Welcome to Litsy!

Read in 2024. I listened to this one over audio that was narrated by the author. I liked Cultish a little more but found this one interesting too. Montell highlights different psychological concepts & how they connect to our current society (social media, conspiracy theories, biases). I was already familiar with a lot of these ideas from other readings.

Shine theory. I love it.

I didn‘t enjoy this book as much as “Cultish”, but it was a good listen 😊

2025

“To sincerely adopt the psychology of tokenism, you have to sell your own community out. That‘s the dark underbelly of the thing. Instead of blaming institutions rules and social attitudes of those around you for the absence of other people like you, you blame your own community.”
💯💯💯💯
also: I don‘t know why the picture is red.

‘Tis the season of reading all the short books to improve the year‘s reading stats.

#ReadAway2024

Finished yesterday, I enjoyed this exploration of our minds & cognitive biases & where they come from. It doesn‘t go especially deep into each type of bias or the science behind it but I like Montell‘s way of casually explaining concepts & putting them into relatable examples. I was just talking about the “halo effect” where we make positive assumptions about a person‘s character based on out impressions of a single trait. (You ⬇️

This looks familiar… headed to Hilo for the day after some breakfast & a chapter of the tagged book in the lounge.

Happy Friday! Finished the last 1:10:00 of the tagged book to kick off #36by36. I‘m glad I read this rec. I related to it so much. If you‘re a fellow chronic overthinker, this book will make you feel less crazy.

Going to try to even out my reading by format Print/Kindle/Audio, but we will see how it goes, as I‘m a mood reader through and through 😅 #10BeforeTheEnd #NFN #ReadAway2024

Hey that‘s me lol 🙋🏻‍♀️🎭

I liked this book. Amanda Montell‘s writing is always interesting and insightful. I will definitely read more of her books

#BookScavangerHunt

#HexesAndCrows
#HauntedShelf

@CatsAndBooks

@TexReader
@LibraryBelle
@TheSpineView
@RedXOHearts
@Light_Of_Aether
@Charityann
@PuddleJumper
@Yuki_Onna
@JulieClair
@TripleM80
@DebLovesToRead
@Addison_Reads

= 16 points

I got to spend some time with @the_wastrel today who recommended this book to me. It just so happens to fit the magical sparks or swirls book cover scavenger hunt prompt. I placed it on hold. If I don‘t get to it this month, I think I may attempt to participate in #NonfictionNovember next month if that‘s still a thing 😜 #HauntedShelf #SkeletonCrew

I enjoyed this but possibly not as much as Cultish, which I can remember a lot of and I think about often. I‘m struggling to recall a lot about this book as I read it a few months ago, but I know I love her writing and her perspective. Some good relationship wisdom in here too actually. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So good!

Really good read this month. I think it might have been also that I had a great break from school, so I felt ready to engage more in books :) plan to continue to prioritize my enjoyment-reading despite needing to do my #NurseLife #NurseSchool reading.

#5StarReads

#AugustReCap

I absolutely loved this book! I am going to try to convince my husband to read it.

Zoey :) #PugLife #DogsOfLitsy

🦞 Does not want me to read/annotate this book!

I loved this book. A lot of reviews didn't like that it was "less scientific" but she has a ton of references in there and does a good job explaining each cognitive bias. She just also relates it to a tangible experience in her life which I thoroughly enjoy as I like to do the same with information. And I love her writing style.

Montell lightly explores various biases associated with overthinking and touches on the impact of each bias in her own life. A fast read, I enjoyed briefly exploring each bias and could identify someone in my life with each bias. I‘ve yet to read her other books…one of these days!

“I have this theory that white ladies tend to rubberneck at serial killers the same way white men are obsessed with World War II. […] Ogling these subjects seems like a twisted empathy exercise for populations who don‘t typically face enough material violence in their daily lives to spoil the entertainment.”
🫠🫠🫠

I find this author intensely amusing. Her glee over slightly ridiculous things comes through in her tone on the audio and it's sort of infectious.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

A book about cognitive biases and how they shape our life. About 20% information and the rest — author‘s musings. Not bad but somewhat underwhelming, perhaps because there was very little new information for me.

I don‘t know why but I wasn‘t super captivated by this one. Mostly just a list of cognitive biases with some personal musings about her past (emotionally abusive) relationship sprinkled in, which makes it feel more intimate. The most interesting section to me was about the Halo Effect & how it applies to our relationship with our parents (specifically our mothers).

I‘d love to explain my underwhelm more clearly. Might try her next book in print.

Starting the tagged book this AM. Hits the itch points so far of common modern “anxieties” that feel very personal but are largely a common (or at least wider) overall experience.

I love this author! Amanda Montell, please keep writing these books that illustrate larger issues and topics with down to earth stories and relatable content!

“Overthinking” could be my middle name these days so I related to this so much. But I think many would find the “notes on modern irrationality” not only entertaining but also enlightening. Loved it!!

Bookmail makes everything better

I‘m fascinated by cognitive biases, so this was right up my alley. She covered how these biases show up when we interact with social and digital media & how we interpret everyday things in person. I was really interested in her discussion of positive thinking and cancer. She talked about the need to be positive and put on a brave face, but that actually gives a false impression of just how difficult treatment is or how well people are coping.

You definitely get five stars for changing and enlarging my perspective so much that I am no longer the same person.

I L O V E D this.

Once upon a time, I low-key also got a political science degree (even though I'm always shouting about art history) and so actually I've learned a bit about cognitive biases in an academic setting -- and yet, Amanda Montell should have been the one to teach me everything, because now I actually understand ??

Thanks for putting this on my radar @Megabooks - I loved it!

This time the author looks at the biases caused by our own over-thinking brains, particularly in this social-media obsessed age. Although I don‘t do that much social media, I do more than my fair share of over-thinking so I felt very seen, and also very re-assured.

As usual, I loved the author‘s narration on the audio.

I can‘t get enough of Amanda Montell. In our current time of information onslaught, we are all overstimulated little fish swimming in uncharted waters. Her perspective on how our brains are handling the internet, celebrity worship, overconfidence in the age of selfies, etc…is validating and a huge relief. Somebody to make sense of it all for us!

Loved it. Really I love reading anything she writes (though I'll admit I still haven‘t read Wordslut!). I‘ve seen reviews grumbling that in this she just gathers well-known social science concepts in one readable place…and?! That‘s a great thing to do, in my book! Furthermore, these are not well known by everyone, and having a nicely organized compendium of such concepts blended with reflective memoiry bits is just a good, thought-provoking time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ In her third book, linguist Amanda Montell dives into the irrational human mind: cognitive biases, magical thinking, anxiety, imposter syndrome, and more. Informative, smart, and witty, this is precisely how I like to expand my mind and learn about human behaviors. Not only a must-read author for me, but a must-buy as well. If you haven‘t listened to her pod, Sounds Like a Cult, you 100% should!

The sun came out, rain is forecasted for the whole week cuz why not just April out the month of April 🤦🏻‍♀️ I LOVE Amanda Montell, this book is just buzzing around in my brain making sense of the world and me. Two big take aways for me; nostalgia can be toxic ( Make ______ Great Again) and shared experiences don‘t unite us like in the past (see pandemic) because individuals see things through their personal lens and won‘t be swayed by facts

Snow White bag #11 Dopey has arrived, all dwarves are accounted for and more roofing has gone up. I love Amanda Montell books

I‘m glad I‘m not the only one who exhausts herself with thought

This is a great read so far! 🌼

I got to see Amanda Montell at Powell‘s last night with Chelsea Bieker! It was such a great event and I can‘t wait to dive into Amanda‘s new book!

This was a very quick, enjoyable read — I started last night, couldn‘t sleep, and finished it around 3:00am. I love Montell‘s blend of nonfiction concepts and personal history. In this one, she tackles cognitive biases such as the halo effect, sunk cost fallacy, and survivorship bias, making each concept clear with examples from her life. Montell narrates the audiobook and is engaging and relaxed.

Montell is just brilliant! Truly one of the best nonfiction writers around today. I‘ve only had four 5⭐️ books this year, and this is 💯 one of them.

Montell explores various psychological traps we tend to fall into, especially on social media where fake gurus abound. She illustrates with examples from her own life and other folks‘. Some traps covered: sunk cost fallacy, survivorship bias, and zero-sum bias. A must read!!

What does our worship (or opposite) of Taylor Swift have to do with the Halo Effect? What does AI mean for our love of tactile work aka the IKEA Effect? In these essays on cognitive biases in our modern age, Cultish author Amanda Montell pulls together memoir, cultural criticism, and social science and blazes new neural pathways to identifying and understanding these “mental magic tricks” we pull on ourselves, to lively, accessible effect.