I’m currently reading 48 Laws of Power and still only on Law 5 but I already have forgotten what the first few were unless I read back and remind myself

So when it comes to reading longer non fiction books, especially ones where you want to implement what you read, what do you do?

Not sure if making notes is the way since that would be more of a passive thing rather than active (ie actually acting on the advice)

Hi everyone! I’m sharing this on behalf of Pioneers of Human Behaviour. We’re celebrating Halloween by giving away one FREE paperback copy of The Haunted Mind, with FREE delivery included.

The book explores ghosts, strange experiences and the psychology behind them, from why an empty room can feel occupied to how expectation and memory shape what we experience.

To enter, answer this question in the comments on the YouTube video below:

What’s the strangest experience you’ve never quite been able to explain?

https://youtu.be/tsC-uelEvys

One winner will be chosen at random, so your story doesn’t need to be dramatic or polished. Share only what you’re comfortable making public.

• One paperback prize, with delivery included
• Open to residents of the UK and the 50 United States/DC, aged 18+ and legally an adult where they live
• One entry per person
• Closes 31 October 2026 at 11:59pm GMT
• No purchase, subscription, like or review required
• Enter on the linked YouTube video; comments on this Reddit post won’t count as entries

The video also includes an eight-hour Halloween sleep story with classical music. Watching it through isn’t required to enter.

Full giveaway rules and privacy information are in the video description. This giveaway is not sponsored or administered by Reddit or YouTube.

GEB by Douglas Hofstadter scares a lot of people off, so here's the short version.

The big question is how an "I" can come out of stuff that means nothing on its own, like neurons or symbols. His answer is strange loops: systems that end up pointing back at themselves.

He builds it three ways. Gödel showed any formal system strong enough for arithmetic can make a statement about itself, including one that says it can't be proven inside the system. Escher draws hands drawing each other and stairs that climb forever back to the start. Bach writes canons that keep folding a theme back into itself, like the endlessly rising canon in the Musical Offering.

Between chapters there are dialogues with Achilles and the Tortoise that act out each idea before he explains it. Honestly those are the best part if the logic chapters lose you.

Where he lands: meaning isn't in the parts, it's in the patterns, and a self is a pattern that can model itself.

We made a podcast episode summarizing it if you'd rather listen: https://youtu.be/z14jkRsS4ko

Did anyone actually finish it on the first try? Which part got you?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Simple title! Extra points if it’s entertaining

I’ve just ordered a handful of Harvard Business Review’s (HBR’s) 10 Must Reads books. The Goodreads ratings are around 4/5, but the reviews seem quite mixed.

For those who’ve read them, did you find them useful and practical, or are they a bit dated and repetitive?

Are they better for dipping into rather than reading cover to cover?

Edit: Spelt out HBR in full as requested.

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Recently, a second hand bookstall opened in my neighbourhood. I went there, found some books with interesting synopses, noticed how cheap they were, and somehow ended up buying ten books without thinking too much about it.

Most of them were in pretty good condition, and the entire haul cost me less than $6. So, naturally, my brain decided that buying them was a great idea. 😂

Here's the thing, though: I'm not exactly a fast reader. I can't finish a book in a week, but I can usually get through one in two or three weeks, especially if it has more than 200 pages. So, buying ten books might have been a slightly ambitious decision.

Anyway, here's what I bought:

1. Men Without Women, Haruki Murakami
2. Before the Coffee Gets Cold , Toshikazu Kawaguchi
3. Rain in the Mountains , Ruskin Bond
4. Little Women ,Louisa May Alcott
5. Heart Lamp, Banu Mushtaq (READ)
6. Crime and Punishment , Fyodor Dostoevsky (currently reading)
7. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ,Lewis Carroll
8. Godan , Premchand
9. Nirmala ,Premchand
10. Gitanjali , Rabindranath Tagore (READ)

It took me two rounds of visiting the stall over three months to collect all these books. I've finished Heart Lamp and Gitanjali, and I'm currently reading Crime and Punishment, which I expect to finish this week.

Now I'm a little confused about what I should pick up next.

I know some of these books are classics, and I've heard of most of the authors, but I haven't read enough to know what kind of reading experience to expect from each one. I bought them simply because their synopses caught my attention.

So, please don't laugh at my questionable book-buying decisions. Or laugh a little, I suppose, and then come back and give me some advice. 😭

Have you read any of these books? I'd love to hear about your experience with them. Which ones did you enjoy, which ones disappointed you, and which would you recommend reading next?

Also, please tell me which book I should pick up after Crime and Punishment. I'm open to suggestions!

Thank you to the second hand bookstall for enabling my questionable financial decisions and giving me a new problem to worry about. 😂📚 (not a problem just joking it is fun to read stories, i am just a little confuse because before i used to buy one book in a month after seeing review and all because i can't buy more but now i have 10).

I recently had the chance to read “Wisdom Takes Work: Learn. Apply. Repeat. (The Stoic Virtues Series)” by Ryan Holiday. While I do know this is a common self-help book, don't judge it by its cover! It's actually packed with insights (IMHO).

Here's a few of my favourite passages:

On Self Education:

“We must get it ourselves. No one can give us an education. The most important decision a person makes is to become a student and to remain one not just in school or in their profession, but for life.”

“Wisdom, then, is a lagging indicator of work done long ago, the fruit nurtured from seed planted long ago. And, as the ancients taught us, we can only reap what has been sown.”

On Asking Questions:

“Questions are the key not just to knowledge but to success, discovery, and mastery. They’re how we learn and how we get better.”

On Reading:

“We all have time to read. We just don’t do it enough. It’s about the craziest thing in the world. Imagine having a superpower—being able to talk to the dead—and not using it! Imagine being able to talk with the wisest people who ever lived, as Tolstoy said, and not doing it!”

“Because reading is a conversation, great readers are not passive. They put books through the wringer, they put the author on trial. They ask questions. They talk back.”

On Staying Humble:

“The most dangerous thing that can happen to the smartest person in the world is to start to believe that they are the smartest person in the world. It turns them into a very dangerous fool. Because they start to think everything they do is smart, even when it’s dumb.”

“Wisdom is the ability to go through life ready to change your mind. This doesn’t mean we abandon our values because they’re inconvenient, but our thinking is supposed to evolve. We are supposed to grow. New things are going to come to light. Feedback follows belief and action, which should create new beliefs and actions.”

If you are interested in learning more, feel free to read my full blogpost!

ഒരു നല്ല സംസാരശൈലി വികസിപ്പിക്കുന്നതിനായി ആളുകളുമായി സംസാരിക്കുന്നത് മികച്ചതാവുകാനും വേണ്ടി ചില പുസ്തകങ്ങൾ പരിചയപ്പെടുത്തി തരാമോ

Thoughts on this book?

Hey all,

I just released my first book, Hello, My Name Is Distance: Mapping the Geography of South Florida and Queer Longing. It's an autobiographical account of growing up gay in Florida at the turn of the millennium. The book is structured as a collection of interconnected essays that chronicle early memories of feeling disconnected from the outside world, family turmoil, and navigating identity and sexual exploration.

The book is steeped in the culture of the early aughts, from goth and punk subcultures to AOL chat rooms, capturing adolescent angst at the turn of the millennium against the backdrop of Columbine, 9/11, and a rapidly changing world.

Running beneath these stories is another coming-of-age: the making of an artist. The longing I once tried to escape eventually became part of how I made sense of the world, and the material I built a life from. The book cover and interior illustrations are scans from my middle and high school sketchbooks.

Here's a link to purchase the book : )

https://www.amazon.com/Hello-My-Name-Distance-Geography/dp/B0HLBTRP86

*DISCLAIMER: AI was NOT used in the creation of this book. This is a raw account of my experiences growing up, and AI could never lol.

This was supposed to be a look at the inside account of Sam Bankman fried. But What the hell is this book, it makes him sound like some genius, and everything that happened to him was spontaneous not his doing, why does it make him sound clueless all the time.

I thought this would be a good book but come on, all I keep hearing is sam didn't know, sam wasn't interested, his mind was else where

Or am I missing something

Hi guys, I have a book club running on substack that doubles as a newsletter. We’ve been going strong for a little over a month now, but I’m looking for more engagement in the book club side of things. If you’d like to read non fiction books breaking down social and political theory and systems, and actively participate in discussions about the books, please consider joining us! My goal is connection, education and talking real life solutions.

It’s completely free, full access. Paid subscription is optional for people who’d like to support my labor. If you’re interested in something like this, joining an intimate community of left wingers & feminists who enjoy human rights and yapping about the world, join us! I always love making new friends!

Comment down below or direct message me if you’re interested and I’ll send you the info!