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Recommendations based on Lyingby Sam Harris
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Free Will
by Sam Harris
An exploration of the implications of determinism, examining the role of free will in our lives.
Belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of ... (Goodreads)
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
by Sam Harris
An exploration of religion, its implications for our world and how it can be replaced with reason.
In The End of Faith , Sam Harris delivers a startling analysis of the clash between reason and religion in the modern world. He offers a vivid, historical tour of our willingness to suspend reason in ... (Goodreads)
Letter to a Christian Nation
by Sam Harris
A refutation of religious dogma and an argument for the supremacy of reason.
In response to The End of Faith , Sam Harris received thousands of letters from Christians excoriating him for not believing in God. Letter to A Christian Nation is his reply. Using rational ... (Goodreads)
The God Delusion
by Richard Dawkins
Scientific exploration of the evidence for and against religious belief.
A preeminent scientist - and the world's most prominent atheist - asserts the irrationality of belief in God, and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11. With ... (Goodreads)
The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True
by Richard Dawkins
Exploring the science behind phenomena of the natural world, from the big bang to evolution.
Magic takes many forms. Supernatural magic is what our ancestors used in order to explain the world before they developed the scientific method. The ancient Egyptians explained the night by ... (Goodreads)
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
by Christopher Hitchens
Criticism of organized religion, arguing it is the root of much suffering in the world.
With his unique brand of erudition and wit, Hitchens describes the ways in which religion is man-made. "God did not make us," he says. "We made God." He explains the ways in which religion is ... (Goodreads)
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
by Richard Dawkins
An exploration of the evidence and science of evolution, highlighting its importance in understanding the history of life on Earth.
Charles Darwin’s masterpiece, On the Origin of Species , shook society to its core on publication in 1859. Darwin was only too aware of the storm his theory of evolution would provoke but he would ... (Goodreads)
Letters to a Young Contrarian
by Christopher Hitchens
A collection of essays offering philosophical reflections on society and the power of dissent.
From bestselling author and provocateur Christopher Hitchens, the classic guide to the art of principled dissent and disagreement In Letters to a Young Contrarian , bestselling author and world-class ... (Goodreads)
A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing
by Lawrence M. Krauss
A scientific exploration of the origins of the universe, proposing that it could have arisen from nothing.
Bestselling author and acclaimed physicist Lawrence Krauss offers a paradigm-shifting view of how everything that exists came to be in the first place. “Where did the universe come from? What was ... (Goodreads)
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
by Carl Sagan
Reflection on humanity's place in the universe, and its responsibility to protect life on Earth.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Sagan traces our exploration of space and suggests that our very survival may depend on the wise use of other worlds. This stirring book reveals how scientific ... (Goodreads)
Mortality
by Christopher Hitchens
Reflections on the inevitability of death, drawing on personal and philosophical insights.
On June 8, 2010, while on a book tour for his bestselling memoir, Hitch-22 , Christopher Hitchens was stricken in his New York hotel room with excruciating pain in his chest and thorax. As he would ... (Barnes & Noble)
Infidel
by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
A memoir of a woman's journey of faith, identity, and self-liberation.
One of today’s most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened that she would ... (Goodreads)
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
by Carl Sagan
A critical look at superstition and pseudoscience, advocating for the power of science and reason.
How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? ... (Goodreads)
Bad Science
by Ben Goldacre
A critical look at the misuse of scientific fact and the implications of bad science.
Full of spleen, this is a hilarious, invigorating and informative journey through the world of Bad Science . When Dr Ben Goldacre saw someone on daytime TV dipping her feet in an 'Aqua Detox' ... (Goodreads)
The Origin of Species
by Charles Darwin
Comprehensive scientific exploration of the evolution of species and the natural world.
Darwin's theory of natural selection issued a profound challenge to orthodox thought and belief: no being or species has been specifically created; all are locked into a pitiless struggle for ... (Goodreads)
The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined
by Steven Pinker
Investigation into the causes of violence and the reasons why it has decreased in modern society.
Believe it or not, today we may be living in the most peaceful moment in our species' existence. In his gripping and controversial new work, New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows that ... (Goodreads)
A Brief History of Time
by Stephen Hawking
Exploring the depths of time and space and the emergence of the universe.
In the ten years since its publication in 1988, Stephen Hawking's classic work has become a landmark volume in scientific writing, with more than nine million copies in forty languages sold ... (Goodreads)
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
by Susan Cain
An exploration of the power of introversion, examining the implications of modern society's emphasis on extroversion.
The book that started the Quiet Revolution, At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike ... (Goodreads)
The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle
by Steven Pressfield
A guide to overcoming procrastination and other inner obstacles to unleash creativity.
A succinct, engaging, and practical guide for succeeding in any creative sphere,, The War of, Art, is nothing less than Sun-Tzu for the soul. What keeps so many of us from doing what we long to do? ... (Barnes & Noble)
Meditations
by Marcus Aurelius
Reflections on Stoic philosophy, exploring the nature of existence and how to live life.
Written in Greek by the only Roman emperor who was also a philosopher, without any intention of publication, the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius offer a remarkable series of challenging spiritual ... (Goodreads)
The Prince
by Niccolò Machiavelli
A timeless political treatise on the art of acquiring and maintaining power.
Machiavelli needs to be looked at as he really was. Hence: Can Machiavelli, who makes the following observations, be Machiavellian as we understand the disparaging term? 1. So it is that to know the ... (Goodreads)
So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
by Cal Newport
Passion is not enough for career success. Instead, develop rare and valuable skills to gain autonomy, mastery, and purpose in your work.
In an unorthodox approach, Georgetown University professor Cal Newport debunks the long-held belief that "follow your passion" is good advice, and sets out on a quest to discover the reality of how ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
by Michael Lewis
A fascinating examination of the two psychologists who changed the way we view the human mind.
Forty years ago, Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky wrote a series of breathtakingly original papers that invented the field of behavioral economics. One of the greatest ... (Goodreads)
A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy
by Miyamoto Musashi
A study of strategy and martial arts, exploring the secrets of success in life and battle.
'When you attain the Way of strategy, there will not be one thing you cannot see.' - Miyamoto Musashi, Book of Five Rings Shortly before his death in 1645, the undefeated swordsman Miyamoto Musashi ... (Goodreads)
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
by Peter Thiel
A guide to launching a startup, exploring the power of entrepreneurship.
If you want to build a better future, you must believe in secrets. The great secret of our time is that there are still uncharted frontiers to explore and new inventions to create. In Zero to One, ... (Goodreads)
Thinking, Fast and Slow
by Daniel Kahneman
An exploration of the two systems of the mind, and how they influence decision-making.
In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow , Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and ... (Goodreads)
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life
by Scott Adams
A humorous, uplifting look at how to find success by embracing failure.
Scott Adams has likely failed at more things than anyone you’ve ever met or anyone you’ve even heard of. So how did he go from hapless office worker and serial failure to the creator of Dilbert , one ... (Goodreads)
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
by Stephen King
A series of personal reflections on the art of writing, and the power of story-telling.
"Long live the King" hailed Entertainment Weekly upon the publication of Stephen King's On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is ... (Goodreads)
You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself
by David McRaney
A humorous exploration of cognitive biases, irrational behavior and why humans deceive themselves.
An entertaining illumination of the stupid beliefs that make us feel wise. Whether you’re deciding which smart phone to purchase or which politician to believe, you think you are a rational being ... (Goodreads)
Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions
by Brian Christian
Exploring the relationship between computers and human thinking to help us make better decisions.
A fascinating exploration of how insights from computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives, helping to solve common decision-making problems and illuminate the workings of the human mind ... (Goodreads)
