Ever wondered how your brain works, and why you think the way you do? Or why other people put celebrities on a pedestal, are overconfident, or live in the past? Each chapter of Amanda Montell's latest book examines a different cognitive bias - what is it, what examples can you likely pull from your own life, and what do the experts say about it? It's an informative look at what makes us all tick, and serves as a good reminder to to question ourselves once in awhile before we end up on a spiral. It's accessible and informative, and you're sure to find examples cropping up in your daily life immediately (perhaps a bit of recency bias in action???).

I do feel this could've been pared down a bit - or perhaps digested in small chunks, a bias a day, to keep things interesting. But all around an interesting and informative addition to your bookshelf.

The mind is a wonderful, scary, powerful and vulnerable thing. I've always been interested by things like the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, which is when you learn or notice something new to you then seemingly inexplicably begin seeing that thing everywhere, and the Dunning–Kruger effect, when people with little knowledge on something greatly overestimate their abilities or knowledge on that thing or topic. As humans we are drawn to finding patterns, to finding meaning, to finding validation, and the hoops our brain will jump through to find those things is fascinating.

In her newest release, Amanda Montell discusses just under a dozen different cognitive biases, from the sunk cost fallacy to the halo effect, that perpetuate things like blame, overconfidence, irrationality and misinformation, and relates them to our current point-in-time predicaments and anxieties.

Each chapter of The Age of Magical Overthinking focuses on one particular cognitive bias and pulls from both scientific research that has been done on the psychological phenomena and personal anecdotes from the author. My favorite chapters were the ones on proportionality bias, the illusory truth effect, confirmation bias and the recency illusion.

This was an accessible & informative read that emboldens veracity while also encouraging awe.

If you enjoyed Montell's previous book, Cultish, I believe you will appreciate this one as well!

I give The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell 3.75 stars ⭐⭐⭐✨ (rounded up to 4 for NetGalley)

Thank you Atria Books / Simon & Schuster / NetGalley for this eARC! Pub Date: April 9th 2024

I’ve lost count of the amount of times in the last week I've said "that reminds me of the book I just read!" before launching into an anecdote from this book. I think I still enjoyed Wordslut more than this one, but considering how much I loved Wordslut, that’s hardly a criticism (it’s hard to top the subject matter of language and feminism in my mind). I think this book felt more meandering than her previous two books, which occasionally made it hard for me to follow the connecting thread in each chapter, but it also allowed for a lot of subject matter to be covered in a relatively short read. Amanda is such an entertaining author. She definitely has a way with words (makes sense for a linguist), and she finds a way to make even bleak topics have humor and heart. I like that she included more personal stories than she has in her previous books.

If you’ve ever spent an evening scrolling endlessly through the internet only to resurface hours later with many questions, namely “What is wrong with the world?” and “What is wrong with me?”, this book is for you.

Amanda Montell tackles the cognitive biases that define the modern moment. From people who stay in relationships way too long thanks to the sunk cost fallacy to those who look at the past with rose-colored glasses thanks to declinism. For every modern malady, Montell has a condition that explains it. There are no earth-shattering revelations in the book, but it’s entertaining and easily digestible.

I loved Montell's previous book, Cultish, so much!
And no surprise here, this one was pretty darn interesting. Montell returns with her witty and intelligent writing that had me chuckling and thinking in equal amounts.

The Age of Magical Overthinking dives into the psychological issues surrounding becoming a Stan for celebrities, conspiracy theories, numerous psychological biases, and examines mental health pushed by online influencers as well as -

Although this wasn't as intriguing of a read as Cultiah was for me, I did learn a lot, and of course with a cover like this I'll be wanting a copy for my shelves when it's published.

I am not someone who reads a lot of nonfiction but I adored this book and am very impressed by Amanda Montell’s ability to weave research and personal antidotes seamlessly. In an age where everyone is surrounded by endless forms of media on a daily basis it is quite easy to overthink your every thought. Montell breaks down our cognitive biases in both a funny and informative way. I was given this book as a ebook ARC through NetGalley but could definitely see myself buying a physical copy and rereading since there were so many quotes I highlighted while reading the ebook.

This book was such a delight to read! In an age where magical overthinking is becoming mainstream, I feel as if this book does a fantastic job explaining society’s obsession with magical thinking. The book was structured well and easily accessible.

After devouring both Cultish and Wordslut last year, I knew I absolutely needed to read The Age of Magical Overthinking. Montell manages to sum up so much of what all of us are feeling and explains it in an interesting and entertaining way. Some terminology I was familiar with and some not. I thought this ended a little abruptly but overall lots of great nuggets of wisdom. I’d recommend.

I'm a really big fan of Amanda Montell. After reading Cultish in 2022, I began listening to her podcast "Sounds like a cult". I became obsessed as cults were a frequent interest/fascination of mine. I've been a dedicated listener since. I haven't read Wordslut yet, but hope to remedy it soon.

Now to the review, I liked this book but did not love it despite this being something within my interest range of mystical online thinking. This had Amanda's well researched scholarship, witty voice, and more about her life story, but often the theory was too heavy and hard to keep track of. It covered a lot of social theories to explain the insanity of our digital ecosystem and current psyche. I often got lost or sleepy while reading. It took me forever to finish this book. I think I started it in December or January, and just finished it in mid March. Despite mostly enjoying it, it was so hard to keep going.

This is a really informative and research heavy work. I think it possibly needed more editing to make it digestible throughout. Sometimes it was funny and quick, and fe more approachable; just to feel slow and laborious in the next chapter.

I still give it 4 stars, despite issues with pacing and tone consistency. I learned alot, just be aware it may be a read that takes awhile, a few chapters at as time.

i haven’t read montell’s other books, but i have heard good things. i can see how her podcasting eye comes in: with this book, each chapter gives an overview to a different thought-pattern or bias topic, and there isn’t necessarily continuity (you could cherry-pick chapters and read them in whatever order, if you wanted). interesting and conversational, and even if it wasn’t my style, i can see her voice and writing connecting with many. i would give her podcast a try though, since i think that’s the format i’d appreciate her work best!

After previously enjoying Cultish and Wordslut by Amanda Montell, I knew The Magical Age Of Overthinking would be a book for me. I love Montell’s unique style of linguistics nonfiction that combines linguistics, history, research statistics, pop culture, and her own personal anecdotes. This book is no exception. I learned a lot about cognitive bias in our current society without ever feeling like I was in a boring classroom setting. As I was reading, I felt like I was having a personal/relatable/thought-provoking conversation with a dear friend about celebrity worship, manifestation, toxic relationships, social media, anxiety, aliens, dinosaurs, and coping mechanisms of the modern human brain (and way more in only 272 pages). Shoutout to NetGalley and Atria Books for giving me the eARC of an author I will continue to read for years to come. Look out for this book publishing April 9!

I loved Cultish and was excited to read Montell's next book. I love her writing style and her flawless ability to write an interesting book about the mundane. I enjoyed the way she shared factual information that was woven with personal stories. I loved the way each cognitive bias linked back to a real-life example. I appreciated how well-researched the entire book was. Also, the cover is gorgeous! I think a lot of people will enjoy the concept of this book.

I really wanted to like this one but there were so many tangents and supposed connections that just did not land well. I loved Cultish but felt like this got into Freakanomics realms.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy.

This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024, and I was so pleased to get an ARC. It didn't disappoint. I'm a huge Amanda Montell fan and I love anything she puts out into the world. This book came at a perfect time and I encourage anyone to pick it up.

I saw someone else say they loved this book, and Amanda Montell generally, because she makes them giggle but also feel smarter. I can't agree more. Amanda scratches my little academic brain JUST right. Even more that Wordslut and Cultish, this one read like a sometimes ~yassified~ scientific paper. What I mean is that I'd be taking notes (I'm a Psychology professor and often talk about Amanda's work in class)...very serious work...and then find myself cracking up at one of her asides (I will add...ChatGPT has the Amanda Montell style on lock. Read the book...you'll see.). The writing is whip smart but also relatable. It is the perfect mix.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC. I have never squealed louder.

I love Amanda Montell, the author of this book, as she’s one of my favorite podcast hosts and hilarious. I enjoyed her previous book “Cultish” and was excited to have access to an ARC copy of this new book of hers, which publishes at the end of April. In this nonfiction book, Montell explores the many facets of our cognitive biases, dedicating a chapter each to topics like “The IKEA effect” and “Declinism.” Each chapter dives into the noted topic and Montell cites a variety of sources, from published authors to scientists to her own experience.

On the whole, I enjoyed this book, but it got too wordy at points and I was craving more of an argument or stance from Montell, rather than a simple elucidation on these topics, bolstered by existing research. It almost felt like at times I was reading a study for a college class, which got tiring. One of my favorite aspects of Cultish was how fun it was, whereas the writing and general themes of this book were more serious.

Also, it was obvious that at times Montell substituted one word for a more complicated and academic synonym, which I did not like when she was already discussing some very academic subjects to begin with. She has a good pulse on the cultural zeitgeist and did a good job looping together different moments from politics and pop culture to formulate one larger narrative that supports these academic topics she discusses.

This book requires a lot of focus and certainly is the opposite of a brain break, but if you’re at all interested in social psychology theories like cognitive dissonance or confirmation bias, this would be a worthwhile read. It made me think a lot and I learned some new things to support my existing psych knowledge. Overall, I’m glad I read it and think it would be a good read for the right person. Thanks again to NetGalley for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

WOAH. I loved Cultish and The Age of Magical Overthinking was better. From diving deep into Swiftie-culture to how we collected a bunch of biases during and after lockdown, this book was a phenomenal look at our 2020s mental state. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

Hmmm. This book was interesting. To be completely honest, I can't say I really enjoyed it. This book highlights all the problems we have in this world when it comes to technology. I'm sure Amanda Montell didn't realize she wrote such a dreary non-fiction book. This book deals with study of sociology. Each chapter is about a different subject matter. I liked some of the chapters, but some of the chapters really bummed me out. This book (unintentionally) glorifies how gullible people succumb to cult-like thinking and confirmation biases. I liked the chapter about the halo effect (mob mentality), and the idiotic rise of the Q-Anon movement. But at the same time, it just goes to show you how screwed up our world really is. It's scary how our planet will continue to decline 30 years from now. This is a well written and well researched book, but boy did it get me in such a bad mood after finishing it.

Thank you, Netgalley and Atria for the digital ARC.

I am a huge fan of Amanda Montell’s masterpiece Word Slut so I’ was so excited to receive this arc from NetGalley! The age of Magical Overthinking is another thoughtful cultural observation and another great read I will be processing for a long time. This book didn’t speak to me as much as Word Slut, but as a self proclaimed Swiftie…it’s me. Hi. I’m the problem, it’s me. Highly recommend!

I am nothing if not Amanda Montell's biggest fan. I needed this book and I loved every second of it. It's poignant and relevant. I definitely think if you spend too much time on the internet, then this book is for you. I love her writing style and would definitely suggest this to anyone asking. 10/10 no notes.