Productive Reading: A Few Recommendations – TPW295

As this episode is published, we're still dealing with the effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic. Some of us may be taking this time to read more books, which can be a source of entertainment, education, and inspiration.

Productive reading--some of my recent favorites

It's important to read books by authors who may have a different world view than you, different political points of view, or different life experiences. Reading "outside the box" can help us grow and open our minds to new ideas, which can help us in making a meaningfully productive life. Here are some books I recommend to get you started.

Books that make me think

You Are Not So Smart, by David McRaney

From the back cover copy:

“Growing out of David McRaney’s popular blog, You Are Not So Smart reveals that every decision we make, every thought we contemplate, and every emotion we feel comes with a story we tell ourselves to explain them. But often these stories aren’t true. Each short chapter—covering topics such as Learned Helplessness, Selling Out, and the Illusion of Transparency—is like a psychology course with all the boring parts taken out.

Bringing together popular science and psychology with humor and wit, You Are Not So Smart is a celebration of our irrational, thoroughly human behavior.”

This book also contains fascinating and timely (as discussed in TPW episode 294) chapters on confirmation bias, which by definition is how we subconsciously look for information that confirms what we already believe and dismiss contradictory information, and other concepts very applicable to discussions/debates about any issues, including the current world situation.

Talking to Strangers, by Malcolm Gladwell 

In this book, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the ways we interact with people and the assumptions we made about them. Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know. 

I also recommend some other Gladwell titles, The Tipping Point and Blink.

The Daily Stoic, by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman

This book contains 365 readings based on the writings of the ancient Stoics, with each day containing a quote from one of the ancient texts with a couple of paragraphs commenting on the quote. From the back cover copy:

“The private diaries of one of Rome’s greatest emperors, the personal letters of one of Rome’s best playwrights and wisest power brokers, the lectures of a former slave and exile, turned influential teacher.”

Books that motivate my productivity

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown

You may remember that we discussed this book in episode 32, "Choose What's Essential, Eliminate the Rest".  This is a great book about the value of identifying the few essential things in your life and eliminating the non-essentials to make more room for what really matters. From him I got the idea of “less but better” in every area of life.

Soulful...