10 Best Psychology Books Every Student Must Read in 2024
Last Update on December 27, 2023 : Published on May 20, 2020
The more you learn about human psychology, the better you understand human behavior. To understand the depth of science behind human minds, there are some psychology books that are backed up with creativity, persuasion and distinct facts. As psychology fascinates a lot of readers, these books on psychology are meant for every person whether he is studying for a particular course or not. We are compiling a list of good psychology books and sincerely hope you enjoy reading them in your free time.
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Top Books for Psychology Student:
1. Quite: The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking
Author: Susan Cain
Goodreads Rating: 4.1/5
Available: Amazon (Kindle + Hardcover + Audiobook + Paperback)
Description: This is one of the best book on psychology with a huge appreciation. there are so many of us who are introverts and so many who are undervaluing the introverts. But the book sends a strong message that if we are undervaluing the introverts, we might be losing a lot of talent. The author has successfully introduced some introverts here and told us their passionate stories.
‘Quiet’ is giving us a different perspective towards introverts on how they are empowered even without much speaking. Quite is a huge help and one of the best psychology books for students.
2. The Happiness Hypothesis
Author: Jonathan Haidt
Goodreads Rating: 4.1/5
Available: Amazon (Kindle + Hardcover + Audiobook + Paperback)
Description: You may want to call it the best psychology book for beginners as it revolves around ten great ideas of philosophical wisdom and scientific research. These ideas are discovered by the world’s civilizations and extracts the lessons for the modern world. It also successfully teaches us that life is closer than it seems.
3. Elephants On Acid And Other Bizarre Experiments
Author: Alex Bose
Goodreads Rating: 3.8/5
Available On: Amazon (Kindle + Hardcover + Audiobook + Paperback)
Description: A captivating story of an elephant from the 1960s is humorous as well as horrifying certain times. The elephant called Tusko is given a high dose of LSD for experiments and strange results are found out after each experiment. Other questions include if it is possible to bring a dead one to life or why can’t we tickle ourselves. However, this book can upset animal lovers but psychologists will understand the importance of ethical procedures for psychological experiments.
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4. The Little Book Of Psychology
Author: Emily Ralls & Caroline Riggs
Goodreads Rating: 3.9/5
Available: Amazon (Kindle + Paperback)
Description: Another best psychology book for beginners, you can find the birth of modern psychology, famous and controversial experiments and the ethics of psychological studies. In fact, you can also find recent developments in modern fields like cyber psychology. You can meet some thinkers, themes and theories to understand mind and behavior.
5. Thinking, Fast And Slow
Author: Daniel Kahneman
Goodreads Rating: 4.2/5
Available: Amazon (Kindle + Hardcover + Audiobook + Paperback)
Written by a Nobel Prize winner, this is an amazing book to study psychology which takes us on a groundbreaking tour about the system we think. It explains that there are two ways of thinking; one is fast, intuitive, emotional while other is slower and logical. This book would really blow away your minds with the deep insights that we usually tend to miss in everyday life.
6. The Art Of Choosing
Author: Sheena Iyengar
Goodreads Rating: 3.8/5
Available: Amazon (Kindle + Hardcover + Audiobook + Paperback)
Description: If you are wondering how to make right decisions in your life based on psychology, economics, culture, marketing and management, this book on psychology is just right for you. It reveals the forces that drive us towards making the choices and also explains an experiment showcasing the number of choices we have rather than inclining towards just one.
7. The Social Animal
Author: Elliot Aronson
Goodreads Rating: 4.3/5
Available: Amazon
Description: A vivid narration of critical research on psychology makes this one of the best books to study psychology. There is an addition in the new series which also includes the mindset of terrorists of September 11. Such lively presentations on critical examples to understand human brains is really amazing to read and enjoy.
8. The Lucifer Effect
Author: Philip Zimbardo
Goodreads Rating: 4/5
Available: Amazon (Kindle + Hardcover + Audiobook + Paperback)
Description: What are the reasons that good people get into evil acts or how morally motivated people convert into immoral humans? Such interesting experiments and research is well indicated in this one of the best psychology books. This book has been praised by renowned philosophers and publishers. A must read, indeed!
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9. The Man Who Mistook his Wife For A Hat
Author: Oliver Sacks
Goodreads Rating: 4.1/5
Available: Amazon (Kindle + Hardcover + Audiobook + Paperback)
Description: If you wish to find interesting case studies of patients lost in bizarre or got into neurological disorders, this is the best psychology book for students. The author has presented case studies in an interesting manner that one can visit the neurologically impaired world with a new perspective.
10. Strangers To Ourselves
Author: Timothy D. Wilson
Goodreads Rating: 4/5
Available: Amazon (Kindle + Hardcover + Audiobook + Paperback)
Description: This psychology book advises you to think about yourself while discovering our conscious selves. The author also tells you to pay attention to what you are doing and what others are thinking about you. Indeed a revolutionary psychology book to read!
Conclusion
We believe that you liked this list of best psychology books. We would like to know which one is your next read in the comments section below. Also, if you wish to recommend any other book for the list, don’t forget to mention it as well. Happy reading!
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About The Author
Akanksha Soni
Akanksha is an active lifestyle blogger and writer at Calmsage. She has learnt various lessons on happiness and methods to fight depression through 'Gurus' as well as own experiences. An ardent practitioner of Yoga and meditation, she keeps traveling, writes and interacts with people to feel alive.
I love to read th books especially those book, describing about human behaviour. These books are so amazing. And plus point is I don't need to buy them I can read them online with audible for free.? Thanks calmsage for.sharing such a wonderful content
Thanks for listing these books. These books really help to students who are studied about Psychology...I will recommend this blog to my friend
Content is so nicely curated. Every word is point to point.
I agree with this post. All these books are count on the best psychology books. Reading is my hobby and i have completed two effective books from this list - The social animal and the Lucifer effect.
Have read most, and think a few on evolutionary biology are clearly lacking. I’d add, “The Red Queen” by Matt Ridley, “The Selfish Gene “ by Dawkins, “The Blank Slate”, by Pinker, and “Evolution of Desire” by Buss. These really help make sense of much behavior that seemed irrational. Haidt has been my favorite, but these reads are profound and seminal to psychology and it’s future. “Entwinded Lives” by Siegal is also fascinating in documenting impact of biology, but does not read as easy as those above. The Chapter on the twin Jim’s was unreal and worth the book.
Hi Jaime Thank you for your insight. I'll be updating the blog soon with your recommendations.