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Where books open worlds.
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Books are more than stories on a page — they are mirrors, maps, challenges, and companions in understanding ourselves and the world we inhabit.

Big Think Books is a space devoted to the writers and ideas that shape culture, knowledge, and the way we think. Through thoughtful recommendations, deep dives, and engaging commentary, this column guides readers toward books that expand curiosity, provoke insight, and deepen understanding across fields like science, history, psychology, literature, and more. Whether you’re exploring the latest releases or rediscovering timeless classics, here you’ll find ideas worth your time and thought.

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Kevin Dickinson is a staff writer and columnist at Big Think, focusing on the intersection of education, psychology, business, and science. He holds a master’s in English and writing, and his work has appeared in Agenda, RealClearScience, and The Washington Post.

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A man with short gray hair and wearing a plaid shirt is seated at a wooden table in a dimly lit restaurant, smiling at the camera.
Misery is an emotional feature, not a glitch in the system
Why do anger, regret, and shame linger? Because evolution optimized our emotions to keep us alive, not to make us happy.

by George Loewenstein

Book cover of “The Opposite of Happiness” by George Loewenstein, featuring a large bubble and a pin about to pop it above the title.
Everything Articles
A person wearing old-fashioned clothing and a red hat is holding and reading an open book, appearing focused and slightly puzzled.
Books
Beyond the Odyssey: A beginner’s guide to Greek mythology
Classicist Natalie Haynes joins us to discuss the trials and joys of learning about ancient Greece and its myths.
Tim Brinkhof
Book cover of “Nary a Horse Left Standing” by Lee Alan Dugatkin, featuring an old illustration of men by a horse-drawn streetcar, with bold white and yellow text overlaid.
Books
The 19th-century veterinarian who nearly cracked one of medicine’s oldest mysteries
The Great Epizootic of 1872 gave James Law the evidence he needed to challenge centuries of thinking surrounding the origins of disease.
Lee Alan Dugatkin
Book cover with the title “Kobuk the Destroyer” by Alex Davies, featuring a bear firing a cannon and a flying rabbit reminiscent of Jimmy Doolittle’s daring spirit, all set against a striking red background.
Books
The test pilot who made airplanes safer (by teaching us how to break them better)
Jimmy Doolittle pushed aircraft to their limits and, in the process, helped turn flight testing from daredevilry into a discipline.
Alex Davies
Book cover for “Agency: The Psychological History of Human Progress” by Martin Seligman, featuring geometric shapes on a beige background with black text, reflecting themes of self-efficacy and personal growth.
Books
This powerful belief can help you accomplish more
Decades of research show that self-efficacy can be strengthened with a few surprisingly simple strategies.
Martin E. P. Seligman
Book cover with the title “What Happened to Liberal Democracy?” by Daron Acemoglu, featuring a gold sticker noting Acemoglu as a Nobel Prize recipient in Economic Sciences. The design hints at themes of collective knowledge that shape and challenge modern democracies.
Books
We have the knowledge to build a better world. But is that enough?
Our collective knowledge has made us better off, but only when communities and social institutions adapt it for the common good.
Daron Acemoglu
Impressionist painting of a young woman in a blue dress sitting on grass and reading a letter, with soft, colorful brushstrokes.
Books
Big Think’s 5 favorite nonfiction books of 2026 (so far)
Books to expand your perspective on history, philosophy, space exploration, and more this year.
Kevin Dickinson
Book cover of “The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness” by Cal Flyn, featuring a dramatic mountain range beneath a cloudy sky and a sweeping valley below, perfectly capturing the untamed spirit of the savage landscape.
Books
The surprisingly ancient origins of the “savage peoples” myth
From Viking tales to modern anthropology, the idea of the "savage" has shaped how outsiders viewed Indigenous societies — and justified attempts to dominate them.
Cal Flyn
Book cover for "Big Time Off: The Transformative Power of Sabbaticals and How to Take One" by DJ DiDonna, featuring a sky background, a red border, and bold lettering that highlights the concept of taking big time off.
Books
The value of time off isn’t better productivity — it’s your humanity
The goal of a sabbatical shouldn't be to make you a better worker when you return. It's an opportunity to be a more fully realized person.
DJ DiDonna
Stylized illustration of two purple eyes peering over a blue angular shape against a black background, evoking the intrigue found in stories with psychopathic protagonists.
Books
Inside the minds of 5 chilling literary psychopaths
These iconic literary characters shine a light on our enduring fascination with dangerous minds.
Scotty Hendricks
Book cover of "Data Empire" by Roopika Risam, featuring a geometric green crown design that visually echoes the book’s exploration of how data empires wield the power of information to organize, control, and dominate.
Books
2126: The year data will be controlled by citizens, not tech companies
Today's surveillance economy is not inevitable. Data can become a public resource instead of a tool of control.
Roopika Risam
A minimalist line drawing of a person reading a book with an orange cover at a table, with a small vase in the foreground.
Books
What you lose when you stop reading physical books
A gifted paperback sends me down a rabbit hole to discover whether how we read is just as important as what we read.
Jasna Hodžić
Book cover for "Power Surge" by Thomas Schatz, featuring a collage of film scenes in a style reminiscent of pulp fiction, and the subtitle "Conglomerate Hollywood and the Studio System’s Last Hurrah.
Books
The 1993 deal that led to “Pulp Fiction” and reinvented Hollywood
Miramax's explosive success with Pulp Fiction ignited an indie boom, rewrote Oscar campaigns, and blurred the line between independent cinema and the Hollywood mainstream.
Thomas Schatz
Book cover for "Not Built in a Day" by Emma Southon, featuring an illustration of people picking fruit from a tree and the subtitle "How slavery in the Roman Empire made the Roman Empire.
Books
The terrifying reality of being enslaved by the Roman army
A tombstone reveals the life story of a man who endured the brutal reality of Roman war and slavery.
Emma Southon
A person sits on a chair with their head obscured by chaotic, black scribbles, visually capturing the turmoil and confusion that often accompanies rumination or mental distress.
Books
Why your brain gets hung up on troubling thoughts — and what to do about it
The brain’s default mode network gives rise to costly ruminations, but it can also be a source of creative breakthroughs.
Tim Brinkhof
Book cover for "Been There, Done That" by Greg Jackson featuring illustrations of historical figures and text highlighting the theme of overcoming challenges, including episodes like surviving a presidential smear campaign.
Books
The smear campaign that transformed presidential politics began with a billiards table
The vicious 1828 presidential campaign reveals how fake news, partisan media, and political smear tactics have shaped American democracy for two centuries.
Greg Jackson
The book cover for "Empire of Ink" by Alex Wright features an illustration of a vintage printing press with workers, bold red text, and subtle nods to the 1835 moon hoax woven into its design.
Books
The 1835 “moon hoax” that turned fake news into big business
America’s penny press transformed journalism in the 1830s, using hoaxes, sensationalism, and mass circulation to create a blueprint for modern media.
Alex Wright
A grayscale illustration of a muscular figure with curly hair, viewed from behind, appears to be dissolving into scattered particles on a white background, evoking the somber beauty of an angel down.
Books
The literary invention that places you in the chaos of war
In his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Angel Down, Daniel Kraus uses a single unbroken sentence to convey the psychological toll of being a soldier in World War I.
Tim Brinkhof
Book cover of "Emancipation War" by Damon Root, showing a Civil War battle scene with soldiers fighting, and flags in the background. Subtitle describes the book’s focus on slavery and the Thirteenth Amendment.
Books
Before emancipation, a pivotal moment started to dismantle slavery in the U.S.
The road to emancipation began when enslaved Americans seized an opportunity for freedom and forced the nation to reckon with slavery's role in the Civil War.
Damon Root
Book cover of "Socially Wired: How Culture Shapes Our Brains" by Matthew W. Schelke, featuring a colorful neural network illustration on a light background that highlights the connection between brain and meaning.
Books
The overlooked brain system shaping our motivations
Our motivations and sense of self may be more deeply shaped by our connections and social history than we think.
Matthew W. Schelke
The word "nihilism" in bold black font, evoking the mood of literary classics, is scratched out with rough, black scribble marks.
Books
5 literary classics that grapple with the void of nihilism
From mysterious villages to absurdism at the gallows, these books explore the origins, consequences, and possible responses to nihilism.
Scotty Hendricks