How to Live by Kennon M. Sheldon
Free will is one of my favorite topics to learn about. I’m a free will skeptic, but this book definitely shifted some of my views on the topic. This is another book that’s up there for one of my favorites of 2022 as Kennon Sheldon did an amazing job breaking down free will and arguing that we should all be skeptical of determinism. He mostly discusses the psychology and science behind free will and touches on a bit of the philosophy, but he argues that we do have the power to make decisions and change our lives for the better.
There are quite a few parts that I disagree with, but overall, he made strong arguments and made me start thinking about this topic in a different way. Although I’m a free will skeptic, I know that I made many choices in my life that helped me get sober and become the person I am today.
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