Pretty much everyone around the world agrees that 2020 was a challenging year and we’re glad it’s all but over. However, 2020 was a year that the Behavioral Grooves podcast upped the number of guests (to 90 from 55 the previous year), upped our reading habits (20+ books for the show), and had more authors as guests than in any previous year.

In short, my co-host Kurt Nelson and I read a lot of new books. And because we read bunches of them, we’re here to save you time by offering you our view of the top 10 books – 5 from Kurt and 5 from Tim – on behavioral science from 2020. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did – and as always, let us know what you think! 

For quick reference, here’s our list with links for your enjoyment.

Top Book List from Tim

1.    “How to Decide,” by Annie Duke: https://amzn.to/38nHsmK

2.    “Behavioral Insights,” by Michael Hallsworth and Elspeth Kirkman: https://amzn.to/2WsJ1Kr

3.    “Alchemy,” by Rory Sutherland: https://amzn.to/2LEwRfd

4.    “Messengers: Who We Listen To, Who We Don’t, and Why,” by Steve Martin & Joe Marks: https://amzn.to/38gRHsH

5.    “Unleash Your Primal Brain,” by Tim Ash: https://amzn.to/3gYM1rr

 Top Book List from Kurt

1.    “Behave,” by Robert Sapolsky: https://amzn.to/3p5MJWF

2.     “Good Habits, Bad Habits,” by Wendy Wood: https://amzn.to/3p6v1lK

3.     “Scarcity,” by Eldar Shafir and Sendhil Mullainathan: https://amzn.to/3nsMS62

4.    “Think Like a Rocket Scientist,” Ozan Varol: https://amzn.to/34n8OI7

5.    “Before You Know It,” by John Bargh: https://amzn.to/3r7SbtT

Honorable Mentions

§  “Elevate,” by Robert Glazer

§  “Designing for Behavior Change,” by Steve Wendel

§  “Invisible Influences,” by Jonah Berger

§  “White Fragility,” Robin DeAngelo

§  “The All-Or-Nothing Marriage: How the Best Marriages Work,” by Eli Finkel

§  “The Power of Bad,” by Roy Baumeister and John Tierney

§  “Better, Not Perfect,” by Max Bazerman

§  “Time Smart,” by Ashley Whillans

§  “Blindsight: the mostly hidden ways marketing shapes our brains,” by Prince Ghuman and Matt Johnson

Thanks for listening and we hope you find your groove with these books!