Weekly Non-Fiction Reading List 4.19.21

6 min readApr 19, 2021

This week I finished 8 books that cover some great subjects. I read some books on cryptocurrency and the block chain, how algorithms lead to oppression, and a great book on neuroscience. I even read one of my new favorite books on the interconnection between morality and disgust, and how it affects the legal system. Enjoy!

Each of the links to the books are affiliate links, so if you use my link to purchase any of these books, some comes back to support what I do (and it also helps fund my reading habit).

The Essential Habits Of 6-Figure Bloggers: Secrets of 17 Successful Bloggers You Can Use to Build a Six-Figure Online Business by Sally Miller

I’ve been writing for years, but I’ve never taken my blogging seriously. Finally, I’m ready to take that step, so I picked up this book. This is a really cool book because the author interviews a variety of bloggers and just asks them similar questions. She asks how long it took them to make a profit from their blog, what they wish they knew when they started, the best advice they have for new bloggers, and much more. I’ve been in a bit of a creative slump yesterday, but binging this book really gave me some motivation to get to work.

The Idea of the Brain: The Past and Future of Neuroscience by Matthew Cobb

What a fantastic book! I’ve been meaning to read it for months because I love neuroscience, but I was worried the book wouldn’t live up to the hype. Cobb did an incredible job diving into the history of neuroscience and how we came to learn about how the brain functions. I’m not huge into history, so the first half was kind of slow. I mainly got this book for the chapters on consciousness, neurotransmitters, how fMRI’s work and more of the modern stuff. Although the first half was slow for me, it was still super interesting. I think what I loved the most about the book is that when Cobb gets to the chapters on more modern neuroscience, he discusses the debates around the different topics and explains how there’s still a ton that we don’t know.

Similar books:

The Mind Club: Who Thinks, What Feels, and Why It Matters by Daniel M. Wegner and Kurt Gray

Perception — How Our Bodies Shape Our Minds by Dennis Proffitt and Drake Baer

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert M. Sapolsky

Objection: Disgust, Morality, and the Law by Debra Lieberman & Carlton Patrick

I absolutely loved this book. I really enjoy books on moral dumbfounding and why we base so many decisions off the emotion of disgust without even realizing it. Lieberman and Patrick really surprised me with how much evolutionary psychology they dive into when explaining how disgust and morality intertwine. The book dedicates entire chapters to disgust when it comes to what we eat, touch, and mate with. They then dive into how this affects legal decisions in the modern world, and it’s extremely thought provoking. Although I highly recommend this book, I was hoping it’d spend some more time discussing specific cases while tying in disgust. Other than that, epic book.

Similar books:

The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt

Grandstanding: The Use and Abuse of Moral Talk by Justin Tosi and Brandon Warmke

What’s Wrong With Homosexuality? by John Corvino

Everything You Wanted to Know About Bitcoin But Were Too Afraid to Ask: All Your Questions Answered! Trading & Investing in Cryptocurrency For Beginners, Blockchain, Mining, Etherium, LItecoin + More by Phillip Westbrook

This was a decent, short book that goes over the basics of bitcoin. I’ve read quite a few of these just to get a better understanding of the crypto space, so there was a lot of repeat information in this about the history, security, and all that. One benefit of this book is that it touched on a few other coins like Litecoin, so it was nice to learn about those.

Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal

I’ve been a gamer since I was a kid in the 80s, and now I’m a gaming father. I think video games get a bad reputation, so I really enjoy books that explaining how games can be beneficial. I read Jane McGonigal’s newer book SuperBetter first and absolutely loved it. This book was just as good and shows how gamifying different aspects of life brings people together, helps people at work and can even help save the planet. I really enjoyed a story in here about how The Guardian gamified crowdsourcing to get people to help them comb through a ton of date. My only critique is a small one, and it’s that I wish there was an updated version of this book because there are all sorts of new apps and games as well as new studies.

Getting Gamers: The Psychology of Video Games and Their Impact on the People who Play Them by Jamie Madigan

Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya Umoja Noble

What an incredible book about how search engine algorithms not only oppress marginalized communities, but it explains how that translates into real-world consequences. In recent years, we’ve become extremely reliant on search engines like Google or the runner-up to largest search engine, YouTube (which is owned by Google), and we don’t realize how these algorithms shape our world view. Although you and I can become self-aware of this fact, many people don’t realize what’s happening. I think the most powerful story from this book was how search algorithms shaped the mass shooter Dylan Roof because it played into his confirmation bias. This is dangerous, and we need more people discussing topics like this. The author did an incredible job explaining the problems and offering some solutions.

A Colony in a Nation by Chris Hayes

Fair Shot: Rethinking Inequality and How We Earn by Chris Hughes

Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days by Chris Guillebeau

Really good book with an actual plan to develop a side hustle. The book covers everything from coming up with ideas to getting started. Personally, I’m more of an entrepreneur than someone looking for a side hustle, but this book still had a ton of value. I highly recommend it if you’re like the millions of people out there who could use a little extra cash. That’s how I started, and now I have income streams that help me pay my bills and support my son now that I’ve become a brand.

Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content by Mark Levy

So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love by Cal Newport

Angrynomics by Eric Lonergan and Mark Blyth

This was a really interesting book, and I liked the unconventional format the authors took. This book is about justifiable anger at the broken system of capitalism, but it’s written as a conversation between the two authors. They argue that although anger can blind us and make us act irrational, sometimes anger at the system is what motivates us to fight for equality and get change to happen. The authors also have some interesting solutions to some of our problems to make this world a little bit more equal for everyone.

Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas

Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class Is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do About It by Richard V. Reeves

I do this reading list every week, so stay tuned! You can follow me here as well as on Twitter and Instagram The Rewired Soul, and make sure you’re following me on GoodReads too.

If you need help with your mental health, I highly recommend the service I use, BetterHelp. They’re an affordable online therapy service, and by using this affiliate link, you help support The Rewired Soul.

Weekly Non-Fiction Reading List 4.19.21

Written by The Rewired Soul