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Best Critical Thinking Books: 20 Top Books on How to Think Critically

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Arthur Worsley
by Arthur Worsley
M.A. Psychology, Oxford. McKinsey Alum. Founder & Editor at TAoL.

Looking for the best critical thinking books of all time?

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Contents
1. The 20 Best Critical Thinking Books Of All Time
2. Books 1-5: The Top 5 Best Critical Thinking Books of All Time
3. Books 6-20: The Best Critical Thinking Books to Read Next
4. More Book Recommendations
5. More Best Books of All Time (by Type)
6. More Best Nonfiction Books (by Topic)
7. More Best Fiction Books (by Genre)
8. Wish There Was a Faster/Easier Way?

The 20 Best Critical Thinking Books Of All Time

Why these best critical thinking books and not others? To stay objective, I rank all my book recommendations by what’s most loved (Goodreads rating), what’s most popular (Goodreads review count) and what’s proven timelessly relevant (first publication date).

This isn’t a whimsical list. It’s a data-driven, crowdsourced collection of the best critical thinking books ever published as decided by book lovers just like you. (Note: To maximise diversity, I only include the top ranking book from any series in a list.)

And if you think something's missing? I LOVE book recommendations so if there are any other best critical thinking books that you think deserve mentioning, email me and I’ll be sure to include them in the next round of updates.

Until then, enjoy this ultimate list of the 20 best critical thinking books of all time...

Books 1-5: The Top 5 Best Critical Thinking Books of All Time

The top 5 best critical thinking books of all time are...

Best Critical Thinking Books: The Demon-Haunted World
1. The Demon-Haunted World - Carl Sagan
Science as a Candle in the Dark
Published 1996 // 459 pages // Rated 4.3 over 68,200 reviews on Goodreads
Best Critical Thinking Books: Manufacturing Consent
2. Manufacturing Consent - Edward S. Herman
The Political Economy of the Mass Media
Published 1988 // 412 pages // Rated 4.2 over 18,600 reviews on Goodreads
Best Critical Thinking Books: Fooled by Randomness
3. Fooled by Randomness - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets
Published 2001 // 368 pages // Rated 4.1 over 58,500 reviews on Goodreads
Best Critical Thinking Books: Freakonomics
4. Freakonomics - Steven D. Levitt
A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Published 2005 // 268 pages // Rated 4.0 over 802,600 reviews on Goodreads
Best Critical Thinking Books: How to Read a Book
5. How to Read a Book - Mortimer J. Adler (FREE Summary)
The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
How to Read a Book is THE classic guide to reading faster, deeper and more effectively than you ever realised was possible - by deep-thinkers, philosophers and life-long learners, M. Adler and C. van Doren.
Published 1940 // 426 pages // Rated 4.0 over 22,200 reviews on Goodreads

Books 6-20: The Best Critical Thinking Books to Read Next

Here are the next best critical thinking books from my database...

6. Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely
The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
Published 2007 // 400 pages // Rated 4.1 over 116,900 reviews on Goodreads
7. Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman (FREE Summary)
Published 2011 // 499 pages // Rated 4.2 over 422,300 reviews on Goodreads
8. Poor Charlie's Almanack - Charles T. Munger
The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
Published 2005 // 512 pages // Rated 4.4 over 8,300 reviews on Goodreads
9. Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Published 2005 // 296 pages // Rated 4.0 over 555,400 reviews on Goodreads
10. Bad Science - Ben Goldacre
Published 2008 // 338 pages // Rated 4.1 over 41,500 reviews on Goodreads
11. The Black Swan - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Impact of the Highly Improbable
Published 2007 // 366 pages // Rated 4.0 over 102,600 reviews on Goodreads
12. Thinking in Systems - Donella H. Meadows
A Primer
Published 2008 // 240 pages // Rated 4.2 over 13,100 reviews on Goodreads
13. Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) - Carol Tavris
Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts
Published 2007 // 304 pages // Rated 4.0 over 25,500 reviews on Goodreads
14. Factfulness - Hans Rosling
Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
Published 2018 // 342 pages // Rated 4.4 over 160,400 reviews on Goodreads
15. How to Lie with Statistics - Darrell Huff
Published 1954 // 142 pages // Rated 3.9 over 14,400 reviews on Goodreads
16. Antifragile - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Things That Gain from Disorder
Published 2012 // 426 pages // Rated 4.1 over 46,100 reviews on Goodreads
17. The Signal and the Noise - Nate Silver
Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't
Published 2012 // 534 pages // Rated 4.0 over 48,200 reviews on Goodreads
18. How We Know What Isn't So - Thomas Gilovich
The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life
Published 1991 // 216 pages // Rated 4.0 over 3,000 reviews on Goodreads
19. Think Again - Adam M. Grant
The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know
Published 2021 // 307 pages // Rated 4.2 over 61,300 reviews on Goodreads
20. Why People Believe Weird Things - Michael Shermer
Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time
Published 1997 // 384 pages // Rated 3.9 over 9,600 reviews on Goodreads

More Book Recommendations

Enjoyed this list of the best critical thinking books of all time?

You'll also like TAoL's other book recommendations...

More Best Books of All Time (by Type)

These are some lists of overall best books to read...

More Best Nonfiction Books (by Topic)

These are some lists of best nonfiction books to read...

More Best Fiction Books (by Genre)

These are some lists of best fiction books to read...

Or, you can read all my book recommendations.

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