September was a fantastic month of reading. Of the eight books I listened to, six were rated four stars or above. Leading the field was “Me Myself and Us” by Brian Little. This book was the precursor to his book “Who Are You Really?”, and serves as a much more exhaustive look into personality psychology.
This book was a really informative and delightful listen. Brian Little adds his personal humor to a very well researched discussion of the roots of personality. He’s writing is pleasant and optimistic, but it seems that he fails to see that experiences like depression can be adaptive and not universally negative. So his solutions seem a bit naive. His personal projects also fail to consider the dark side of life, and how they can lead to someone believing that they shouldn’t have certain traits. Also, personal projects can be ignorantly dangerous, all while seeming like the project is meant to benefit the greater good… that the ultimate goal is what’s important, and I should suppress my conscience and innate tendencies.
Why not five stars? He leaves out a discussion of the neuromodulators that explain the biological foundation of personality dimensions. Without this information, it could simply sound like speculation.
I really wanted to give this book five stars, because I enjoyed it so much, but I couldn’t see past the naivety.
Here is my September reading list, in the order that I listened to them:
Me, Myself and Us – Brian Little ****.5
Chop Wood, Carry Water – Joshua Medcalf ***.5
Zen in the Martial Arts – Joe Hyams ****
The Writing Life – Annie Dillard ***
Blueprint – Nicholas Christakis ****
Practicing Radical Honesty – Brad Blanton ****
Caesar’s Last Breath – Sam Kean ****
How The Body Know Its Mind – Sian Beilock ****