Person
A.J. Jacobs books: every book A.J. Jacobs wrote and recommended
Across 3 podcasts. Every show A.J. Jacobs appears on, in one place — not just one.
Books by A.J. Jacobs
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The guinea pig diaries
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The Know-It-All
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The Year of Living Biblically
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Drop dead healthy
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Esquire presents what it feels like
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The Year of Living Constitutionally
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The Puzzler
A.J. Jacobs’s most recommended books
- Giftology by John Ruhlin
- Go the F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach
- It's All Relative by A. J. Jacobs
- Kamasutra by Vātsyāyana
- The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
Arnold Stephen Jacobs Jr., commonly called A.J. Jacobs, is an American journalist, author, and lecturer best known for writing about his lifestyle experiments. He is an editor at large for Esquire and has worked for the Antioch Daily Ledger and Entertainment Weekly. On various podcast appearances, including The Tim Ferriss Show, The Jordan Harbinger Show, and EconTalk, Jacobs discussed and recommended several books related to his projects and interests. He mentioned John Ruhlin's book Giftology while talking about Japanese puzzle boxes and the act of giving gifts. Jacobs also noted a reader suggestion involving the Kamasutra for a potential future project. Discussing his own bibliography, he mentioned The Year of Living Biblically as a predecessor to his current work and referenced it when explaining the metaphorical puzzle theme present across his writings. He discussed Russ Roberts's upcoming book about life and algorithms, and he referenced his previous family tree book, It's All Relative. Jacobs also brought up Rhonda Byrne's book The Secret to illustrate the potential drawbacks of positive thinking, specifically the notion that positive thoughts alone can cure illness. Finally, he discussed how his friend Adam Mansbach came up with the idea for the book Go the F to Sleep after dealing with his children.
Books recommended by A.J. Jacobs
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The Year of Living Biblically
The Year of Living Biblically by A.
Discussed“uh this partly is a sequel to A book I wrote many years ago that we've talked about on the show called The Year of Living biblically where I try to understand I grew up in a very secular home”
Where to get it
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Giftology
Giftology by John Ruhlin is a practical business and relationship guide that outlines innovative strategies for deepening professional connections and expressing gratitude through thoughtful, non-traditional gifting practices.
Recommended“he wrote giftology it's all about giving gifts and how they can make your life better and make other people's lives better”
Where to get it
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Go the F**k to Sleep
Discussed“he's like oh my kids are such a pain in the ass I'm gonna write a book called go the [__] to sleep”
Where to get it
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Kamasutra
The Kamasutra by Vātsyāyana is a classical ancient Indian Hindu text widely considered the primary Sanskrit guide to human sexual behavior and romantic love.
Discussed“one that seems popular is that people say I should um become the greatest lover and do all the positions in the Comm Sutra”
Where to get it
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The Puzzler
The Puzzler by A.J.
Discussed“as you know in your upcoming delightful book how much of life can be solved by algorithms and how much cannot 405.8 and it is uu something i think about a lot”
Where to get it
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The Secret
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne is a bestselling self-help phenomenon centered on the law of attraction, which posits that positive visualization and focused intention can manifest wealth, health, and happiness directly into a person's life.
Discussed“and and also the on to me the main drawback of positive thinking is when you believe that just by positive thinking you can make something happen like the secret you know that if you think positively then your cancer will go away”
Where to get it
Appearances
Other mentions (15: passing, ad reads, own books)
“and that was one of my favorite books to write the year of living biblically”
“That was one of my favorite books to write, 'The Year of Living Biblically,' and I had always thought, 'Well, I could do a very similar book about the Constitution.'”
“i want to thank you that you are partially responsible for this book 208.8 because uj as you know we talk uu occasionally”
“and puns are sometimes seen as the lowest form of humor 425.5 but i have a little uu section in my book in defense of word play in defense of puns”
“i actually did have a fact checker on the book 1537.2 so it is”
“and i have in my book a picture of a uu he calls his work of art the iron horse because the back half is a horse and the front half is a train”
“and the book ends with a puzzle that cannot be solved that i co-created a mechanical puzzle that is that is so complicated it will take until the end of the universe to solve”
“and this book is a bit of an uu ode to the power of curiosity 2399.3 and i talk about in my book i heard a phrase from a child psychologist”
“he said you have a cheap chess set 3075.1 yes 3075.6 he was not impressed”
“so i i start the the book with that anecdote”
“and that is why originally i was gonna write puzzles for the book 3880.8 i was gonna write 20 original puzzles”
“i actually worked on another book for three months and abandon it right in the middle because i was miserable and one of the big themes of the puzzler is you got to be flexible”
“i will say i mean i hope you buy my book or at least take it out library or enjoy it or talk about it”
“that was my previous book and can we talk about that for a second because I'm kind of taking people through your journey in case they haven't heard that episode because I think that that's something that people go yeah al humans that are all from Africa etcetera but then we really don't treat each other like that at all”
“Well, that, and I was able to squeeze in. I have a new book. It's called Thanks a Thousand.”