A non-exhaustive list of recently read non-fiction books in no particular order.

Hit

  • Böjte Csaba füveskönyve 2., Böjte Csaba. Rövid, tömör, önmagukban megálló, bölcs gondolatok. Csaba atya férfias szeretete átsugárzik a sorain. Szülőknek és útkeresőknek kifejezetten ajánlom.

Industrial Design

  • The Design of Everyday Things, by Donald A. Norman. A few good ideas on how to design user interfaces (or in general, anything). Overall, the information density of this book is very low, it was a huge drag. I recommend to read a summary instead.

Psychology

  • Ami igazán számít by Pál Ferenc. A könyv hátáról: “Ez a könyv szándékom szerint az eddigi szakmai tanulmányaim és emberi tapasztalataim összefoglalását is jelenti. Arra vágytam, hogy amit a különböző humán területek tudásban, kutatási eredményekben kidolgoztak, az eljuthasson azokhoz, akiket érint, akiknek a legnagyobb szükségük van rá. Hozzátok. Ezért több mint tíz nagy téma került a kötetbe, reményem szerint összegyűjtve a leghasznosabb információkat egy-egy területre vonatkozóan.” Jól felépített, fontos témákat érintő, tudományos eredményeket és személyes sztorikat jól vegyítő, olvasmányos könyv. Ajánlom.

  • The Choice by Edith Eva Eger. Autobiography, from coming of age, through Auschwitz and other camps, to a new land. From trauma to healing, through acceptance and love. Excellent writing, with suspense and drama, pierced through by an ever positive attitude.

  • Men’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. A short, two parts book from a famous Holocaust survivor. In the first part, the author describes his concentration camp experiences from an analytical perspective, focusing on the behaviour of inmates and guards. The second part is a short introduction to Logotherapy, a psychotherapy school founded by the author that emphasises the importance of finding the meaning of life, and actualizing possibilities presented by it. Theories of the second part are underpinned by examples from the first part, making the book whole. It has a lot of food for thought, e.g: “It’s not what you expect from life, but what life expects from you.”.

Economy

  • Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics by Richard Thaler. Part professional autobiography, part the story of how behavioral economics was developed and popularized. The mainline is illustrated with memorable stories (mainly experiments and surprising incidents), generous praise of fellow behavioral economists, and an endless stream of jabs pointed at classical economists. A shorter summary focusing on the presented findings would have been appreciated to save pages: it is too shallow for a biography, and too verbose otherwise, while still thought provoking. Read Thinking, Fast and Slow first.

Honorable Mentions

  • Agamemnon by Aeschylus. I barely understand the English version. I also tried an older Hungarian one, with similar results. It appears that bit rot applies to literature as well.