Reading

Books referenced here

Every book named across the blog, in one place — not a definitive list, just a nod to the people whose work this site keeps drawing on. More will be added as they come up.

Sleep

Why We Sleep

Matthew Walker

The neuroscience of sleep, laid out in full — including the amygdala-reactivity finding referenced in the sleep post below.

Exercise & the brain

Spark

John Ratey

The science of how exercise reshapes brain chemistry — BDNF, neurogenesis, and mood, explained in depth.

Money

The Richest Man in Babylon

George S. Clason

Simple, century-old financial principles, still holding up — pay yourself first, live deliberately, seek real advice.

Presence

The Power of Now

Eckhart Tolle

A modern classic on presence and the mind's tendency to live anywhere but the current moment — referenced alongside a real Harvard study in the piece below.

Breathing

The Hindu-Yogi Science of Breath

Yogi Ramacharaka (William Walker Atkinson)

A 1905 text on breath and the nervous system, referenced in the piece on breathing below — public domain, and surprisingly ahead of its time.

Emotional control

The Chimp Paradox

Prof Steve Peters

A simplified but genuinely useful model for the split between emotional and rational thinking — the "Chimp" and the "Human" — referenced in the piece on the limbic system below.

Violence & forensic psychiatry

The Devil You Know

Gwen Adshead & Eileen Horne

Forensic psychiatrist Gwen Adshead's work with violent offenders — referenced in the piece on masculinity and violence below.