Book recommendation – Mark Manson – The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

Posted on August 14, 2025November 23, 2025 by admin

Transparency notice: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means that I receive a commission when you buy products on Amazon via my links. The price remains the same for you.

Mark Manson brings a refreshingly unconventional approach to the world of self-help with his bestseller. Instead of positive affirmations and boundless optimism, he advises readers to be aware of what they really want to give their “F*” (i.e., their energy, time, and mind) to—and what they don’t.

Manson’s basic idea: Life is limited, pain is part of it, and you can’t control everything. That’s why it’s important to set priorities and consciously decide what’s really important to you – and let go of the rest.

👉 Buy the Kindle version on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Kindle Unlimited free for 30 days (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the paperback on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the hardcover on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Amazon Prime for free (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Amazon Prime Student for free (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the Audible audiobook on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Sign up for an Audible trial subscription on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

Key messages of the book:

You only have a limited number of F****s (priorities)
– Your energy is finite. Don’t waste it on things that you shouldn’t really care about.
Suffer for something worthwhile
– Pain is inevitable. The question is not whether you suffer, but what you suffer for. True fulfillment often comes through effort and challenges.
Take responsibility
– even if it’s not your fault– You can’t control everything, but you can decide how to deal with it. Personal responsibility is the key to change.
Question values
– Not everything we define as success is really important. Manson urges us to seek better, deeper values – such as honesty, curiosity, or integrity instead of superficialities like money, fame, or popularity.
Failure is progress
– Mistakes are necessary for growth. Those who fear failure block their own development.

If you would like to read the book yourself, you can find it here:

👉 Buy the Kindle version on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Kindle Unlimited free for 30 days (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the paperback on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the hardcover on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Amazon Prime for free (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Amazon Prime Student for free (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the Audible audiobook on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Sign up for an Audible trial subscription on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

Book recommendation – Rolf Dobelli – The Art of Thinking Clearly: The Secrets of Perfect Decision-Making

Posted on July 30, 2025November 22, 2025 by admin

52 Thinking errors you should leave to others

From an evolutionary perspective, our brains are not programmed for the modern world we live in today. This results in thinking errors that should not be underestimated and can have a significant negative impact, e.g., on finances, career, and well-being.

👉 Buy the Kindle version on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Kindle Unlimited free for 30 days (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the paperback on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the hardcover on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Amazon Prime for free (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Amazon Prime Student for free (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the Audible audiobook on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Sign up for an Audible trial subscription on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

Overview & central idea

In his bestseller, Rolf Dobelli presents 52 thinking errors, cognitive biases, and typical fallacies that cloud our judgment. From “confirmation bias” to the “halo effect” to the “clustering illusion,” the book is a compendium of psychological pitfalls that accompany us in our everyday lives, at work, and when making decisions. The goal: to raise awareness of these errors in order to think more clearly, rationally, and calmly.

Structure & content

Short chapters: Each of the 52 chapters is devoted to a single error in thinking, compactly presented in 3–5 pages.
Relevance to everyday life: Examples are taken from economics, history, psychology, or everyday situations.
Language: concise, understandable, sometimes pointed and humorous.

Examples of cognitive biases covered:

Survivorship bias – We only see the successful and forget the invisible ones who have failed.
Confirmation bias – We only look for information that supports our opinion.
Action bias – We prefer to act immediately, even when doing nothing would be smarter.
Halo effect – A single positive characteristic overshadows our overall judgment.
Clustering illusion – We recognize patterns where there is actually only coincidence.

Impact & benefits

Dobelli does not offer ready-made solutions, but rather aims to raise awareness. He does not advocate a “perfectly rational” life, but rather greater distance from our spontaneous misjudgments. Those who recognize the patterns can pause at crucial moments and make better decisions—whether in finance, career, or personal relationships.

If you would like to read the book yourself, you can find it here:

👉 Buy the Kindle version on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Kindle Unlimited free for 30 days (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the paperback on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the hardcover on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Amazon Prime for free (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Amazon Prime Student for free (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the Audible audiobook on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Sign up for an Audible trial subscription on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

Book recommendation – Bas Kast – Und plötzlich macht es KLICK!: Das Handwerk der Kreativität oder wie die guten Ideen in den Kopf kommen

Posted on July 30, 2025November 22, 2025 by admin

Here, creativity is viewed from a scientific perspective.

Can creativity be trained, or is it something innate that some people simply have and others do not?

Overview & central idea

In this book, Bas Kast addresses the question of how creativity arises and how we can specifically promote it. He shows that creativity is not just a mystical gift of brilliant minds, but a craft that can be learned and trained. Good ideas are the result of certain ways of thinking and working that anyone can develop—if they understand how creativity works.

👉 Buy the Kindle version on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Kindle Unlimited free for 30 days (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the paperback on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the hardcover on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Amazon Prime for free (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Amazon Prime Student for free (Affiliate-Link)

Structure & content

The book combines scientific findings from psychology and neuroscience with vivid examples from art, science, and business. Kast describes the central mechanisms of creative processes and translates them into practical strategies.

Key topics and theories:

Preparation & knowledge: Creativity needs a solid foundation – ideas often arise from linking existing knowledge.
Incubation: Breaks, distraction, and sleep are crucial for the subconscious to “continue working” on solutions.
Aha moments: The famous flash of inspiration usually comes unexpectedly – often after a phase of letting go.
Limits & rules: Paradoxically, restrictions promote creativity because they steer our thinking in new directions.
Interdisciplinarity: Good ideas often arise at the interfaces between different disciplines.
Failure & chance: Mistakes, wrong turns, and lucky breaks are part of the creative process—the key is to use them productively.

Style & readability

Kast writes in a lively, understandable, and journalistic style. He tells stories, provides examples, and manages to make complex research easily accessible.

If you would like to read the book yourself, you can find it here:

👉 Buy the Kindle version on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Kindle Unlimited free for 30 days (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the paperback on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the hardcover on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Amazon Prime for free (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Amazon Prime Student for free (Affiliate-Link)

Talib Kweli’s Top 100 Songs

Posted on July 28, 2025November 29, 2025 by admin

As seen in the article on Genius: https://genius.com/Talib-kweli-talib-kwelis-top-100-songs-lyrics

I took the liberty of creating a Spotify playlist from it using NG Spotify Importer. (I formatted the text content of the post as CSV beforehand)

Book recommendation – Kibeom Lee, Michael C. Ashton – The H Factor of Personality

Posted on July 10, 2025November 22, 2025 by admin

Overview & central idea

In “The H Factor of Personality,” psychologists Kibeom Lee and Michael C. Ashton present their scientifically based HEXACO personality model—an extension of the well-known Big Five model. The focus is particularly on the H factor (honesty-humility), i.e., the dimension of honesty-modesty. The core thesis: This personality trait influences our behavior, our morals, and our interactions with others more than is often assumed.

👉 Buy the Kindle version on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Kindle Unlimited free for 30 days (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the paperback on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Amazon Prime for free (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Try Amazon Prime Student for free (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Buy the Audible audiobook on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

👉 Sign up for an Audible trial subscription on Amazon (Affiliate-Link)

Structure & content

The book provides a generally understandable introduction to the six dimensions of the HEXACO model:

Honesty-Humility – Fairness, sincerity, modesty versus manipulation, greed, selfishness.
Emotionality – Anxiety, dependence, empathy.
Extraversion – Sociability, self-confidence, activity.
Agreeableness – Patience, forbearance, willingness to cooperate.
Conscientiousness – Orderliness, sense of duty, diligence.
Openness to Experience – Curiosity, creativity, interest in new ideas.

Key messages:

The H factor is morally decisive: people with a high H value act fairly, modestly, and cooperatively; people with a low H value tend to display narcissistic, manipulative, or Machiavellian traits.
Practical relevance: The H factor affects relationships, professional success, political attitudes, and even social trust.
Research & everyday life: Lee and Ashton combine scientific studies with easy-to-understand examples from everyday life and pop culture.

Style & readability

The book is deliberately not purely academic, but written in a way that is easy to understand. It combines research findings with entertaining illustrations and everyday stories.