Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Rationality
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
by Jon Ronson
Exploration of the psychiatric industry, examining the definition and diagnosis of psychopathy.
In this madcap journey, a bestselling journalist investigates psychopaths and the industry of doctors, scientists, and everyone else who studies them. The Psychopath Test is a fascinating journey ... (Goodreads)
At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror
by H.P. Lovecraft
Collection of horror stories about the unknown and unknowable, exploring the deepest fears of mankind.
Few writers can evoke such nightmarish visions as H. P. Lovecraft—and few of his stories are as chilling as these canonical tales of terror. ,“H. P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the twentieth ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Caves of Steel
by Isaac Asimov
Detective story set in a distant future, where humans and robots coexist.
A faction of Spacers have come to the realization that Spacer culture is effete, stagnating due to negative population growth and longevity. Their solution is to encourage further space exploration ... (Wikipedia)
Lud-in-the-Mist
by Hope Mirrlees
A town bans fairy fruit, but the mayor's son eats some and becomes enchanted. The town must confront their fear of the mystical and unknown.
Lud-in-the-Mist, the capital city of the small country Dorimare, is a port at the confluence of two rivers, the Dapple and the Dawl. The Dapple has its origin beyond the Debatable Hills to the west of ... (Goodreads)
The Haunting of Hill House
by Shirley Jackson
A group of people investigating a mysterious and haunted house, uncovering its secrets.
It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a "haunting"; Theodora, the lighthearted ... (Goodreads)
A History of Western Philosophy
by Bertrand Russell
A comprehensive overview of the major philosophical thinkers and their ideas.
Since its first publication in 1945 Lord Russell's A History of Western Philosophy has been universally acclaimed as the outstanding one-volume work on the subject—unparalleled in its ... (Goodreads)
Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife
by Mary Roach
Scientific investigations into the possibility of life after death.
"What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that's that—the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? ... (Goodreads)
The Norse Myths
by Kevin Crossley-Holland
A collection of Norse myths, including tales of gods, giants, and heroes.
Here are thirty-two classic myths that bring the Viking world vividly to life. The mythic legacy of the Scandinavians includes a cycle of stories filled with magnificent images from pre-Christian ... (Goodreads)
The Abolition of Man
by C.S. Lewis
Argument against the corrosive effects of modern society on morality and values.
Alternative cover for ISBN: 978-0060652944 The Abolition of Man, Lewis uses his graceful prose, delightful humor, and keen understanding of the human mind to challenge our notions about how to best ... (Goodreads)
The Andromeda Strain
by Michael Crichton
Scientists race against time to contain a deadly virus of extraterrestrial origin.
A team from an Air Force base is deployed to recover a military satellite that has returned to Earth, but contact is lost abruptly. Aerial surveillance reveals that everyone in Piedmont, Arizona , ... (Wikipedia)
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)
Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
by Richard H. Thaler
A groundbreaking exploration of how subtle influences can shape decisions and improve people's lives.
From the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics, Richard H. Thaler, and Cass R. Sunstein: a revelatory look at how we make decisions,New York Times bestseller,Named a Best Book of the Year by, ... (Goodreads)
The Fall of the House of Usher - an Edgar Allan Poe Short Story
by Edgar Allan Poe
A man's descent into madness as he visits an ominous estate, beset by death and horror.
The story begins with the unnamed narrator arriving at the house of his friend, Roderick Usher, having received a letter from him in a distant part of the country complaining of an illness and asking ... (Wikipedia)
The Mists of Avalon
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
An immersive retelling of the Arthurian legend from a female perspective.
The Mists of Avalon is a generations-spanning retelling of the Arthurian legend that brings it back to its Brythonic Celtic roots (see Matter of Britain ). The plot tells the story of the women who ... (Wikipedia)
Books of Blood, Volume Two
by Clive Barker
A collection of horror stories that explore the darkest corners of the human psyche, blurring the lines between reality and nightmare.
Alternate Cover Edition of ISBN 9780425087398 To a surgeon, cutting into the human body is an art. Muscle and flesh are his canvas, the scalpel his tool. He studies the composition of the organs – ... (Goodreads)
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
by Dan Ariely
An exploration of why humans make irrational decisions, and how to overcome them.
Why do our headaches persist after taking a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a 50-cent aspirin? Why does recalling the Ten Commandments reduce our tendency to lie, even when we couldn't ... (Goodreads)
Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?
by Michael J. Sandel
Exploration of moral and ethical dilemmas, seeking answers to fundamental questions of justice.
"For Michael Sandel, justice is not a spectator sport," The Nation 's reviewer of Justice remarked. In his acclaimed book—based on his legendary Harvard course—Sandel offers a rare education in ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language
by Steven Pinker
An exploration of the origins and development of human language and its implications for cognitive science.
The classic book on the development of human language by the world’s leading expert on language and the mind. In this classic, the world's expert on language and mind lucidly explains everything you ... (Goodreads)
Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
by Sam Harris
A practical guide to cultivating a sense of inner peace and understanding through meditation, self-reflection, and philosophical inquiry.
For the millions of Americans who want spirituality without religion, Sam Harris’s new book is a guide to meditation as a rational spiritual practice informed by neuroscience and psychology. From ... (Goodreads)
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes And Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
by Steven D. Levitt
An exploration of human behavior and economics, challenging accepted social norms and traditional wisdom.
The New York Times best-selling Freakonomics was a worldwide sensation, selling over four million copies in thirty-five languages and changing the way we look at the world. Now, Steven D. Levitt and ... (Goodreads)
Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky
by Noam Chomsky
A collection of Chomsky's lectures and interviews, exploring the nature of power and how it operates in society.
A major new collection from "arguably the most important intellectual alive" ( The New York Times ). Noam Chomsky is universally accepted as one of the preeminent public intellectuals of the modern ... (Goodreads)
Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
by Apostolos Doxiadis
A historical exploration of the development of logical thinking, from ancient Greece to the 20th century.
Set between the late 19th century and the present day, the graphic novel Logicomix is based on the story of the so-called "foundational quest" in mathematics. Logicomix intertwines the philosophical ... (Wikipedia)
Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment
by Robert Wright
An exploration into understanding how Buddhist philosophy and practices can bring about enlightenment.
From one of America’s greatest minds, a journey through psychology, philosophy, and lots of meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and enduring happiness. Robert Wright ... (Goodreads)
The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories
by H.P. Lovecraft
A collection of eerie and unsettling tales that explore the limits of human knowledge and sanity.
A definitive edition of stories by the master of supernatural fiction Howard Phillips Lovecraft's unique contribution to American literature was a melding of traditional supernaturalism (derived ... (Goodreads)
A Simple Plan
by Scott Smith
A group of friends make a fateful decision to keep a large sum of money found in the woods, leading to a web of lies and consequences.
Two brothers and their friend stumble upon the wreckage of a plane–the pilot is dead and his duffle bag contains four million dollars in cash. In order to hide, keep, and share the fortune, these ... (Goodreads)
The Willows
by Algernon Blackwood
Two friends canoe down the Danube and encounter strange, malevolent forces in the willows.
Two friends are midway on a canoe trip down the River Danube . Throughout the story, Blackwood personifies the surrounding environment —river, sun, wind— with powerful and ultimately threatening ... (Wikipedia)
Death By Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries
by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Exploring the science of the universe, from the edge of a black hole to the big bang.
A vibrant collection of essays on the cosmos from the nation's best-known astrophysicist. "One of today's best popularizers of science." ,—Kirkus Reviews., Loyal readers of the monthly "Universe" ... (Goodreads)
Making History
by Stephen Fry
An exploration of the past, present, and future, and the power of human choice.
The story is told in first person by Michael "Puppy" Young, a young history student at Cambridge University on the verge of completing his doctoral thesis on the early life of Adolf Hitler and his ... (Wikipedia)
The Call of Cthulhu
by H.P. Lovecraft
A tale of horror and mystery, as a man investigates an ancient cult's dark secrets.
The story's narrator, Francis Wayland Thurston, recounts his discovery of various notes left behind by his great uncle, George Gammell Angell, a prominent professor of Semitic languages at Brown ... (Wikipedia)
Homo Faber
by Max Frisch
A middle-aged engineer's rational worldview is challenged when he embarks on a journey of self-discovery and falls in love with a young woman.
Walter Faber is an emotionally detached engineer forced by a string of coincidences to embark on a journey through his past. The basis for director Volker Schlšndorff’s movie Voyager . Translated by ... (Barnes & Noble)
Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics
by Richard H. Thaler
An exploration of the principles of behavioral economics and its implications for society.
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Get ready to change the way you think about economics., Nobel laureate Richard H. Thaler has spent his career studying the radical notion that the central ... (Barnes & Noble)
Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales
by H.P. Lovecraft
Collection of bizarre horror stories exploring the cosmic unknown.
Originally written for the pulp magazines of the 1920s and 1930s, H. P. Lovecraft's astonishing tales blend elements of horror, science fiction, and cosmology that are as powerful today as they were ... (Goodreads)
Cuentos de Amor de Locura y de Muerte
by Horacio Quiroga
A collection of stories focusing on love, madness, and death.
Constituye la obra cumbre del autor, en las breves y apasionantes historias que componen el libro, la intriga, el drama y el misterio se desbordan y nos invaden. Quiroga es aquí consagrado como uno ... (Goodreads)
The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories
by H.P. Lovecraft
Collection of horror stories about a cult's dark rituals and the cosmic entity Cthulhu.
This collection spans Lovecraft’s literary career, and charts the development of his ‘cosmicist’ philosophy; the belief that behind the veil of our blinkered everyday lives lies another reality, too ... (Goodreads)
How We Decide
by Jonah Lehrer
Examining the science of decision making, exploring how we arrive at our choices.
The first book to use the unexpected discoveries of neuroscience to help us make the best decisions. Since Plato, philosophers have described the decision-making process as either rational or ... (Goodreads)
Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things
by Randy O. Frost
A deep dive into the psychology of hoarding, exploring the emotional attachment people have to their possessions and the impact on their lives.
What possesses someone to save every scrap of paper that's ever come into his home? What compulsions drive a woman like Irene, whose hoarding cost her her marriage? Or Ralph, whose imagined uses for ... (Goodreads)
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
by Immanuel Kant
Examination of the foundations of moral philosophy, focusing on the nature of moral obligation.
Immanuel Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals ranks alongside Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics as one of the most profound and influential works in moral philosophy ever ... (Goodreads)
World Order
by Henry Kissinger
A comprehensive analysis of global politics and the dynamics of international relations.
Henry Kissinger offers in World Order a deep meditation on the roots of international harmony and global disorder. Drawing on his experience as one of the foremost statesmen of the modern ... (Goodreads)
The Dunwich Horror
by H.P. Lovecraft
Deadly forces are about to be awakened! In the degenerate, unpopular backwater of Dunwich, Wilbur Whately, a most unusual child, is born. Of unnatural parentage, he grows at an uncanny pace to an ... (Goodreads)
Dark Desires After Dusk
by Kresley Cole
A paranormal romance about a woman's forbidden love for a vampire.
RITA Award-winning author Kresley Cole continues her bestselling, Immortals After Dark, series with this electrifying tale of a ruthless demon mercenary and the lovely young halfling who enchants ... (Goodreads)
The Future of an Illusion
by Sigmund Freud
Freud's critique of religion as a human construct, born out of fear and wishful thinking, and its impact on society.
In the manner of the eighteenth-century philosopher, Freud argued that religion and science were mortal enemies. Early in the century, he began to think about religion psychoanalytically and to ... (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)
The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone - Especially Ourselves
by Dan Ariely
Examines why people lie and how dishonesty affects our lives.
Het wetenschappelijk bewijs liegt er niet om: zelfs de meest eerlijke mensen nemen meerdere keren per dag een loopje met de waarheid. Hóé (on)eerlijk we zijn blijkt verrassend genoeg afhankelijk van ... (Goodreads)
Tales from the Perilous Realm
by J.R.R. Tolkien
A collection of fantastical tales set in Middle-earth, including "The Hobbit" prequel "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil."
The definitive collection of J.R.R. Tolkien’s five acclaimed modern classic ‘fairie’ tales in the vein of The Hobbit . Enchanted by a sand-sorcerer, the toy dog Roverandom explores a world filled ... (Goodreads)
The Fourth Bear
by Jasper Fforde
A detective story that blends mystery and fantasy, uncovering a unique conspiracy.
DCI Jack Spratt heads the Berkshire Nursery Crime Division, handling all inquiries involving nursery rhyme characters and other PDRs (persons of dubious reality). After doubts arise concerning his ... (Wikipedia)
Happy: Why More or Less Everything is Absolutely Fine
by Derren Brown
A philosophical exploration of happiness, challenging common beliefs and offering practical advice on how to live a happier life.
Everyone says they want to be happy. But that's much more easily said than done. What does being happy actually mean? And how do you even know when you feel it? Across the millennia, philosophers ... (Goodreads)
Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work
by Chip Heath
Strategies to make effective decisions and tackle difficult life choices.
The four principles that can help us to overcome our brains' natural biases to make better, more informed decisions – in our lives, careers, families and organizations., In Decisive , Chip Heath and ... (Goodreads)
The Character of Physical Law
by Richard P. Feynman
A collection of lectures by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, exploring the fundamental laws of physics and their impact on our understanding of the universe.
In the Messenger Lectures, originally delivered at Cornell University & recorded for TV by the BBC, Feynman offers an overview of selected physical laws & gathers their common features into one broad ... (Goodreads)
The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever
by Christopher Hitchens
Selection of essays, articles, and excerpts from some of the greatest minds in atheism.
From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of God Is Not Great , a provocative and entertaining guided tour of atheist and agnostic thought through the ages with never-before-published pieces by ... (Goodreads)
A Theory of Justice
by John Rawls
Analysis of principles of justice and moral equality, rooted in a framework of fairness and rationality.
Since it appeared in 1971, John Rawls's A Theory of Justice has become a classic. The author has now revised the original edition to clear up a number of difficulties he and others have found in the ... (Goodreads)
The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism
by Ayn Rand
A philosophical exploration of the concept of egoism, advocating for rational self-interest.
Ayn Rand here sets forth the moral principles of Objectivism, the philosophy that holds human life–the life proper to a rational being--as the standard of moral values and regards altruism as ... (Goodreads)
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
by H.P. Lovecraft
A dreamer embarks on a perilous journey to find the city of his dreams, encountering strange creatures and cosmic horrors along the way.
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a novella by H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) published by Arkham House posthumously in 1943 in the collection Beyond the Wall of Sleep . Begun probably in the autumn ... (Goodreads)
White Is for Witching
by Helen Oyeyemi
A haunted house story that explores the complexities of family, race, and mental illness.
The novel begins with several cryptic pages in which questions are asked of three entities: a woman named Ore, a man named Eliot, and the Silver House at 29 Barton Road. Each answers the question, ... (Wikipedia)
Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity
by Carlo Rovelli
A journey through the physical world and its underlying reality, from the macro to the micro.
From the best-selling author of, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, comes a new book about the mind-bending nature of the universe What are time and space made of? Where does matter come from? And what ... (Goodreads)
Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis
by Anne Rice
The vampire Prince Lestat uncovers the lost civilization of Atlantis and its secrets, leading to a battle for survival.
"In my dreams, I saw a city fall into the sea. I heard the cries of thousands", writes Rice, as Lestat de Lioncourt sees visions of a ruined city in his sleep. He and Amel, a spirit Lestat bonded ... (Wikipedia)
The Ancient Magus' Bride, Vol. 1
by Kore Yamazaki
A young girl is sold to a mage and becomes his apprentice, discovering a world of magic and mythical creatures.
The Ancient Magus' Bride, is an all-new manga series that features a fascinating relationship between a troubled teenage girl and an inhuman wizard. Enter the Magician's Apprentice Her name is Chise ... (Barnes & Noble)
Tales of H.P. Lovecraft
by H.P. Lovecraft
Collection of horror stories that delve into the unknown and the macabre, often featuring cosmic entities and ancient gods.
“H. P. Lovecraft has yet to be surpassed as the 20th century’s greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale.”—Stephen King The most important tales of the godfather of the modern horror genre—a ... (Goodreads)
Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith
by Deborah Heiligman
A biography of Charles Darwin and his wife Emma, exploring their relationship and the impact of Darwin's theory of evolution on their faith.
Charles Darwin published, The Origin of Species, his revolutionary tract on evolution and the fundamental ideas involved, in 1859. Nearly 150 years later, the theory of evolution continues to create ... (Barnes & Noble)
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