The Library

Book Summaries

415 book summaries — each distilling the essential ideas into a clear, thoughtful overview.

Browse by Topic
#8 summaries
“AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order”8/10“The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration”8/10“Why Freud Was Wrong: Sin, Science and Psychoanalysis” by Richard Webster –8/1010% Happier7/1012 Rules for Life8/1021 Lessons for the 21st Century7/105/3/17/10­­­­A Summary of “Against Heresies”7.5/10
A23 summaries
A Calendar of Wisdom7.3/10A Guide To The Good Life7.6/10A History of Western Philosophy9/10A Mind for NumbersA Random Walk Down Wall Street (Ch5-8)A Scanner Darkly7/10A Secular Age8/10A Way of Being6/10Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think—A7/10Acts of Meaning6.5/10AionAltered Traits8.7/10America by BaudrillardAmusing Ourselves to Death9/10An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding8/10An Introduction to Middle East Politics7.3/10Anarchy and Christianity7/10Animal Farm7/10Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation7/10Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious8/10Aristotle in 90 Minutes8/10Aspects of the Theory of Syntax7/10Atomic Habits8/10
B14 summaries
Baudrillard and Theology (8/10) by James WaltersBehave8/10Beyond Good and Evil8/10Bigger, Leaner, Stronger7/10Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich8/10Blood MeridianBlue Ocean Strategy7/10Body By Science9/10Brain Maker8/10Brain Rules7/10Brave New World9/10Breath9/10Breathe by Belisa Vranich7/10Bullshit Jobs8/10
C16 summaries
Calling Bullshit9/10Chaos by James Gleick9/10China’s Great Wall of Debt8/10Chip War8/10Choose Yourself6/10Civilization and its Discontents7/10Cognitive Psychology: Mind and Brain8/10Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Science of the Mind8/10Complexity: A Guided Tour –8/10Confessions Of An Economic Hitman7/10Conscientious Objections7/10Contagious: How to Build Word of Mouth in the Digital Age8/10Convict Conditioning7/10Crime and Punishment8.9/10Crome Yellow7/10Crush it7/10
D9 summaries
Dark December7/10Darkness At Noon8/10Deadliest Enemy8.2/10Debt: the first 5000 Years8/10Deep Work6/10Descartes in 90 minutes8/10Discourses of Epictetus7.5/10Dominion9/10Dopamine Nation8/10
E3 summaries
Either/Or8/10Ethnopsychiatry7/10Exorcism and Enlightenment: A Summary of Johann Joseph Gassner and the Demons of Eighteenth-Century Germany8/10
F9 summaries
Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians7/10Faust8.4/10Fear and Trembling7.8/10Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience9/10Focus6/10Free Will6/10Freud:The Mind of the Moralist8/10From Darwin to Hitler8/10Future Shock8/10
G6 summaries
Games People Play7/10Genes, Giants, Monsters, and Men7/10Genome by Matt Ridley8/10Girard’s Mimetic Theory8.7/10Guns, Germs, and Steel8.4/10Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ8.3/10
H19 summaries
Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity —7/10Homo Deus7/10Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products8/10How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes7/10How Healing Works9/10How Innovation Works8/10How Not to Die7/10How the World Works7/10How to be a Stoic7/10How to Become an Original Writer in Three Days (Ludwig Borne)How to Create a Mind7/10How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big7/10How to Read a Book8/10How to Read a BookHow to Read Lacan8/10How to Take Smart NotesHuman Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control by Stuart Russell –7/10Human Nature and the Principle of Least Effort7/10Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up8/10
I12 summaries
I Contain Multitudes8/10I Will Teach You to be Rich7/10Ikigai7/10Immortality, Inc8.5/10Improvement of the Mind6/10In Praise of Idleness8/10Individuation and Narcissism7/10Industrial Society and its Future8/10Influence8/10Innovation and Entrepreneurship9/10Irrational Exuberance (Ch. 4,5,6)Island8/10
J3 summaries
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook8/10Jacques Lacan’s Seminar IVJosh Kaufman’s The Personal MBA7/10
K3 summaries
Kant in 90 minutes7/10Kierkegaard in 90 Minutes8/10King, Warrior, Magician, Lover8/10
L11 summaries
Language and Mind7/10Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step6/10Let’s Get Digital7.5/10Letters From a Stoic7/10Liar’s Poker7/10Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence6/10Life After Life8/10Lifespan8/10Limitless6/10Little Bets7/10Living in the End Times7/10
M13 summaries
Made to Stick7.5/10Madness and Civilization8/10Make It StickMan and His Symbols7/10Man Disconnected7/10Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media8/10Masochism and the Self7/10Masochism in Modern Man7/10Mastery7/10Mind and Cosmos8/10Models7/10Modern Man in Search of a Soul8/10Motivation and Personality7/10
N5 summaries
Never Split the Difference7/10Next8/10Nietzsche and the Nazis by Hicks: A8/10Notes from Underground8/10Notes on a Nervous Planet7/10
O12 summaries
Of Mice and Men8/10On Becoming a Person5/10On Being Rich and Poor7/10On Bullshit7.7/10On Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra8.4/10On Palestine7/10On the Shortness of Life7/10One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society –8/10Originals7/10Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality –7/10Outliers7/10Owning Your Own Shadow7/10
P14 summaries
Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise7/10Perennial Seller7/10Personality – The Individuation Process7/10Perspectives on Our Age9/10Platform Revolution: A7/10Plato in 90 Minutes8/10Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut8/10Poor Charlie’s Alamanack7/10Pre-Suasion8/10Principles7/10Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order7/10Propaganda and the Public Mind8/10Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes8/10Purple Cow8/10
Q1 summary
Quiet7/10
R9 summaries
Race Against the Machine6.5/10Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World7/10Real Magic7/10Reflections on Language8/10Rework7/10Rich Dad Poor Dad7/10Rise of the Robots9/10Risk Savvy9/10Running on Empty7/10
S24 summaries
Sapiens8/10Scary Smart8.8/10Science, Politics, and Gnosticism7/10Seduction by Baudrillard8/10Seeking Wisdom8/10Self-Deception7/10Sex at Dawn7/10Shadow Medicine8.5/10Sham: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless7/10Siddhartha7/10Simulacra and Simulation7/10Simulacra and Simulation by BaudrillardSkin in the Game8/10So Good They Can’t Ignore You5/10Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action7.5/10Startup CommunitiesSteal Like an Artist7/10Strange Rites8.4/10Straw Dogs7/10Summary and Review of “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. LewisSuperintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies8/10Supernormal by Dean Radin –7/10Surprised by Joy7/10Switch6/10
T176 summaries
Tales of the Dervishes8/10Tao Te Ching8/10Technics and Civilization8/10Technological Slavery by Kaczynski8/10Technopoly (Part 1)Technopoly (Part 3)Technopoly Summary Part 2Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology8/10Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now8/10The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty6.5/10The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding8/10The 33 Strategies of War7/10The 48 Laws of Power8/10The 50th Law6/10The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People7/10The Age of Spiritual Machines8/10The Amber Spyglass7/10The Apocalypse of the Reluctant Gnostics: Carl G. Jung and Philip K. Dick6/10The Art of Breathing8/10The Art of InvisibilityThe Art of Learning6/10The Art of LearningThe Art of Living7/10The Art of Seduction8/10The Art of Worldly Wisdom8.3/10The Aryan Christ7/10The Ascent of Money9/10The Attention Merchants7/10The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity8/10The Bed of Procrustes7/10The Better Angels of our Nature8/10The Birth of Tragedy8/10The Blank Slate8/10The Book – On The Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are8/10The Case Against EducationThe Catcher in the Rye8/10The Changing World Order –7/10The Checklist Manifesto5/10The Circadian Code8.3/10The Civilizing Process: A7/10The Clash of Civilizations7.5/10The Coming Wave – Book9/10The Complete Guide to Fasting8.4/10The Concept of Anxiety8/10The Conspiracy of Art: Manifestos, Interviews, Essays7/10The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures (7/10The Courage to be Disliked7/10The Craving Mind7/10The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind7/10The Culture of Narcissism8.5/10The Denial of Death9/10The Dichotomy of the Self9/10The Discovery of the Unconscious10/10The Divided Self7/10The Doors of Perception9/10The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (7/10The Ecstasy of Communication8/10The Emperor’s New Drugs8/10The Emperor’s New Mind: A9/10The Enchiridion7.1/10The End of the World is Just the Beginning –8/10The Evolution of Desire8/10The Female Brain6/10The Forever War8/10The Founder’s Dilemmas8/10The Fourth Age7/10The Freud Files8/10The Future is Faster Than You Think7.3/10The Gay Science8/10The Glass Cage6/10The Golden Compass7/10The Good Gut7/10The Grand Chessboard by Brzezinski: A8/10The Great Pyramid Hoax7/10The Great Reset by Alex Jones7/10The Gulf War Did Not Take Place8/10The Halo Effect8/10The Hero with a Thousand Faces8/10The Icarus Deception6/10The Improvement of the MindThe Inevitable8/10The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen8/10The Intelligent Investor9/10The Interpretation of Dreams7/10The Language and Thought of the Child7/10The Last Interview: Philip K. Dick8/10The Laws of Human Nature7/10The Longevity Diet9/10The Lucifer Principle7/10The Madman7/10The Master and his Emissary8/10The Matter with Things –8/10The Maxims by La Rochefoucauld8/10The Meaning of the Word and Other Essays8/10The Medium is the Message7.4/10The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect –8/10The Millionaire Fastlane9/10The Mind Illuminated8/10The Myth of Entrepreneurship8/10The Myth of Mental Illness8/10The Myth of Sisyphus8.2/10The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement7/10The Nature of Things8.1/10The Neurotic Personality of Our Time7.5/10The New Map8.5/10The New New Thing8/10The New World Order7/10The Next Decade9/10The Obstacle is the Way7.3/10The Omnivore’s Dilemma8.6/10The Open Society and Its Enemies by Karl Popper8/10The Other Worldview9/10The Over-Soul6.5/10The Oxygen Advantage9/10The Palgrave Handbook of Mimetic Theory and Religion9/10The Personal MBA7/10The Physics of Immortality8/10The Power of Broke by Daymond John7/10The Power of Now8/10The Precipice7/10The Prince7/10The Principles of Psychology7/10The Psychology of Revolution6/10The Question of God8/10The Rational Optimist8/10The Red Queen8/10The Religion of Technology8/10The Righteous Mind7/10The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self7/10The Science Delusion8/10The Science of Near-Death Experiences8/10The Secret Teachings of All Ages8/10The Selfish Gene8.2/10The Shrinking of America8/10The Sickness Unto Death8/10The Signal and the Noise6/10The Singularity is Near: A8/10The Skin Care Answer Book7/10The Skin Type Solution8/10The Skincare Bible7/10The Sleep Revolution: A7/10The Sleep Solution: A7/10The Spirit of Terrorism and Other essaysThe Storm Before the Calm8/10The Story of the Human Body7/10The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde7/10The Stranger6/10The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Part 1)The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck7/10The Subtle Knife7/10The System of Objects by Baudrillard7/10The Technological Society8/10The Time Paradox7/10The Tipping Point8/10The Transparency of Evil: Essays in Extreme Phenomena7/10The Trial of Henry Kissinger8/10The Triumph of the Therapeutic8.3/10The True Believer by Eric Hoffer8/10The Undiscovered Self8/10The Values Factor6/10The Wanting Seed8/10The War of Art7/10The Wealth of Nations8/10Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security7.2/10Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World9/10Thinking: The New Science of Decision-Making, Problem-Solving, and Prediction7/10This is Water6/10This Time is Different9/10Thoughts Without a Thinker7/10Thus Spoke Zarathustra8/10To Be a Machine7/10Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart6/10Totem and Taboo6/10Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time –8/10Trick or Treatment7/10Trinity: The Best-Kept Secret7/10
U4 summaries
Ultra-Processed People by Chris Van Tulleken –8/10Understanding Human Nature7/10Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man9.1/10Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky7/10
V1 summary
Valis8.2/10
W14 summaries
Walden Two6/10Wanting8/10Weird Realism7/10What I Learned From Losing a Million Dollars8/10What is Ancient Philosophy?8/10What to Think About Machines That Think8/10What You’re Really Meant to Do6/10Who Rules the World?7/10Why Buddhism is True8.2/10Why is Sex Fun?7/10Why Materialism Is Baloney9/10Why We Sleep8/10Why Zebras don’t get Ulcers7/10Will It Fly7/10
Y3 summaries
You Are Your Own Gym: A8/10Young Man Luther7.1/10Your Skin and You7/10
Z3 summaries
Zero to One9/10Zizek and Theology7/10Zorba the Greek7/10