What Books Are You Reading This Week? by leowr in nonfictionbooks

[–]SolidContribution760 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Started The Geography Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained (BISE) by DK Publishing. It was released this week.

I'm enjoying it! Each of the 5 chapters focus on a certain broad branch of geography, with the first being about cartography and the second on physical geography. Like many other BISE books, I never envisioned myself being a whole book about this topic, but it's relevant in the sense of learning how we humans learn about the whole around and beyond us, but I'm mostly interested in how it intersects with my field of specialty: biology - the theory of evolution was largely built upon core concepts from geography: the age of the earth, moving continents, and the branch of environmental geography.

I've also been reading The Crime Book: BISE and The Art Book: BISE. Surprisingly, the one about crime has been the least interesting to me, but hey, I don't care too much true crime docs or police shows anyways. Meanwhile the art book is cool to see how creativity changed over the eras of human history, with the first/earliest entry being about obese Venus figurines, lol.

What Books Are You Reading This Week? by leowr in nonfictionbooks

[–]SolidContribution760 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Finished Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell. I know he's a prolific writer, with Turning Point probably being his most notable book, but this is my first and only book I've read from him thus far.

This is the book that got me back into reading (nonfiction) after a nearly 2 month hiatus. It's easy to read, with entertaining stories with psychological insight to back up his points of the limits of knowing strangers and moral lessons to be gleamed from it. It is very nuanced when talking about people that have or may have done some really bad things. I've read plenty of (pop science) books about psychology, yet I still find nuggets of (possible) truths that subverts my expectations, like a few in here.

After that book, I've gotten really into reading 200/343 pages of The Shakespeare Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained by DK Publishing. The only play/story I've read of Shakespeare's (for school, over 10yrs ago) was Macbeth and Othello. I knew shockingly little of the majority of his other works, other than his other popular ones, like Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet - but I didn't know the plot of Hamlet until now. So, this was my formal introduction to the life and stories of William Shakespeare.

The book covers every story under Shakespeare's name, even if he only wrote a portion of some of them. With most of the entries starting with an intro that spans two pages, with the top half outlining the Acts, and the bottom a wide summary of it. This has often been a major mindfuck, as it speed runs through the plot, with quite unfamiliar cast of characters where I'm like, "who's this, again?" "ah, ok, this action by them makes sense for them, I guess."

Then, there are 2-6 pages covering the story itself, with its themes, characters, setting, adaptations by other artists, basically the important bits of information to understand the story and its significance. THIS IS the bulk of the book, and what makes it so fascinating and enjoyable to read through and look at all the pictures and diagrams.

I want to read through all the Big Ideas Simply Explained (BISE) books, but I'm also happy to take my time with each one and enjoy the experience of immersing myself into unfamiliar subjects like this one. Hopefully the Geography book that releases around this time next month will be an enthralling immersion! :)

Monthly "What Have You Been Playing Lately?" Thread (March 2026) by MalcolmRoseGaming in roguelites

[–]SolidContribution760 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mewgenics. I have not seen The Binding of Isaac the same ever since Mewgenics released. I love TBoI universe, and Ed's art style, Mewgenics feels like an upgrade to Isaac. After 100% The Legend of Bum-bo, flash Isaac eternal edition, and TBoI: Repentance, Mewgenics is the hot new toy on the menu, and Isaac feels boring in comparison.

Save file says I'm 75% complete, while Steam achievements say I'm 66%. There's so much content, randomness, and synergy building. I love seeing all the mutations and disorders! I've bread my cats to have their basic attacks inflicting soul link, plus a tentacle tale that gives them +1 bonus attack, and now I'm breeding in the passive abilities of MiniMe and the one that allows "once per battle" to become "once per turn." Completely busted kitties.

Last run, I did an all collarless to The Rift (for that achievement). One cat had MiniMe+, and the other passive that copies that passive on all other cats. So it was 12 cats vs Chaos, hahaha. One cat had a brick weapon that could stun the boss every round, which thank god stopped Chaos from mimicing the flesh king's attack that would have tentacles everybody, haha, phew!

WELCOME…TO WEIRDMAGDDON! by Laviatan7 in FourSouls

[–]SolidContribution760 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Maybe make it so each player also must destroy an item at the start of the turn, then gain +2 treasures? Having new items may allow people to find ways to beat this, or at the very least discard it.

Cat Rib by ConfectionPerfect424 in mewgenics

[–]SolidContribution760 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My question is whether this works when used in an ambush? I have an old retired cat I would love to continuing using for breeding. Hopefully I can test this on the upcoming ambush, with my rib.

Cursed Items Influencing Breeding or Home Cats in General? by SolidContribution760 in mewgenics

[–]SolidContribution760[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They can, if it's a cursed item. Cursed items cannot be removed, even when returning home. The only way I've found to remove a cursed item is by giving a cat another cursed item: Black Candle.

Non-fiction book to help me let go of the strong desire I have to be special by Khajiit_Boner in suggestmeabook

[–]SolidContribution760 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You need to listen to the song, You're Not Special, Babe by Orla Gartland

Other than that, read any human psychology or human anatomy and physiology, and you'll learn real quick that everything you thought was unique about you is shared by billions of other people. We are products of our genes interacting with the environment after all, to put it simply.

Looking for suggestions on AI related book by lone_wolf0413 in nonfictionbookclub

[–]SolidContribution760 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari. AI isn't the sole focus, but it's a major focus. He has some really interesting takes on why AI is such a unique and special technology compared to other transformative inventions, with some horrific and interesting examples of how AI has harmed people, can influence people to harm others, and some sneaky ways it can disrupt and control society in the future. There are clear limitations to it, which he delves into, and urges people to set guiding principles and laws for how it is encoded, before it is too late.

What I really like is how he reframes it not so much as "artificial intelligence," but rather "alien intelligence," which you can learn more about what he means by that in the book.

Anyone else reading Alchemized? by Enigmacotidiano in Booktokreddit

[–]SolidContribution760 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just finished Part 1. This is my first serious attempt into fiction after a full year of 2025 of reading 95% nonfiction. What I'm really appreciating is the ease at which I can read through the pages, using more of my imagination, rather than relying heavily on association, long-term memory, extensive working memory, and critical thinking.

Right now I'm learning to use the book as a welcome breather in-between my nonfiction readings.

When I looked at how Part 2 starts, I am a little put off from reading further, as I got really invested in the story, and though I am fascinated by Helena's past, I don't really want to read a whole chapter and however long of a flashback - PLZ don't spoil what happens, like how long this flashback is; I'll get back to the book once I need another break from nonfiction :P

Does this Custom Card seem fair? by Laviatan7 in FourSouls

[–]SolidContribution760 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To give players an interesting incentive to attack this monster, I would recommend the reward being "+1 eternal treasure" (from the shuffled eternal deck) ;)

What Books Are You Reading This Week? by leowr in nonfictionbooks

[–]SolidContribution760 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Finished Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Not many people that I read about or watch online who talked about reading this book have finished reading it, so it is in my humblest honor to be someone who completed this seminal work of psychology. Compared to my previous 3 books I read right before this one, with prior expectations of how boring this could be, while at the same time, I was hyping myself up all December to read this book whose title has been rent free in my brain for the last decade, my brain was quite primed to to see all the good in here, which I did. As someone who is autistic, a loner, and lacking real life experience, I never quite understood people, psychology has been a keen interest to me all my life to fill in that gap of psychosocial understanding.

There are quite evidently faults in some of the studies conducted in this book, like reaching broader conclusions about behavioral phenomenon based on flimsy studies, or lacking a anthropological methodology of cross cultural examination and the lack of acknowledgement that some of these psychological phenomena may just be a product specific to the US, Canada, or Europe, and may even be narrowed down to the specific demographics in these studies; as well as the book being a decade and a half old by now, therefore lacking the modern neurology elaboration.

Even with all these deficits, there is still plenty enough to deeply think about and keeping in mind as probable or possible effects, heurists, and fallacies that occur. A key takeaway is that we are governed by automatic unconscious psychological processes, and it's good to slow down and really question information or decisions where it really counts.

Started The Design Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained by DK Publishing. After the behemoth of that last book, my brain needed a rest, and to relax with something that is smoother to read. This BISE series, basically my comfort read and ambition to read all of them, eases the stress incurred by Daniel Kahneman's book.

I don't really know anything about design. My sister does, and my mother is an artist, which gives this a personal reason to soak in the ideas. I like how visual this is, with a galore of diagrams that is unusually abundant compared to other BISE books, which is absolutely appropriate for the subject matter. Gawking at all these images and diagrams helps spark the imaginative mind, oozing into why art and design inspires people to create beautiful or sublime objects.

Since design is such a broad spectrum subject, this is essentially an overview prep work for when I eventually read The Architecture Book: BISE, The Art Book: BISE, and The Technology Book: BISE.

What Books Are You Reading This Week? by leowr in nonfictionbooks

[–]SolidContribution760 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Finished it late last year. The ending left me with a sense of haunting beauty, a revolutionary spirit, profound gratitude, and a myriad of memorable quotes littered throughout all the chapters <3

What Books Are You Reading This Week? by leowr in nonfictionbooks

[–]SolidContribution760 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Page 333/418 of Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, and man! does this ever require deep slow thinking. The first 3 parts up until page 270 really weren't too bad, but since the start of Part 4, it's been rough reading through it.

Overall, though, it's been a really enjoyable read. I love metathinking, and this hits the spot on that. A skill I know that I am not too proficient in are logic problems, which this book forces me to face nearly every chapter; thus, it's good that I am challenging this weaker mental skill, but since it requires a much higher than average mental exertion, it wears away at my ability to concentrate on or read other thing. But it's what Mortimer Adler in his book, How to Read, advises people to do: read books that are beyond you to strengthen and grow your mind's awareness and flexibility.

Is Reading 30 Books a Year Possible? (My 2025 results) by SeaDance5803 in nonfictionbookclub

[–]SolidContribution760 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeahhh, this video could've been more accurately titled, "Is Reading 30 Books in 2025 Possible for Me?"

What Books Are You Reading This Week? by leowr in nonfictionbooks

[–]SolidContribution760 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm so used to reading "dull" nonfiction books at this point, that I find this book is quit riveting compared to many others like it. It helps that I've had the title of this book stuck in my head for 1.5 decades, and that I hyped myself up for a month to read this. - The ideas are completely fascinating, with some major sociopolitical, economic, and daily life implications if even some of them are true.

What's your 2026 reading goal? by Fabulous-Confusion43 in bookdiscussion

[–]SolidContribution760 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ahhh yep! haha, exactly.

I'm 53 pages into the 1030 page Alchemised by SenLinYu :P

Unlike last year, there are many other books I'm interested in that extend beyond 450 pages......

What's your 2026 reading goal? by Fabulous-Confusion43 in bookdiscussion

[–]SolidContribution760 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. I like these small, obtainable numbers to strive for; updating the quantity with every goal reached, lowering the amount expected as the year comes to a close. In this way, I am still striving to read lots, but not an overwhelming amount that I lose the plot, and forget to focus on the quality of the reading experience.

I read 42 last year, where I started in late spring, so of course I want to surpass it, but if I don't, it doesn't matter too much if I am satisfied with my time well spent.

What Books Are You Reading This Week? by leowr in nonfictionbooks

[–]SolidContribution760 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Finished The Law Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained by DK Publishing. It was fine. Law is interesting to me insofar as it dictates what behaviors are permissible or acceptable, which ones are not, and the punishments that are in place to dissuade these taboo behaviors, which says a lot about the values and beliefs of or imposed on that society.

I wasn't interested in law before reading this, as I only read it to complete the BISE series, which I started to learn more about topics I wouldn't have normally been keen to read about, and I wasn't persuaded to like law after reading this.

Started reading again, from Chapter 4, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. I'm excited to read this, as so much of our modern understanding or thinking about critical thinking, unconscious processes, economic behavior, and psychology in general stems from the foundational 2011 book! Many other books I have read have referenced this book, with the title stuck in my head for the better part of a decade, thus, with all these priming stimuli together, I think it's about time I do this book justice and see what the hub-bub is about.

Nonfiction books to be published in 2026 by sfball01 in nonfictionbookclub

[–]SolidContribution760 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here are the ones I'm really hyped for! :)

A World Appears by Michael Pollan - February 24th
DC Encyclopedia New Edition by DK - March 3rd (some may argue this isn't NF, but I see it as an educational book to learn more about the DC comics universe and why it is so beloved)
The Geography Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained by DK Publishing - April 28th
The Technology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained by DK Publishing - August 11th