The book is a compelling blend of pop psychology and journalism that makes complex theories of cognitive biases accessible to someone brand new to these concepts. However, it does feel like a collection of blog posts (because it is), with each chapter addressing a different cognitive bias or logical fallacy. I didn't mind that so much, since it made the book easy to pick up and put down.

That said, you do have to remember that McRaney is a journalist, not a psychologist. His explanations are definitely simplified, making some of the psychological theories he's presenting easy to digest but definitely not as nuanced as they could be. I appreciated the accessibility, but I understand why some might consider the book somewhat "shallow" in its treatment of complicated subjects. It's clear that this is more of a journalistic take on psychology rather than a deep-dive into each concept.

I enjoyed the lighthearted tone. Psychology can get heavy, and McRaney did a good job keeping things fun while still making me think. ( )

Easy to read, in little 4 page chapters with a myth and a debunking and an explanation. Good companion to a book I just read by Dan Ariely. ( )

Forty-eight little essays about faults in perception and biases that make us misapprehend ourselves and the world around us. Nothing super deep, but a good round up. As you might expect from the title, there's a bit of attitude involved. ( )

This book doesn't really have anything to do with intelligence-it's more a collection of studies into how the brain works. If you're interested in psychology, if you like thinking about thinking, this book is for you. I thought it was fascinating. It's easy to pick up and put down-I don't think any chapter is longer than 10 pages. Since I tend to take my nonfiction in small doses each morning before work, this worked out well for me. Some chapters resonated more than others-the chapters on normalcy bias and catharsis will stay with me the longest. With chapters this short, nothing is very in depth-they're more like sound bites of different studies and theories, but there was still enough substance to get me to stop and think about how I think and approach life. A good candidate for future rereads or as motivation to read other books on psychology. ( )

Usually when I say that a book by a blogger reads like the author just moved the blog to paper, I mean that as a bad thing. This book is quite heavily based on the blog of the same name, but the book manages to be like the blog in ways that are mostly positive.

First the good. If you're like me and have read a few books about the brain and its shortcomings, you've probably seen a lot of the materials covered in this book. What makes this book special is how easy it makes it to find information again. Usually books about the brain intersperse the discussion of various mental failings within a greater narrative. That's great for reading but not so great when you're trying to remember what that one fallacy about whatever is called. What McRaney's book gives us is interesting content that is presented in an engaging and easy to recall manner (interesting especially compared, say, to reading Wikipedia articles on logical fallacies, although that is also fun).

The not so good is fairly minor but contextually important. This book has no overarching narrative flow. Each chapter is a short independent piece focused on a particular topic. This is great if you are reading in on a bus ride or while waiting for something. However, it does make it somewhat tedious to read for longer than about an hour at a time. Thus, as I found out the hard way, it's not a great book for taking on a transatlantic flight.

But overall, quite good. I strongly recommend it to anyone who hasn't read any books about the limitations of mental processing and moderately recommend it for those familiar with the area. ( )