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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 ****

August was a busier month of reading, as I settled in back home, excited to dig into some highly anticipated reads. Of the two books that I was really looking forward to (“Conscience” and “Conscious” – notice a theme?), only one failed to deliver. While “Conscious” by Sam Harris’ wife Annaka was mediocre, “Conscience” by Patricia Churchland really opened me up to new avenues of thinking. Her lens is that of Neurophilosophy, on which she heavily leans to develop a bio-historical narrative of the evolution of human morality. I found her explanations to be the most grounded that I’ve come across. While most authors build a book based on one domain or limited data, Churchland relates a very holistic, all inclusive process. This book does become a bit too tangential in many parts, but where she sticks to the point, this book is a very grounded, practical, view of morality. Any argument that belief in a higher power is necessary for one to have moral drives are easily dismantled in this book.

Here is my August reading list, in the order that I listened to them:

How to Lead – Without Being in Charge – Clay Scroggins **.5

Rethinking Positive Thinking – Gabrielle Oettingen ***

Human Errors – Nathan Lents ***.5

Rivals – Scott McCormick ***

A Grown-Up Guide to Dinosaurs – Ben Garrod ***.5

Conscience – Patricia Churchland ****

Lightly – Francine Jay ***

The Easy Way to Mindfulness – Allen Carr ***

Conscious – Annaka Harris ***

(if you are not yet an Audible member, you can get one of these books for free, by signing up for a 30 day trial – use this link, and you’ll help support my work as well – Audible Trial Membership)

July was a slim month of reading, as half of it was spent in Sweden. Of the three books I listened to, none really warrant special mention. My highest rating of the month goes to “The Book of Beautiful Questions” by Warren Berger. His book “A More Beautiful Question” piqued my interest when I read it four years ago, and I was looking forward to an updated analysis. This book starts out strong with a discussion of the power of questioning, but then it becomes a business book – presenting over 200 questions that can be used in all manner of situation. So unlike his first book, which was about how to form a question, this book is more about using a script of memorized questions to navigate social situations.

Here is my July reading list, in the order that I listened to them:

Evolution’s Rainbow – Joan Roughgarden ***

The Book of Beautiful Questions – Warren Berger ***.5

Meet The Frugalwoods – Elizabeth Willard Thames **.5

(if you are not yet an Audible member, you can get one of these books for free, by signing up for a 30 day trial – use this link, and you’ll help support my work as well – Audible Trial Membership)