Wired Minds: Reverse Psychology and Manipulation in the Digital Age (Paperback)

A few useful pages, but mostly material I had seen better elsewhere.

A colleague recommended this and I can see why. It does something that few technical books manage: it respects the reader's time. There is a section near the end that ties several earlier ideas together in a way I had not seen before. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. The index and cross-references are surprisingly good, which matters for a book I will come back to. Two stars. The subject deserves a better treatment than this.

Outstanding. I kept finding reasons to come back to it.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. The explanations are careful without being condescending, which is a difficult balance to strike. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. If you have the prerequisites, this is an easy recommendation. I will be keeping it on my desk rather than the shelf.

A genuinely enjoyable read that also taught me a great deal.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. Some of the diagrams are dense and I had to reread a few sections, though that may just be me. Worth the money and the reading time, without hesitation.