An absolutely engaging look at the term "magical thinking" and what this phenomenon has morphed into through decades. The ideas of manifestation and the powers beyond our control that have such a hold on society, especially the younger generations that come up in this type of environment.

"This was my version of the daily morning newspaper with a cup of coffee."

I wasn’t familiar with Amanda Montell before but this cover is fantastic— simple case of judging a book by its cover.

Some chapters were very interesting and I did learn a lot about various biases/effects. Overall I felt a little let down by the book, which is odd, because like I said, I wasn’t familiar with Montell so I didn’t have any specific expectations. I am interested in listening to a few episodes of her podcast though.

I really enjoy Montell's book, as I did Culti-ish. This goes over psych 101 cognitive biases, so I mildly wish there was more that I was learning, but Montell tells great stories too.

Amanda Montell’s writing is absolutely captivating. Her humor is so whitty and relatable. I’m so glad I read Cultish before I read this, because of all the references it felt like a continuation of that book. I really love how she ties in aspects of her personal life.. As well, with the research she put into it, makes the topics she’s discussion pack a heavier punch.

This book felt like a memoir, self help, and a sociology book all tied into one. It really emulated how hard it is to be a human right now, in the age of over information!

I am a big fan of Amanda’s work, but felt that this book was a bit underwhelming. There were some chapters that I was waiting to get through and some that were enjoyable. I definitely enjoy her podcast and her second book better. On the cons side of things, the book seemed a bit too wordy and at some points repetitive. I hope that if Amanda writes another book I’ll end up liking it more. For now, I’m going to stick to listening to the podcast.

The Age of Magical Overthinking by @amanda_montell

The writing style of this book is so effortlessly cool, a mix of nonfiction infused with Amanda’s insights making it memoir-esque meets psychology. Blending history and pop culture with personal life to explore magical thinking.

I love that each chapter explores something new and the fun chapter names made me interested to continue my read.

This is a book I want to listen to on audiobook, I have already placed my hold at the library! And the cover with the colours is absolutely gorgeous.

Thank you to @simonschusterca, @atriabooks and @netgalley for this copy

This is not my first Amanda Montell book, and I hope it won't be my last. Montell is a great researcher and storyteller; her books are easily digestible and entertaining. The Age of Magical Overthinking was no different, blending personal anecdotes with cultural criticism and pop culture references. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

The Age of Magical Thinking was not quite as successful for me as Amanda Montell's previous books. I still enjoyed it and the last two essays were the most impactful for me. For someone who is new to her work or new to some of the topics she wrote about in this book, this would probably be more enlightening and enjoyable. As someone who works in or adjacent to a field where many of these topics are discussed, it was a bit old hat or superficial for me personally. I do not expect that would be true for most and thus I have a bit of a biased take here.

Another incredible book by Amanda Montell! I loved being able to understand all the information Amanda delivered to us because it almost felt like I was talking to one of my friends. The pop culture references were top tier and they were so current without them being cringy. Overall, this was so fun and solidified Amanda as one of my auto-buy authors!

"what if the universe isn't for or against us? What if it's not that serious?"

while I feel like a lot of this wasn't new information for me, I still love how she is able to relate it to pop culture to make it more relatable and easier to understand. This one has so many highlightable quotes, is still very interesting, and is so well researched and organized. Plus, I'm a sucker for super niche nonfiction topics.

Thank you so much for the advanced copy.
I'm a huge fan of Montell's works so I was really excited to read this one.

And I was not disappointed. Not all of the main themes for each chapter were interesting to me, but all of the knowledge that came with it, the vast vocabulary and themes discussed made everything better.

I loved it and learned so much from it. And also, her writing style is right up my alley.

While I ultimately preferred Cultish, I loved this book. It was fascinating learning about all the ways we trick ourselves, a particularly prescient reminder in today’s Information Age. I knew when it opened up with Taylor Swift, I was in for a treat. I have a hard time describing what fell flat for me. Years later, I remember parts of Cultish and tell people about it. Weeks after finishing this, I feel as if I’ve forgotten it. Part of it is that I wasn’t as engaged with the text but I think too much of it was personal anecdotes/reflections. These added to my reading experience but didn’t give it staying power. But I still loved it!

This book was fun and interesting, as long as we don't try to take ourselves too seriously. The author examined different types of cognitive biases. From the halo effect (thinking someone we like is likable even in ways we don't know about), to sunken cost fallacy (staying with someone or involved in something because we already have 'so much' invested), to confirmation bias (the more we hear or read something, the more likely we are to believe it's true), our thought patterns can begin to feel like they're shaping the world, instead of the other way around.

The author had a great memoir-style of writing to make each example feel relatable. Do we really get to manifest a good result because we built up good karma by letting a car into traffic on our way to the office? I know I'm guilty of expecting more random good results when I feel like I'm being an exceptionally good person. Now I know I'm not alone in that idea.

Overall, the book was amusing, but it's hard to quantify what I really learned about cognitive bias and its effect on the world, or even my life. The book earned 3 out of 5 stars from me, and I'd be interested in checking out some of the author's previous works.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

In this series of essays, Amanda Montell describes various cognitive biases that contribute to phenomena we see and experience in social media, fandoms, politics, and our personal lives. I enjoy Montell’s casual and witty voice, and her reflections on our modern shared experiences. It did not feel overly judgmental, but more like a friend pointing out traps that you seem to have fallen into. I would call it a mix of memoir and pop psychology, and I liked that she tied the concepts back to her personal experience. Pick this one up if you’re looking for a series of personal essays on how internet and social media shape our shared experiences. If you are a disillusioned millennial who sometimes wonders why we idolize our pop stars, take on unrealistic projects, and catastrophize the news, you may see yourself in these pages as I did.

I love Amanda Montell and I so wanted to love this one, but it fell flat for me. It just didn't interest me as much as her other books and some parts were boring. Maybe I'll try to listen to it again one day via audiobook, I could see me enjoying it more that way.

Amanda Montell is one of my auto-buy authors and this book did not disappoint. What Montell does better than anyone else is she can break down difficult topics into relatable, bite sized chunks and make them interesting and fun. I wish I had this book when I was teaching public speaking to discuss logical fallacies.

I enjoyed Cultish and thought this sounded really interesting. However I wasn’t as connected to this one and ended up deciding to DNF. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

About two chapters into "The Age of Magical Overthinking" I realized that I have already read this book. Not literally, but I rushed to my bookshelf and pulled this book "The Art of Thinking Clearly" by Rolf Dobelli and was like "whoa, this is the same book! Both books provide best practices for not being sucked into cognitive bias using pop culture references and personal storytelling including comparing the sunk cost fallacy to staying in a bad relationship and the halo effect to Taylor Swift. (I'm honestly TS'd out!)

"The Age of Magical Overthinking" is essentially a kinda gave me girl boss version of Dobelli's book full of Taylor Swift references. Does a new grad probably need a version of this book - sure! But it also felt hallow on inclusivity. Some of the points made completely undercut progressive values, indigenious practices of communities of color, etc.

It wasn't for me. But don't completely count it out.

Was introduced to this author with Cultish, and am happy to say I liked this one just as much. Montell really has a talent for both landing on incredibly compelling topics, and on writing about them in an entertaining and approachable ways. I will probably read anything else she writes from here on out.

“What if the universe isn’t for or against us? What if it’s not that serious?”

The Age of Magical Overthinking by Amanda Montell is an insightful, informative and accessible book exploring how and why we (over)think the way we do.

The Age of Magical Overthinking is broken into just under a dozen essays, each focusing on a different theory or bias that impacts how we think, how we process, and how we understand. I know what you might be thinking…theories? That’s not for me. But if you’re familiar with Montell’s book Cultish, you know she has a way of making even the most complicated ideas easy to digest and understand. Through funny personal anecdotes and other modern examples, even the most theory-averse will find something that will sit with them long after.

Through meticulous research, she seeks to break down WHY we think the way we do. From zero sum bias (which says that in order for someone to be winning, someone else has to be losing) or proportionality bias (trying to explain big events/feelings with equally big causes). Montell takes all of these ideas and talks about them through a lens of today, in a world full of comparison, immediacy, and short lived attention spans. Each one of the habits/bias she shares are innately human, but she shows us that by understanding them better, we can navigate them (perhaps rerouting our thinking a bit) and find our way to a better, fuller (hopefully less anxious) life.

Most chapters resonated with me, while a couple were interesting but not as relevant to my own life. Regardless, I think there’s something for everyone here. For anyone who’s ever thought, WHY do I think like that, WHY does my mind immediately tend to think in this way, how can I break that? The Age of Magical Overthinking is a step towards understanding ourselves, and in turn, one another.