How Do You Find a Good Book to Read? Try shepherd.com

How can I find good recommendations for books on a topic I’m interested in? shepherd.com is a new option to try. It’s a database of brief comments by authors about (i) themselves, (ii) one of their own books, and (iii) their choice of five related books. Search by author, book, or topic.

I learned about Shepherd.com when I received an email from Ben Fox, the founder, inviting me to contribute. I consulted with Bob. Our entry is now here.

Below are the five related books we recommend. I haven’t included links here–go to our Shepherd page for links and our comments.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Psychology: A Manifesto for Reforming the Culture of Scientific Practice By Chris Chambers

Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth By Stuart Ritchie

Beyond Significance Testing By Rex B. Kline

Research Methods in Psychology: Evaluating a World of Information By Beth Morling

The Design of Experiments in Neuroscience By Mary E. Harrington

At shepherd.com there are links to sign up to the newsletter and to read about development plans for the site. Ben says that he’s keen to hear from users and potential participating authors.

If I have a criticism it’s that the site does not typically provide a publication date or, where relevant, edition number. For any technical or research book, at least, such information is vital.

I tried searching for ‘climate change’, and ‘climate change denial’, with interesting success. Other topics I tried with less success–it’s early days and the site is in rapid development.

It strikes me that shepherd.com is a super-interesting development, with potential to be highly valuable.

Happy exploring, happy reading,

Geoff