The 17 Best Books on Critical Thinking (to Read in 2024)
All products were independently selected by our editors and contributors. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
The aim of improving your skill of critical thinking isn’t just to be able to reason and give logical arguments about a subject skillfully; your goal is to get to the right answer, to make the right decisions and choices for yourself and others.
Critical thinking helps you:
First , improve the quality of your decisions and judgments, and reevaluate your beliefs objectively.
The human mind is rarely objective. However, mastering the skill of critical thinking keeps your mind objective, at least about those things based on facts.
Take for example the beliefs you have about yourself; Some are based on facts, some on subjective (negative) opinions of others.
Second , become an independent thinker (learn to think for yourself); take ownership of your values, beliefs, judgments, and decisions.
Mastering critical thinking is essential , especially in our modern times, because you must:
- Make a tone of decisions every day;
- Think and come to the right conclusion fast;
- Solve (mostly alone) your problems and issues;
- Weigh carefully facts and information you receive from the dozens of sources you have at your disposal;
- Reevaluate your strategies, beliefs, and habits periodically.
Critical thinking is a skill that you must learn; you’re not born with it. To make your journey a little easier, we’ve gathered the best critical thinking books so you can learn from the masters. Get inspired to become a critical thinker in no time!
The best books on critical thinking:
Table of Contents
![](http://myjudaica.online/777/templates/cheerup2/res/banner1.gif)
1. Critical Thinking: A Beginner’s Guide to Critical Thinking, Better Decision Making, and Problem Solving – Jennifer Wilson
2. wait, what: and life’s other essential questions- james e. ryan, 3. think smarter: critical thinking to improve problem-solving and decision-making skills – michael kallet, 4. brain power: learn to improve your thinking skills – karl albrecht, 5. the art of thinking clearly – rolf dobelli, 6. being logical: a guide to good thinking – d.q. mcinerny, 7. predictably irrational, revised and expanded edition: the hidden forces that shape our decisions – dr. dan ariely, 8. a more beautiful question: the power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas – warren berger, 9. a rulebook for arguments – anthony weston, 10. thinking, fast and slow – daniel kahneman, 11. the organized mind: thinking straight in the age of information overload – daniel j. levitin, 12. don’t believe everything you think: the 6 basic mistakes we make in thinking – thomas e. kida, 13. the decision book: 50 models for strategic thinking – mikael krogerus, roman tschäppeler, philip earnhart, jenny piening, 14. weaponized lies: how to think critically in the post-truth era – daniel j. levitin, 15. the demon-haunted world: science as a candle in the dark paperback – carl sagan, ann druyan, 16. how to think about weird things: critical thinking for a new age – theodore schick, lewis vaughn, 17. the 5 elements of effective thinking – edward b. burger, michael starbird.
![critical thinking books to read 51spN6pf+GL. SL500](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51spN6pf+GL._SL500_.jpg)
As the title says, this book introduces you to the art of critical thinking. You’ll discover in it:
- What is critical thinking in practice,
- The different thought processes of critical thinking,
- How will your life be better mastering critical thinking,
- The things your brain needs to enjoy exercising critical thinking,
- Techniques you can use for solving problems,
- How to become a better decision maker, Strategies to use in your critical thinking processes,
- Ways to make good decisions when more people (not just you) are involved,
- Tips to frame your questions in order to maximize the efficiency of your critical thinking.
![critical thinking books to read 511m1Rzz6GL. SL500](https://upjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/511m1Rzz6GL._SL500_.webp)
Wisdom comes from observation, learning, practice, and asking the right questions.
Using examples from history, politics, and his own personal life, James e Ryan shows you the importance of knowing how to:
- Ask questions and gain a better understanding,
- Get to be more curious,
- Push yourself to take action,
- Make your relationship stronger,
- And stay focused on the important things in life.
Related: Critical Thinking Examples
The book starts with the five fundamental questions:
- Couldn’t we at least…?
- How can I help…?
- What truly matters….?
Knowing how to formulate, address, and deliver the right questions doesn’t leave room for misunderstandings, misinterpretations; asking the wrong questions will most probably give you a wrong answer.
This book (Wait, What?: And Life’s Other Essential Questions) will make you feel (more) courageous; after all, asking questions thanks courage. Asking yourself and others the right questions helps you make informed decisions and decisive action.
![critical thinking books to read 518LncUjMaL. SL500](https://upjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/518LncUjMaL._SL500_.webp)
This book is a guide on how to train your brain to work even more for you. The author (Michael Kallet) is a critical thinking trainer and coach and gives you a practical set of tools and techniques for critical thinking in your day-to-day life and business.
If you want a clear, actionable step by step program to:
- Improve your critical thinking skills,
- A better understanding of complex problems and concepts,
- And how to put them in practice, then this book is for you.
Learn how to discover the real issues that need a solution, so you don’t waste your time in trying to solve imaginary problems. Increase your mental toughness, useful and productive thought.
![critical thinking books to read 41nk+OBuN2L. SL500](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41nk+OBuN2L._SL500_.jpg)
In this book, Karl Albrecht shows you how to:
- Build your mental strength,
- Think more clearly logically and creative,
- Improve your memory,
- Solve problems,
- Make decisions more effectively.
Karl Albrecht talks in this book about the six functional abilities you need to have and become more adaptable and an innovative thinker.
The book is packed with practical exercises, fascinating illustrations, games, and puzzles to improve your mental capabilities.
![critical thinking books to read 41Cb5A4k7L. SL500](https://upjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/41Cb5A4k7L._SL500_.webp)
The art of thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli is a window into human psychology and reasoning; how we:
- Make decisions;
- Evaluate choices and options;
- Develop cognitive biases.
This book helps you notice and recognize erroneous thinking and make better choices and decisions, change unwanted behaviors and habits.
It will change the way you think about yourself and life in general because you have in this book 99 short chapters with examples of the most common errors of judgment and how to rectify them.
If you wish to think more clearly, make better decisions and choices, reevaluate your biases, and feel better about yourself, this book is for you.
![critical thinking books to read 41WXMHqoONL. SL500](https://upjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/41WXMHqoONL._SL500_.webp)
When you decide you want to study the field of logic more closely and improve your critical thinking, this book might be exactly what you need. It’s written clearly and concisely laying out for you the basic building blocks of logic and critical thinking.
The ancient civilizations understood better than us how important is to study logic and rhetoric. With the help of this book, you’ll bring back into your life these essential things that our modern society forgot and missed to teach you as a child.
Having increased logical thinking doesn’t mean to ignore your emotions. It means to start from your emotions and together, (emotions and logic) to take better decisions and see more clearly your choices to move forward in life.
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://upjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/516XdxUXpNL._SL500_.webp)
“Predictably Irrational, The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions” is a book packed with examples of how:
- Irrational are our choices;
- We make decisions on impulse;
- We fool ourselves with optimism- “that must work for me.”
The author presents you, in this book, a large number of mental traps and flawed tendencies which can make your life harder.
After reading this book, you’ll be better informed about a variety of human flaws and how to avoid being trapped by irrational thinking. You’ll be better prepared to make decisions and choices based more on facts rather than subjective personal opinions.
![critical thinking books to read 41h6nflCf5L. SL500](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41h6nflCf5L._SL500_.jpg)
Knowing how to ask the right questions is determining your success about many things in your life:
- Influencing others,
- Getting out of tricky situations,
- Reevaluating your beliefs,
- Offering yourself and others compassion,
- Overcoming mistakes and fears.
Warren Berger shows you in this book examples of people who are successful (partially) because they are experts in asking questions and don’t have preconceived ideas about what the answers should be.
This book helps you avoid wasting your innovative and brilliant ideas by presenting them in the same way over and over and getting nowhere over and over.
Asking yourself (and others) the right questions gives you the opportunity to display your ideas in a way that those around you feel compelled to listen.
![critical thinking books to read 51zkr cqNHL. SL500](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51zkr-cqNHL._SL500_.jpg)
This book is impressive because, Anthony Weston gives you a lot of excellent and practical advice, ordered in a logical and clear manner.
The examples in this book are realistic and useful, ranging from deductive to oral arguments, from argumentative essays to arguments by analogy.
Once you read this book you’ll want to have it on hand to sort out all sorts of situations you’ll encounter in your day-to-day life.
![critical thinking books to read 41wI53OEpCL. SL500](https://upjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/41wI53OEpCL._SL500_.webp)
Daniel Kahneman, the author of this book, is a renowned psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in economics.
In this book, you will discover where you can and cannot trust your intuition; how to use the two systems that drive the way you think.
The first system is fast, intuitive, and emotional; the second system is slower, based on facts, and more logical.
The author argues that knowing how to use these two systems can make a huge difference in how you:
- Design your strategies,
- Predict consequences,
- Avoid cognitive biases,
- (and even simple things like) choosing the colors for your home office.
If you want to improve your critical thinking, know when you should use logic (instead of using emotions), and become mentally stronger this book is definitely for you.
![critical thinking books to read 41CgLelWZtL. SL500](https://upjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/41CgLelWZtL._SL500_.webp)
Critical thinking can’t be created in a cluttered mind. It’s like trying to prepare a gourmet meal for your loved ones in a cramped and dysfunctional kitchen.
As if is not enough all the information you store in your mind from what you personally experience every day, our modern times forcefully adds to that information a lot of junk.
The book “The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload” by Daniel J. Levitin will help you sort out and organized your thoughts with the help of the four components in the human attentional system:
- Mind wandering mode;
- Central executive mode;
- Attentional filter;
- Attentional switch.
The book is showing you how you can improve your critical thinking and make better decisions concerning many areas of your life.
This book can (really) change your life if you’re dealing with procrastination, multitasking, the inability to switch off and block the outside world.
All in all, you’ll be better prepared to think straight in the age of information overload.
![critical thinking books to read 41WbvKs9BgL. SL500](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41WbvKs9BgL._SL500_.jpg)
Thomas E. Kida talks in this book very elegantly about the six basic mistakes your thinking can make.
- The first mistake is being mesmerized by stories and ignoring the facts or statistics.
- The second mistake is searching to confirm what we already know or believe.
- The third mistake is to discount the role that chance and coincidence play in our life.
- The fourth mistake is believing that what you see it’s always the reality.
- The fifth mistake is to oversimplify things.
- The sixth mistake is to believe (trust) faulty memories.
This book can be for you an eye-opener into critical thinking, accepting who you are as you are, and improving the way you choose and make decisions.
![critical thinking books to read 31Lir opXL. SL500](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31Lir--opXL._SL500_.jpg)
Did you know you have a strategy for everything you do? From brushing your teeth to making new friends? From choosing a career to dealing with difficult people?
Considering you have a strategy for everything you do, it’s only logical the try to improve every day the way you develop your strategies and don’t leave it to chance, habit, or convenience.
“The Decision Book: 50 Models for Strategic Thinking” can improve your critical thinking and help you make your life easier and more enjoyable.
This book is interactive and provokes you to think about some of the strategies that don’t bring you the results you want.
It contains 58 illustrations offering summaries for known strategies such as the Rubber Band Model, the Personal Performance Model, and the Black Swan Model.
This book is for you if you want to improve the flexibility of your thinking, accept challenges more comfortable, feel more in control of your decisions and choices.
![critical thinking books to read 51AGHVTrFNL. SL500](https://upjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/51AGHVTrFNL._SL500_.webp)
From this book, by Daniel Levitin, you’ll learn how to think critically and avoid being manipulated by things like misleading statistics and graphics, extreme view, or fake news.
The book contains three main sections:
- Evaluating numbers – how to read statistics and data to find out what lurks underneath and make a more objective analysis
- Evaluating words – how to assess the information you receive from experts, understanding the difference between incidence and prevalence, risk perceptions, and probabilistic thinking
- Evaluating the world – how to interpret scientific methods for different types of reasoning (induction, deduction, abduction)
This book will help you improve your critical thinking providing you with a lot of food for thought.
You know how in a criminal trial they call two experts that have divergent opinions on the same facts? Depending on whose side they are? This book teaches you to see the truth.
![critical thinking books to read 516v2EY3F8L. SL500](https://upjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/516v2EY3F8L._SL500_.webp)
Although written in the 1990s, this bestseller book is still relevant in today’s society.
With both intelligence and compassion, Carl Sagan lays out the importance of education, logic, and science. This book will show you a ton of practical skills for assessing arguments, recognizing logical fallacies, and applying the scientific method.
Sagan felt that reason and logic could make the world a better place.
![critical thinking books to read 51HGcHUfFjL. SL500](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51HGcHUfFjL._SL500_.jpg)
This book contains invaluable instructions on logic and reason using critical thinking, without being dull or difficult to understand.
Schick and Vaughn effectively laid out the key elements on how to assess evidence, sort through reasons, and recognize when a claim is likely to be accurate, making this book an absolute must-read for all students.
If you want to be better at decision-making based on sound evidence and argument, then this book is for you.
![critical thinking books to read 41I7mnMikSL. SL500](https://upjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/41I7mnMikSL._SL500_.webp)
If you ever found yourself stuck on a problem, or having trouble in forming new ideas, this book will guide you in finding creative solutions to life’s difficult challenges.
This book emphasizes the value of effective thinking, how it can be mastered, and how to integrate it into everyday life.
How useful was this post?
Click on a star to rate it!
As you found this post useful...
Share it on social media!
We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!
Let us improve this post!
Tell us how we can improve this post?
![critical thinking books to read Photo of author](https://upjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Carmen-Jacob-square-big-1-150x150.png)
Carmen Jacob
![critical thinking books to read Five Books](https://fivebooks.com/app/themes/five-books/assets/images/logo-floating-nav-no-text.png)
- NONFICTION BOOKS
- BEST NONFICTION 2023
- BEST NONFICTION 2024
- Historical Biographies
- The Best Memoirs and Autobiographies
- Philosophical Biographies
- World War 2
- World History
- American History
- British History
- Chinese History
- Russian History
- Ancient History (up to 500)
- Medieval History (500-1400)
- Military History
- Art History
- Travel Books
- Ancient Philosophy
- Contemporary Philosophy
- Ethics & Moral Philosophy
- Great Philosophers
- Social & Political Philosophy
- Classical Studies
- New Science Books
- Maths & Statistics
- Popular Science
- Physics Books
- Climate Change Books
- How to Write
- English Grammar & Usage
- Books for Learning Languages
- Linguistics
- Political Ideologies
- Foreign Policy & International Relations
- American Politics
- British Politics
- Religious History Books
- Mental Health
- Neuroscience
- Child Psychology
- Film & Cinema
- Opera & Classical Music
- Behavioural Economics
- Development Economics
- Economic History
- Financial Crisis
- World Economies
- Investing Books
- Artificial Intelligence/AI Books
- Data Science Books
- Sex & Sexuality
- Death & Dying
- Food & Cooking
- Sports, Games & Hobbies
- FICTION BOOKS
- BEST NOVELS 2024
- BEST FICTION 2023
- New Literary Fiction
- World Literature
- Literary Criticism
- Literary Figures
- Classic English Literature
- American Literature
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Fairy Tales & Mythology
- Historical Fiction
- Crime Novels
- Science Fiction
- Short Stories
- South Africa
- United States
- Arctic & Antarctica
- Afghanistan
- Myanmar (Formerly Burma)
- Netherlands
- Kids Recommend Books for Kids
- High School Teachers Recommendations
- Prizewinning Kids' Books
- Popular Series Books for Kids
- BEST BOOKS FOR KIDS (ALL AGES)
- Ages Baby-2
- Books for Teens and Young Adults
- THE BEST SCIENCE BOOKS FOR KIDS
- BEST KIDS' BOOKS OF 2023
- BEST BOOKS FOR TEENS OF 2023
- Best Audiobooks for Kids
- Environment
- Best Books for Teens of 2023
- Best Kids' Books of 2023
- Political Novels
- New History Books
- New Historical Fiction
- New Biography
- New Memoirs
- New World Literature
- New Economics Books
- New Climate Books
- New Math Books
- New Philosophy Books
- New Psychology Books
- New Physics Books
- THE BEST AUDIOBOOKS
- Actors Read Great Books
- Books Narrated by Their Authors
- Best Audiobook Thrillers
- Best History Audiobooks
- Nobel Literature Prize
- Booker Prize (fiction)
- Baillie Gifford Prize (nonfiction)
- Financial Times (nonfiction)
- Wolfson Prize (history)
- Royal Society (science)
- Pushkin House Prize (Russia)
- Walter Scott Prize (historical fiction)
- Arthur C Clarke Prize (sci fi)
- The Hugos (sci fi & fantasy)
- Audie Awards (audiobooks)
Make Your Own List
Philosophy Books
The best books on critical thinking, recommended by nigel warburton.
![Thinking from A to Z by Nigel Warburton Thinking from A to Z by Nigel Warburton](https://fivebooks.com/images/HfYUu-sX-z1AUPlY/rs:fit:66:0:1/sh:0.5/plain/fb/2016/11/0415433711.01.LZ_.jpg)
Thinking from A to Z by Nigel Warburton
Do you know your straw man arguments from your weasel words? Nigel Warburton , Five Books philosophy editor and author of Thinking from A to Z, selects some of the best books on critical thinking—and explains how they will help us make better-informed decisions and construct more valid arguments.
Interview by Cal Flyn , Deputy Editor
![Thinking from A to Z by Nigel Warburton Thinking from A to Z by Nigel Warburton](https://fivebooks.com/images/mNp2zF0bCgIPAxWe/rs:fit:102:0:1/sh:0.5/plain/fb/2016/11/0415433711.01.LZ_.jpg)
Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World by Carl Bergstrom & Jevin West
![The best books on Critical Thinking - Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman The best books on Critical Thinking - Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman](https://fivebooks.com/images/Bn63vYb4rikT409m/rs:fit:117:0:1/sh:0.5/plain/fb/2017/06/0374533555.01.LZ_.jpg)
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
![The best books on Critical Thinking - Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World — And Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling The best books on Critical Thinking - Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World — And Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling](https://fivebooks.com/images/Tvf-JFSEhLwuOYLS/rs:fit:117:0:1/sh:0.5/plain/fb/books/BC_1473637465.jpg)
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World — And Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling
![The best books on Critical Thinking - Black Box Thinking: The Surprising Truth About Success by Matthew Syed The best books on Critical Thinking - Black Box Thinking: The Surprising Truth About Success by Matthew Syed](https://fivebooks.com/images/Fil3pviH0vUzKy1A/rs:fit:117:0:1/sh:0.5/plain/fb/books/BC_1473613779.jpg)
Black Box Thinking: The Surprising Truth About Success by Matthew Syed
![The best books on Critical Thinking - The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli The best books on Critical Thinking - The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli](https://fivebooks.com/images/JZvDTEMP_LeQh-qV/rs:fit:117:0:1/sh:0.5/plain/fb/books/BC_0062219693.jpg)
The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli
![The best books on Critical Thinking - Critical Thinking: Your Guide to Effective Argument, Successful Analysis and Independent Study by Tom Chatfield The best books on Critical Thinking - Critical Thinking: Your Guide to Effective Argument, Successful Analysis and Independent Study by Tom Chatfield](https://fivebooks.com/images/_tB0mlX62yvDXDqR/rs:fit:117:0:1/sh:0.5/plain/fb/books/BC_1473947146.jpg)
Critical Thinking: Your Guide to Effective Argument, Successful Analysis and Independent Study by Tom Chatfield
![The best books on Critical Thinking - Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World by Carl Bergstrom & Jevin West The best books on Critical Thinking - Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World by Carl Bergstrom & Jevin West](https://fivebooks.com/images/WrLqKn1llKUoCT7s/rs:fit:120:0:1/sh:0.5/plain/fb/books/BC_0525509186.jpg)
1 Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World by Carl Bergstrom & Jevin West
2 thinking, fast and slow by daniel kahneman, 3 factfulness: ten reasons we're wrong about the world — and why things are better than you think by hans rosling, 4 black box thinking: the surprising truth about success by matthew syed, 5 the art of thinking clearly by rolf dobelli, 6 critical thinking: your guide to effective argument, successful analysis and independent study by tom chatfield.
I t’s been just over two years since you explained to us what critical thinking is all about. Could you update us on any books that have come out since we first spoke?
Calling Bullshit by Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West started life as a course at the University of Washington. It is a book—a handbook really—written with the conviction that bullshit, particularly the kind that is circulated on the Internet, is damaging democracy , and that misinformation and disinformation can have very serious consequences. Bullshitters don’t care about truth. But truth is important, and this book shows why. It is focussed on examples from science and medicine, but ranges more widely too. It’s a lively read. It covers not just verbal bullshit, bullshit with statistics (particularly in relation to big data) and about causation, but also has a chapter on bullshit data visualisations that distract from the content they are about, or present that data in misleading ways. Like all good books on critical thinking this one includes some discussion of the psychology of being taken in by misleading contributions to public debate.
In How To Make the World Add Up , Tim Harford gives us ten rules for thinking better about numbers, together with a Golden Rule (‘Be curious’). Anyone who has listened to his long-running radio series More or Less will know how brilliant Tim is at explaining number-based claims – as I read it, I hallucinated Tim’s reassuring, sceptical, reasonable, amused, and patient voice. He draws on a rich and fascinating range of examples to teach us (gently) how not to be taken in by statistics and poorly supported claims. There is some overlap with Calling Bullshit , but they complement each other. Together they provide an excellent training in how not to be bamboozled by data-based claims.
[end of update. The original interview appears below]
___________________________
We’re here to talk about critical thinking. Before we discuss your book recommendations, I wonder if you would first explain: What exactly is critical thinking, and when should we be using it?
There’s a whole cluster of things that go under the label ‘critical thinking’. There’s what you might call formal logic , the most extreme case of abstractions. For example take the syllogism: if all men are mortal, and Socrates is a man, you can deduce from that structure of arguments that Socrates is mortal. You could put anything in the slots of ‘men,’ ‘Socrates,’ ‘mortal’, and whatever you put in, the argument structure remains valid. If the premises are true, the conclusion must be true. That kind of logic, which can be represented using letters and signs rather than words, has its place. Formal logic is a quasi-mathematical (some would say mathematical) subject.
But that’s just one element of critical thinking. Critical thinking is broader, though it encompasses that. In recent years, it’s been very common to include discussion of cognitive biases—the psychological mistakes we make in reasoning and the tendencies we have to think in certain patterns which don’t give us reliably good results. That’s another aspect: focussing on the cognitive biases is a part of what’s sometimes called ‘informal logic’, the sorts of reasoning errors that people make, which can be described as fallacious. They’re not, strictly speaking, logical fallacies, always. Some of them are simply psychological tendencies that give us unreliable results.
The gambler’s fallacy is a famous one: somebody throwing a die that isn’t loaded has thrown it three times without getting a six, and then imagines that, by some kind of law of averages, the fourth time they’re more likely to get a six, because they haven’t yet got one yet. That’s just a bad kind of reasoning, because each time that you roll the dice, the odds are the same: there’s a one in six chance of throwing a six. There’s no cumulative effect and a dice doesn’t have a memory. But we have this tendency, or certainly gamblers often do, to think that somehow the world will even things out and give you a win if you’ve had a series of losses. That’s a kind of informal reasoning error that many of us make, and there are lots of examples like that.
I wrote a little book called Thinking from A to Z which was meant to name and explain a whole series of moves and mistakes in thinking. I included logic, some cognitive biases, some rhetorical moves, and also (for instance) the topic of pseudo-profundity, whereby people make seemingly deep statements that are in fact shallow. The classical example is to give a seeming paradox—to say, for example ‘knowledge is just a kind of ignorance,’ or ‘virtue is only achieved through vice.’ Actually, that’s just a rhetorical trick, and once you see it, you can generate any number of such ‘profundities’. I suppose that would fall under rhetoric, the art of persuasion: persuading people that you are a deeper thinker than you are. Good reasoning isn’t necessarily the best way to persuade somebody of something, and there are many devious tricks that people use within discussion to persuade people of a particular position. The critical thinker is someone who recognises the moves, can anatomise the arguments, and call them to attention.
So, in answer to your question: critical thinking is not just pure logic . It’s a cluster of things. But its aim is to be clear about what is being argued, what follows from the given evidence and arguments, and to detect any cognitive biases or rhetorical moves that may lead us astray.
Many of the terms you define and illustrate in Thinking from A to Z— things like ‘straw man’ arguments and ‘weasel words’—have been creeping into general usage. I see them thrown around on Twitter. Do you think that our increased familiarity with debate, thanks to platforms like Twitter, has improved people’s critical thinking or made it worse?
I think that improving your critical thinking can be quite difficult. But one of the ways of doing it is to have memorable labels, which can describe the kind of move that somebody’s making, or the kind of reasoning error, or the kind of persuasive technique they’re using.
For example, you can step back from a particular case and see that somebody’s using a ‘weak analogy’. Once you’re familiar with the notion of a weak analogy, it’s a term that you can use to draw attention to a comparison between two things which aren’t actually alike in the respects that somebody is implying they are. Then the next move of a critical thinker would be to point out the respects in which this analogy doesn’t hold, and so demonstrate how poor it is at supporting the conclusion provided. Or, to use the example of weasel words—once you know that concept, it’s easier to spot them and to speak about them.
Social media, particularly Twitter, is quite combative. People are often looking for critical angles on things that people have said, and you’re limited in words. I suspect that labels are probably in use there as a form of shorthand. As long as they’re used in a precise way, this can be a good thing. But remember that responding to someone’s argument with ‘that’s a fallacy’, without actually spelling out what sort of fallacy it is supposed to be, is a form of dismissive rhetoric itself.
There are also a huge number of resources online now which allow people to discover definitions of critical thinking terms. When I first wrote Thinking from A to Z , there weren’t the same number of resources available. I wrote it in ‘A to Z’ form, partly just as a fun device that allows for lots of cross references, but partly because I wanted to draw attention to the names of things. Naming the moves is important.
“People seem to get a kick out of the idea of sharing irrelevant features—it might be a birthday or it might be a hometown—with somebody famous. But so what?”
The process of writing the book improved my critical thinking quite a lot, because I had to think more precisely about what particular terms meant and find examples of them that were unambiguous. That was the hardest thing, to find clear-cut examples of the various moves, to illustrate them. I coined some of the names myself: there’s one in there which is called the ‘Van Gogh fallacy,’ which is the pattern of thought when people say: ‘Well, Van Gogh had red hair, was a bit crazy, was left-handed, was born on the 30th of March, and, what do you know, I share all those things’—which I do happen to do—‘and therefore I must be a great genius too.’
I love that. Well, another title that deals with psychological biases is the first critical thinking book that you want to discuss, Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow . Why did you choose this one?
This is an international bestseller by the Nobel Prize-winning behavioural economist—although he’s principally a psychologist—Daniel Kahneman. He developed research with Amos Tversky, who unfortunately died young. I think it would have been a co-written book otherwise. It’s a brilliant book that summarizes their psychological research on cognitive biases (or its patterns of thinking) which all of us are prone to, which aren’t reliable.
There is a huge amount of detail in the book. It summarizes a lifetime of research—two lifetimes, really. But Kahneman is very clear about the way he describes patterns of thought: as using either ‘System One’ or ‘System Two.’ System One is the fast, intuitive, emotional response to situations where we jump to a conclusion very quickly. You know: 2 + 2 is 4. You don’t think about it.
System Two is more analytical, conscious, slower, methodical, deliberative. A more logical process, which is much more energy consuming. We stop and think. How would you answer 27 × 17? You’d have to think really hard, and do a calculation using the System Two kind of thinking. The problem is that we rely on this System One—this almost instinctive response to situations—and often come out with bad answers as a result. That’s a framework within which a lot of his analysis is set.
I chose this book because it’s a good read, and it’s a book you can keep coming back to—but also because it’s written by a very important researcher in the area. So it’s got the authority of the person who did the actual psychological research. But it’s got some great descriptions of the phenomena he researches, I think. Anchoring, for instance. Do you know about anchoring?
I think so. Is that when you provide an initial example that shapes future responses? Perhaps you’d better explain it.
That’s more or less it. If you present somebody with an arbitrary number, psychologically, most people seem prone when you ask them a question to move in the direction of that number. For instance, there’s an experiment with judges. They were being asked off the cuff: What would be a good sentence for a particular crime, say shoplifting? Maybe they’d say it would be a six-month sentence for a persistent shoplifter.
But if you prime a judge by giving an anchoring number—if you ask, ‘Should the sentence for shoplifting be more than nine months?’ They’re more like to say on average that the sentence should be eight months than they would have been otherwise. And if you say, ‘Should it be punished by a sentence of longer than three months?’ they’re more likely to come down in the area of five , than they would otherwise.
So the way you phrase a question, by introducing these numbers, you give an anchoring effect. It sways people’s thinking towards that number. If you ask people if Gandhi was older than 114 years old when he died, people give a higher answer than if you just asked them: ‘How old was Gandhi when he died?’
I’ve heard this discussed in the context of charity donations. Asking if people will donate, say, £20 a month returns a higher average pledge than asking for £1 a month.
People use this anchoring technique often with selling wine on a list too. If there’s a higher-priced wine for £75, then somehow people are more drawn to one that costs £40 than they would otherwise have been. If that was the most expensive one on the menu, they wouldn’t have been drawn to the £40 bottle, but just having seen the higher price, they seem to be drawn to a higher number. This phenomenon occurs in many areas.
And there are so many things that Kahneman covers. There’s the sunk cost fallacy, this tendency that we have when we give our energy, or money, or time to a project—we’re very reluctant to stop, even when it’s irrational to carry on. You see this a lot in descriptions of withdrawal from war situations. We say: ‘We’ve given all those people’s lives, all that money, surely we’re not going to stop this campaign now.’ But it might be the rational thing to do. All that money being thrown there, doesn’t mean that throwing more in that direction will get a good result. It seems that we have a fear of future regret that outweighs everything else. This dominates our thinking.
Support Five Books
Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount .
What Kahneman emphasizes is that System One thinking produces overconfidence based on what’s often an erroneous assessment of a situation. All of us are subject to these cognitive biases, and that they’re extremely difficult to remove. Kahneman’s a deeply pessimistic thinker in some respects; he recognizes that even after years of studying these phenomena he can’t eliminate them from his own thinking. I interviewed him for a podcast once , and said to him: ‘Surely, if you teach people critical thinking, they can get better at eliminating some of these biases.’ He was not optimistic about that. I’m much more optimistic than him. I don’t know whether he had empirical evidence to back that up, about whether studying critical thinking can increase your thinking abilities. But I was surprised how pessimistic he was.
Interesting.
Unlike some of the other authors that we’re going to discuss . . .
Staying on Kahneman for a moment, you mentioned that he’d won a Nobel Prize, not for his research in psychology per se but for his influence on the field of economics . His and Tversky’s ground-breaking work on the irrationality of human behaviour and thinking forms the spine of a new field.
Let’s look at Hans Rosling’s book next, this is Factfulness . What does it tell us about critical thinking?
Rosling was a Swedish statistician and physician, who, amongst other things, gave some very popular TED talks . His book Factfulness , which was published posthumously—his son and daughter-in-law completed the book—is very optimistic, so completely different in tone from Kahneman’s. But he focuses in a similar way on the ways that people make mistakes.
We make mistakes, classically, in being overly pessimistic about things that are changing in the world. In one of Rosling’s examples he asks what percentage of the world population is living on less than $2 a day. People almost always overestimate that number, and also the direction in which things are moving, and the speed in which they’re moving. Actually, in 1966, half of the world’s population was in extreme poverty by that measure, but by 2017 it was only 9%, so there’s been a dramatic reduction in global poverty. But most people don’t realise this because they don’t focus on the facts, and are possibly influenced by what they may have known about the situation in the 1960s.
If people are asked what percentage of children are vaccinated against common diseases, they almost always underestimate it. The correct answer is a very high proportion, something like 80%. Ask people what the life expectancy for every child born today is, the global average, and again they get it wrong. It’s over 70 now, another surprisingly high figure. What Rosling’s done as a statistician is he’s looked carefully at the way the world is.
“Pessimists tend not to notice changes for the better”
People assume that the present is like the past, so when they’ve learnt something about the state of world poverty or they’ve learnt about health, they often neglect to take a second reading and see the direction in which things are moving, and the speed with which things are changing. That’s the message of this book.
It’s an interesting book; it’s very challenging. It may be over-optimistic. But it does have this startling effect on the readers of challenging widely held assumptions, much as Steven Pinker ‘s The Better Angels of Our Nature has done. It’s a plea to look at the empirical data, and not just assume that you know how things are now. But pessimists tend not to notice changes for the better. In many ways, though clearly not in relation to global warming and climate catastrophe, the statistics are actually very good for humanity.
That’s reassuring.
So this is critical thinking of a numerical, statistical kind. It’s a bit different from the more verbally-based critical thinking that I’ve been involved with. I’m really interested to have my my assumptions challenged, and Factfulness is a very readable book. It’s lively and thought-provoking.
Coming back to what you said about formal logic earlier, statistics is another dense subject which needs specialist training. But it’s one that has a lot in common with critical thinking and a lot of people find very difficult—by which I mean, it’s often counter-intuitive.
One of the big problems for an ordinary reader looking at this kind of book is that we are not equipped to judge the reliability of his sources, and so the reliability of the conclusions that he draws. I think we have to take it on trust and authority and hope that, given the division of intellectual labour, there are other statisticians looking at his work and seeing whether he was actually justified in drawing the conclusions that he drew. He made these sorts of public pronouncements for a long time and responded to critics.
But you’re right that there is a problem here. I believe that most people can equip themselves with tools for critical thinking that work in everyday life. They can learn something about cognitive biases; they can learn about reasoning and rhetoric, and I believe that we can put ourselves as members of a democracy in a position where we think critically about the evidence and arguments that are being presented to us, politically and in the press. That should be open to all intelligent people, I think. It is not a particularly onerous task to equip yourself with a basic tools of thinking clearly.
Absolutely. Next you wanted to talk about Five Books alumnus Matthew Syed ‘s Black Box Thinking .
Yes, quite a different book. Matthew Syed is famous as a former international table tennis player, but—most people probably don’t know this—he has a first-class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) from Oxford as well.
This book is really interesting. It’s an invitation to think differently about failure. The title, Black Box Thinking, comes from the black boxes which are standardly included in every passenger aircraft, so that if an accident occurs there’s a recording of the flight data and a recording of the audio communications as the plane goes down. When there’s a crash, rescuers always aim to recover these two black boxes. The data is then analysed, the causes of the crash, dissected and scrutinized, and the information shared across the aeronautic industry and beyond.
Obviously, everybody wants to avoid aviation disasters because they’re so costly in terms of loss of human life. They undermine trust in the whole industry. There’s almost always some kind of technical or human error that can be identified, and everybody can learn from particular crashes. This is a model of an industry where, when there is a failure, it’s treated as a very significant learning experience, with the result that airline travel has become a very safe form of transport.
This contrasts with some other areas of human endeavour, such as, sadly, much of healthcare, where the information about failures often isn’t widely shared. This can be for a number of reasons: there may be a fear of litigation—so if a surgeon does something unorthodox, or makes a mistake, and somebody as a result doesn’t survive an operation, the details of exactly what happened on the operating table will not be widely shared, typically, because there is this great fear of legal comeback.
The hierarchical aspects of the medical profession may have a part to play here, too. People higher up in the profession are able to keep a closed book, and not share their mistakes with others, because it might be damaging to their careers for people to know about their errors. There has been, historically anyway, a tendency for medical negligence and medical error, to be kept very quiet, kept hidden, hard to investigate.
“You can never fully confirm an empirical hypothesis, but you can refute one by finding a single piece of evidence against it”
What Matthew Syed is arguing is that we need to take a different attitude to failure and see it as the aviation industry does. He’s particularly interested in this being done within the healthcare field, but more broadly too. It’s an idea that’s come partly from his reading of the philosopher Karl Popper, who described how science progresses not by proving theories true, but by trying to disprove them. You can never fully confirm an empirical hypothesis, but you can refute one by finding a single piece of evidence against it. So, in a sense, the failure of the hypothesis is the way by which science progresses: conjecture followed by refutation, not hypothesis followed by confirmation.
As Syed argues, we progress in all kinds of areas is by making mistakes. He was a superb table-tennis player, and he knows that every mistake that he made was a learning experience, at least potentially, a chance to improve. I think you’d find the same attitude among musicians, or in areas where practitioners are very attentive to the mistakes that they make, and how those failures can teach them in a way that allows them to make a leap forward. The book has a whole range of examples, many from industry, about how different ways of thinking about failure can improve the process and the output of particular practices.
When we think of bringing up kids to succeed, and put emphasis on avoiding failure, we may not be helping them develop. Syed’s argument is that we should make failure a more positive experience, rather than treat it as something that’s terrifying, and always to be shied away from. If you’re trying to achieve success, and you think, ‘I have to achieve that by accumulating other successes,’ perhaps that’s the wrong mindset to achieve success at the higher levels. Perhaps you need to think, ‘Okay, I’m going to make some mistakes, how can I learn from this, how can I share these mistakes, and how can other people learn from them too?’
That’s interesting. In fact, just yesterday I was discussing a book by Atul Gawande, the surgeon and New Yorker writer, called The Checklist Manifesto . In that, Gawande also argues that we should draw from the success of aviation, in that case, the checklists that they run through before take-off and so on, and apply it to other fields like medicine. A system like this is aiming to get rid of human error, and I suppose that’s what critical thinking tries to do, too: rid us of the gremlins in machine.
Well, it’s also acknowledging that when you make an error, it can have disastrous consequence. But you don’t eliminate errors just by pretending they didn’t occur. With the Chernobyl disaster , for instance, there was an initial unwillingness to accept the evidence in front of people’s eyes that a disaster had occurred, combined with a fear of being seen to have messed up. There’s that tendency to think that everything’s going well, a kind of cognitive bias towards optimism and a fear of being responsible for error, but it’s also this unwillingness to see that in certain areas, admission of failure and sharing of the knowledge that mistakes have occurred is the best way to minimize failure in the future.
Very Beckettian . “Fail again. Fail better.”
Absolutely. Well, shall we move onto to Rolf Dobelli’s 2013 book, The Art of Thinking Clearly ?
Yes. This is quite a light book in comparison with the others. It’s really a summary of 99 moves in thinking, some of them psychological, some of them logical, some of them social. What I like about it is that he uses lots of examples. Each of the 99 entries is pretty short, and it’s the kind of book you can dip into. I would think it would be very indigestible to read it from cover to cover, but it’s a book to keep going back to.
I included it because it suggests you can you improve your critical thinking by having labels for things, recognising the moves, but also by having examples which are memorable, through which you can learn. This is an unpretentious book. Dobelli doesn’t claim to be an original thinker himself; he’s a summariser of other people’s thoughts. What he’s done is brought lots of different things together in one place.
Just to give a flavour of the book: he’s got a chapter on the paradox of choice that’s three pages long called ‘Less is More,’ and it’s the very simple idea that if you present somebody with too many choices, rather than freeing them and improving their life and making them happier, it wastes a lot of their time, even destroys the quality of their life.
“If you present somebody with too many choices, it wastes a lot of their time”
I saw an example of this the other day in the supermarket. I bumped into a friend who was standing in front of about 20 different types of coffee. The type that he usually buys wasn’t available, and he was just frozen in this inability to make a decision between all the other brands that were in front of him. If there’d only been one or two, he’d have just gone for one of those quickly.
Dobelli here is summarising the work of psychologist Barry Schwartz who concluded that generally, a broader selection leads people to make poorer decisions for themselves. We think going into the world that what we need is more choice, because that’ll allow us to do the thing we want to do, acquire just the right consumable, or whatever. But perhaps just raising that possibility, the increased number of choices will lead us to make poorer choices than if we had fewer to choose between.
Now, that’s the descriptive bit, but at the end of this short summary, he asks ‘So what can you do about this practically?’ His answer is that you should think carefully about what you want before you look at what’s on offer. Write down the things you think you want and stick to them. Don’t let yourself be swayed by further choices. And don’t get caught up in a kind of irrational perfectionism. This is not profound advice, but it’s stimulating. And that’s typical of the book.
You can flip through these entries and you can take them or leave them. It’s a kind of self-help manual.
Oh, I love that. A critical thinking self-help book .
It really is in that self-help genre, and it’s nicely done. He gets in and out in a couple of pages for each of these. I wouldn’t expect this to be on a philosophy reading list or anything like that, but it’s been an international bestseller. It’s a clever book, and I think it’s definitely worth dipping into and coming back to. The author is not claiming that it is the greatest or most original book in the world; rather, it’s just a book that’s going to help you think clearly. That’s the point.
Absolutely. Let’s move to the final title, Tom Chatfield’s Critical Thinking: Your Guide to Effective Argument, Successful Analysis and Independent Study . We had Tom on Five Books many moons ago to discuss books about computer games . This is rather different. What makes it so good?
Well, this is a different kind of book. I was trying to think about somebody reading this interview who wants to improve their thinking. Of the books I’ve discussed, the ones that are most obviously aimed at that are Black Box Thinking , the Dobelli book, and Tom Chatfield’s Critical Thinking . The others are more descriptive or academic. But this book is quite a contrast with the Dobelli’s. The Art of Thinking Clearly is a very short and punchy book, while Tom’s is longer, and more of a textbook. It includes exercises, with summaries in the margins, it’s printed in textbook format. But that shouldn’t put a general reader off, because I think it’s the kind of thing you can work through yourself and dip into.
It’s clearly written and accessible, but it is designed to be used on courses as well. Chatfield teaches a point, then asks you to test yourself to see whether you’ve learnt the moves that he’s described. It’s very wide-ranging: it includes material on cognitive biases as well as more logical moves and arguments. His aim is not simply to help you think better, and to structure arguments better, but also to write better. It’s the kind of book that you might expect a good university to present to the whole first year intake, across a whole array of courses. But I’m including it here more as a recommendation for the autodidact. If you want to learn to think better: here is a course in the form of a book. You can work through this on your own.
It’s a contrast with the other books as well, so that’s part of my reason for putting it in there, so there’s a range of books on this list.
Definitely. I think Five Books readers, almost by definition, tend towards autodidacticism, so this is a perfect book recommendation. And, finally, to close: do you think that critical thinking is something that more people should make an effort to learn? I suppose the lack of it might help to explain the rise of post-truth politics.
It’s actually quite difficult to teach critical thinking in isolation. In the Open University’s philosophy department, when I worked there writing and designing course materials, we decided in the end to teach critical thinking as it arose in teaching other content: by stepping back from time to time to look at the critical thinking moves being made by philosophers, and the critical thinking moves a good student might make in response to them. Pedagogically, that often works much better than attempting to teach critical thinking as a separate subject in isolation.
This approach can work in scientific areas too. A friend of mine has run a successful university course for zoologists on critical thinking, looking at correlation and cause, particular types of rhetoric that are used in write ups and experiments, and so on, but all the time driven by real examples from zoology. If you’ve got some subject matter, and you’ve got examples of people reasoning, and you can step back from it, I think this approach can work very well.
But in answer to your question, I think that having some basic critical thinking skills is a prerequisite of being a good citizen in a democracy . If you are too easily swayed by rhetoric, weak at analysing arguments and the ways that people use evidence, and prone to all kinds of biases that you are unaware of, how can you engage politically? So yes, all of us can improve our critical thinking skills, and I do believe that that is an aspect of living the examined life that Socrates was so keen we all should do.
December 4, 2020
Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. If you are the interviewee and would like to update your choice of books (or even just what you say about them) please email us at [email protected]
Nigel Warburton
Nigel Warburton is a freelance philosopher, writer and host of the podcast Philosophy Bites . Featuring short interviews with the world's best philosophers on bite-size topics, the podcast has been downloaded more than 40 million times. He is also our philosophy editor here at Five Books , where he has been interviewing other philosophers about the best books on a range of philosophy topics since 2013 (you can read all the interviews he's done here: not all are about philosophy). In addition, he's recommended books for us on the best introductions to philosophy , the best critical thinking books, as well as some of the key texts to read in the Western canon . His annual recommendations of the best philosophy books of the year are among our most popular interviews on Five Books . As an author, he is best known for his introductory philosophy books, listed below:
We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.
This site has an archive of more than one thousand seven hundred interviews, or eight thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.
Five Books participates in the Amazon Associate program and earns money from qualifying purchases.
© Five Books 2024
Best Books on Critical Thinking
Dive into the realm of logic and reason with this collection – the most recommended books on critical thinking, curated based on frequent recommendations from leading book blogs and publications..
![critical thinking books to read Thinking, Fast and Slow book cover](https://img.readthistwice.com/unsafe/240x360/books/d5682ec6-7429-4564-aa97-1ba227cccc1d.jpg)
Best Books Hub
Reviews of The Best Books on Every Subject
20 Best Books on Critical Thinking (2022 Review)
September 16, 2020 by James Wilson
![critical thinking books to read Best-Critical-Thinking-Book](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Best-Critical-Thinking-Book.jpg)
DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, I receive a commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Critical thinking is a skill/mindset that enables a person to think logically. Critical thinking is a vital necessity for everyone these days who want to perform exceptionally. No matter what field of life you are in, let it be a student, a teacher, an athlete or a corporate employee. There are high chances that you will need to enable critical thinking to find a noteworthy solution to your problems and be able to move forward effectively.
To enable critical thinking, there are certain things involved. These include evaluating evidence, weighing the chances, analysing assumptions and more. Once you start your journey towards critical thinking, you start to take the next steps automatically. It is a journey that takes you from assumptions to the realities that are possible.
What are the Best Critical Thinking Books to read?
![critical thinking books to read Critical Thinking Skills For Dummies](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/plugins/aawp/public/assets/img/thumb-spacer.png)
With effective critical thinking skills, it is impossible for you to be fooled by anyone. You can read one’s intentions right away. You can even see what other people cannot, based on evidence and argument.
If you are looking to grow respective critical thinking skills, and want to learn it quick. We have compiled a list of books that you can read the review for. This will enable you to choose the right book on critical thinking for your learning journey.
Best Books on Critical Thinking: Our Top 20 Picks
Here are some of the best critical thinking books that you can consider to expand your knowledge on the subject:
1. Critical Thinking Skills for Dummies
![critical thinking books to read Critical Thinking Skills For Dummies](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Critical-Thinking-Skills-For-Dummies.jpg)
Of Course, we all are already aware of the “For Dummies” series. For those who are not, this series presents an absolute and definitive guide for the beginners. With the help of this series, everyone can effectively learn the skills from the beginner level to advance. If you have little to zero knowledge about critical thinking and want to learn, this is the book for you.
The book has been written by Martin Cohen. It serves the purpose by enabling its readers to get access to the most comprehensible and easy-to-read narrative on critical thinking. The book provides you with access to several tools that you can activate to develop reflective thinking. There is also deep insight from the beginners’ level on how you can brainstorm to generate insights.
- Authors : Martin Cohen (Author)
- Publisher : For Dummies; 1st Edition (May 4, 2015)
- Pages : 376 pages
2. Think Smarter: Critical thinking to improve problem-solving and decision-making skills
![critical thinking books to read Think Smarter Critical Thinking to Improve Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Think-Smarter-Critical-Thinking-to-Improve-Problem-Solving-and-Decision-Making-Skills.jpg)
Critical thinking is a necessary skill for all that are studying, teaching, or working in any part of life. It enables you to look at the flaws in a system, a story, a program, a project or virtually anything so you can effectively improve it.
This book is all about using critical thinking to improve problem-solving and decision-making skills. Written by Michael Kallet, the book presents valuable arguments that you can use to weigh your options, find the flaws and improve your critical thinking skills. This book goes beyond the concepts and is about the examples of real-world scenarios that will not only serve as a clear piece of understanding for you but also help you with the exercise and practice of such skills. The book has over 25 tools for critical thinking with real-world examples.
- Authors : Michael Kallet (Author)
- Publisher : Wiley; 1st Edition (April 7, 2014)
- Pages : 240 pages
3. Critical Thinking (10th Edition)
![critical thinking books to read Critical Thinking](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Critical-Thinking.jpg)
There are levels of Critical thinking classified with the understanding and utilization level of the students. The course enables students to think logically and critically not only in the class but in the real-world to make effective decisions.
It will not be wrong to call this book the most taught textbook on critical thinking subjects. The book is written by Brooke Noel Moore and Richard Parker. It presents the students with a buffet of examples and exercises that they can perform within or outside the class to enable their critical thinking skills and do well in their life. The book presents a highly understandable version of critical thinking in Moore’s famous, engaging narrative.
- Authors : Brooke Noel Moore (Author), Richard Parker (Author)
- Publisher : McGraw-Hill; 10th Edition (January 1, 2012)
- Pages : 576 pages
4. Critical Thinking: Tools for taking charge of your learning and your life (3rd Edition)
![critical thinking books to read Critical Thinking Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life (3rd Edition)](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Critical-Thinking-Tools-for-Taking-Charge-of-Your-Learning-and-Your-Life-3rd-Edition.jpg)
Critical thinking has become highly popular in the last couple of decades. It enables you with an approach of integration and making decisions based on viable arguments and evidence instead of hallow words. The sixth sense is a thing, but weighing your arguments and the right evidence laying in front of you is what critical thinking enables you to do.
Written by two experts of the field Richard Paul, and Linda Elder, this book presents its readers with a huge list of interactive tools that they can learn to utilize in their learning journey towards critical thinking. This book is focused on a comprehensive and practical approach to critical thinking that is to be used in everyday life. With this book, you can get your hands on some new diagrams that will enhance your decision-making skills.
- Authors : Richard Paul (Author), Linda Elder (Author)
- Publisher : Pearson; 3rd Edition (November 20, 2019)
- Pages : 528 pages
5. The power of Critical Thinking: Effective Reasoning about Ordinary and Extraordinary claims
![critical thinking books to read The Power of Critical Thinking](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Power-of-Critical-Thinking.jpg)
Critical thinking is a power that takes you from assuming to believing. It enables you to understand the truth laying behind the valid evidences that someone is trying to hide it from you. It is a skill to believe in the true version of events instead of hallow words.
Written by Lewis Vaughn, this book is the right read for you if you are looking to enable and use critical thinking in your daily routine. The book enables you access to a wide range of tools you need to apply for critical thinking in daily life. It provides a perspective understandable and applicable by students, teachers, corporate workers, and normal people alike. Including scientific reasoning, evidence, authority, and visual reasoning this book can enable you to get the skills of critical thinking in a commendable manner.
- Authors : Lewis Vaughn (Author)
- Publisher : Oxford University Press; 6th Edition (September 20, 2018)
- Pages : 600 pages
6. Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing: A Brief Guide to Argument (9th Edition)
![critical thinking books to read Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Critical-Thinking-Reading-and-Writing.jpg)
If you are a reader, student or an individual with a job requirement of reading and getting the right information. This book is the right guide for you. This book is a comprehensive, compact guide for all those who want to learn the right skillset to weigh arguments based on validity and authority.
The book presents you with a number of real-life examples that will enable you to understand the fundamentals of skimming through the information and improve your analysis to reach the right conclusion. Written by Sylvan Barnet, Hugo Bedau, and John O’Hara this book has all the information and guidance to enable critical thinking and create valid arguments based on facts and figures.
- Authors : Sylvan Barnet (Author), Hugo Bedau (Author), John O’Hara (Author)
- Publisher : Bedford/St. Martin’s; Ninth Edition (October 4, 2016)
7. Critical Thinking (11th Edition)
![critical thinking books to read Critical Thinking 11th Edition](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Critical-Thinking-11th-Edition.jpg)
Critical thinking is being taught as a course in most schools. It enables the students to make the right decisions in life effectively and to weigh the chances for their success. Critical thinking is a necessary tool for all who want to survive in this highly competitive world and outperform their selves every day.
It will not be wrong to call this book a Textbook. Written by Brooke Noel Moore, and Richard Parker this book contains a unique and interactive approach towards learning the skills required to enable critical thinking. There are real-world applications that enable the students and instructors alike to understand the concepts better. The book is a great help for not only scoring grades in the course but also being able to use the concepts and learnings effectively in daily routine.
- Publisher : McGraw-Hill Education; 11th Edition (January 15, 2014)
- Pages : 512 pages
8. Models for Critical Thinking: A fundamental guide to effective decision making, deep analysis, Intelligent reasoning, and independent thinking
![critical thinking books to read Models For Critical Thinking](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Models-For-Critical-Thinking.jpg)
Critical thinking has benefits far more reasonable and useful beyond the academic career. While there are no doubts about the importance of critical thinking for educational purposes. There are also a number of other applications that you can use critical thinking to analyse and understand the process of certain things going around.
Written by Albert Rutherford, this book is a marvel of critical thinking. With this book, you can get your hands on some advance concepts and techniques used to enable critical thinking. And the best part is, there are also numerous applications including that will enable you to enhance your critical thinking skills. The book contains elaborative insight on how you can apply logic to analyse and everyday events around you and use that to save yourself from getting tricked or manipulated.
- Authors : Albert Rutherford (Author)
- Publisher : Independently published (October 17, 2018)
- Pages : 278 pages
9. LOGITICA: Improve your critical thinking and problem-solving skills: the brain behind the brain
![critical thinking books to read LOGITICA Improve Your Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills The Brain Behind the Brain](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/LOGITICA-Improve-Your-Critical-Thinking-and-Problem-Solving-Skills-The-Brain-Behind-the-Brain.jpg)
Problem-solving skills rely greatly on critical thinking. To understand an error in your work and to effectively eliminate that requires a deeper sense of understanding towards the comprehension of the reasons that may have caused the error and how you can improve.
This book is based on logistical facts and figures rather than assumptions, that could have been true. Logics presents you with a more accurate opportunity and approach towards improving our problem-solving skills. Written by Neelabh Kumar, this book is a right guide for all those who want to understand an in-depth perspective of what may have caused an error and how you can eliminate the possibility of recurrence through enhances critical thinking skills.
- Authors : Neelabh Kumar (Author)
- Publisher : Independently published (January 8, 2019)
- Pages : 329 pages
10. A workbook for arguments, Second Edition: A complete course in critical thinking
![critical thinking books to read A Workbook for Arguments, Second Edition](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/A-Workbook-for-Arguments-Second-Edition.jpg)
This second edition of a highly popular guide on critical thinking contains all major improvements that back the fundamentals of the first edition. However, advancement and revelations are continued and this book is the right example of moving forward in your journey of learning critical thinking efficiently.
The book is written by David R. Morrow and Anthony Weston. In this book, they present an understandable and easy to imply narrative towards critical thinking. The book contains elaborative information on all the exercises of critical thinking. Also, it has improved and enhanced version of scientific reasoning that was discussed in earlier edition. This is a perfect workbook for all the students and those who are looking to improve their critical thinking skills.
- Authors : David R. Morrow (Author), Anthony Weston (Author)
- Publisher : Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.; Second Edition (November 1, 2015)
11. From Critical Thinking to Argument: A Portable Guide (5th Edition)
![critical thinking books to read From Critical Thinking to Argument A Portable Guide](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/From-Critical-Thinking-to-Argument-A-Portable-Guide.jpg)
Critical Thinking is a valuable skill for all, especially the writers. While other people have to self-analyse and use the information for their own improvements and apply them their selves. Writers are required to craft the arguments based on the information and their critical thinking skills.
This book is written by Sylvan Barnet, Hugo Bedau, and John O’Hara. It is a handbook that is compact and has a precise narrative to not only enhance critical thinking skills but also to improve the knowledge. The book contains practical exercises on how one can effectively craft the arguments based on facts, figures, and assumptions that might come true.
- Publisher : Bedford/St. Martin’s; Fifth Edition (December 22, 2016)
- Pages : 432 pages
12. Critical Thinking: The effective Beginner’s guide to master logical facilities using a scientific approach and improve your rational thinking skills with problem-solving tools to make better decisions
![critical thinking books to read Critical Thinking The Effective Beginner’s Guide to Master Logical Fallacies Using a Scientific Approach and Improve Your Rational Thinking Skills With Problem-Solving Tools to Make Better Decisions](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Critical-Thinking-The-Effective-Beginner’s-Guide-to-Master-Logical-Fallacies-Using-a-Scientific-Approach-and-Improve-Your-Rational-Thinking-Skills-With-Problem-Solving-Tools-to-Make-Better-Decisions.jpg)
Thinking deep and analytically requires you to work on your thinking process and analyse the information effectively. These are some skills that require you to work on yourself and the way you look at things. It includes changing your narrative towards the things that might be causing hindrance in your thinking process and clouding your judgment.
The book is written & published by Travis Holiday, and Kevin Hollins. This is the right guide for all the beginners to start thinking rationally and based on the facts that are affecting things around you. There are indicators that allow you to see the reality hidden behind things and words with absolute meaning. However, there are deeper practices along the way and you must understand those to start thinking effectively the right possible way. This book is the right guide that will take you from beginner to master-level critical thinking approach through its easy to understand and imply a narrative.
- Authors : Travis Holiday (Author), Kevin Hollins (Author)
- Publisher : Independently published (September 18, 2019)
- Pages : 210 pages
13. Critical Thinking (12th Edition)
![critical thinking books to read Critical Thinking 12th Edition](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Critical-Thinking-12th-Edition.jpg)
Researches are being conducted daily on critical thinking. With each passing day, there are new and more effective concepts that are being discovered and proven right. These concepts are not a denial to older ones but strengthen their validity. If you are looking to get your hands on some of the latest concepts of Critical thinking, this is the right book for you.
Written by Brooke Noel Moore and Richard Parker, this book presents you with the most up-to-date concepts of critical thinking. It has an improved narrative and hundreds of latest examples based on real-world scenarios that will enable you to think critically and improve your decision-making skills in every part of your life.
- Publisher : McGraw-Hill Higher Education; 12th Edition (October 25, 2016)
14. The basics of Critical Thinking
![critical thinking books to read The Basics of Critical Thinking](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Basics-of-Critical-Thinking.jpg)
Young minds are more interesting and they are more curious. Curiosity is considered the first step toward critical thinking. It is believed that habits made in early age stays with you for life. Critical thinking is more of a habit, a lifestyle than a skill set that you can earn over time. Hence, this book presents a version of basic tools that can enable younger minds to get hold of the basics of critical thinking.
The book follows simple English with a narrative that is easier to understand for children. To increase interest, this book contains a colourful and image-based description of things. The book is written by Michael Baker. While it is intended for younger people, that does not mean adults cannot read it. For all those who want to learn the fundamentals of critical thinking and to enable their selves to analyse things effectively, this book is a worthy read.
- Authors : Michael Baker (Author), Children’s Books – Educational (Introduction)
- Publisher : The Critical Thinking Co. (January 1, 2015)
- Pages : 152 pages
15. Tools of Critical Thinking: Meta thoughts of psychology, second edition.
![critical thinking books to read Tools of Critical Thinking](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Tools-of-Critical-Thinking.jpg)
While there are other books that focus on basics and how you can start analysing things and events to think critically. This book is focused more on in-depth analysis and understanding of psychology involved behind decision making and critical thinking approach.
Written by David A. Levy, this book presents a highly understandable narrative and approach towards thinking critically and to understand how human psychology works towards it. If you are having problems in thinking critically due to the emotions attached and are unable to get ahead of these. This book is the perfect guide for you.
- Authors : David A. Levy (Author)
- Publisher : Waveland Pr Inc; 2nd Edition (September 1, 2009)
- Pages : 298 pages
16. Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific guide to critical thinking skills
![critical thinking books to read Your Deceptive Mind a scientific guide to critical thinking skills (courses guidebook)](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Your-Deceptive-Mind-a-scientific-guide-to-critical-thinking-skills-courses-guidebook.jpg)
Our minds can often deceive us to think differently, while the truth is looking right in your eyes. Being said that, human judgment and decision making can often be clouded by certain feelings that are attached to it. There is no denial to it that sometimes we are unable to look at the reality because of our emotions and feelings.
This book is the right guide for all those who think that they are lacking in any field of life due to their emotions and being unable to think critically on the subject. The book presents you with a blunt and harsh narrative to stop relying on emotions and scientifically understand the factors that are stopping you from thinking critically and efficiently. It is written by Steven Novella and published by The Great Courses. The book also includes a critical toolbox that you can use to access the quality of information and skillset required to think critically.
- Authors : Professor Steven Novella (Author), Yale School of Medicine (Foreword)
- Publisher : The Great Courses (January 1, 2012)
17. Master Critical Thinking: Think Intelligently, Improve Problem-Solving Skills, make better Decisions, and Upgrade your life.
![critical thinking books to read Master Critical Thinking](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Master-Critical-Thinking.jpg)
To master critical thinking, one must have several goals. The goals can be thinking intelligently and enable enhanced thinking, improving your problem-solving skills or simply making better decisions in everyday life.
Whatever your goals may be, critical thinking is the right approach towards upgrading your life with the help of improving each decision and backing it based on solid arguments instead of vague assumptions and emotions attached to it that can be deceiving at times. If you often struggle with the urge to make the right decision and want to get over with the gut feelings you have. This book will guide you to start thinking critically instead of simply relying on emotions and assumptions.
- Authors : Henrik Rodgers (Author)
- Publisher : Independently published (July 9, 2019)
- Pages : 116 pages
18. Critical Thinking: The Beginners User manual to Improve your communication and self-confidence skills Every day. The Tools and the concepts for problem-solving and decision making.
![critical thinking books to read Critical Thinking The Beginners User Manual to Improve Your Communication and Self Confidence Skills Everyday](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Critical-Thinking-The-Beginners-User-Manual-to-Improve-Your-Communication-and-Self-Confidence-Skills-Everyday..jpg)
To learn from your own failures is the right way to understand and not make those mistakes again. It is the best practice to improve your own-self. However, to improve and to correct your own mistakes, the right approach is to realise them. While there are people, who can turn a blind eye towards their own mistakes. This book is the right guide that teaches you how not to. The book contains great insight into self-realization and how you can use it to improve your own thinking skills.
The book is written by Jacko Babin and Ray Manson. It contains elaborative insight on how you can effectively stop second-guessing yourself and have a confident approach towards improving the mistakes. Once you have realized your own mistakes, the rest of the journey becomes easier for you. The book also contains numerous real-life examples that will help you understand these concepts in a much better way.
- Authors : Jocko Babin (Author), Ray Manson (Author)
- Publisher : Independently published (March 9, 2019)
- Pages : 147 pages
19. A concise guide to critical thinking (1st Edition)
![critical thinking books to read Concise Guide to Critical Thinking](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Concise-Guide-to-Critical-Thinking.jpg)
Lewis Vaughn is considered an expert on the subject of critical thinking. He has written several books covering the topic. His books contain an in-depth analysis of how you can enable critical thinking in your daily routine and what might be stopping you from doing so.
This book, however, can be deemed as a complete summary of concepts being advocated by him. Along with the guidance on covering the obstacles that are stopping you and enabling your mind to think critically. This book contains a highly understandable and easy to follow the narrative that will be great for all the beginners to understand and imply critical thinking from scratch to master level.
- Publisher : Oxford University Press; Annotated – Illustrated Edition (October 1, 2017)
- Pages : 352 pages
20. The miniature guide to critical thinking concepts and tools (Thinker’s guide library)
![critical thinking books to read The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Miniature-Guide-to-Critical-Thinking-Concepts-and-Tools.jpg)
If you are looking to master critical thinking and do not have time to read extensive concepts and get yourself indulged with the psychic or scientific approach. This is the book for you. This book presents a concise and to-the-point approach to critical thinking concepts and tools.
Written by Richard Paul and Linda Elder, the book does not only contain all the information required to understand the concepts on critical thinking but also how you can imply those in your daily life to enhance your decision making and critical thinking skills effectively. The book presents a short and easy to follow approach towards the subject.
- Publisher : The Foundation for Critical Thinking; Eighth Edition (September 20, 2019)
- Pages : 48 pages
Choosing the Best Critical Thinking Books
Critical thinking is not just a skill-set. It is a way of life that enables you to make the right decisions in every part of life. It also enables you to understand the things, events and the factors involved behind them efficiently. With the help of critical thinking, you can analyse the events and decisions unbiased by any sort of feelings or attachments.
We have gone through these books and compiled a list of critical reviews on these books. If you are looking to start thinking critically and are unsure of where to start. This guide will definitely help you to choose the right book to aid your learning journey.
![books-newsletter books-newsletter](https://bestbookshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/books-newsletter.jpg)
Subscribe To Email List
FREE Great Book Recommendations
Don't Miss Out On Books You Must Read
We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time
What are the Top 20 Best Critical Thinking Books?
There are many great books on critical thinking, including but not limited to Thinknetic’s “The Habit of Critical Thinking,” Rebecca Stobaugh’s “50 Strategies to Boost Cognitive Engagement,” and Jonathan Haber’s “Critical Thinking: Part of the MIT Press Essential Knowledge.”
With all the books on critical thinking available, how do you best determine which you should read? The rest of this article will break down the top 20 books on critical thinking followed by the Amazon link and a short description of each.
What is Critical Thinking?
Critical thinking is the ability to objectively analyze and evaluate an issue in order to form judgment, which is vital in today’s world. While critical thinking begins in early childhood and is taught at the primary and secondary education levels, it is always best to keep your critical thinking skills sharp.
Why is Critical Thinking Important?
Communication is key to healthy relationships and communities. Critical thinking enables individuals to express their thoughts, ideas, and beliefs in constructive ways. In relationships, critical thinking is vital to avoid frustration and miscommunication.
The Top 20 Books on Critical Thinking
The following books can all be found on Amazon.com, and a link is provided for each.
1.) Critical Thinking ; Logic Mastery (Series by Thinknetic)
Most of these books are available on Kindle Unlimited. You can purchase them individually or as a set.
2.) Critical Thinking and the Analytical Mind by Marcus P. Dawson
This book teaches the reader the art of making decisions and solving problems while thinking clearly and avoiding cognitive biases and fallacies in systems.
3.) Critical Thinking: The 12 Rules for Intelligent Thinking by Jason Dyer
4.) 50 Strategies to Boost Cognitive Engagement by Rebecca Stobaugh
This valuable book for teachers of any grade level – from elementary to college – helps build a culture of thinking that transforms any classroom into an environment of active learning and student engagement.
5.) Critical Thinking: The MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series by Jonathan Haber
6.) The Critical Thinking Toolkit by Galen A. Foresman, Peter S. Fosl, and Jamie C. Watson
This comprehensive book takes a wide view with critical thinking perspectives in psychology, sociology, philosophy, and political science. It applies critical thinking to subjects such as race and gender, symbols in rhetoric, and cognitive biases.
7.) Critical Thinking: A Beginner’s Guide to Developing Reasoning Skills by Morris Cullen
Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/3DX6t7w
8.) Critical Thinking Beginner’s Guide: Learn How Reasoning by Logic Improves Effective Problem Solving by Carl Patterson
This book contains the tools to think smarter and level up intuition to reach your potential and grow your mindfulness.
9.) Thinking Guide for Busy People by Harvey Smart
10.) Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
This New York Times Bestseller won the Nobel Prize in Economics.
11.) Overthinking is NOT the Solution by Robert J. Charles
12.) Communication Skills Training by Ian Tuhovsky
13.) Self-Discipline: How to Build Mental Toughness and Focus to Achieve your Goals by John Winters
14.) Critical Thinking Mastery by Carl Patterson
A beginner’s guide to increase intuition, improve communication, and solve problems.
15.) Master Your Emotions by Thibaut Meurisse
16.) Rethinking How We Think by Charles M. Johnston, MD
17.) Critical Thinking by Brooke Noel Moore and Richard Parker
18.) Critical Thinking in Psychology, edited by Robert J. Sternberg
This textbook is a guide for psychology students to think critically about key topics such as experimental research, statistical analysis, and ethical judgments.
19.) Thinking in Systems and Mental Models by Marcus P. Dawson
20.) Critical Thinking by Tom Chatfield
This valuable resource serves as a guide for effective argument, successful analysis, and independent study.
You may also like
Debate & critical thinking, examples of critical thinking in everyday, critical reading strategies, divergent thinking and memory: unleashing your cognitive potential, download this free ebook.
10 Best Books on Critical Thinking & Analytical Skills
In today’s world, where information is abundant and often conflicting, it’s essential to possess strong critical thinking and analytical skills. Critical thinking helps us make informed decisions, evaluate arguments and claims, and solve problems. Analytical skills, on the other hand, allow us to break down complex issues and data into more manageable parts, making it easier to understand and act upon them.
Why Critical Thinking and Analytical Skills are Essential
Critical thinking and analytical skills are essential because they enable us to navigate the ever-changing landscape of information, knowledge, and ideas. In a world where we are bombarded with information from multiple sources, these skills help us assess the reliability and validity of that information and make informed decisions.
Moreover, critical thinking and analytical skills are crucial for academic success. Students who develop these skills can analyze and evaluate complex texts, arguments, and ideas, and formulate their own opinions based on evidence. These skills also help students in their research projects, enabling them to differentiate between credible and unreliable sources, and critically evaluate the evidence presented in those sources.
The Importance of Critical Thinking in Daily Life
Every aspect of our life requires critical thinking, be it personal relationships, buying a product online, or evaluating political campaigns. Critical thinking helps us identify and evaluate assumptions, biases, and arguments and make decisions based on evidence.
For instance, critical thinking can help us evaluate the claims made in advertisements and make informed decisions about the products we buy. It can also help us identify and challenge stereotypes and biases in our personal relationships, leading to more respectful and inclusive interactions.
How Analytical Skills Enhance Problem-Solving Abilities
Problem-solving is an essential skill in the workplace and personal life. Analytical skills help us break down complex problems into smaller parts, identify the root causes, and develop effective solutions. Analytical thinkers can predict possible outcomes and assess the risks involved in decision-making.
Furthermore, analytical skills can help us in our everyday life. For example, when faced with a household problem such as a leaky faucet, analytical skills can help us diagnose the problem, identify the necessary tools and materials, and develop a plan to fix the issue.
In conclusion, critical thinking and analytical skills are essential for success in both personal and professional life. These skills enable us to make informed decisions, evaluate information, and solve complex problems. Therefore, it is important to cultivate these skills through education and practice.
The Top 10 Books on Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is an essential skill that helps us navigate the complexities of the world around us. It enables us to analyze information, evaluate arguments, and make informed decisions. If you’re looking to improve your critical thinking skills, here are ten books that can help you on your journey.
“Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman
This book is a fascinating exploration of how our brain processes information and makes decisions. Drawing on insights from neuroscience, psychology, and economics, Kahneman shows how we can overcome cognitive biases and think more critically. He also offers practical tips for improving our decision-making skills.
You can find this book here .
“The Art of Thinking Clearly” by Rolf Dobelli
In this book, Dobelli provides readers with 99 clear-thinking errors, biases, and fallacies that they should avoid. He uses real-life examples to make his points more relatable and offers practical advice for improving our critical thinking skills.
“The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking” by Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird
This book draws on insights from neuroscience, education, and psychology to reveal the five essential elements of critical thinking. Burger and Starbird provide a framework for thinking about challenging problems and coming up with innovative solutions. They also offer practical tips for improving our problem-solving skills.
“Critical Thinking: A Concise Guide” by Tracy Bowell and Gary Kemp
If you’re new to critical thinking, this book is an excellent place to start. Bowell and Kemp provide readers with an introduction to critical thinking, including a breakdown of the key concepts, tools, and techniques. They also cover ethics, reasoning, and argument evaluation.
“The Power of Critical Thinking” by Lewis Vaughn
In this book, Vaughn explores how critical thinking can improve our daily lives. He provides tips and tools for analyzing and evaluating arguments, and includes real-life examples and exercises to help readers develop their critical thinking skills.
“Think Smarter: Critical Thinking to Improve Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills” by Michael Kallet
Kallet offers readers a step-by-step approach to critical thinking, including how to identify biases, assumptions, and problems. He also provides tools and techniques that can help in making better decisions. This book is a must-read for anyone looking to improve their problem-solving skills.
“The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark” by Carl Sagan
Sagan’s book is a powerful exploration of the importance of scientific thinking and skepticism in a world where misinformation and superstition often dominate. He provides readers with a foundation in scientific thinking that can help them evaluate claims and evidence more effectively.
“Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing” by Jamie Holmes
In this book, Holmes explores how embracing uncertainty and ambiguity can improve critical thinking skills. He includes real-life examples and explores how different approaches to problem-solving can lead to better outcomes. This book is a great read for anyone looking to expand their thinking beyond the confines of certainty.
“The Logic of Scientific Discovery” by Karl Popper
This book is a classic in the philosophy of science and explores how scientific theories are developed and tested. Popper provides readers with a framework for evaluating claims and evidence and can help them understand the scientific process more fully. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the scientific method.
“The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” by Thomas S. Kuhn
Kuhn’s book explores how scientific paradigms shift over time and how new ideas and technologies can challenge and replace old ones. He provides readers with a deeper understanding of how scientific ideas are developed and can help them evaluate the validity and reliability of scientific claims and evidence. This book is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the history of science.
Tips for Developing Your Critical Thinking Skills
Developing critical thinking skills is essential for navigating the complexities of modern life with confidence and clarity. In addition to reading books on the subject, there are several ways to develop your critical thinking skills. Here are a few tips:
Practice Active Listening
Active listening is a crucial component of critical thinking. When you’re communicating with others, actively listen to what they’re saying, and ask questions to clarify their points. This will help you understand their perspective and challenge your own assumptions. By doing so, you can broaden your perspective and gain new insights that you may not have considered before.
For example, if you’re having a conversation with someone who has a different political view than you, instead of immediately dismissing their opinion, ask them why they believe what they do. By doing so, you can gain a better understanding of their perspective and challenge your own assumptions.
Ask Thought-Provoking Questions
Asking thought-provoking questions is another way to develop your critical thinking skills. Instead of accepting surface-level explanations, dig deeper by asking questions that challenge assumptions and break down complex problems. Questions like “why?” and “how?” can help you identify underlying issues and gain a deeper understanding of a problem.
For example, if you’re trying to solve a problem at work, instead of accepting the first solution that comes to mind, ask yourself why that solution is the best option. By doing so, you can identify potential flaws in your thinking and develop a more effective solution.
Reflect on Your Own Thinking Process
Self-reflection is a critical component of developing your critical thinking skills. Take time to reflect on your own thinking process and identify any biases or assumptions that may be influencing your decisions. By doing so, you can become more aware of your own thought patterns and develop more effective strategies for critical thinking.
For example, if you’re trying to make a decision about a job offer, take time to reflect on your own biases and assumptions about the job, the company, and the industry. By doing so, you can make a more informed decision that is based on facts rather than assumptions.
Reading books on critical thinking and analytical skills can also help us develop a more effective approach to problem-solving and decision-making. By honing these skills, we can navigate the complexities of modern life with confidence and clarity.
- Recent Posts
- The 11 Best Books About Cats You Should Read - January 16, 2024
- The 9 Best Books on Building Confidence - January 16, 2024
- Discover the 10 Best Books on the Brain - January 16, 2024
Related Posts:
100 Best Critical Thinking Books of All Time
We've researched and ranked the best critical thinking books in the world, based on recommendations from world experts, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. Learn more
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/reid-hoffman-2207.jpg)
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Kahneman | 5.00
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/barack-obama-7425.jpg)
Barack Obama A few months ago, Mr. Obama read “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman, about how people make decisions — quick, instinctive thinking versus slower, contemplative deliberation. For Mr. Obama, a deliberator in an instinctive business, this may be as instructive as any political science text. (Source)
Bill Gates [On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012.] (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/marc-andreessen-7914.jpg)
Marc Andreessen Captivating dive into human decision making, marred by inclusion of several/many? psychology studies that fail to replicate. Will stand as a cautionary tale? (Source)
See more recommendations for this book...
Factfulness
Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund, Ola Rosling | 4.62
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/nigel-warburton-7766.jpg)
Barack Obama As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved. It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors – some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before. Here’s my best of 2018... (Source)
Bill Gates This was a breakthrough to me. The framework Hans enunciates is one that took me decades of working in global development to create for myself, and I could have never expressed it in such a clear way. I’m going to try to use this model moving forward. (Source)
Nigel Warburton It’s an interesting book, it’s very challenging. It may be over-optimistic. But it does have this startling effect on the readers of challenging widely held assumptions. It’s a plea to look at the empirical data, and not just assume that you know how things are now. (Source)
The Demon-haunted World
Science As a Candle in the Dark
Carl Sagan | 4.54
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/james-randi-27278.jpg)
James Randi First of all, Carl was my very good friend, and we had a lot of confidences over the years. He was the epitome of the scientific mind and the scientific thinker. In The Demon-Haunted World, one of his later books, he investigates pseudoscience, frauds and fakes, and the mistakes that scientists made over the years. It’s very comprehensive. He had a whole chapter devoted to “Carlos” – or Jose... (Source)
Philip Plait He holds your hand and shows you the wonders of science and the universe. The Demon-Haunted World is probably his best book. (Source)
Dallas Campbell @TheChilterns Even if you profoundly disagree with Clarke, it’s very detailed. The classic is of course ‘The Demon Haunted World’ by Carl Sagan. When I’m Prime Minister it will be compulsory reading at school! Best book on what science is/isn’t and why we think the way we do. 👍 (Source)
The Psychology of Persuasion
Robert B. Cialdini | 4.53
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/charles-t-munger-2334.jpg)
Charles T. Munger Robert Cialdini has had a greater impact on my thinking on this topic than any other scientist. (Source)
Dan Ariely It covers a range of ways in which we end up doing things, and how we don’t understand why we’re doing them. (Source)
Max Levchin [Max Levchin recommended this book as an answer to "What business books would you advise young entrepreneurs read?"] (Source)
A Brief History of Humankind
Yuval Noah Harari | 4.52
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/richard-branson-3742.jpg)
Richard Branson One example of a book that has helped me to #ReadToLead this year is Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. While the book came out a few years ago now, I got around to it this year, and am very glad I did. I’ve always been fascinated in what makes humans human, and how people are constantly evolving, changing and growing. The genius of Sapiens is that it takes some daunting,... (Source)
Reid Hoffman A grand theory of humanity. (Source)
Barack Obama eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'theceolibrary_com-leader-2','ezslot_7',164,'0','1'])); Fact or fiction, the president knows that reading keeps the mind sharp. He also delved into these non-fiction reads. (Source)
Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl, William J. Winslade, et al. | 4.50
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/tony-robbins-8127.jpg)
Tony Robbins Another book that I’ve read dozens of times. It taught me that if you change the meaning, you change everything. Meaning equals emotion, and emotion equals life. (Source)
Jimmy Fallon I read it while spending ten days in the ICU of Bellevue hospital trying to reattach my finger from a ring avulsion accident in my kitchen. It talks about the meaning of life, and I believe you come out a better person from reading it. (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/dustin-moskovitz-44811.jpg)
Dustin Moskovitz [Dustin Moskovitz recommended this book on Twitter.] (Source)
Predictably Irrational
The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
Dan Ariely | 4.48
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/vinod-khosla-46486.jpg)
Nick Harkaway Predictably Irrational is an examination of the way in which we make decisions irrationally, and how that irrationality can be predicted. (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/jonah-lehrer-210.jpg)
Jonah Lehrer Dan Ariely is a very creative guy and was able to take this basic idea, that humans are irrational, and mine it in a million different directions. (Source)
The Black Swan
The Impact of the Highly Improbable
Nassim Nicholas Taleb | 4.48
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/jeff-bezos-45076.jpg)
Jeff Bezos [From the book "The Everything Store: and the Age of Amazon"] “The scholar argues that people are wired to see patterns in chaos while remaining blind to unpredictable events, with massive consequences. Experimentation and empiricism trumps the easy and obvious narrative,” Stone writes. (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/james-altucher-7954.jpg)
James Altucher And throw in “The Black Swan” and “Fooled by Randomness”. “Fragile” means if you hit something might break. “Resilient” means if you hit something, it will stay the same. On my podcast Nassim discusses “Antifragility” – building a system, even on that works for you on a personal level, where you if you harm your self in some way it becomes stronger. That podcast changed my life He discusses... (Source)
Freakonomics
A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Stephen J. Levitt, Steven D.; Dubner | 4.45
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/daymond-john-826.jpg)
Malcolm Gladwell I don’t need to say much here. This book invented an entire genre. Economics was never supposed to be this entertaining. (Source)
Daymond John I love newer books like [this book]. (Source)
James Altucher [James Altucher recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show".] (Source)
How to Read a Book
The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren | 4.45
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://www.shortform.com/best-books/assets/img/default-avatar.7266f6c2.jpg)
Sergey Brin had “How to Read a Book” by Mortimer J. Adler as one of his most recommended books. (Source)
Ben Chestnut I also love How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler. I’m teaching its tips to my children while they’re young, so they can consume books much faster and have more fun reading. (Source)
Kevin Systrom [The author's] thesis is that the most important part of reading a book is to actually read the table of contents and familiarize yourself with the major structure of the book. (Source)
Don't have time to read the top Critical Thinking books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.
Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:
- Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
- Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
- Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
The Tipping Point
How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Malcolm Gladwell | 4.38
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/kevin-rose-45191.jpg)
Kevin Rose Bunch of really good information in here on how to make ideas go viral. This could be good to apply to any kind of products or ideas you may have. Definitely, check out The Tipping Point, which is one of my favorites. (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/seth-godin-336.jpg)
Seth Godin Malcolm Gladwell's breakthrough insight was to focus on the micro-relationships between individuals, which helped organizations realize that it's not about the big ads and the huge charity balls... it's about setting the stage for the buzz to start. (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/andy-stern-23247.jpg)
Andy Stern I think that when we talk about making change, it is much more about macro change, like in policy. This book reminds you that at times when you're building big movements, or trying to elect significant decision-makers in politics, sometimes it's the little things that make a difference. Ever since the book was written, we've become very used to the idea of things going viral unexpectedly and then... (Source)
Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
Richard H. Thaler | 4.37
Dan Ariely Nudge is a very important book. One of the reasons Nudge is so important is because it’s taking these ideas and applying them to the policy domain. Here are the mistakes we make. Here are the ways marketers are trying to influence us. Here’s the way we might be able to fight back. If policymakers understood these principles, what could they do? The other important thing about the book is that it... (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/eric-ries-568.jpg)
Eric Ries A pioneer in behavioral economics and just recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics, his classic book on how to make better decisions. (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/ryan-holiday-272.jpg)
Ryan Holiday This might feel like a weird book to include, but I think it presents another side of strategy that is too often forgotten. It’s not always about bold actors and strategic thrusts. Sometimes strategy is about subtle influence. Sometimes it is framing and small tweaks that change behavior. We can have big aims, but get there with little moves. This book has excellent examples of that kind of... (Source)
Asking the Right Questions
A Guide to Critical Thinking
M. Neil Browne, Stuart M. Keeley | 4.36
Enlightenment Now
The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
Steven Pinker | 4.35
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/yuval-noah-harari-531.jpg)
Bill Gates Pinker is at his best when he analyzes historic trends and uses data to put the past into context. I was already familiar with a lot of the information he shares—especially about health and energy—but he understands each subject so deeply that he’s able to articulate his case in a way that feels fresh and new. I love how he’s willing to dive deep into primary data sources and pull out unexpected... (Source)
Yuval Noah Harari There is of course much to argue about, but that’s what makes this book so interesting. (Source)
Sam Harris [Sam Harris picked this book as the first book in his Book Club.] (Source)
The New Psychology of Success
Carol S. Dweck | 4.34
Tony Robbins [Tony Robbins recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show".] (Source)
Bill Gates One of the reasons I loved Mindset is because it’s solutions-oriented. In the book’s final chapter, Dweck describes the workshop she and her colleagues have developed to shift students from a fixed to a growth mindset. These workshops demonstrate that ‘just learning about the growth mindset can cause a big shift in the way people think about themselves and their lives. (Source)
The Story of Success
Malcolm Gladwell | 4.34
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/charlie-munger-46532.jpg)
Bill Gates [On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011.] (Source)
James Altucher Gladwell is not the first person to come up with the 10,000 hour rule. Nor is he the first person to document what it takes to become the best in the world at something. But his stories are so great as he explains these deep concepts. How did the Beatles become the best? Why are professional hockey players born in January, February and March? And so on. (Source)
Cat Williams-Treloar The books that I've talked the most about with friends and colleagues over the years are the Malcolm Gladwell series of novels. Glorious stories that mix science, behaviours and insight. You can't go wrong with the "The Tipping Point", "Outliers", "Blink" or "David & Goliath". (Source)
Bad Science
Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks
Ben Goldacre | 4.33
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/timothy-ferriss-530.jpg)
Timothy Ferriss I agree wholeheartedly with a lot of the co-opted science, which people can read a book called Bad Science, which is by a doctor named Ben Goldacre. It’s great. (Source)
Tim Harford This book changed the way I thought about my own writing and it changed the way I thought about the world. It really is one of the best books I have ever read. (Source)
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore It’s just a brilliant book, and he’s a fearless defender of science. (Source)
The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Malcolm Gladwell | 4.33
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/mike-shinoda-48136.jpg)
Mike Shinoda I know most of the guys in the band read [this book]. (Source)
Marillyn Hewson CEO Marilyn Hewson recommends this book because it helped her to trust her instincts in business. (Source)
A Field Guide to Lies
Critical Thinking with Statistics and the Scientific Method
Daniel J. Levitin | 4.28
The Art of Thinking Clearly
Better Thinking, Better Decision
dobelli rolf | 4.28
Robert Cialdini Dobelli examines our most common decision-making failings with engaging eloquence and describes how to counter them with instructive good sense. (Source)
Nigel Warburton This is an unpretentious book. Dobelli doesn’t claim to be an original thinker himself. He’s a summariser of other people’s thoughts. What he’s done is brought lots of different things together in one place. Each of the 99 entries is pretty short, and it’s the kind of book to dip into. (Source)
Antifragile
Things That Gain from Disorder
Nassim Nicholas Taleb | 4.27
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/andrew-chen-44372.jpg)
James Altucher You ask about success. To be successful you have to avoid being “fragile” – the idea that if something hurts you, you let collapse completely. You also have to avoid simply being resilient. Bouncing back is not enough. Antifragile is when something tries to hurt you and you come back stronger. That is real life business. That is real life success. Nassim focuses on the economy. But when I read... (Source)
Marvin Liao eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'theceolibrary_com-leader-2','ezslot_7',164,'0','1'])); My list would be (besides the ones I mentioned in answer to the previous question) both business & Fiction/Sci-Fi and ones I personally found helpful to myself. The business books explain just exactly how business, work & investing are in reality & how to think properly & differentiate yourself. On... (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/vlad-tenev-48172.jpg)
Vlad Tenev The general concept is applicable to many fields beyond biology, for instance finance, economics and monetary policy. (Source)
The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking
Edward B. Burger | 4.27
Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me)
Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts
Mark Haddo | 4.25
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/peter-attia-46435.jpg)
Peter Attia A book about cognitive dissonance that looks at common weaknesses and biases in human thinking. Peter wants to ensure he goes through life without being too sure of himeself, and this book helps him to recalibrate. (Source)
Ryan Holiday Cognitive Dissonance is one of the most powerful and delusionary forces in the world. (Source)
David Kramaley When asked what books he would recommend to youngsters interested in his professional path, David mentioned Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me). (Source)
Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Cal Newport | 4.24
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/daniel-pink-46565.jpg)
Marvin Liao The Joy of Not Working (Zelinkski), Flash Foresight (Burrus), The Art of Worldly Wisdom (Gracian), Sapiens (Yuval), The End of Jobs (Pearson), Deep Work (Newport), Sovereign Individual (Davidson), The Fourth Economy (Davison) & The Monk & the Riddle (Komisar). Every single one of these books completely changed how I looked at everything in the world & literally pushed my life in a new direction.... (Source)
Daniel Pink As automation and outsourcing reshape the workplace, what new skill do we need? The ability to do deep work. Cal Newport's exciting new book is an introduction and guide to the kind of intense concentration in a distraction-free environment that results in fast, powerful learning and performance. Think of it as calisthenics for your mind-and start your exercise program today. (Source)
Seth Godin Cal Newport is a clear voice in a sea of noise, bringing science and passion in equal measure. (Source)
Guns, Germs and Steel
The Fates of Human Societies
Jared Diamond Ph.D. | 4.24
Bill Gates Fascinating.... Lays a foundation for understanding human history. (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/daniel-ek-48069.jpg)
Daniel Ek A brilliant Pulitzer Prize-winning book about how the modern world was formed, analyzing how societies developed differently on different continents. (Source)
Yuval Noah Harari A book of big questions, and big answers. The book turned me from a historian of medieval warfare into a student of humankind. (Source)
A Rulebook for Arguments
Anthony Weston | 4.23
The God Delusion
Richard Dawkins | 4.22
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/brian-armstrong-44552.jpg)
Susan Jacoby Richard Dawkins is very funny. One of the reasons for reading The God Delusion is that it will disabuse you of the idea – which is a common stereotype of atheists – that they are utterly humourless. You hear this over and over again. I’m often invited to college campuses to give lectures, and often they’re religious schools – not fundamentalist schools, but colleges of a historically religious... (Source)
Vote Dem For The Planet @KimBledsoe14 @Goodbye_Jesus @Ian313f There were a lot of rebels and drifters in those days against the repressive regime. They had followers. Have you read “The God Delusion”? Great book. (Source)
Antonio Eram This book was recommended by Antonio when asked for titles he would recommend to young people interested in his career path. (Source)
Fooled by Randomness
The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
Nassim Nicholas Taleb | 4.22
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/howard-marks-5226.jpg)
Howard Marks Really about how much randomness there is in our world. (Source)
Anant Jain The five-book series, "Incerto", by Nassim Nicholas Taleb has had a profound impact on how I think about the world. There’s some overlap across the books — but you'll likely find the repetition helpful in retaining the content better. (Source)
Emotional Intelligence
Why It Can Matter More Than IQ
Daniel Goleman | 4.22
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/drew-huston-44810.jpg)
Drew Houston It’s nonfiction, but it spelled out something that I just didn’t know you could kind of break down in a logical way. And, suddenly, I had this understanding about the world that I didn’t have before. (Source)
Sharon Salzberg [Sharon Salzberg recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show".] (Source)
Roxana Bitoleanu [One of the books recommends to young people interested in her career path.] (Source)
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
Neil Postman, Andrew Postman | 4.22
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/steve-lance-36802.jpg)
Austin Kleon Earlier this year Postman’s son Andrew wrote an op-ed with the title, “My dad predicted Trump in 1985 — it’s not Orwell, he warned, it’s Brave New World.” Postman wrote: “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.” (Source)
Steve Lance Neil Postman took the work of Marshall McLuhan – who was putting out early theories on media – and built on them. However, Postman was far more observant and empirical about the trends occurring in the media landscape. The trends which he identifies in Amusing Ourselves to Death, written in the 1980s, have since all come true. For example, he predicted that if you make news entertaining, then... (Source)
Kara Nortman @andrewchen Also a great book on the topic - Amusing Ourselves to Death https://t.co/yWLBxKumLQ (Source)
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
David McRaney | 4.21
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/jessica-flitter-47975.jpg)
Jessica Flitter Honestly, almost every major topic that we cover in an introductory social psychology chapter is covered in the book. It makes psychology real: this isn’t something that theoretically exists in the classroom. It exists every single day. That’s why I love this book. (Source)
How Not to Be Wrong
The Power of Mathematical Thinking
Jordan Ellenberg | 4.20
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/nick-ganju-48142.jpg)
Bill Gates The writing is funny, smooth, and accessible -- not what you might expect from a book about math. What Ellenberg has written is ultimately a love letter to math. If the stories he tells add up to a larger lesson, it’s that 'to do mathematics is to be, at once, touched by fire and bound by reason' -- and that there are ways in which we’re all doing math, all the time. (Source)
Auston Bunsen I’ve got a few, one book that really impacted me early on as someone coming from a middle-class family was “Rich dad, Poor dad”. Since then I’ve read many books but one that really stands out is “How not to be wrong” by Jordan Ellenberg which really reignited my appetite & appreciation for math. (Source)
Nick Ganju Written for an audience of people who have historically been intimidated by math [...] and introduces things in a very simple way, and then works up to more complex concepts. (Source)
"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!"
Adventures of a Curious Character
Richard P. Feynman, Ralph Leighton, Edward Hutchings, Albert R. Hibbs | 4.19
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/mark-zuckerberg-45329.jpg)
Sergey Brin Brin told the Academy of Achievement: "Aside from making really big contributions in his own field, he was pretty broad-minded. I remember he had an excerpt where he was explaining how he really wanted to be a Leonardo [da Vinci], an artist and a scientist. I found that pretty inspiring. I think that leads to having a fulfilling life." (Source)
Larry Page Google co-founder has listed this book as one of his favorites. (Source)
Peter Attia The book I’ve recommended most. (Source)
Critical Thinking
Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life
Richard Paul, Linda Elder | 4.19
How to Think About Weird Things
Critical Thinking for a New Age
Theodore Schick, Lewis Vaughn | 4.19
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/stephen-law-10921.jpg)
Stephen Law Carefully and critically, aware of the various cognitive biases to which we are, unfortunately, all very prone. This book explains various fallacies to watch out for; the Slippery Slope, the Straw Man fallacy, the Post Hoc fallacy, and so on. It points out all of the problems that we’ve already looked at so far as anecdotal evidence is concerned. It includes many impressive case studies and... (Source)
The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe
How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake
Steven Novella, Bob Novella - contributor, et al | 4.19
Black Box Thinking
Why Some People Never Learn from Their Mistakes - But Some Do
Matthew Syed | 4.18
Richard Branson [...] highlights the need for a growth mindset in life. It advocates for changing attitudes towards failure, and understanding that the only way we learn is by trying things and altering our behaviour based on the results. It’s an attitude we found incredibly valuable during my highlight of the year, completing the Virgin Strive Challenge. (Source)
Daniel Ek Since reading this book, I’ve literally incorporated this approach to problem-solving into every day. (Source)
Nigel Warburton As Syed argues, we progress in all kinds of areas is by making mistakes. He was a superb table-tennis player, and he knows that every mistake that he made was a learning experience, at least potentially, a chance to improve. I think you’d find the same attitude among musicians, or in areas where practitioners are very attentive to the mistake that they make, and how those failures can teach them... (Source)
How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger - Second Edition with a New Chapter by the Author
Darrell Huff and Irving Gei | 4.17
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/danielle-morrill-44670.jpg)
Bill Gates I picked this one up after seeing it on a Wall Street Journal list of good books for investors. It was first published in 1954, but it doesn’t feel dated (aside from a few anachronistic examples—it has been a long time since bread cost 5 cents a loaf in the United States). In fact, I’d say it’s more relevant than ever. One chapter shows you how visuals can be used to exaggerate trends and give... (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/tobi-lütke-47051.jpg)
Tobi Lütke We all live in Malcolm’s world because the shipping container has been hugely influential in history. (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/jason-zweig-8149.jpg)
Jason Zweig This is a terrific introduction to critical thinking about statistics, for people who haven’t taken a class in statistics. (Source)
A Brief History of Tomorrow
Yuval Noah Harari | 4.16
Richard Branson I certainly wouldn’t consider myself a big reader of paleontology or anthropology – not good words for us dyslexics! – but I enjoy learning about how society has unfolded and history has developed in an exciting, easy to read way. The sequel, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, is a fascinating look into the future too. While these aren’t traditional business or leadership books, they are all... (Source)
Bill Gates Harari’s new book is as challenging and readable as Sapiens. Rather than looking back, as Sapiens does, it looks to the future. I don’t agree with everything the author has to say, but he has written a thoughtful look at what may be in store for humanity. (Source)
Vinod Khosla Not that I agree with all of it, but it is still mind-bending speculation about our future as a follow-up to a previous favorite, Sapiens. It’s directionally right. (Source)
Why People Believe Weird Things
Michael Shermer, Stephen Jay Gould | 4.16
Richard Wiseman A wider perspective on the paranormal, looking at UFOs and conspiracies – where people link up ideas which aren’t necessarily connected to one another. (Source)
The Selfish Gene
Richard Dawkins | 4.16
Why are there miles and miles of "unused" DNA within each of our bodies? Why should a bee give up its own chance to reproduce to help raise her sisters and brothers? With a prophet's clarity, Dawkins told us the answers from the perspective of molecules competing for limited space and resources to produce more of their own kind. Drawing fascinating examples from every field of biology, he paved the way for a serious re-evaluation of evolution. He also introduced the concept of self-reproducing ideas, or memes , which (seemingly) use humans exclusively for their propagation. If we are puppets, he says, at least we can try to understand our strings. --Rob Lightner
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/matt-ridley-1333.jpg)
Charles T. Munger recommends this book in the second edition of Poor Charlie’s Almanack. (Source)
Matt Ridley Turned evolutionary biology on its head and was written like a great detective story. (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/phil-libin-46886.jpg)
Phil Libin Had a profound influence on me pretty early on. (Source)
How We Know What Isn't So
The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life
Thomas Gilovich | 4.16
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/nicholas-epley-39026.jpg)
Jonah Lehrer A really smart book and the reason I put it on there is that it really invented the genre of science non-fiction. (Source)
Nicholas Epley This is a book about intuitive human judgment and how the way we think about the world can be distorted and misdirected by forces within our own mind, like our tendency to think well of ourselves, by cognitive forces, such as the ease with which information comes to mind, and by environmental forces, like asymmetries in feedback. (Source)
Being Logical
A Guide to Good Thinking
D.Q. McInerny | 4.14
David and Goliath
Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
Malcolm Gladwell | 4.14
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/sean-si-45829.jpg)
Catalina Penciu Business-wise, my goal for this year is to improve my collection and my mindset, but my favorite so far has been David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell. (Source)
Robert Katai Buy Malcolm Gladwell’s book “David and Goliath” and read the interesting stories about how the Davids of that moments have defeated the Goliaths. (Source)
The Signal and the Noise
Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't
Nate Silver | 4.14
Bill Gates Anyone interested in politics may be attracted to Nate Silver’s The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail—but Some Don't. Silver is the New York Times columnist who got a lot of attention last fall for predicting—accurately, as it turned out–the results of the U.S. presidential election. This book actually came out before the election, though, and it’s about predictions in many... (Source)
The End of Faith
Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
Sam Harris | 4.13
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/evan-carmichael-39882.jpg)
Evan Carmichael His first book, The End of Faith, spent 33 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. He's one of the most sought after speakers in the world. He's Sam Harris and here's my take on his Top 10 Rules for Success! #Believe #EvanCarmichael #SamHarris #entrepreneur #valueyourtime https://t.co/ZL0iUlqCOT (Source)
Dr. Andrew Weil One of the books that I have commonly given out to people. (Source)
Lies My Teacher Told Me
Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong
James W. Loewen | 4.13
Talking to Strangers
What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know
Malcolm Gladwell | 4.13
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/nilofer-merchant-45570.jpg)
Ryan Holiday I'll put here what I emailed Malcolm when I finished the book: "Just finished your new book in one sitting yesterday. So good. You are at the height of your powers and remain an inspiration to all of us trying to master an un-masterable profession." It's a little less practical or self-improvement oriented than his previous books, but far more thought provoking. (Source)
Nilofer Merchant An interesting analysis/ essay re Gladwell’s latest book —> https://t.co/5Ey1maNRyI (Source)
God Is Not Great
How Religion Poisons Everything
Christopher Hitchens | 4.13
Sam Harris You can get the benefit of both his voice and his writing if you listen to [this audiobook]. (Source)
Poor Charlie's Almanack
The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
Peter D. Kaufman, Ed Wexler, Warren E. Buffett, Charles T. Munger | 4.12
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/naval-ravikant-45527.jpg)
Warren Buffett From 1733 to 1758, Ben Franklin dispensed useful and timeless advice through Poor Richard's Almanack. Among the virtues extolled were thrift, duty, hard work, and simplicity. Subsequently, two centuries went by during which Ben's thoughts on these subjects were regarded as the last word. Then Charlie Munger stepped forth. (Source)
Naval Ravikant I always recommend [this book] as my top business book. (Source)
Think like a Freak
The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain
Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner | 4.12
Critical Thinking Skills
Effective Analysis, Argument and Reflection
Stella Cottrell | 4.12
The Invisible Gorilla
And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us
Christopher Chabris, Daniel Simons | 4.11
Dan Ariely These guys did one of the most important pieces of research in social science, to show how little we actually see in the world around us. (Source)
The Undoing Project
A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
Michael Lewis | 4.11
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/doug-mcmillon-46537.jpg)
Doug McMillon Here are some of my favorite reads from 2017. Lots of friends and colleagues send me book suggestions and it's impossible to squeeze them all in. I continue to be super curious about how digital and tech are enabling people to transform our lives but I try to read a good mix of books that apply to a variety of areas and stretch my thinking more broadly. (Source)
David Heinemeier Hansson Michael Lewis is just a great storyteller, and tell a story in this he does. It’s about two Israeli psychologists, their collaboration on the irrationality of the human mind, and the milestones they set with concepts like loss-aversion, endowment effect, and other common quirks that the assumption of rationality doesn’t account for. It’s a bit long-winded, but if you like Lewis’ style, you... (Source)
Francisco Perez Mackenna This summer, Mackenna is learning more about the birth of behavioral economics, the psychology of white collar crime, and the restoration of American cities as locations of economic growth. (Source)
The Organized Mind
Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload
Daniel J. Levitin | 4.11
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/david-allen-1522.jpg)
David Allen Your head is not designed to remember, remind, prioritize, or manage relationships with more than four things. I’ve known this experientially for the last 35 years—that your head is for having ideas, but it’s a terrible place to hang onto them. Levitin validated that in a very rigorously researched book. (Source)
Your Guide to Effective Argument, Successful Analysis and Independent Study
Tom Chatfield | 4.11
Nigel Warburton Clearly written and accessible. Chatfield teaches a point, then asks you to test yourself to see whether you’ve learnt the moves that he’s described. It’s very wide ranging: it includes material on cognitive biases as well as more logical moves and arguments. (Source)
The Coddling of the American Mind
How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure
Greg Lukianoff, Jonathan Haidt | 4.10
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/glenn-beck-13070.jpg)
Mark Manson The kids aren’t alright. No, really—I know every generation says that, but this time it’s true. Kids who grew up with smartphones (and have begun to enter the university system) are emotionally stunted, overly fragile, and exhibiting mental health issues at alarming rates. I expected this book to be another, “Let’s all shit on social media together,” party, but it’s not. Social media, of course,... (Source)
Max Levchin Highlights the need to continue to have such discussions about sensitive topics instead of ignoring them for the sake of comfort. (Source)
Glenn Beck Just finished The Coddling of the American mind by @glukianoff Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. Insightful. Straight forward and very helpful. A book that not only correctly identifies what ails us but also gives practical steps to cure. MUST READ (Source)
Nonviolent Communication
A Language of Life
Marshall B. Rosenberg, Deepak Chopra | 4.10
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/esther-perel-10107.jpg)
Satya Nadella Upon becoming CEO, Nadella confronted Microsoft’s legendarily combative culture by urging his new reports to read this book, which preaches the power of empathy, self-awareness, and authenticity in collaboration in the workplace, at home, and beyond. Like many of his favorites, it was first recommended to him by his wife, Anu: “I’m heavily influenced by the books she reads more than the books I... (Source)
Dustin Moskovitz Seek first to understand. (Source)
Esther Perel I think that this book is a classic for anyone who is thinking relationships. (Source)
How to Make Better Decisions
Dan Heath, Chip,Heath | 4.09
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/richard-h-thaler-45729.jpg)
Cristian-Dragos Baciu So for business related books, the one that I think had the most impact for me was Decisive: How to make better choices in life and work, by Chip & Dan Heath. [...] The reason I enjoyed their work so much is because they offer real-life stories and insights that makes it so much easier for the reader to imprint that information in his mind. (Source)
Sean Mallon It looks at what hinders great decision making, and how to improve any decisions you make. Any entrepreneur knows how crucial their decisions in business are (and how devastating indecision can be). Decisive helps the reader to understand how good decisions are made, what key elements to look for, and how to make your choices better and quicker. (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/julia-galef-48105.jpg)
Julia Galef Explains four of the biggest judgment errors [...] and gives tips for combating them. (Source)
A More Beautiful Question
The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas
Warren Berger | 4.08
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari | 4.08
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/brajesh-kumar-singh-44560.jpg)
Bill Gates Harari is such a stimulating writer that even when I disagreed, I wanted to keep reading and thinking. All three of his books wrestle with some version of the same question: What will give our lives meaning in the decades and centuries ahead? So far, human history has been driven by a desire to live longer, healthier, happier lives. If science is eventually able to give that dream to most people,... (Source)
Brajesh Kumar Singh Harari, currently, the world's best historian and future analyst, is a gay! He is a Jew and writes his books in Hebrew! Got universal acclaim for his first book Sapiens, followed by Homo Deus and now the latest, 21 lessons for the 21st century! Salute to this genius, keep it up! https://t.co/s7R6oEbwiN (Source)
Eh Bee Family @harari_yuval This book is amazing. After every chapter...I pause...then freak out...then gather myself and keep reading. (Source)
Superforecasting
The Art and Science of Prediction
Philip E. Tetlock, Dan Gardner | 4.08
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/sheil-kapadia-45860.jpg)
Sheil Kapadia Read the book Superforecasting, had a great conversation with @bcmassey and came up with seven ideas for how NFL teams can try to find small edges during the draft process. Would love to hear feedback on this one. https://t.co/PdN1fKCagl (Source)
Julia Galef [Has] some good advice on how to improve your ability to make accurate predictions. (Source)
The Magic of Reality
How We Know What's Really True
Richard Dawkins | 4.08
Bill Gates Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist at Oxford, has a gift for making science enjoyable. This book is as accessible as the TV series Cosmos is for younger audiences—and as relevant for older audiences. It’s an engaging, well-illustrated science textbook offering compelling answers to big questions, like “how did the universe form?” and “what causes earthquakes?” It’s also a plea for readers of all... (Source)
Vote Dem For The Planet @EJDuboisL7444 @realDonaldTrump It’s a great book, like all Dawkins’ books. (Source)
The Shock Doctrine
The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
Naomi Klein | 4.08
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/george-monbiot-25669.jpg)
George Monbiot The Shock Doctrine explains some of the mechanisms by which patrimonial capital acquires power and enhances its wealth. It’s a brilliant piece of work, and one of those rare books that changes the way you perceive the world. (Source)
Mat Whitecross It starts with the theory that moments of crisis have been utilised by the right wing in the US and other countries to manipulate people into following their agenda. (Source)
Donna Dickenson Naomi Klein’s argument is that capitalism actually requires deliberately engineered shocks to the economic systems. (Source)
Algorithms to Live By
The Computer Science of Human Decisions
Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths | 4.08
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/sriram-krishnan-45897.jpg)
Sriram Krishnan @rabois @nealkhosla Yes! Love that book (Source)
Chris Oliver This is a great book talking about how you can use computer science to help you make decisions in life. How do you know when to make a decision on the perfect house? Car? etc? It helps you apply algorithms to making those decisions optimally without getting lost. (Source)
Judgment Under Uncertainty
Heuristics and biases.
Daniel Kahneman | 4.07
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/adam-robinson-6642.jpg)
Jonah Lehrer This is one of the most influential books in modern economics. (Source)
Adam Robinson This study should be taught at every business school in the country. (Source)
The Blind Watchmaker
Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
Richard Dawkins | 4.06
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/jerry-coyne-47357.jpg)
James Randi They talk about the blind watchmaker not being able to make a watch, but if you’re given an almost infinite number of combinations and permutations of materials and situations, the world will come about. Or it may not. In our case, it came about. You’re here, I’m here, and I’m very happy about that. (Source)
Jerry Coyne If I had to pick just one self-contained book that lays out Dawkins’s philosophy and methodology, and shows his literary skills, I would have to pick this one. (Source)
Tom Clarke Dawkins brought Darwin up to date, explaining evolution in a way that incorporates our understanding of genetics and heredity. (Source)
This Will Make You Smarter
New Scientific Concepts to Improve Your Thinking
John Brockman | 4.06
Think Smarter
Critical Thinking to Improve Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills
Michael Kallet | 4.06
The Believing Brain
From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths
MICHAEL SHERMER | 4.05
The Shallows
What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
Nicholas Carr | 4.05
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/juliette-aristides-13925.jpg)
Juliette Aristides Nicholas Carr talks at length about what is gained and lost by technological progress. Reading and writing enlarged people’s sympathetic response and enriched their lives even when the book was put aside. One could say the same thing about drawing. (Source)
Andra Zaharia While I was thinking of the best books to add to this short list, I realized that not even half of them are directly related to digital marketing. This is because I believe that the best marketers are people who understand human nature deeply and aim to bring out the best in it. Call me naive, but that’s how I see it. If I were to want to pursue a career in marketing, I’d read [...] The Shallows. (Source)
How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients
Ben Goldacre | 4.04
Tools for Smart Thinking
Richard Nisbett | 4.04
The Drunkard's Walk
How Randomness Rules Our Lives
Leonard Mlodinow | 4.03
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/david-spiegelhalter-1774.jpg)
David Spiegelhalter This is a general introduction to the history of probability and the way it comes into everyday life. It intersperses the historical development with modern applications, and looks at finance, sport, gambling, lotteries and coincidences. (Source)
Gabriel Coarna Leonard Mlodinow's "The Drunkarkd's Walk" -more precisely, the section on the "Monty Hall" problem- totally changed how I look-at/think-about probabilities and choices in general; this has impacted almost every real-life choice I've made since I read this book. (Source)
Don't Believe Everything You Think
The 6 Basic Mistakes We Make in Thinking
Thomas E. Kida | 4.03
What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures
Malcolm Gladwell | 4.03
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/sam-freedman-46460.jpg)
Sam Freedman @mrianleslie (Also I agree What the Dog Saw is his best book). (Source)
![](http://myjudaica.online/777/templates/cheerup2/res/banner1.gif)
Merchants of Doubt
How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming
Erik M Conway | 4.03
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/elon-musk-44838.jpg)
Elon Musk I recommend people read a book called Merchants of Doubt. All they need to do is create doubt. (Source)
Trick or Treatment
The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine
Edzard Ernst, Simon Singh | 4.03
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/jennifer-gunter-1407.jpg)
Jennifer Gunter @EdzardErnst @SLSingh Fantastic book. Really. Thank you for writing it!! (Source)
Stephen Law I really like this book. It’s a modern classic of the sceptic movement. Simon Singh is an excellent science writer. Edzard Ernst is the world’s first professor of complementary medicine. Well he was, Ernst is retired now. He started out convinced that there was some truth to the claims made by homeopathy and some other alternative practices. He was trained as a homeopath and he was a practising... (Source)
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Thomas S. Kuhn and Ian Hacking | 4.02
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/tim-o'reilly-5813.jpg)
Mark Zuckerberg It's a history of science book that explores the question of whether science and technology make consistent forward progress or whether progress comes in bursts related to other social forces. I tend to think that science is a consistent force for good in the world. I think we'd all be better off if we invested more in science and acted on the results of research. I'm excited to explore this... (Source)
Tim O'Reilly The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas Kuhn. Kuhn introduced the term "paradigm shift" to describe the changeover from Ptolemaic to Copernican astronomy. But the book is far more than a classic in the history of science. It's also a book that emphasizes how what we already believe shapes what we see, what we allow ourselves to think. I've always tried to separate seeing itself from... (Source)
Andra Zaharia I’ve gone through quite a few experiences brought on or shaped by what I’ve learned from books. A particularly unexpected one happened in college when our public relations teacher asked us to read a book called The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn. As a humanities student, you can imagine that I wasn’t thrilled I’d have to read a book on science, but what followed blew my mind... (Source)
The Art of Reasoning
An Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking
David Kelley | 4.02
How to Change Your Mind
What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
POLLAN MICHAE | 4.02
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/daniel-goleman-178.jpg)
Daniel Goleman Michael Pollan masterfully guides us through the highs, lows, and highs again of psychedelic drugs. How to Change Your mind chronicles how it’s been a longer and stranger trip than most any of us knew. (Source)
Yuval Noah Harari Changed my mind, or at least some of the ideas held in my mind. (Source)
David Heinemeier Hansson How we get locked into viewing the world, ourselves, and each other in a certain way, and then finding it difficult to relate to alternative perspectives or seeing other angles. Studying philosophy, psychology, and sociology is a way to break those rigid frames we all build over time. But that’s still all happening at a pretty high level of perception. Mind altering drugs, and especially... (Source)
Seeing Like a State
How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed
Professor James C. Scott | 4.02
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/dan-sullivan-37427.jpg)
Marvin Liao I tend to jump from book to book and may switch if I am interested in some new topic. This is a pleasure for me (which I also do benefit work wise from too). It’s quite a random list because I have eclectic interests (or just scatterbrained most likely) on tech business, AI, general global economy, geopolitics, rising Biotech economy & history. I'm basically 15% to 50% into all these books. (Source)
Venkatesh Rao Scott’s book is very important for anybody who wants to have an understanding of how complex modern societies work, why things seem to fail predictably, and what you can do about them, to a limited extent. (Source)
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/clare-lockhart-47315.jpg)
Clare Lockhart Seeing Like A State. He’s quite similar to Dewey in a way. He also sees the state as only a mechanism. But he thinks that the way that the state chooses to count, or the way it chooses to see, will inform how it behaves and what kind of animal it becomes. Scott explains, for example, how in France, in early modern times, the state decided to count two things. It decided to count how much salt... (Source)
Wait, What?
And Life's Other Essential Questions
James E. Ryan and HarperAudi | 4.02
The Greatest Show on Earth
The Evidence for Evolution
Richard Dawkins, Well-illustrated | 4.02
The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment
Thomas Gilovich, Dale Griffin, Daniel Kahneman | 4.02
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/matthew-syed-2164.jpg)
Matthew Syed This is another really good set of essays in a rapidly growing branch of intellectual enquiry called behavioural economics where they look at the irrationalities in the way that humans behave. I thought this was brilliant. One essay in particular on irrational optimism caught my eye. It’s the idea that individuals who have slightly inflated expectations of their own abilities tend to persevere... (Source)
The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking
Concepts and Tools
Richard Paul, Linda Elder | 4.02
This miniature guide, which has sold more than half a million copies, is widely used in teach and learning, in personal and professional life. It distills the essence of critical thinking into a 23-page, pocket-sized guide. It introduces the interrelated complex of critical thinking concepts and principles implicit in the works of Richard Paul and Linda Elder. This guide is widely used at the college level. It can be used as a critical thinking supplement to any textbook or course.
Being Wrong
Adventures in the Margin of Error
Kathryn Schulz | 4.02
Peter Attia One of the books that considers to be an important read for people interested in his career path. (Source)
Fabrice Grinda I have lots of books to recommend, but they are not related to my career path. The only one that is remotely related is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. That said here are books I would recommend. (Source)
The Portable Atheist
Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever
Christopher Hitchens | 4.02
Thinking in Bets
Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts
Annie Duke | 4.01
Charles Duhigg Through wonderful storytelling and sly wit, Annie Duke has crafted the ultimate guide to thinking about risk. We can all learn how to make better decisions by learning from someone who made choices for a living, with millions on the line. (Source)
Marc Andreessen Compact guide to probabilistic domains like poker, or venture capital. Best articulation of "resulting", drawing bad conclusions from confusing process and outcome. Recommend for people operating in the real world. (Source)
Seth Godin Brilliant. Buy ten copies and give one to everyone you work with. It's that good. (Source)
Thank You for Arguing
What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion
Jay Heinrichs | 4.01
Angela Pham The attendees in the altMBA program actually influenced me the most in my book purchases: Robin Flaherty persuaded me to buy Thank You For Arguing. (Source)
Teaching Critical Thinking
Practical Wisdom
bell hooks | 4.01
Letter to a Christian Nation
Sam Harris | 4.01
Finite and Infinite Games a Vision of Life as Play and Possibility
James P. Carse | 4.01
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/jane-mcgonigal-17251.jpg)
Jane McGonigal It’s basically a book about games, but then it turns out it’s about the meaning of life. (Source)
Tom Critchlow @fkpxls Also it made me think of analogies to finite and infinite games. Have you read that book? If not you might enjoy it! (Source)
Kevin Kelly Gave me a mathematical framework for my own spirituality. (Source)
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
Charles MacKay | 4.01
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/tom-joseph-46048.jpg)
Jonah Lehrer A wonderful eclectic history of mass human irrationality, and a great history of financial bubbles. (Source)
Tom Joseph "Do you know who I am"- Trump cries a/b his status, Iran & Obama are panic b4 his bubble pops Mania's will end in panic as noted in a favorite book: Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay. Not a plug-written in 1841 Trumpmania is now Trumpanic https://t.co/WnVGJ8Hung (Source)
John Gapper It’s a very patchy book, but it leads off with three classic financial booms and busts – tulip mania in Holland, the Mississippi scheme in 18th century France, and the South Sea Bubble. MacKay was a journalist with a fine tabloid style, and he writes it all up very entertainingly. He gets the eyewitness quotes and he finds the human foibles. (Source)
Skin in the Game
Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life
Nassim Nicholas Taleb | 4.01
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://media.shortform.com/avatars/ben-horowitz-455.jpg)
Ben Horowitz A book about the dynamics of how large-scale, highly random systems behave. (Source)
Marc Andreessen Skin in the game as conflict of interest, or as attaching one's livelihood to one's speech? Who to listen to, and why. Ideal counterpart to Philip Tetlock's Expert Political Judgment. (Source)
Daniel Kahneman Changed my view of how the world works. (Source)
Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions
James Randi, Isaac Asimov | 4.01
Richard Wiseman This book had a huge impact on me when I first came across it, because it was the first time I’d seen a whole volume which wasn’t taking any nonsense. (Source)
Why Evolution Is True
Jerry A. Coyne | 4.01
An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments
Ali Almossawi, Alejandro Giraldo | 4.00
Beyond Feelings
Vincent Ruggiero | 4.00
The Power of the Socratic Classroom
Students. Questions. Dialogue. Learning.
Charles Ames Fischer | 4.00
![critical thinking books to read](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/logo-web-1.png?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
14 Of The Best Critical Thinking Books That Come Packed With Examples
Anthony metivier.
- December 12, 2022
Podcast: Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books that come packed with examples feature image](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Critical-Thinking-Books-That-Come-Packed-With-Examples-feature-image-300x300.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
However, few of them come packed with examples.
Even fewer come with exercises.
Examples and exercises are important because critical thinking is not just something you learn.
It’s something you develop through practical application.
Here’s another problem that might be frustrating you if you’re looking for the best critical thinking books:
A lot of them are either irrelevant, “dumbed-down” for the mass market, or already abandoned by their authors.
For example, the famous Thinking, Fast and Slow on just about every list has big problems.
Its author, Daniel Khaneman has agreed that several entire chapters need to be removed in a future edition.
The reproducibility problem. Many of the studies he refers to weren’t scientifically valid.
But critical thinking is based on reproducible models.
So on this page, let’s dig into a comprehensive list of critical thinking books that won’t go out of date.
The 14 Best Critical Thinking Books Packed With Examples For Improving Your Mind
As you go through these examples, consider your specific goals.
As you’ll see, each of these examples are related, but each has different strengths.
You’ll want to beef up on each of these areas, but as you gather your collection, I suggest you start with where you currently feel you need the most help.
One: Scientific Critical Thinking
In Critical Thinking for Better Learning: New Insights from Cognitive Science , Carole Hamilton helps you understand how the brain creates categories in the mind.
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking for better learning new insights from cognitive science](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Critical-Thinking-for-Better-Learning-New-Insights-from-Cognitive-Science-186x300.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
Knowledge of how your mind works helps you tap into how your memory deals with examples and analogies that can improve your thinking skills.
Some of the best parts of this book teach you:
- How to study topics thoroughly so that you can think critically about them.
- How to develop creative analogies so you can see the “shape” and dynamics of larger topics.
- Threshold concepts, which are “the central, defining truths in a given discipline, the ideas that open a gateway to deeper understanding.”
- Why some ideas are obvious to certain people but take others a long time to learn.
As an example of how this book helped me, when I was working on my Art of Memory project, it reminded me to read both the historical summary and also the specific books about memory during that period. This is what Hamilton means by knowing the “shape” of a topic.
Other great aspects of this book include its points on:
- How beliefs can distort facts
- Who really benefits and who suffered from environmental damage in the world
- The concept of opportunity cost
- How to assess critical thinking
It gives examples of each and concludes strong with its best tip:
Study real problems and how they were solved, and then recall these frequently to test your memory for accuracy about the details.
Two: A Jargon Free Toolkit
![critical thinking books to read the critical thinking toolkit](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/The-Critical-Thinking-Toolkit-198x300.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
Critical thinking often involves a lot of complex terminology. You have to learn about antecedents in logic and the concept of paraconsistencies .
But if you’re just beginning and don’t have a Memory Palace , such terms can be hard to learn and remember.
Enter The Critical Thinking Toolkit .
This book provides a wonderful introduction with examples from:
- Political science
Three: How To Think About Arguments
We all get into arguments.
That’s not a problem, but the ways we use language while arguing often causes more problems than necessary.
Enter The Uses of Argument by Stephen E. Toulmin.
![critical thinking books to read the uses of argument](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/The-Uses-of-Argument-198x300.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
But in this excellent book, Toulmin shows you:
- What it means to make a valid argument
- How to lay out valid arguments
- The difference between working logic and idealised logic
- How that validity must be intra-field, not inter-field (so that you approach critical thinking comparatively)
It boils down to this:
Arguments have patterns and we can learn to perceive those patterns.
One pro tip in this book is to find ways to see logic and critical thinking as historical.
When you know how logic has changed over time, you’re able to note the patterns that shape how we communicate and use them better.
That’s just one benefit. Here are 11 more benefits of critical thinking you can expect after reading the books on this page.
Four: Validity In Your Thinking
I’ll never forget hearing The Amazing Kreskin discuss hypnosis. He said:
“Hypnosis is nothing more than the acceptance of a suggestion.”
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking a concise guide](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Critical-Thinking-A-Concise-Guide-210x300.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
If you don’t have much time to learn how this is happening to you, I suggest Critical Thinking : A Concise Guide by Tracy Bowell and Gary Kemp.
This book’s strength is how it helps you determine whether an argument is valid.
To do so, the authors teach you the connection between critical thinking and symbolic logic, informal logic and formal logic.
You also learn how to determine which parts of an argument are relevant. You get real world examples with detailed commentary on each.
A v Hoare is one of my favorite examples. In it, you learn about how the amount of detail shapes our perceptions. You also learn how to determine what information is valuable to properly assess the context and shape of an argument.
Five: How To Stop Thinking Against Yourself
I used to think very darkly.
Little did I know that I was using my thoughts against myself, practically making it impossible to see opportunities.
Then I discovered The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman.
This book not only goes through numerous examples of how people use cynical thinking against themselves. It also gives powerful exercises that help your critical thinking skills see opportunities your own thinking patterns might be hiding from you.
Six: Understanding Your Personality
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking the basics](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Critical-Thinking-The-Basics-196x300.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
That’s why I recommend Stuart Hanscomb’s Critical Thinking: The Basics .
Looking at your personal dispositions can help you avoid many of the problems created by emotions and cognitive biases .
You may even want to go further by looking into the OCEAN model to help better understand how your personality might help or hinder your thinking abilities.
Either way, Hanscomb’s book is great. Pay extra attention to the final chapter. It’s pack with additional examples of fallacies you’ll want to avoid.
Seven: Simple, But Not “Dumbed Down”
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking skills for dummies](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Critical-Thinking-Skills-For-Dummies-193x300.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
Crit ical Thinking Skills For Dummies , like many books in the “dummies” series is actually quite valuable.
Its biggest strengths are:
- Strong examples of false dichotomies
- How to avoid logical pitfalls
- Examples of key arguments
Pay special attention to the final chapter and its list of “arguments that changed the world.” These are interesting and useful case studies.
Eight: Thinking On Autopilot
One of the most challenging critical thinking examples to work through involves the topic of free will.
![critical thinking books to read free will by sam harris](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Free-Will-by-Sam-Harris-300x199.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
My favorite book on the topic is also one of the most hotly contested.
But it’s the examples in Free Will by Sam Harris that really bring it all together.
And although Daniel Dennet strongly disagrees with its thesis, going through the for and against will give your thinking abilities a stretch.
Without a doubt, contending with the issue of free will is one of the best ways you can practice critical thinking. It will also give you a better understanding of human consciousness too.
Nine: The Humpty Dumpty Of Thought
![critical thinking books to read thinking from a to z by nigel warburton](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Thinking-from-A-to-Z-by-Nigel-Warburton-203x300.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
As the cohost of Philosophy Bites , a fantastic philosophy podcast, Warburton has packed this book with excellent critical thinking tools to up your game.
Some of my favorites include:
Weasel Words
“Advertisers who declare the food they are selling to be a ‘healthier alternative’ need to specify precisely what the food is healthier than and why. If they cannot do this, then the weasel words ‘healthier alternative’ are meaningless – mere rhetoric”
Humptydumptying
Giving private meanings to words in common use
‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty answers, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
Ten: The Power of Analysis
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking skills effective analysis argument and reflection](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Critical-Thinking-Skills-Effective-Analysis-Argument-and-Reflection-230x300.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
This book proves a number of self assessment activities, including several sub-skills, such as identifying similarities and differences.
It also includes material on:
- Note taking in a critical manner
- Critical writing
- Reflective thinking tips as a mental discipline
- Multiple models of reflective thinking
- Bonus practice activities
If you do any kind of reading and writing, this book is a must.
Eleven: Improve Your Research Skills
If you do anything involved in research, you know just how difficult interpreting data accurately can be.
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking about research psychology and related fields](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Critical-Thinking-About-Research-Psychology-and-Related-Fields-209x300.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
In this book, you’ll learn all about:
- How to seek trustworthy knowledge
- How to understand the role of hypothetical questions
- How samples are chosen and validated
- Aspects that threaten the validity of a research project
- The role of ethics in research
- Examples of multiple studies in different fields of interest
There are a large number of practice articles too. These will help you better engage with scientific reporting you encounter in the media.
Twelve: Avoiding Errors
If you’re like me, you probably prefer to avoid mistakes whenever possible.
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking learning form mistakes and how to prevent them](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Critical-Thinking-Learning-from-Mistakes-and-How-to-Prevent-Them-202x300.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
This book exposes the many poor thinking habits we have. Here are just a few the book covers and then repairs:
- Being in a hurry
- Missing a deadline
- Faulty cost analyses
- Failing to ask for help
I’ve personally found this book helpful, especially when dealing with customers and personal coaching clients. It’s great to be able to ascertain what errors people are making and help guide them to more logical conclusions.
Anyone can do this for themselves too. Read this book.
Thirteen: Know Your Science
The lack of scientific literacy in society is a huge problem.
That’s why I recommend Science, Pseudo-science, Non-sense, and Critical Thinking: Why the Differences Matter .
In this book by Marianna Barr and Gershon Ben-Shakhar, you get detailed chapters that use critical thinking to debunk:
- Cold reading
Another thing that makes this critical thinking book unique is that it includes:
- Correspondence with Houdini
- Good movie and literature examples
- Excellent lists of books to follow-up on with for further information about each pseudoscientific topic
I also like how the book discusses the reasons why people need to believe – or at least think they do.
Fourteen: An Ancient Critical Thinking Book
![critical thinking books to read inquiry into existence](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Inquiry-Into-Existence-188x300.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
Basically, this term translates to a statement like: “the culmination of the Vedas is ‘not two’”.
In other words, the philosophy works to demonstrate a “oneness” in human consciousness.
One of the most interesting books uses critical thinking to demonstrate this principle. It is called Panchadasi .
My favorite commentary on this text, which includes a translation, is Inquiry Into Existence , by James Swartz.
This philosophy will probably stretch your mind.
The trick is not to mistake its conclusions for solipsism, which is arguably nonsense . It’s really just a way of thinking through the situation we all find ourselves in as the bearers of consciousness.
Crafting A Library Of Critical Thinking Books
I hope you enjoyed checking out this list of books on critical thinking. Please let me know which ones you check out and how you helpful you found them.
There are many more out there, and keep in mind that you can find texts that will help you improve many types of thinking .
The important thing is to have a library that you continually build and read thoroughly.
And to get it all in, I recommend that you check out how to read faster next.
Need help with remembering what you read from these books? Check out my free memory improvement course:
![critical thinking books to read Free Memory Improvement Course](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Free-Memory-Improvement-Course-New.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
Related Posts
Real life critical thinking examples are hard to come by. This post gives you 7…
Critical thinking provides so many benefits. But did you know there's more than one kind…
Reading on its own is not enough. You also need critical thinking strategies. Here are…
6 Responses
Always a pleasure Anthony to read your ideas and thoughts!
Thanks so much for stopping by to give it a look, Raymond.
Anything new with your memory and learning journey lately?
Your lessons always help me. It’s really useful for every student.
Thanks so much for stopping by and letting me know!
As always, you provide great material for self-empowerment
Thanks so much for giving it a read. It is an honor and a pleasure to do this work and I appreciate your support very much!
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
I accept the Privacy Policy
WANT TO LEARN SIMPLE EVERYDAY THINGS WITHOUT FORGETTING?
Enter your email below to get instant access to my FREE course that gives you a proven step-by-step process for remembering anything you want . You'll discover how to:
- Speak any language fluently
- Recall complicated formulas, math equations, or numbers.
- Master the technical terms for your field of work or study.
- Recite poetry, jokes, and even long speeches word-for-word
- Quickly absorb the most important ideas from books, textbooks, or lectures...
Unlock your natural ability to learn and remember anything 3x faster now!
ABOUT ANTHONY METIVIER
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/anthony225sidebar.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
Anthony Metivier is the founder of the Magnetic Memory Method, a systematic, 21st century approach to memorizing foreign language vocabulary, names, music, poetry and more in ways that are easy, elegant, effective and fun.
Dr. Metivier holds a Ph.D. in Humanities from York University and has been featured in Forbes, Viva Magazine, Fluent in 3 Months, Daily Stoic, Learning How to Learn and he has delivered one of the most popular TEDx Talks on memory improvement.
His most popular books include, The Victorious Mind and… Read More
Anthony Metivier taught as a professor at:
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/universityrutger.png?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
POPULAR POSTS
Recent posts, how to use the memory palace technique for math in 8 steps, the ultimate guide to using mnemonics in your everyday life, how to remember what you read: 11 proven steps, 10 intellectual activities to mix with mnemonics for personal growth, how to memorize paragraphs, sentences, and passages fast, pay with confidence.
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/seals.png?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1&fit=173%2C120)
P.O. Box 933 Mooloolaba, QLD 4557 Australia
MEMORY COURSES
Quick links, memory boosting tips & tutorials.
![critical thinking books to read](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/logo-web-smaller1.png?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&ssl=1)
Copyright © 2012 – 2024 Anthony Metivier · Advanced Education Methodologies Pty Ltd
![critical thinking books to read](https://e5hougg55fx.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Brain-in-laptop-optimized.png?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=60&fit=800%2C433&ssl=1)
COOL MEMORY TECHNIQUES!
The 5 Best Books On Critical Thinking
I believe there is an incredible deficit in critical thinking. Those of us who actively think critically are seen as negative from people who just want to be told exactly what they want to hear and never have their thoughts and beliefs challenged.
But critical thinking isn’t about being negative by always pointing out why something sucks; it’s about expanding one’s point of view to see how something can be improved. The bottom line is we need more people using critical thinking!
“Critical thinking is not just pure logic. It’s a cluster of things. But its aim is to be clear about what is being argued, what follows from the given evidence and arguments, and to detect any cognitive biases or rhetorical moves that may lead us astray”
With that said, here are 5 books I recommend you read to improve your critical thinking skills:
- Thinking Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman . This is a book written by Nobel prize winning psychologist on how cognitive biases affect our ability to think clearly. It’s a well researched book and worth the read to have a foundation on how our brain decides.
- The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli . This is a light book in comparison with the others. It’s really a summary of 99 moves in thinking, some of them psychological, some of them logical, some of them social. What I like about it is that he uses lots of examples.
- The Great Mental Models by Shane Parrish . I picked this one up a soon as it was released a few months ago. The author, Shane Parrish is the man behind the popular Farnam Street blog that covers a wide variety of topics including critical thinking. The books is about mental models, specifically 9 that will help you think more clearly. This is a must read!
- Factfulness by Hans Rosling . This is one of the best books I read this year because it’s very hard to think clearly about things that are more complex as the state of the world. Worth reading, you’ll be surprised how
- Critical Thinking by Tom Chatfield . This is a highly detailed book on critical thinking, no stone left unturned. Well worth the read.
The last decade brought the rise of fake news, irrationality bubbles and nonsense. Critical thinking is required to be less fallible, arm yourself or be swept along with the crowd.
Related Posts
![critical thinking books to read The Power of Discomfort: Seeking Out Information That Challenges Your Assumptions](https://i0.wp.com/www.game-changer.net/wp-content/plugins/related-posts-by-zemanta/static/thumbs/6.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1)
Next Article
Why you should embrace and support mavericks if you want innovation.
![critical thinking books to read Number Dyslexia](https://numberdyslexia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/cropped-GeekyJar-02-1-3.png)
8 Best-selling Critical Thinking Books To Read In 2024
Last Updated on February 2, 2024 by Editorial Team
Please Note : This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure (link) for more info.
Critical thinking is the process of examining the available data, facts, evidence, observations, and argument to reach a conclusion. It is the capacity to evaluate information while being aware of different preconceptions. While it is a crucial concept, it needs to be developed in individuals. Critical thinking improves thought quality, which is an added advantage for students, teachers, and adults.
Individuals can find multiple ways to develop the skill. One good way is to engage oneself in significant books about critical thinking. Books are equipped with real-world applications, practical practices, and mindful language leading to an experiential learning process. Books also offer an engaging time with sorted texts and visually appealing graphics. Books on critical thinking help individuals boost their skills and also learn relevant strategies to build the habit of thinking critically.
Important books on improving critical thinking
Books are a helpful way to understand the process of critical thinking. Books not only offer a good shelf value but have higher recall value every time a reader reads them again. This becomes relevant as readers are more likely to remember and apply concepts that help strengthen critical thinking skills.
1. The Power of Critical Thinking: Effective Reasoning about Ordinary and Extraordinary Claims
Critical thinking is a powerful tool for improving logic and reasoning. The book is written by Lewis Vaughn to specifically offer tools to apply critical thinking. It includes the main characteristics and essentials of critical thinking helping students as well as adults in developing their reasoning and argumentative skills.
The book is filled with scientific reasoning and evidence that also helps individuals understand different obstacles to critical thinking. With the usage of fresh examples, the language is simple for students, youngsters, and adults. The comprehensive content allows readers to instantly connect with ideas. Individuals can spot a plethora of real-world applications where critical thinking plays an important role.
People from any domain can understand the aspect of human reasoning, creativity, and fun information to boost their critical thinking skills. Interestingly, this book has various self-assessment quizzes along with exercises to help individuals understand the methods and ways to develop critical thinking.
2. Wait, What?: And Life’s Other Essential Questions
The above-mentioned book is a helpful contribution by James E. Ryan for students as well as adults. The book specifically signifies the importance of making a mark in the world out there. Individuals are more likely to engage in real-life examples and anecdotes that relate to life.
This book exactly has a similar collection of the author’s life stories, experiences, and how critical thinking helped him pave the way to success. The author has focused on the importance of asking good questions to enable critical thinking. Moreover, the book is filled with stories from different areas of life including politics and pop culture.
As the name suggests, the book essentially throws light on how individuals should look at life with different questions. The 5 questions of life help readers build healthy relationships, understand people, and figure out what truly matters to them. With comprehensive content and practical learning, the book is one of the good ways to develop critical thinking skills.
3. Critical Thinking In A Nutshell
As the name suggests, the book – Critical thinking in a nutshell provides concise information on the subject matter. Critical thinking is often disturbed by irrational decision-making involving emotions. The book throws light on taking critical decisions by studying data and applying logical reasoning instead of emotions.
Readers get a good opportunity to learn about precise methods and ways to apply critical thinking in everyday life. The book also offers interesting exercises to constantly brush up on the skill. Additionally, it is an actionable book that helps individuals use the methodologies to activate critical thinking processes. It briefly explains the meaning and application of critical thinking in today’s world.
With real industry-related examples, the book displays the importance of critical thinking in business models, value systems, and entrepreneurship. The tone is conversational with well-explained methods. Individuals get an opportunity to learn about the critical thinking framework, the qualities of a critical thinker, filtering information, and how to become an expert at it.
4. Critical Thinking Skills For Dummies
The book is written by Martin Cohen that highlights the importance of critical thinking through mastering logical and argumentative skills. Individuals get a fresh perspective for learning different features of good critical thinkers. The book specifically highlights the significance of tolerance, confidence, curiosity, analytical skills, and truth-seeking to develop critical thinking skills.
The book is filled with practical examples and methodologies that help individuals sharpen their skills in everyday life. Along with comprehensive information, the book offers crucial methods for critical thinkers. It also promises relevant exercises to help improvise arguments by noting points and analyzing them.
Readers get a bundle of information from experts along with sound reasoning. Students as well as adults can learn more about strategies and tools to apply critical thinking in all areas of life. Moreover, one can effectively learn tactics to understand unsound arguments, thinking habits, and being a rational decision-maker.
5. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools
Based on the ground-breaking work of Richard Paul and Linda Elder, this book is a pocket-sized resource that equips readers with critical thinking skills. As the name suggests, the book offers concise information about the tools and concepts of critical thinking in a straightforward manner. The book offers fundamental critical thinking ideas and practices as a motivating foundation for solving problems.
Interestingly, this is helpful to students, teachers, and adults to understand the core concepts of critical thinking. The book also offers a comprehensive learning experience with detailed explanations and techniques. Additionally, it reveals how individuals can learn to identify and avoid egocentric and socio-centric thoughts.
The book also helps readers to understand the aspects that lead to narrow-mindedness, self-deception, arrogance, herd mentality, and prejudice. Individuals get a brief idea about the foundations of critical thinking and how they can be applied. It helps improve teaching and learning at all levels for readers.
6. Elements of Critical Thinking: A Fundamental Guide to Effective Decision Making, Deep Analysis, Intelligent Reasoning, and Independent Thinking
Presenting a significant book on critical thinking that deepens understanding about various elements of thinking and decision making. The book explains how information plays a crucial role in the critical thinking process. With creative and comprehensive explanations, the book offers valuable insights into thinking and reasoning.
It has a set of different questions that trigger the reader to understand the complete pattern of any situation. The book helps individuals understand the function, obstacles, and advantages of critical thinking . It also helps one understand the core elements and characteristics of critical thinkers. Solid examples make it an interesting read!
Additionally, readers are given information about various strategies leading to the right decision-making. It also focuses on the application of this skill while reading, learning, or writing. With a combination of knowledge on analytical and reflective thinking, the book offers practical knowledge about the application of the skill during shopping, learning, communicating, or putting forward an argument.
7. Critical Thinkers: Methods for Clear Thinking and Analysis in Everyday Situations from the Greatest Thinkers in History
As the name suggests, the book is a combination of lessons from classic critical thinkers. Readers receive a good opportunity to learn directly from the experiences of renowned personalities. Written by Albert Rutherford, the book primarily focuses on the application of critical thinking in everyday life. It enables the reader to question different opinions, facts, and instances to develop the habit of thinking critically.
Moreover, the book helps enhance intelligence by motivating readers to participate in arguments and debates. Readers learn how to process thoughts and make wise decisions through critical thinking. Individuals are exposed to different methods that govern the successful application of the skill. It familiarizes readers with practical situations and helps them tackle problems with reasoning skills.
The book offers a 360-degree approach to developing the skill. It allows readers to explore the concept from perspectives of philosophy, sociology, and cognitive biases. The language is simple and can be applied to most phases of everyday life. Students, adults, and teachers benefit from the book by using methods to enhance communication, logic, and reasoning capabilities.
8. Critical Thinking: Your Guide to Effective Argument, Successful Analysis, and Independent Study
The book written by Tom Chatfield is a classic contribution to the field of critical thinking. It enables the human mind to spot arguments and effectively handle them. With comprehensive explanations, the writer elaborates on the importance of discovering errors, understanding bias, and being tech-savvy for thinking critically.
The book is more like a guided toolkit that offers readers significant information about the 10 commandments for critical thinking. The book also has improved tips and tricks that work well for students as well as adults. Interestingly, the book also has quizzes to empower readers with the right questions thereby putting the mind into a critical thinking process.
The book is divided into two parts where the first part highlights reasoning, arguments, and key explanations. The second part focuses on faulty reasoning and also has suggestions for maintaining a work-life balance. The book is more helpful for college students as it allows readers to completely understand the subject from its core.
Can books help with better critical thinking skills? What does research point to?
Critical thinking can be developed in various ways including brainstorming, creative thinking, and through reading. However, books play an important role in imparting knowledge. As books are embedded with realistic situations and examples, it gives a practical overview of concepts to the readers. According to research [ 1 ] , it is found that digital books are crucial for making students competent. Graduates are now required to develop critical thinking which can be conveniently done via books. After the inclusion of digital books on critical thinking, the data showed improvement in students’ performance.
Another important research [ 2 ] suggests the usage of children’s books to promote critical thinking in them. The study was conducted to understand the impact of books on the thinking capacity of students. As per the research, students spent time analyzing the questions and answers from the book. It also resulted in an improvement in attitude toward school. Hence, it can be stated that the usage of various books helps in developing critical thinking.
Knowledge and personal development are fundamentally impacted by books because they open up a world of imagination. With the list of the above-mentioned critical thinking books, individuals get to develop confidence in their ability to interpret problems and find feasible solutions.
Apart from books, individuals can also look for different critical thinking apps and real-life examples to strengthen understanding. With critical thinking, individuals become proactive at understanding the essence of the situation and they also learn to analyze it with the right facts and figures.
- Ridho, S., Wardani, S., & Saptono, S. (2021). Development of Local Wisdom Digital Books to Improve Critical Thinking Skills through Problem Based Learning. Journal of Innovative Science Education , 10 (1), 1 – 7. https://doi.org/10.15294/jise.v9i1.37041
- A, P., & R., S. (n.d.). Promoting Critical Thinking Skills for Fourth Grade Students through the Use of Children’s Books. [Dissertations/Theses – Practicum Papers]. Nova University.
An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’,
Leave a Comment Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
7 Best Critical Thinking Books of All Time
Our goal : Find the best Critical Thinking books according to the internet (not just one random person's opinion).
- Type "best critical thinking books" into our search engine and study the top 4+ pages.
- Add only the books mentioned 2+ times.
- Rank the results neatly for you here! 😊 (It was a lot of work. But hey! That's why we're here, right?)
(Updated 2024)
As an Amazon Associate, we earn money from purchases made through links in this page.
Last Updated: Monday 1 Jan, 2024
- Best Critical Thinking Books
![critical thinking books to read Thinking, Fast and Slow](https://d3bxjxywei423j.cloudfront.net/public/book_picture/size180x280_Thinking%2C%20Fast%20and%20Slow%20-%20Daniel%20Kahneman.jpg)
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Daniel Kahneman
![critical thinking books to read Predictably Irrational](https://d3bxjxywei423j.cloudfront.net/public/book_picture/size180x280_Predictably%20Irrational%20-%20The%20Hidden%20Forces%20That%20Shape%20Our%20Decisions.jpg)
Predictably Irrational
The hidden forces that shape our decisions.
![critical thinking books to read The Demon-Haunted World](https://d3bxjxywei423j.cloudfront.net/public/book_picture/size180x280_The%20Demon-Haunted%20World%20-%20Science%20as%20a%20Candle%20in%20the%20Dark.jpg)
The Demon-Haunted World
Science as a candle in the dark.
![critical thinking books to read The Art of Thinking Clearly](https://d3bxjxywei423j.cloudfront.net/public/book_picture/size180x280_The%20Art%20of%20Thinking%20Clearly%20-%20.jpg)
The Art of Thinking Clearly
Rolf Dobelli
![critical thinking books to read Factfulness](https://d3bxjxywei423j.cloudfront.net/public/book_picture/size180x280_Factfulness%20-%20Ten%20Reasons%20We're%20Wrong%20About%20the%20World%20-%20and%20Why%20Things%20Are%20Better%20Than%20You%20Think.jpg)
Factfulness
Ten reasons we're wrong about the world - and why things are better than you think.
Hans Rosling
![critical thinking books to read How to Think About Weird Things](https://d3bxjxywei423j.cloudfront.net/public/book_picture/size180x280_How%20to%20Think%20About%20Weird%20Things%20-%20Critical%20Thinking%20for%20a%20New%20Age.jpg)
How to Think About Weird Things
Critical thinking for a new age.
Theodore Schick
![critical thinking books to read Asking the Right Questions](https://d3bxjxywei423j.cloudfront.net/public/book_picture/size180x280_Asking%20the%20Right%20Questions%20-%20A%20Guide%20to%20Critical%20Thinking.jpg)
Asking the Right Questions
A guide to critical thinking.
M. Neil Browne
- The 5 Best Books On Critical Thinking | Game-Changer www.game-changer.net
- The 17 Best Books on Critical Thinking (to Read in 2023) upjourney.com
- The 5 Best Books on Critical Thinking for Einstein-Esque Performance bloomsoup.com
- Best Critical Thinking Books theartofliving.com
What To Read Next
![critical thinking books to read Christianity](https://d3bxjxywei423j.cloudfront.net/public/book_picture/size120x180_90%20Minutes%20in%20Heaven%20-%20A%20True%20Story%20of%20Death%20%26%20Life.jpg)
Explore other lists
Share this page
Email us if you have any feedback
JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser.
- Order Tracking
- Create an Account
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://www.criticalthinking.com/media/wysiwyg/logo.jpg)
200+ Award-Winning Educational Textbooks, Activity Books, & Printable eBooks!
- Compare Products
Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies
- Search by Book Series
- Algebra I & II Gr. 7-12+
- Algebra Magic Tricks Gr. 2-12+
- Algebra Word Problems Gr. 7-12+
- Balance Benders Gr. 2-12+
- Balance Math & More! Gr. 2-12+
- Basics of Critical Thinking Gr. 4-7
- Brain Stretchers Gr. 5-12+
- Building Thinking Skills Gr. Toddler-12+
- Building Writing Skills Gr. 3-7
- Bundles - Critical Thinking Gr. PreK-9
- Bundles - Language Arts Gr. K-8
- Bundles - Mathematics Gr. PreK-9
- Bundles - Multi-Subject Curriculum Gr. PreK-12+
- Bundles - Test Prep Gr. Toddler-12+
- Can You Find Me? Gr. PreK-1
- Complete the Picture Math Gr. 1-3
- Cornell Critical Thinking Tests Gr. 5-12+
- Cranium Crackers Gr. 3-12+
- Creative Problem Solving Gr. PreK-2
- Critical Thinking Activities to Improve Writing Gr. 4-12+
- Critical Thinking Coloring Gr. PreK-2
- Critical Thinking Detective Gr. 3-12+
- Critical Thinking Tests Gr. PreK-6
- Critical Thinking for Reading Comprehension Gr. 1-5
- Critical Thinking in United States History Gr. 6-12+
- CrossNumber Math Puzzles Gr. 4-10
- Crypt-O-Words Gr. 2-7
- Crypto Mind Benders Gr. 3-12+
- Daily Mind Builders Gr. 5-12+
- Dare to Compare Math Gr. 2-7
- Developing Critical Thinking through Science Gr. 1-8
- Dr. DooRiddles Gr. PreK-12+
- Dr. Funster's Gr. 2-12+
- Editor in Chief Gr. 2-12+
- Fun-Time Phonics! Gr. PreK-2
- Half 'n Half Animals Gr. K-4
- Hands-On Thinking Skills Gr. K-1
- Inference Jones Gr. 1-6
- James Madison Gr. 10-12+
- Jumbles Gr. 3-5
- Language Mechanic Gr. 4-7
- Language Smarts Gr. 1-4
- Mastering Logic & Math Problem Solving Gr. 6-9
- Math Analogies Gr. K-9
- Math Detective Gr. 3-8
- Math Games Gr. 3-8
- Math Mind Benders Gr. 5-12+
- Math Ties Gr. 4-8
- Math Word Problems Gr. 4-10
- Mathematical Reasoning Gr. Toddler-11
- Middle School Science Gr. 6-8
- Mind Benders Gr. PreK-12+
- Mind Building Math Gr. K-1
- Mind Building Reading Gr. K-1
- Novel Thinking Gr. 3-6
- OLSAT® Test Prep Gr. PreK-K
- Organizing Thinking Gr. 2-8
- Pattern Explorer Gr. 3-9
- Practical Critical Thinking Gr. 8-12+
- Punctuation Puzzler Gr. 3-8
- Reading Detective Gr. 3-12+
- Red Herring Mysteries Gr. 4-12+
- Red Herrings Science Mysteries Gr. 4-9
- Science Detective Gr. 3-6
- Science Mind Benders Gr. PreK-3
- Science Vocabulary Crossword Puzzles Gr. 4-6
- Sciencewise Gr. 4-12+
- Scratch Your Brain Gr. 2-12+
- Sentence Diagramming Gr. 3-12+
- Smarty Pants Puzzles Gr. 3-12+
- Snailopolis Gr. K-4
- Something's Fishy at Lake Iwannafisha Gr. 5-9
- Teaching Technology Gr. 3-12+
- Tell Me a Story Gr. PreK-1
- Think Analogies Gr. 3-12+
- Think and Write Gr. 3-8
- Think-A-Grams Gr. 4-12+
- Thinking About Time Gr. 3-6
- Thinking Connections Gr. 4-12+
- Thinking Directionally Gr. 2-6
- Thinking Skills & Key Concepts Gr. PreK-2
- Thinking Skills for Tests Gr. PreK-5
- U.S. History Detective Gr. 8-12+
- Understanding Fractions Gr. 2-6
- Visual Perceptual Skill Building Gr. PreK-3
- Vocabulary Riddles Gr. 4-8
- Vocabulary Smarts Gr. 2-5
- Vocabulary Virtuoso Gr. 2-12+
- What Would You Do? Gr. 2-12+
- Who Is This Kid? Colleges Want to Know! Gr. 9-12+
- Word Explorer Gr. 6-8
- Word Roots Gr. 3-12+
- World History Detective Gr. 6-12+
- Writing Detective Gr. 3-6
- You Decide! Gr. 6-12+
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://www.criticalthinking.com/static/frontend/Mangoits/criticalthinking/en_US/images/menu-back-arrow.png)
- Special of the Month
- Sign Up for our Best Offers
- Bundles = Greatest Savings!
- Sign Up for Free Puzzles
- Sign Up for Free Activities
- Toddler (Ages 0-3)
- PreK (Ages 3-5)
- Kindergarten (Ages 5-6)
- 1st Grade (Ages 6-7)
- 2nd Grade (Ages 7-8)
- 3rd Grade (Ages 8-9)
- 4th Grade (Ages 9-10)
- 5th Grade (Ages 10-11)
- 6th Grade (Ages 11-12)
- 7th Grade (Ages 12-13)
- 8th Grade (Ages 13-14)
- 9th Grade (Ages 14-15)
- 10th Grade (Ages 15-16)
- 11th Grade (Ages 16-17)
- 12th Grade (Ages 17-18)
- 12th+ Grade (Ages 18+)
- Test Prep Directory
- Test Prep Bundles
- Test Prep Guides
- Preschool Academics
- Store Locator
- Submit Feedback/Request
- Sales Alerts Sign-Up
- Technical Support
- Mission & History
- Articles & Advice
- Testimonials
- Our Guarantee
- New Products
- Free Activities
- Libros en Español
Customers love our products...
Tell us your story ».
"My children love Balance Benders™; in fact, I would not be exaggerating if I said they were addicted to them. I sincerely thank you for a product that makes what can be extremely difficult skills to master an absolute blast for my children."
"The wealth of game-like activities and colorful illustrations in Fun-Time Phonics!™ make it feel like play rather than work, allowing kids to enjoy themselves while acquiring the skills and confidence that lead to fluency."
"Reading Detective® is the best reading comprehension teaching material I have found! I love that your material teaches the student HOW to comprehend, and how to look for the answers in the text. I love your evidence-seeking approach!"
"I love the Language Smarts™ curriculum. My son enjoys it very much and can follow the simple instructions with ease. Thanks to The Critical Thinking Co.™, my son scores high on his standardized and placement tests."
"U.S. History Detective® is fabulous. You have to do more than just figure out the correct answer -- you have to give the sentence number(s) that best supports your answer. I love that. You have to read the text and support your conclusions."
"The fun thing about Mathematical Reasoning™ is that every page is a little different. No rote facts or boredom here! Mix that in with a few game-like activities and lots of colors and pictures, and they had my kiddo hooked."
"We did an experiment to see if Building Thinking Skills® would help students perform better on standardized and state tests. The improvement was remarkable. Test scores went up even after the first few months!"
"Word Roots is everything I was searching for and more. It goes beyond spelling tests and teaches students to decipher words based upon prefixes, suffixes, and roots. The focus is on meaning, which in turn increases comprehension."
"You wouldn't think something so fun could have such a profound effect on your thought process! Mind Benders® sharpen organizational and informational processing skills as well as strengthen reading skills."
![critical thinking books to read critical thinking books to read](https://www.criticalthinking.com/media/newcritical/images/gift-box.jpg)
Get the Reddit app
Need an idea what to read next? Tell us what you've enjoyed in the past, or what you're looking for, and let the community suggest a book (or books) for you to read!
What are some books that will teach me how to think critically?
- Skip to main content
Update your browser for the best possible experience
As of January 1st, 2020, Internet Explorer (versions 11 and below) is no longer supported by Evolve. To get the best possible experience using Evolve, we recommend that you use another web browser. For HESI iNet users click here .
More From Forbes
Your three most important career skills.
- Share to Facebook
- Share to Twitter
- Share to Linkedin
(Original Caption) Princeton, New Jersey: Physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955), seated in ... [+] book-filled office holding a pipe.
In an age when the world is changing so incredibly fast – and with it, all the elements that comprise it – a regular and increasingly frequent assessment of the skills we need to navigate all this is more than a good idea. It’s mandatory, if we intend to stay competitive, ahead of the game, and relevant.
Trouble is, most of us fall prey to inertia; we get to a certain point in our careers – whether just out of school or into our peak earning years – where we seem to give tacit approval to stagnation, deciding, either consciously or not, that we no longer need to improve, diversify, grow, or advance.
A career coach and adjunct professor’s take on skills
Everyone should be familiar with the two standard skills categorizations: hard skills and soft skills. In the unlikely event there’s someone who isn’t, hard skills are technical and are task oriented, specific, not universally transferable, and usually quantitative; soft skills are people oriented, general, highly transferable, and entirely qualitative.
I propose a third category, which I will get to shortly. But first, so we’re on the same page…
Examples of hard and soft skills
Hard skills:.
Accounting, programming, playing shortstop, landscaping, building maintenance, data analysis, contract and pricing review, actuary.
Microsoft Issues New Warning For 70 Of All Windows Users
Forget ios 18 millions of iphone users now have rcs messaging, samsung issues critical update for millions of galaxy users, soft skills:.
Communication, ability to work well in a team, leadership, creative thinking and writing, aesthetic design, mediation, adaptability, emotional intelligence.
So far, that part’s easy. However, not only is this new category claiming its own plce – like the continents as they broke from Pangea 200 million years ago – it’s rapidly becoming prepotent.
The Critical Skills: critical thinking, critical listening, critical reading
It’s not that we never needed critical thinking; we always have, but as an independent career coach (27 years and counting) and adjunct professor of leadership and communication on the graduate level (15 years, now retired), I can make two observations. One, critical thinking skills have taken an alarmingly big hit and are not done getting beaten up. I see it and have seen it every day. And the culprit is not the person who lacks them; it’s the general elementary and secondary education systems that aren’t developing them. Two, A.I. has changed everything and is daily widening the gap between critical skills necessary and critical skills available.
Today’s adult can’t tell you the relevance of the Lilliputians and Brobdingnagians, doesn’t know the Pythagorean theorem, has no idea how exchange rates affect trade or which country is America’s largest trading partner (Don’t say China; you’ll be wrong.), hardly picks up a newspaper, gets most of their news on line and can’t discern what’s responsible news and what’s fake, can’t for the life of them understand why in the world anyone would study the liberal arts, and famously (today) gets sucked into political extremism, which is the furthest thing from critical thinking you’ll ever see.
Now along comes A.I.
A.I. has changed everything. By accelerating and magnifying absolutely everything we do or will soon do, the case for critical thinking, critical listening, and critical reading becomes more compelling by the day. In fact, I’m currently engaged with a corporate client in a project to review current hiring standards and implement hiring practices that will better identify critical skills and bring them in through their talent acquisition process. No small task.
There is much more to be said about critical thinking, critical listening, and critical reading, which I promise to do. But for now, suffice to say that the first step is to commit the time to do them. The rest will follow.
![critical thinking books to read Eli Amdur](https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5fa0935a1d754794d63a326f/400x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=701&cropY1=10&cropY2=712)
- Editorial Standards
- Reprints & Permissions
Join The Conversation
One Community. Many Voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts.
Forbes Community Guidelines
Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.
In order to do so, please follow the posting rules in our site's Terms of Service. We've summarized some of those key rules below. Simply put, keep it civil.
Your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain:
- False or intentionally out-of-context or misleading information
- Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language or threats of any kind
- Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author
- Content that otherwise violates our site's terms.
User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in:
- Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected
- Racist, sexist, homophobic or other discriminatory comments
- Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk
- Actions that otherwise violate our site's terms.
So, how can you be a power user?
- Stay on topic and share your insights
- Feel free to be clear and thoughtful to get your point across
- ‘Like’ or ‘Dislike’ to show your point of view.
- Protect your community.
- Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules.
Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site's Terms of Service.
![critical thinking books to read A collection of book covers featured in this preview](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/c57YNi_5R63Fyyfb6Ncs3qUAUOw=/0x0:3390x2259/1200x675/filters:focal(1424x859:1966x1401)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73380302/summerbookpreview.0.jpg)
Filed under:
The 25 must-read books of summer 2024
Get your reading lists ready
If you buy something from a Polygon link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement .
Share this story
- Share this on Facebook
- Share this on Reddit
- Share All sharing options
Share All sharing options for: The 25 must-read books of summer 2024
Picture this: The sun is high in the sky and you’re on your way to the beach with your friends with the latest Chappell Roan song blasting on the radio. You’re all slathered in SPF and have your folding chairs and coolers at the ready. It’s summertime, finally, and the only thing that’s missing is the perfect book to read while you burn to a red hot crisp by the side of the ocean.
Not sure what to bring with you? Good news! There are a ton of books coming out between the months of June and August that are worth checking out. There’s a clever reimagining of the story of Lady Macbeth, celebrated children’s author M.T. Anderson’s adult debut, the follow up to 2022’s hottest romantic fantasy, and a truly surprising number of heist novels. Which is all to say that there are plenty of options for you to choose from.
Below you’ll find 25 of the most romantic, fantastical, and action packed books coming out this summer that we can’t wait to kick back and read.
![critical thinking books to read Cover art for Mae Bennett’s Barely Even Friends, showing a woman on a ladder as a man holds a paint can next to her](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UVsDHeCSUY52hhauDLETOFPIPCY=/0x0:467x700/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:467x700):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452559/barelyevenfriends.jpg)
Barely Even Friends by Mae Bennett
If you’re in the mood to read a steamy, contemporary retelling of Beauty and the Beast , look no further than Mae Bennett’s debut romance novel, Barely Even Friends .
A contractor by trade and expert in all things to do with home renovation, Bellamy Price is determined to get a leg up and prove herself in a typically male-dominated field. Luckily, the perfect opportunity presents itself when she’s offered a job working on the palatial and mysterious Killington Estate. Expecting the house to be empty upon her arrival, Bellamy is shocked to discover it’s occupied by none other than Oliver Killington, recluse and heir to the vast Killington empire, who happens to have a very convenient thing for suspenders. Though frustratingly obstinate at first, it quickly becomes clear that there’s more to Oliver than meets the eye, and a common enemy quickly brings him and Bellamy closer together than either are expecting.
- $19 at Bookshop.org
![critical thinking books to read An android holds a teapot in their hand while looking at a green desolated wasteland in the cover for Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Service Model](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bbkAR0OdS_H64aQS4jkJYTop4OY=/0x0:900x1391/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:900x1391):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452571/servicemodel.jpg)
Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
From the author of Elder Race and Children of Time comes a new, surprisingly funny and deeply philosophical sci-fi novel about a murderous robot valet by the name of Charles that’s perfect for fans of I, Robot and Jeeves .
When Charles, a robot valet meticulously designed to be at the right hand of any modern human, gets the idea to murder their master — and subsequently does — they’re forced to go on the run, something they never thought they’d be able to do. Charles quickly discovers that the world is much larger than the home they worked in, and that they’re not the only robot discovering their independence.
- $27 at Bookshop.org
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for Yume Kitasei’s The Stardust Grail, showing what looks like an octopus in space, hidden behind what looks like red space nebula](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FIEVf9gIlrDUCu_UHdD4qU_nVtc=/0x0:900x1360/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:900x1360):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452583/stardustgrail.jpg)
The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei
It’s hard not to be incredibly excited about The Stardust Grail , a book that’s pitched as an anti-colonial space heist with a protagonist who returns stolen artifacts to the alien civilizations they belong to rather than keeping them for herself or putting them behind glass in a museum.
Set ten years after a job goes horribly wrong, Maya Hoshimoto — once considered to be the galaxy’s best art thief — is approached by an old friend with an offer she can’t refuse: track down an powerful alien artifact. The catch? The artifact in question might not actually exist, and if it does, its discovery could lead to the end of human civilization as we know it.
![critical thinking books to read Cover art for Robin Sloan’s Moonbound, featuring an image of a world with a tear through the red sky](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BDHvOUWIfLWwjWxufM-CrK_1_fo=/0x0:900x1378/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:900x1378):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452588/moonbound.jpg)
Moonbound by Robin Sloan
If you, like me, read Robin Sloan’s delightful novel, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore , and thought to yourself, “That was strange,” then you might want to hold onto your hat.
Set 13,000 years in the future, Moonbound tells the story of Ariel, a boy who lives in a town under the control of a wizard. When Ariel accidentally stumbles across an important piece of record-keeping technology from the past, he finds himself called to adventure and a mission to save the world.
![critical thinking books to read Cover art for Alicia Thompson’s The Art of Catching Feelings, drawn in the style of a baseball card, with a woman embracing a baseball player on a baseball field](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vYhKwBw2-kRLKriNkkfRfg_jxIo=/0x0:454x700/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:454x700):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452601/theartofcatchingfeelings.jpg)
The Art Of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson
What better time to read a romance novel about baseball than during the height of summer?
In Alicia Thompson’s novel, The Art of Catching Feelings , a professional baseball player and his number one heckler navigate a delightful enemies-to-lovers romance. When Daphne Brink takes her taunting a little too far, driving Chris Kepler to literal tears during the middle of a game, she reaches out over social media to apologize. When Chris messages her back, it quickly becomes clear that he doesn’t know who Daphne is, and their relationship begins to grow into more than a few sweet DMs. But as the season progresses and their feelings for one another become undeniable, Daphne realizes she might not be able to keep her true identity from Chris forever.
- $18 at Bookshop.org
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Anguish and Anarchy, featuring a Black woman wearing a gold veil with silver hair streaming down her back](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hmBLduA6wfoE2qrBIrJ4SCFdXDk=/0x0:900x1360/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:900x1360):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452606/Children_of_Anguish_and_Anarchy.jpg)
Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi
It’s (almost) here! The final installment of Tomi Adeyemi’s Lady of Orïsha series finally hits shelves in late June.
As the blood moon grows ever closer, Zélie faces the king who has been hunting her heart. But there is little she can do to prepare herself while she is trapped on a foreign ship bound for distant lands, warriors with iron skulls, and unfamiliar allies.
- $23 at Bookshop.org
![critical thinking books to read A slumped over figure crawls along a pile of bodies in a red cover for Christopher Buehlman’s The Daughters’ War.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vNmlVlBi7hRghZXlSfG2cJlbPhM=/0x0:900x1360/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:900x1360):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25153569/9781250887672.jpg)
The Daughters’ War by Christopher Buehlman
I have been counting down the days until the release of The Daughters’ War since I first caught wind that Christopher Buehlman would be writing a prequel to his fantastic fantasy novel, The Blacktongue Thief . Rather than return to the lush world that he’s crafted with a sequel (we’ll see Kinch again eventually), Buehlman is taking readers back in time with a tale about Galva as she rides into battle against goblins on the back of her war-corvid.
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for Liz Moore’s The God of the Woods, a water-color style image of trees with a pink drop oozing down the middle](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IAxwP874ud3EsaJl_hQeZqDtNW4=/0x0:464x700/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:464x700):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452635/thegodofthewoods.jpg)
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Set in the Adirondack Mountains during the late summer of 1975, The God of the Woods tells the story of 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar, who vanishes from her bunk overnight while at summer camp. Barbara isn’t just any camper though, and this isn’t the first time a Van Laar has gone missing. Sixteen years ago, Barbara’s older brother also vanished too, never to be seen again.
This is a gorgeously written and tragic tale with a non-linear plot that jumps through time from the 1950s to the 1970s as Moore transports her readers, weaving a rich and complicated tapestry.
- $28 at Bookshop.org
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for Megan Bannen’s The Undermining of Twyla and Frank, featuring two figures incased in a heart surrounded by dragon wings and TNT](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8ynp2Ruu6OKIvZJjlzpRqWnEMN0=/0x0:493x775/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:493x775):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452656/theunderminingoffrankandtwyla.jpg)
The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen
Hot off the heels of her first heartwarming romance novel, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy , Megan Bannen returns to the magical world of Tanria with its friends-to-lovers sequel, The Undermining of Twyla and Frank .
It’s fair to say the entire town of Eternity was shocked when Twyla Banneker, middle-aged and a widow, joined her best friend, Frank Ellis, to be a Tanrian marshal. But, eight years later, Twyla is still at it (and very good at her job, to boot). Her life takes a sudden and exciting turn when she and Frank discover the dead body of one of their fellow marshals covered in — of all things — glitter. As Twyla and Frank are drawn further into the mystery afoot, it becomes increasingly clear that the two are much more than just work partners.
![critical thinking books to read Cover art for Fernanda Trías’ Pink Slime, an abstract red and pink image](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HGHhpJgntzb0_Zcg0ABnOL4FQlY=/0x0:621x900/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:621x900):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452690/pinkslime.jpg)
Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías
Set in a not-to-distant future in which the world has been utterly devastated by a plague, Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías is a deeply distressing but compulsively readable work of climate fiction.
When a mysterious algae bloom poisons the air blowing inland from the ocean, a nameless corporation develops a vile pink food substance — think Pepto Bismol crossed with Soylent Green — for everyone to eat. As the end of the world grows ever closer and society continues to collapse, one woman in particular — the narrator of this story — refuses to leave the family and friends she loves behind, clinging to the life she once knew.
- $22 at Bookshop.org
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for Anton Hur’s Toward Eternity, an alien image filled with plantlife on a distant planet](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CPz2OzLgivhACxSHh-Q706auaIA=/0x0:1577x2400/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1577x2400):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452691/towardeternity.jpg)
Toward Eternity by Anton Hur
Already a force to be reckoned with in the world of literary translation, Anton Hur’s upcoming novel, Toward Eternity , is a brilliant and thought provoking examination of what it means to be human.
Told in the form of journal entries that connect characters across centuries, Toward Eternity is set in a world where cancerous cells can be replaced by nanites — robotic cells — effectively eradicating the disease. It’s nothing short of a miracle. At the same time, a literary researcher and the doctor who holds the patent to nano-technology join forces to place an AI program into a physical, robotic form, effectively giving it bodily autonomy and bringing mortality and humanity into question in the process.
- $25 at Bookshop.org
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for Paolo Bacigalupi’s Navola, featuring a red eye surrounded by a white background](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8pUT49Hi-xH3tDQtxIfWK5I1l7c=/0x0:464x700/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:464x700):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452701/9780593535059.jpg)
Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi
Fans of Windup Girl , The Water Knife , and Shipbreaker , rejoice! An exciting new science fiction title from Paolo Bacigalupi is hitting shelves in July.
Set in an Italian Renaissance-inspired world, Navolo is a mashup of literary scifi/fantasy and historical fiction that tells the story of Davico di Regulai, a young lord set to take over his family’s vast empire. The di Regulai family are wealthy beyond belief and have influenced the rise and fall of politicians and great cities alike, but not everything in the city of Navola is as it seems. When Davico discovers the existence of a fossilized dragon eye — a symbol of raw power that is pictured on Navola’s excellent cover — he finds that there are few he can trust, including members of his own family.
![critical thinking books to read The sky looks on fire in the cover image for Jenn Lyons’ The Sky on Fire, as a dragon soars by a castle built into a mountain.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tBoQxjC4j7CwqI4nszBgXa83Ogo=/0x0:900x1368/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:900x1368):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452706/theskyonfire.jpg)
The Sky On Fire by Jenn Lyons
Billed as Dragonriders of Pern but for modern readers, The Sky on Fire promises to be exactly what fans of Temeraire , Fourth Wing , and even Patricia C. Wrede’s beloved Dealing With Dragons are craving.
After being saved from a local warlord by a group of unlikely adventuring misfits — picture an average D&D party — Anahrod realizes that her new companions are determined to reach the cloud cities and the immense dragon’s hoard located there. The only problem with this plan is that the hoard belongs to Neveranimas, and Neveranimas wants nothing more than to see Anahrod dead.
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for M.T. Anderson’s Nicked, showing someone picking up a skull by the eye socket against a black background](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UsUjtlx6DnbBT2GOsUuyw5HSHY4=/0x0:463x700/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:463x700):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452713/nicked.jpg)
Nicked by M.T. Anderson
If there’s one thing about M.T. Anderson, it’s that he’s going to write a book with a plot that’s as delightful and captivating as it is downright strange. His adult debut Nicked is no exception.
In the year 1801, the Italian port city of Bari is wracked by a plague, and a monk by the name of Brother Nicephorus is visited by Saint Nicholas in his dreams. His superiors don’t believe him, but Tyun, a treasure hunter, does and the two soon hit the road to collect Saint Nicholas’s bones and the mysterious liquid they rest in, which is rumored to heal the sick. What follows is a heist that is complex and action packed enough to make even the likes of Steven Soderbergh jealous.
- $26 at Bookshop.org
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for Sarah Rees Brennan’s Long Live Evil, featuring a woman with a bloody dress splayed across a throne](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vSkwx5WHREvAyxz8uMlx56rDok4=/0x0:493x693/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:493x693):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452729/longliveevil.jpg)
Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan
Sarah Rees Brennan’s adult debut, Long Live Evil , proves that sometimes it feels good to be a little bad.
Rae is dying, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. As her world comes crumbling down around her, she makes a last ditch magical bargain that transports her to the court of her favorite fictional character, the Once and Forever Emperor. The catch? Rae isn’t the hero of this story. Quite the opposite, in fact. As the emperor becomes increasingly violent, Rae assembles an unlikely team of villainous allies who deserve a much better ending than the one originally written for them.
![critical thinking books to read A vast sci-fi fantasy scape, with long jagged cliffs stretching into the sky, on the cover for James S.A. Corey’s The Mercy of Gods.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xI-66PRiRGhPk2AT4pQVRRfRKv8=/0x0:768x1184/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:768x1184):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25153575/themercyofgods.jpg)
The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey
James S.A. Corey, the dynamic duo behind the phenomenal series, The Expanse , is back once again for a brand new, utterly epic sci-fi adventure.
For generations, the Carryx — a combination of an empire and a hive — have waged wars and enslaved alien species across the galaxy. They are a force to be reckoned with to say the least, but when they finally meet their match, it becomes clear that the best and brightest humans living on the planet Anjiin are the only ones who can save them. The result is a gripping tale of survival, rebellion, and hope.
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for Matthew Erman and Sma Beck’s Loving, Ohio, featuring a person covering their face, as they are enveloped by a ghostly image of another version of theirself.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kXypNLgQqpBLz5vIUShFN_7IGTU=/0x0:600x900/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:600x900):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452746/lovingohio.jpg)
Loving, Ohio by Matthew Erman and illustrated by Sam Beck
It’s safe to say that Loving, Ohio — written by Matthew Erman and gorgeously illustrated by Sam Beck — is my favorite horror graphic novel that I’ve read since Emily Carroll’s In The Woods . It’s a perfectly balanced mix of punk rock, small town coming-of-age, and bone chilling, nightmare fueling dread.
After the shocking suicide of their friend, four teens are grief stricken, unmoored, and counting down the days until high school comes to an end. There’s not much for them in Loving anyways, besides the mysterious new age cult known as the Chorus that has taken root there. When tragedy strikes again, the group can’t help but wonder if the Chorus is somehow behind it, and one in particular, Sloane, is hell-bent on finding out the truth, no matter the coast.
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for T. Kingfisher’s A Sorceress Comes to Call, with gold trees against a starry black background](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/riI7RypM5_PnrkWSUu1IEO2KNi0=/0x0:900x1359/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:900x1359):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452747/asorceresscomestocall.jpg)
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T Kingfisher
T. Kingfisher has outdone herself once again, proving to sci-fi and fantasy readers alike why she’s one of the best in the biz. A retelling inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairytale Goose Girl , A Sorceress Comes to Call is a bewitching and wildly entertaining adventure.
Cordelia has not had an easy life. Raised by a domineering, emotionally manipulative and downright abusive mother in a house without any doors, and with only a beautiful white horse for a friend, Cordelia craves a freedom she’s certain she’ll never have. When a death in town forces the two women to go on the run in the middle of the night, they find themselves seeking shelter with a wealthy man, his unwed sister, Hester, and a squire. When Hester recognizes the pain and torment that Cordelia has suffered, and that Cordelia’s mother isn’t the woman she pretends to be, she becomes determined to save everyone she cares for before it’s too late.
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for Beth Revis’s Full Speed to a Crash Landing, featuring two large silhouettes looming over a crashed spacecraft](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YjsBROqAYS9usISwejHb1V9nI8g=/0x0:492x700/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:492x700):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452751/fullspeedtoacrashlanding.jpg)
Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis
Having dabbled in the literary side of Star Wars for some time, Beth Revis is no stranger to science fiction, outer space, impossible heists, or romantic tension. Her new novella, Full Speed to a Crash Landing (the first in a trilogy) has all that going for it and more.
When readers first meet Ada Lamarr, she’s running out of time. And oxygen. But help soon arrives in the form of a government sanctioned salvage crew. They’re less than thrilled to have her on board as they head to their destination, a secret mission helmed by the delightfully handsome Agent Rian White, but Ada promises to stay out of their hair and out of their business. This, of course, is a lie. But as Ada and Rian spend more time together and their attraction to one another continues to grow, it becomes increasingly unclear who is playing who.
- $21 at Bookshop.org
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for Matthew Lyons’ A Mask of Flies, featuring a dead-looking girl without a face, covered with flies](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6Dw6AVfwmZn9R7qN6Y0OHJNkZu4=/0x0:1668x2560/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1668x2560):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452754/Mask_Of_Flies_RCF_scaled.jpg)
A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons
If you’re in the mood to read a dynamic and brutal horror novel that will have you on the edge of your seat from cover-to-cover, look no further than A Mask of Flies by Matthew Lyons.
After a bank heist goes horribly awry, Anne Heller is forced to hole up in her family’s old cabin with Jessup, her badly wounded partner-in-crime, and Dutch, the police officer they’ve taken hostage. Jessup, unfortunately, doesn’t make it. Anne and Dutch decide to bury his body, only for something that is-but-isn’t Jessup to rise from his grave and try to get back into the cabin.
![critical thinking books to read Lady Macbeth wears a veil and is framed by an oval frame in Ava Reid’s Lady Macbeth cover art](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bItQNXHe78Lms-jwcZdWp0wvANo=/0x0:463x700/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:463x700):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452760/ladymacbeth.jpg)
Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid
When it comes to complicated, multi-faceted female characters, Ava Reid reigns supreme, and her upcoming novel, Lady Macbeth , reimagines the story of one of Shakespeare’s most ruthless, unforgiving, power-hungry women.
The Lady knows what her fate holds in store for her. She knows that she is destined to marry a brutish Scot and to drive men to madness. The Lady also knows that sometimes it takes a little witchcraft to get by. What she doesn’t know is that her husband has secrets of his own, including his own ties to the occult.
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for Nalo Hopkinson’s Blackheart Man, featuring a long-haired man’s face framed by mirrored images of a woman’s face and an alligator’s](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vVFXxnQoG-P3lYAGKJ3-ZeRO0Pk=/0x0:596x900/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:596x900):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452761/blackheart_man_9781668005101_xlg.jpg)
Blackheart Man by Nalo Hopkinson
Inspired by Caribbean culture, folklore, and history that deftly blurs the lines between reality and fiction, Blackheart Man by Nalo Hopkinson is a gripping tale of a magical island and the man who will do whatever he can to protect it.
Veycosi, a scholar on the island of Cynchin, wants nothing more in the world than the chance to get his hands on the Alamat Book of Light, a tome that contains knowledge that would ensure his place on his island’s Colloquium. His plans go abruptly sideways when fifteen galleons from a neighboring land arrive, forcing the island and its inhabitants into a trade agreement that proves to be much more dangerous than anticipated.
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for Kerstin Hall’s Asunder, featuring a woman surrounded by sparks and fog](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UTaFyWFMUInSAdfyuakMK5ux-Qs=/0x0:900x1381/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:900x1381):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452763/asunder.jpg)
Asunder by Kerstin Hall
If you play Dungeons & Dragons and love the Warlock class and their pacts with mysterious, often otherworldly beings, then Asunder by Kerstin Hall is the perfect book for you.
In a world where magic users are allowed to choose their gods, Karys Eska is bound to an eldritch creature with three faces and hundreds of wings who has gifted her the ability to communicate with the dead. Karys uses her powers to help investigate strange deaths in the city where she lives, knowing that, one day, she’ll be forced permanently to the real where her benefactor exists. Her life takes an unexpected turn, however, when she meets a dying man who she inadvertently binds to her shadow.
![critical thinking books to read Cover image for Frances White’s Voyage of the Damned, featuring a long fish bone and a boat under water against a light blue background](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pMws4rMciMWq3J3S5YLHQG6Yb98=/0x0:2438x3643/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2438x3643):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452766/voyageofthedamned.jpg)
Voyage of the Damned by Frances White
Now being published in North America for the first time, Voyage of the Damned by Frances White has a little bit of everything. Part And Then There Were None , part fantasy novel, queer as hell, and surprisingly, delightfully romantic, it’s sure to scratch the Pirates of the Caribbean and Our Flag Means Death itch for a lot of readers.
The land of Concordia has maintained peace throughout its many provinces for thousands of years. It’s an incredible feat, and to celebrate, the emperor is sending the twelve heirs of the provinces of Concordia, including Ganymedes Piscero (a notorious screw up and general disappointment to his family) on a twelve-day trip. When one of the other heirs turns up dead, Gamymedes knows his only choice is to find out who killed them before he ends up dead as well.
![critical thinking books to read Cover art for Alexis Hall’s Confounding Oaths, featuring two well-dressed regency era men embracing under vines and birds](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0mVOTpIALSE8fHIgoHvkezNsuYU=/0x0:465x700/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:465x700):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25452767/confoundingoaths.jpg)
Confounding Oaths by Alexis Hall
Alexis Hall, author of Boyfriend Material , has done it again! Confounding Oaths is a heartwarming regency romance that will be the perfect book to read while sitting on a beach or by the pool in the late August sun.
The year is 1815 and John Caesar is determined to host an incredible coming-out for his younger sister, Mary. Despite his best efforts, John is thwarted in just about every way imaginable; ragtag soldiers, a military cult, and a fairy godmother with ill intention all stand in his way. When Mary is cursed by fairy folk, John is forced to enlist the dashing, handsome, and unfortunately working class Captain James to rescue her.
The 2024 summer entertainment preview
- The most anticipated TV shows of summer 2024
- WWE is rebooting – is it working?
- Tom Bombadil, cut from Lord of the Rings movies, to step out in Rings of Power
- The must-watch anime to look out for in summer 2024
- The 5 best Korean dramas to watch on Netflix this summer
- The most anticipated movies of summer 2024
- Cuckoo’s director hopes young people sneak into his movie and blow their minds
- Thelma is a geri-action movie that doesn’t miss a step
- Emma Roberts’ NASA rom-com is the Legally Blonde of astronaut movies
- Robot Dreams’ director founded an animation studio just to adapt a graphic novel he loved
- Kill is the brutal thriller that action die-hards can’t miss this summer
- Your first look at Critical Role’s Caduceus Clay in his new Dark Horse comic
- Let Keanu Reeves punch and shoot his way onto your summer reading list
- The Expanse’s James S.A. Corey returns with The Mercy of Gods — and you can read the first chapter
- This summer Batman: Year One, the best Batman comic, gets even better
- Can Lev Grossman do for King Arthur what he did for Harry Potter?
- The Nice House by the Sea is a dream vacation at the end of the world with the worst people you know
Loading comments...
![Share on X critical thinking books to read](https://news-cdn.bindg.com/indg/images/26_AUTO_icon-X-black.webp)
Critical Thinking Crisis Plagues Legal Profession’s Entry Level
![critical thinking books to read Patricia Libby](https://db0ip7zd23b50.cloudfront.net/dims4/default/6658d04/2147483647/crop/0x0%2B0%2B0/resize/80x80%3E/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbloomberg-bna-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F12%2Fc0%2F28e6992c44568567f35846e64c45%2Fpatricia-headshot-1.jpg)
Law firm partners frequently tell me they are worried that associates fresh out of law school aren’t approaching legal problems with the type of analytical thinking successful lawyering requires. Is this lack of critical thinking skills a generational problem specific to Gen Z lawyers, or does the issue go back further?
Some may argue that the influence of social media created a generation of lawyers who lack critical thinking skills, while others may blame the rise of standardized testing, or even the disruption of the pandemic. I would argue it doesn’t matter.
The need for robust critical thinking skills among newer law firm attorneys today has become absolutely indispensable.
Thanks to the digital age and the proliferation of artificial intelligence, lawyers have an unprecedented wealth of information at their fingertips. Are these new lawyers being adequately trained to analyze and assess the information before them? The answer is most likely a resounding no. This instant access to information makes critical skills training for our newest attorneys even more urgent.
Critical Thinking Deficits
I have seen firsthand numerous examples of this skills gap.
Associates drafting a contract using a sample precedent agreement routinely leave provisions from the precedent that don’t belong in the new contract. New litigators draft motions that include arguments relevant to a sample motion form that are inapplicable to the current motion—then fail to include other key arguments because they’re too wedded to the sample.
Associates will often cite cases to support an argument but fail to explain exactly why the case is applicable. They expect the reader—usually a court—to make the connection themselves, in essence telling the court their client should win “because this case.” Or, associates start to mark up a document without first thinking through how much time and resources the client wants to spend, whether they even have the leverage to negotiate the positions, or the most practical approach for the size and scope of the matter.
What is the common denominator here? It’s a failure to ask “why.” Why was the provision in the precedent agreement and should it be in the agreement being drafted? Why was a certain argument made in the sample motion and does it even apply to the current case? Why did the court rule a certain way in the cited case, what facts did it rely on to reach that ruling, and how does any of this relate to the case at hand? And, finally, why am I spending time marking up an agreement without first talking to the partner about the client’s goals and resources?
In my experience working with law students and junior attorneys—as an adjunct professor and supervising attorney—this failure to ask “why” is one of the most significant stumbling blocks for an associate seeking to develop as an attorney.
Learning to Ask Why
In today’s legal landscape, the lack of critical thinking skills is an even more significant problem with more serious consequences. With widespread availability of information and AI tools at the hands of associates, the ability to ask “why” is even more urgent.
Every associate should ask themselves whether the information they just obtained through a search platform, whether AI focused or otherwise, is to be trusted. What’s the source? Is it complete? Is it accurate? Is it up-to-date? Is it sufficiently nuanced to relate to the case at hand or does it just sound like it applies?
If we assume law schools aren’t adequately training emerging lawyers to develop these critical thinking skills, what can be done once these graduates are first-or-second year associates in a firm?
It can be difficult for partners to balance training time with their workloads. This can in turn impact the billable hours of senior team members.
But training new lawyers to ask “why” and giving them opportunities to exercise and strengthen their critical thinking skills is essential. Associates will be practice-ready, bill more efficiently, and reduce the need to write-off their time.
The same partners who bemoan the lack of critical thinking skills should invest in explicit critical thinking training for new associates. In the long run, this will develop productive and successful associates, and improve the ability of our future attorneys to best serve their clients.
This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.
Author Information
Patricia Libby is executive legal editor at AltaClaro, an experiential attorney training platform, where she oversees all practitioner-created and instructed educational content.
Write for Us: Author Guidelines
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jada Chin at [email protected] ; Jessie Kokrda Kamens at [email protected]
Learn more about Bloomberg Law or Log In to keep reading:
Learn about bloomberg law.
AI-powered legal analytics, workflow tools and premium legal & business news.
Already a subscriber?
Log in to keep reading or access research tools.
![critical thinking books to read American Psychological Association Logo](https://www.apa.org/Content/Images/logo.png)
Misinformation and disinformation
![critical thinking books to read traffic sign with words Fact Check](https://www.apa.org/images/misinformation-disinformation-tile_tcm7-306919_w1024_n.jpg)
Misinformation is false or inaccurate information—getting the facts wrong. Disinformation is false information which is deliberately intended to mislead—intentionally misstating the facts.
The spread of misinformation and disinformation has affected our ability to improve public health, address climate change, maintain a stable democracy, and more. By providing valuable insight into how and why we are likely to believe misinformation and disinformation, psychological science can inform how we protect ourselves against its ill effects.
APA resolution
![critical thinking books to read woman with concerned expression looking at smartphone](https://www.apa.org/images/combating-misinformation-index_tcm7-324976_w160_n.jpg)
Combating misinformation and promoting psychological science literacy
Approved by APA Council of Representatives, February 2024
![critical thinking books to read three individuals looking down at their phones](https://www.apa.org/images/misinformation-report-tile_tcm7-322565_w640_n.png)
Using psychological science to understand and fight health misinformation
This report describes the best available psychological science on misinformation, particularly as it relates to health.
It offers eight specific recommendations to help scientists, policymakers, and health professionals respond to the ongoing threats posed by misinformation.
![critical thinking books to read woman with a confused expression looking at a laptop screen](https://www.apa.org/images/health-misinformation-tile_tcm7-327430_w320_n.jpg)
Is it safe to get health advice from influencers?
![critical thinking books to read closeup of hand holding a cell phone](https://www.apa.org/images/misinformation-recommendations-tile_tcm7-322550_w320_n.jpg)
Eight specific ways to combat misinformation
![critical thinking books to read group of people all looking down at their smartphones](https://www.apa.org/images/misinformation-belief-action-tile_tcm7-322554_w320_n.jpg)
Factors that make people believe misinformation
![critical thinking books to read man drinking coffee while looking at a phone](https://www.apa.org/images/misinformation-spreads-tile_tcm7-322552_w320_n.jpg)
How and why does misinformation spread?
Magination Press children’s book
![critical thinking books to read True or False?](https://www.apa.org/images/3840487-150_tcm7-324781_w160_n.jpg)
True or False? The Science of Perception, Misinformation, and Disinformation
Written for preteens and young teens in lively text accompanied by fun facts, this book explores what psychology tells us about development and persistence of false perceptions and beliefs and the difficulty of correcting them, plus ways to debunk misinformation and think critically and factually about the world around us.
Advice to stem misinformation
![critical thinking books to read Illustration depicting fake news](https://www.apa.org/images/index-employers-workplace_tcm7-311808_w160_n.jpg)
What employers can do to counter election misinformation in the workplace
![critical thinking books to read Group of reporters holding microphones interview a man](https://www.apa.org/images/index-psychology-misinformation-guide-journalists_tcm7-310370_w160_n.jpg)
Using psychological science to fight misinformation: A guide for journalists
More from APA
![critical thinking books to read graphic of words and numbers scrolling across the image](https://www.apa.org/images/2024-01-ceo-tile_tcm7-323064_w320_n.png)
Psychology is leading the way on fighting misinformation
![critical thinking books to read haphazard scribble lines](https://www.apa.org/images/2024-01-trends-misinformation-tile_tcm7-323093_w320_n.png)
This election year, fighting misinformation is messier and more important than ever
![critical thinking books to read social media headshot image for Linden's podcast](https://www.apa.org/images/social-linden_tcm7-322603_w320_n.png)
Stopping the spread of misinformation
![critical thinking books to read man in a suit looking down at a smartphone](https://www.apa.org/images/2022-06-misinformation-attack-tile_tcm7-305076_w320_n.jpg)
The anatomy of a misinformation attack
Webinars and presentations
Tackling Misinformation Ahead of Election Day
APA and the Civic Alliance collaborated to address the impact of mis- and disinformation on our democracy. APA experts discussed the psychology behind how mis- and disinformation occurs, and why we should care.
Building Back Trust in Science: Community-Centered Solutions
APA collaborated with American Public Health Association, National League of Cities, and Research!America to host a virtual national conversation about the psychology and impact of misinformation on public health.
Fighting Misinformation With Psychological Science
Psychological science is playing a key role in the global cooperative effort to combat misinformation and change the course on how we’re tackling critical societal issues.
Studying misinformation
Explore the latest psychological research on misinformation and disinformation
How long does gamified psychological inoculation protect people against misinformation?
Perceptions of fake news, misinformation, and disinformation amid the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative exploration
Quantifying the effects of fake news on behavior: Evidence from a study of COVID-19 misinformation
Countering misinformation and fake news through inoculation and prebunking
Who is susceptible to online health misinformation? A test of four psychosocial hypotheses
It might become true: How prefactual thinking licenses dishonesty
Federal resources
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention How to address Covid -19 vaccine misinformation
- U.S. Surgeon General Health misinformation
Resources from other organizations
- AARP Teaching students how to spot misinformation
- American Public Health Association Podcast series: Confronting our disease of disinformation Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
- News Literacy Project Webinar: Your brain and misinformation: Why people believe lies and conspiracy theories
- NPC Journalism Institute Webinar: Disinformation, midterms & the mind: How psychology can help journalists fight misinformation
To find a researcher studying misinformation and disinformation, please contact our press office .
![20220907-EMBA-OverviewTopBanner-1440x5602x-SG-comp - IMD Business School Key-Leadership-Skills - IMD Business School](https://www.imd.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/20220907-EMBA-OverviewTopBanner-1440x5602x-SG-comp-scaled.jpg)
The 8 key leadership skills you need to know in 2024
Anyone can be placed in a leadership role, but to be good and thrive in that position requires solid leadership skills . Leadership skills are typically at the top of the list of competencies that recruiters focus on when hiring, or when managers are promoted from within an organization.
Effective leadership skills are crucial, both in a professional and personal capacity and are vital in facilitating effective team dynamics, driving success, managing change, and promoting personal and professional development.
Some of the world’s largest companies hunt for people with well-honed leadership skills to fill their most sought after executive positions.
8 key leadership skills you need to know about:
- Relationship building
- Agility and adaptability
- Innovation and creativity
- Employee motivation
- Decision-making
- Conflict management
- Negotiation
- Critical Thinking
1. Relationship building (the foundation of a high-performing team)
Some leaders will say they that they do not need to be loved in the workplace to succeed. This may be true, but to build a cohesive and more engaged team, great managers need the leadership skills to forge strong working relationships with their employees.
Leaders with strong, trusting and authentic relationships with their teams know that investing time in building these bonds makes them more effective as a leader, and creates a foundation for success.
Good working relationships increase employee engagement and according to Gallup’s meta-analysis of employee engagement, business units with good employee engagement have 41% fewer quality defects and 37% less absenteeism. A 21% increase in productivity was also seen to result from higher employee engagement.
So even if you think you don’t need to be loved in the workplace, you will definitely need to be skilled in building good relationships in order to be an effective leader.
If your team is highly engaged and happy in the workplace, you are likely to be well respected as a leader with employees who love what they do, and hopefully the strong relationships you cultivate will help your team perform at their highest level.
Tips for leaders to navigate relationships in the workplace »
2. Agility and adaptability (stay at the cutting edge as a leader)
In a study conducted by Development Dimensions International in 2008, one of the most important leadership qualities, was the ability to facilitate change. Fast-forward to 2024, adaptability is one of the most important leadership skills.
Leaders need to contend with a hyper-competitive business environment, geo-politics, climate change, the changes advanced by the COVID-19 pandemic and many more factors, all of which require leaders to adapt and develop agility.
Effective leaders must be able to adapt to both internal, and external changes – even if that means working outside of your comfort zone. As a leader you need to develop a lifelong learning mentality to ensure that you are not left behind by shifts in your industry, and can give your business the competitive edge. This is where as a leader you need to be agile and adaptable, which is easier said than done.
One key way to develop leadership agility and adaptability is to be accountable and assume your responsibilities, making sure that you have laid out a plan on how you should respond to change.
This plan should contain an achievable timeline, allowing you to constantly check your progress on how well you are adapting to the change and how you are exemplifying this to your team.
Read IMD article on agile leadership in an age of digital disruption »
3. Innovation and creativity (learn to push your boundaries)
Innovation in leadership is of utmost importance for every company. Successful innovation begins with ideation — the phase where outstanding ideas are developed and become the foundation of innovation success.
Consider some of the industry leaders, what did it take for Apple to become a leader technology industry? They made innovations to products with their customers in mind.
Steve Jobs, and perhaps even more so Tim Cook led the innovation and creativity for Apple Inc. by continuously forging ahead of the competition, and this probably made them some of the most innovative leaders within the tech industry.
The increasing demand for creativity and innovation will continue to be a driving force for executives, as who must harness their leadership skills in these areas to be effective and competitive.
![MBA-ProgramThemes-Accordeon-LeadershipLab-750x400-SG - IMD Business School - IMD Business School](https://www.imd.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/MBA-ProgramThemes-Accordeon-LeadershipLab-750x400-SG.jpg)
4. Employee motivation (improve engagement and efficiency)
In close connection with relationship building, the ability to motivate your workforce is as important as keeping employee engagement high. One of the most effective leadership skills is knowing how to continuously motivate employees, which requires leaders to be connected to their teams and attentive to what is going on around them.
In a study done by the firm Interact on 10,000 employees in the US which cited that the number 1 complaint (63%) from employees concerning their managers is lack of appreciation, and, conversely, when managers appreciate their contribution, their engagement increases by 60%.
In another study by Westminster College, it was found that boosting morale is the top (32%) motivational technique employees prefer. If employees are not motivated, the company can be negatively affected (financially) with absenteeism, attrition and low productivity.
Motivated employees are much more engaged, they are also more self-confident in what they do, and can do. This leads them to know how to react in difficult situations and develop innovative ideas that could help optimize business performance.
5. Decision-making (leading with conviction)
A leader is tasked with making decisions all the time. To be an effective leader, those decision making skills need to be top notch. Critical decisions affecting your organization on a large scale need to be sound, rational and solid.
In reality, your decisions as a leader will determine your – and potentially your organization’s – success. Making decisions, however big or small, are a fundamental part of Leadership, as a leader you need to develop strong decision-making skills and have the conviction to stand by your decisions, whilst also recognizing the need to adapt when those decisions do not lead to the desired outcome. It is a unique balancing act.
Remember, some decisions may not always be favorable. Making an unpopular but necessary decision is probably one of the most difficult tasks as a leader, but it is vital that as a leader you are able to recognize your responsibilities and make clear decisions for your team or organization.
📝 Try an exercise for better decision making »
6. Conflict management (keeping the peace)
According to the American Management Association, managers spend at least 24% of their time managing conflict. Conflict can happen in any area of business.
A conflict is considered to be any issue between two or more individuals that can potentially disrupt work. Conflict in business may go beyond the workplace as it can involve customers, suppliers and even competitors.
When a conflict arises, an effective leader should be able to jump in and resolve or at least mitigate the conflict before it affects the business negatively. When properly dealt with, a conflict may even turn out to be positive for your organization, as it can often lead to stronger bonds or new ideas.
To be effective as a leader, you must be good at identifying conflict, and have foresight on how to resolve it. It is also essential to be rational when faced with confrontation. Conflict management is no doubt one of the most important leadership competencies but Robyn Short cited a study that found 60% of U.S. employees have not received any conflict management skills training.
As a leader, it is important that you are able to manage conflict, but developing these same skills in your team can help avoid conflict altogether.
How to manage conflict: Six essentials from a former FBI hostage negotiator »
7. Negotiation (winning the game)
Negotiation is a process where two parties with different ideals get together and mutually agree on what an outcome should be. According to Skills You Need, the process of negotiation involves 6 stages:
- Preparation
- Clarification of goals
- Negotiation towards a Win-Win outcome
- Implementation of a course of action
Good negotiations can be beneficial to an organization because they will build better relationships, both internally and externally. They will also help find the best long-term solution by getting the most out of two different sides. An effective leader must be well versed in his negotiation style to move an organization forward.
As a leader, negotiation is used to understand the interests of your employees and to find ways of satisfying those interests, in order to achieve organizational goals.
Tips on using negotiation to achieve positive outcomes »
Subscribe for more great leadership content 💌
Subscribe now for exclusive content from imd.
8. Critical Thinking (understand the links between ideas)
Leading a business is unquestionably challenging. To be successful, a leader must make a lot of difficult decisions, often under pressure. Research by the Brandon Hall Group shows that critical thinking is the most important skill required of leaders to successfully lead an organization.
Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly, whilst building a logical connection between different ideas. Critical thinkers are often intelligent decision makers, highly analytical and generally always rational. Critical thinking is a learned skill, and generally involves three steps:
Step 1 – Frame
Complex problems are rarely what they appear to be on first look. To better understand what you are dealing with, frame the problem by asking yourself “What is my problem?” Hint: you can safely assume that whatever you think your problem is right now probably isn’t your actual problem.
Step 2 – Explore
Do not rely on intuition. No matter how much faith you have in your own judgment, if you rely strictly on your instincts you will miss the opportunity to see things from an alternative perspective. Instead, explore potential solutions. That is, ask yourself “How may I solve my problem?” It is equally important to explore what matters to you; that is, the various attributes of a solution that would make it more attractive to you.
Step 3 – Decide
In most cases, one solution isn’t consistently superior to all others on all attributes. To make your decision, answer your question, “How should I solve my problem?” Surface the trade-offs for each solution, identifying what you are ready to give away that you value so that you can get a little more of something else that you value even more.
Frame, explore, decide, or FrED, for short. For most complex problems, your understanding of the problem changes as you progress through the analysis. The three steps aren’t so much a linear sequence as they are elements of an iterative loop. Do not hesitate to revise previous conclusions as new evidence surfaces.
Typically, critical thinkers will rigorously question ideas and assumptions, they will always seek to determine whether the ideas, arguments and findings represent the true picture and are commonly able to recognize inconsistencies and errors in reasoning to achieve the desired outcome.
Sharpen your critical thinking skills with IMD »
![Women leaders banner - IMD Business School Women leaders - IMD Business School](https://www.imd.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Women-leaders-banner-scaled-e1710498566590-458x300.jpg)
Leadership is crucial to the success of individuals, teams, and organizations. It encompasses diverse skills, qualities, and approaches that empower individuals to guide and inspire others toward achieving common goals. As the business environment continues to evolve, so will the concept of leadership — adapting to meet the demands and challenges of a dynamic world. […]
![20230524-ExecutiveCoachingServices-BuildingYourDevelopmentCulture-740x374-comp - IMD Business School - IMD Business School](https://www.imd.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/20230524-ExecutiveCoachingServices-BuildingYourDevelopmentCulture-740x374-comp-540x273.jpg)
Imagine navigating a ship through uncharted waters in the dark, with each crew member holding a piece of the map. That’s the challenge of leadership in today’s dynamic, ever-evolving business landscape. How do you, as a leader, unite these diverse pieces to chart a successful course? The answer lies in inclusive leadership. In a world […]
![20231109-Executive_coaching_services__coaching_for_organization_s-FeaturedImage-1920x1080 - IMD Business School - IMD Business School](https://www.imd.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20231109-Executive_coaching_services__coaching_for_organization_s-FeaturedImage-1920x1080-1-533x300.jpg)
What if you could supercharge your leadership development in a way that’s tailored specifically to you? Today’s business leaders are under immense pressure to deliver. It’s not just about achieving quarterly targets; it’s about being a visionary, a strategic thinker, and a great manager. That’s where executive coaching comes in. Far from being a sign […]
![IMD_MBA_LP_Hero_Banner - IMD Business School - IMD Business School](https://www.imd.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMD_MBA_LP_Hero_Banner-540x210.webp)
Do you believe each team member has a unique strength that can fuel innovation and solve complex challenges? If your answer is yes, you might want to explore the landscape of laissez-faire leadership. Laissez-faire leadership, a term many have heard but few completely understand, is growing more relevant in today’s ever-changing, complex work environments. It […]
![critical thinking books to read This is a grid showing parts of nine book covers.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/05/24/books/review/24BestBooksSoFar/24BestBooksSoFar-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)
The Best Books of the Year (So Far)
The nonfiction and novels we can’t stop thinking about.
Supported by
- Share full article
By The New York Times Books Staff
- Published May 24, 2024 Updated June 7, 2024
Fiction | Nonfiction
We’re almost halfway through 2024 and we at The Book Review have already written about hundreds of books. Some of those titles are good. Some are very good. And then there are the following.
We suspect that some (though certainly not all) will be top of mind when we publish our end-of-year, best-of lists. For more thoughts on what to read next, head to our book recommendation page .
![critical thinking books to read The cover of “James” is black. The title is in yellow, and the author’s name is in white.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/02/19/books/19percival-everett-cover/19percival-everett-cover-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)
James , by Percival Everett
In this reworking of the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Jim, the enslaved man who accompanies Huck down the Mississippi River, is the narrator, and he recounts the classic tale in a language that is his own, with surprising details that reveal a far more resourceful, cunning and powerful character than we knew.
Local bookstores | Barnes and Noble | Amazon
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in .
Want all of The Times? Subscribe .
Advertisement
![](http://myjudaica.online/777/templates/cheerup2/res/banner1.gif)
COMMENTS
The best books on critical thinking: Table of Contents [ show] 1. Critical Thinking: A Beginner's Guide to Critical Thinking, Better Decision Making, and Problem Solving - Jennifer Wilson. $12.38. Buy on Amazon. 03/08/2024 04:56 pm GMT. As the title says, this book introduces you to the art of critical thinking.
Thinking from A to Z. by Nigel Warburton. Read. 1 Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World by Carl Bergstrom & Jevin West. 2 Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. 3 Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About The World — And Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling. 4 Black Box Thinking: The Surprising ...
Noise by Daniel Kahneman. Being Your Cat by Celia Haddon, Daniel Mills. Bad Science by Ben Goldacre. Dive into the realm of logic and reason with this collection - the most recommended books on critical thinking, curated based on frequent recommendations from leading book blogs and publications.
The 20 best critical thinking books recommended by Robin Ince, Michael Shermer, Richard Dawkins and Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
avg rating 4.29 — 1,296 ratings — published 2009. Want to Read. Rate this book. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars. Books shelved as critical-thinking: Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking by M. Neil Browne, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Can...
15 Books About Critical Thinking That Will Ignite Your Analytical Prowess. ... this guide is a must-read. Check out Master Critical Thinking for Teens: The Complete Guide to Improving Decision ...
Best Books on Critical Thinking: Our Top 20 Picks. Here are some of the best critical thinking books that you can consider to expand your knowledge on the subject: 1. Critical Thinking Skills for Dummies. Check Price on Amazon. Of Course, we all are already aware of the "For Dummies" series.
3 The Top 20 Books on Critical Thinking. 3.1 1.) Critical Thinking ; Logic Mastery (Series by Thinknetic) 3.2 2.) Critical Thinking and the Analytical Mind by Marcus P. Dawson. 3.3 3.) Critical Thinking: The 12 Rules for Intelligent Thinking by Jason Dyer. 3.4 4.) 50 Strategies to Boost Cognitive Engagement by Rebecca Stobaugh.
Critical thinking is self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way. People who think critically strive to always improve their reasoning abilities and to be aware of the common pitfalls of human reasoning - irrationality, prejudices, biases, distortions, uncritically accepted social rules and taboos, self-interest, and ...
Kallet offers readers a step-by-step approach to critical thinking, including how to identify biases, assumptions, and problems. He also provides tools and techniques that can help in making better decisions. This book is a must-read for anyone looking to improve their problem-solving skills. You can find this book here.
In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has written three books that have radically changed how we understand our world and ourselves: The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers. Now, in What the Dog Saw, he brings together, for the first time, the best of his writing from The New Yorker over the same period.
Eight: Thinking On Autopilot. One of the most challenging critical thinking examples to work through involves the topic of free will. My favorite book on the topic is also one of the most hotly contested. But it's the examples in Free Will by Sam Harris that really bring it all together.
A list of the best-selling critical thinking books of all time, such as Think Smarter, Clear Thinking and Critical Thinking. Categories Experts Newsletter Subscribe ... Learn the Secrets of Speed Reading, Critical Thinking & Memory Improvement, and Skills & Techniques For Problem Solving, Decision Making & Brain Training. By Dale Owen . 4.48 ...
Thinking Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman. This is a book written by Nobel prize winning psychologist on how cognitive biases affect our ability to think clearly. It's a well researched book and worth the read to have a foundation on how our brain decides. The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli. This is a light book in comparison with ...
K-1. Manipulatives. $11.99. Add to Cart. Building Thinking Skills® provides highly effective verbal and nonverbal reasoning activities to improve students' vocabulary, reading, writing, math, logic, and figural spatial skills, as well as their visual and auditory processing. This exceptional ser.
The 5 questions of life help readers build healthy relationships, understand people, and figure out what truly matters to them. With comprehensive content and practical learning, the book is one of the good ways to develop critical thinking skills. Check Price at Amazon. 3. Critical Thinking In A Nutshell.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Books to read in 2024 to broaden your knowledge in Career and Success. User verified book suggestions such as 'The Great Mental Models' and 'How to Have Impossible Conversations ' by top notch authors like Shane Parrish and Rhiannon Beaubien and Peter Boghossian and James A. Lindsay.
Critical Thinking Books of All Time. Our goal: Find the best Critical Thinking books according to the internet (not just one random person's opinion).. Here's what we did:; Type "best critical thinking books" into our search engine and study the top 4+ pages.; Add only the books mentioned 2+ times.; Rank the results neatly for you here! 😊 (It was a lot of work.
The Critical Thinking Co. publishes PreK-12+ books and software to develop critical thinking in core subject areas. The store will not work correctly when cookies are disabled. ... 200+ Award-Winning Textbooks & Activity Books! Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies.
The best thing I can think of is to read books on the opposite sides of your comfort zones and biases and then write up mini reports listing the convincing and unconvincing sides of the author's point of view. Constantly challenge your own beliefs. I don't know that you're going to get critical thinking directly from a specific book.
The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan has one chapter called "The Baloney Detection Kit" that really is a must-read for critical thinking. An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments is an absolutely hilarious book about logical fallacies that I frequently recommend. You can actually read it for free on the interwebs.
Skip to main content
20 Best New Critical Thinking Books To Read In 2024 - BookAuthority. A list of 20 new critical thinking books you should read in 2024, such as Critical Thinking and Thinking as a Winner.
Soft skills: Communication, ability to work well in a team, leadership, creative thinking and writing, aesthetic design, mediation, adaptability, emotional intelligence. So far, that part's easy ...
August 6. It's safe to say that Loving, Ohio — written by Matthew Erman and gorgeously illustrated by Sam Beck — is my favorite horror graphic novel that I've read since Emily Carroll's ...
Learning to Ask Why. In today's legal landscape, the lack of critical thinking skills is an even more significant problem with more serious consequences. With widespread availability of information and AI tools at the hands of associates, the ability to ask "why" is even more urgent. Every associate should ask themselves whether the ...
Misinformation is false or inaccurate information—getting the facts wrong. Disinformation is false information which is deliberately intended to mislead—intentionally misstating the facts. The spread of misinformation and disinformation has affected our ability to improve public health, address climate change, maintain a stable democracy ...
8. Critical Thinking (understand the links between ideas) Leading a business is unquestionably challenging. To be successful, a leader must make a lot of difficult decisions, often under pressure. Research by the Brandon Hall Group shows that critical thinking is the most important skill required of leaders to successfully lead an organization.
The Hunter, by Tana French. For Tana French fans, every one of the thriller writer's twisty, ingenious books is an event. This one, a sequel to "The Searcher," once again sees the retired ...
20 Best New Critical Thinking eBooks To Read In 2024 - BookAuthority. A list of 20 new critical thinking ebooks you should read in 2024, such as Clear Thinking and Critical Thinking.