Book Review - Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes

About the Book
Penguin is very excited to announce the paperback release of Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes , written by psychologist and journalist Maria Konnikova. It has been more than 125 years since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduced Sherlock Holmes to the world, and yet the detective remains as influential on literary and pop culture as ever. Part of his enduring appeal is the awe we experience when Holmes finally reveals the clues we missed, the links we failed to forge. Another part is the chance to test our minds – the alluring possibility of that we, too, have Sherlockian powers of reasoning and observation hibernating inside our habitual distractions.

MASTERMIND (Penguin Books; on-sale 12/31/13; 978-0-14-312434-4), tells us exactly how and why it is more than possible for each of us to think better. Drawing on 21st-century neuroscience and psychology, MASTERMIND explores Holmes’ unique methods of ever-present mindfulness, astute observation and logical deduction. In doing so, it shows how each of us, with some self-awareness and a little practice, can employ these same methods to sharpen our perceptions, solve difficult problems and enhance our creative powers.

MASTERMIND is guided by a central premise: that Sherlock Holmes is a near-ideal window into the science of how we think and a rare teacher of how to upgrade our default mode of thinking. The book is already receiving praise from leaders in the field – Steven Pinker called it “A delightful tour of the science of memory, creativity, and reasoning…which will help you master your own mind.” I’d very much like to send you a copy of this smart and insightful book for review. Maria Konnikova is also available for select interviews. Please let me know if you’re interested in covering the book or author on your blog. Below you will find the fantastic praise MASTERMIND has already received along with more information on the author.




My Take on the Book
This was a great book for any mystery reading fan. I know that I for one grew up on Sherlock Holmes novels and I always tried to follow the logic and thought pattern of the way that he solved the crimes that he worked on. This book does a great job at bringing forth numerous stories and anecdotes from within the stories along with psychological examination to better understand the character himself.

The book does have a more academic slant, thus for those that are not used to this they may have to take their time to fully examine everything. However, the information that the author shares is important as it comes to better understanding Holmes' mind when it comes to the step-by-step process he used in conceptualizing the context of the crimes being examined.

The book is not all about Holmes though, as the author is using him and his thinking to make the reader examine mindfulness as well as some new concepts in cognitive psychology.

Overall, this was a good book that I would highly recommend to all Sherlock Holmes fans, but also those that want to improve themselves incrementally day-by-day.


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