Topic

Psychology book summaries

The best psychology book summaries — cognitive biases, decision-making, and human nature, distilled into a few minutes each.

The 48 Laws of Power cover

The 48 Laws of Power

Robert Greene

4-min read

The Psychology of Money cover

The Psychology of Money

Morgan Housel

3-min read

How to Win Friends and Influence People cover

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Dale Carnegie

4-min read

Thinking, Fast and Slow cover

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman

5-min read

The Laws of Human Nature cover

The Laws of Human Nature

Robert Greene

5-min read

How to Talk to Anyone cover

How to Talk to Anyone

Leil Lowndes

6-min read

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos cover

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

Jordan Peterson

4-min read

The Diary of a Young Girl cover

The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne Frank

5-min read

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ cover

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ

Daniel Goleman

4-min read

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success cover

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Carol S. Dweck

2-min read

Surrounded by Idiots cover

Surrounded by Idiots

Thomas Erikson

5-min read

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business cover

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

Charles Duhigg

3-min read

The Courage to Be Disliked cover

The Courage to Be Disliked

Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

4-min read

Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline, and a Winning Attitude cover

Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline, and a Winning Attitude

Mark Douglas

5-min read

Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships cover

Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships

Eric Berne

5-min read

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself cover

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself

Joe Dispenza

5-min read

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma cover

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Bessel van der Kolk

4-min read

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It cover

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It

Chris Voss and Tahl Raz

4-min read

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion cover

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Robert B. Cialdini

4-min read

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything cover

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

4-min read

In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences cover

In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences

Truman Capote

5-min read

Outliers: The Story of Success cover

Outliers: The Story of Success

Malcolm Gladwell

3-min read

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking cover

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Susan Cain

3-min read

The Art of Thinking Clearly cover

The Art of Thinking Clearly

Rolf Dobelli

5-min read

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself cover

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

Michael A. Singer

3-min read

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know cover

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

Adam Grant

5-min read

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone cover

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

Lori Gottlieb

5-min read

Psycho-Cybernetics: A New Way to Get More Living Out of Life cover

Psycho-Cybernetics: A New Way to Get More Living Out of Life

Maxwell Maltz

3-min read

Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? cover

Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?

Julie Smith

6-min read

Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds cover

Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds

Carmine Gallo

5-min read

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking cover

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell

2-min read

Man's Search for Meaning cover

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor E. Frankl

3-min read

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience cover

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

5-min read

Attached cover

Attached

Amir Levine and Rachel Heller

5-min read

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living cover

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

Dale Carnegie

5-min read

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance cover

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

Angela Duckworth

2-min read

The Gifts of Imperfection cover

The Gifts of Imperfection

Brené Brown

4-min read

Into the Wild cover

Into the Wild

Jon Krakauer

5-min read

Behave cover

Behave

Robert M. Sapolsky

4-min read

The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem cover

The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem

Nathaniel Branden

5-min read

One Up on Wall Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market cover

One Up on Wall Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market

Peter Lynch

5-min read

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America cover

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

Erik Larson

5-min read

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning cover

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

Peter C. Brown

5-min read

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable cover

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

5-min read

Daring Greatly cover

Daring Greatly

Brené Brown

3-min read

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster cover

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster

Jon Krakauer

5-min read

Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career cover

Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career

Scott H. Young

5-min read

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference cover

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Malcolm Gladwell

3-min read

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In cover

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

Roger Fisher

5-min read

What Happened To You? cover

What Happened To You?

Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey

4-min read

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World cover

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World

Hans and Ola Rosling, and Anna Rosling Rönnlund

3-min read

Boundaries cover

Boundaries

Henry Cloud and John Townsend

4-min read

No More Mr. Nice Guy: A Proven Plan for Getting What You Want in Love, Sex, and Life cover

No More Mr. Nice Guy: A Proven Plan for Getting What You Want in Love, Sex, and Life

Robert A. Glover

5-min read

Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships cover

Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships

Marshall B. Rosenberg

3-min read

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us cover

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Daniel H. Pink

3-min read

When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress cover

When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress

Gabor Maté

5-min read

Dopamine Nation cover

Dopamine Nation

Anna Lembke

5-min read

The Art of Happiness cover

The Art of Happiness

Dalai Lama XIV

3-min read

The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism cover

The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism

Olivia Fox Cabane

3-min read

Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. cover

Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.

Brené Brown

5-min read

The 5 Second Rule: Transform Your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage cover

The 5 Second Rule: Transform Your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage

Mel Robbins

5-min read

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness cover

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein

4-min read

A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing cover

A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing

Burton G. Malkiel

5-min read

Stolen Focus cover

Stolen Focus

Johann Hari

5-min read

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know cover

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know

Malcolm Gladwell

2-min read

Principles: Life and Work cover

Principles: Life and Work

Ray Dalio

5-min read

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions cover

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Dan Ariely

4-min read

The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You cover

The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You

Elaine N. Aron

3-min read

The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter—And How to Make the Most of Them Now cover

The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter—And How to Make the Most of Them Now

Meg Jay

5-min read

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy cover

Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy

David D. Burns

4-min read

Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life cover

Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life

Nir Eyal

5-min read

The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth cover

The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth

M. Scott Peck

5-min read

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die cover

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Chip Heath

5-min read

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products cover

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products

Nir Eyal

5-min read

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion cover

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

Jonathan Haidt

6-min read

The Seat of the Soul cover

The Seat of the Soul

Gary Zukav

5-min read

The Anxious Generation cover

The Anxious Generation

Jonathan Haidt

4-min read

The Happiness Hypothesis cover

The Happiness Hypothesis

Jonathan Haidt

5-min read

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience cover

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience

Brené Brown

3-min read

The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind cover

The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind

Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson

5-min read

If You Tell cover

If You Tell

Gregg Olsen

4-min read

Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny cover

Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny

Tony Robbins

5-min read

The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity—and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race cover

The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity—and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race

Daniel Z. Lieberman

4-min read

The Happiness Project cover

The Happiness Project

Gretchen Rubin

4-min read

The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living cover

The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living

Russ Harris

5-min read

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World cover

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

David Epstein

5-min read

Stumbling on Happiness cover

Stumbling on Happiness

Daniel Todd Gilbert

7-min read

Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts cover

Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts

Annie Duke

5-min read

How to Change Your Mind cover

How to Change Your Mind

Michael Pollan

6-min read

Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence cover

Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence

Esther Perel

5-min read

The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less cover

The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less

Barry Schwartz

5-min read

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature cover

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature

Steven Pinker

6-min read

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping cover

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping

Robert M. Sapolsky

5-min read

Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking cover

Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking

Mehdi Hasan

6-min read

The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups cover

The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups

Daniel Coyle

5-min read

The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self cover

The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self

Michael Easter

5-min read

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable cover

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

Patrick Lencioni

5-min read

The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure cover

The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure

Greg Lukianoff

5-min read

How to Know a Person cover

How to Know a Person

David Brooks

7-min read

Peak cover

Peak

Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool

4-min read

The Gap and the Gain: The High Achievers' Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success cover

The Gap and the Gain: The High Achievers' Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success

Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy

5-min read

Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection cover

Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection

Charles Duhigg

5-min read

The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers and Learn if Your Business Is a Good Idea When Everyone Is Lying to You cover

The Mom Test: How to Talk to Customers and Learn if Your Business Is a Good Idea When Everyone Is Lying to You

Rob Fitzpatrick

5-min read

The Interpretation of Dreams cover

The Interpretation of Dreams

Sigmund Freud

2-min read

The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World cover

The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

Dalai Lama

5-min read

How to Do the Work cover

How to Do the Work

Nicole LePera

6-min read

Stop Letting Everything Affect You cover

Stop Letting Everything Affect You

Daniel Chidiac

5-min read

ADHD 2.0: New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distraction cover

ADHD 2.0: New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distraction

Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey

3-min read

The Art of Seduction cover

The Art of Seduction

Robert Greene

5-min read

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales cover

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales

Oliver Sacks

5-min read

The Screwtape Letters cover

The Screwtape Letters

C. S. Lewis

5-min read

Frequently asked questions

What are the best Psychology books?

Among the most widely read psychology titles summarized on SummaryShelf are The 48 Laws of Power, The Psychology of Money, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Thinking, Fast and Slow, and The Laws of Human Nature — ordered here by how many readers have shelved them.

Where should I start with Psychology?

The 48 Laws of Power is the most-read pick in this topic and a solid place to begin. Each summary is a 4–5 minute read, so you can sample a few before deciding what to read in full.

How many Psychology book summaries are on SummaryShelf?

111, and growing — each distilled to its core ideas in a few minutes.