1) What is the book about ? -Maria Konnikova explains how she thinks Sherlock Holmes think. So the title is misleading.2) What to expect from the book ? -Redundancy, and hours of a boring book.3) Recommended for whom? -Any Sherlockian who has a lot of time to spare, and want to read something Holmesian.

By Maria Konnikova. Grade: BSherlock Holmes, hands down, is my favourite detective, and Conan Doyle an absolute genius. Like all fans of his genre, I’ve devoured the books, the TV shows, and now, the movies. This is one such adaptation wherein author Maria Konnikova, a graduate of Harvard University and holder of PhD in psychology from Columbia University, applies her brain to find the science beneath the thrill.The point of this book is simple. There’s something about Sherlock Holmes that keeps...

As a psychology student, I am familiar with many of the studies that the author has mentioned to support her explanations. But, I like how she puts it across in a manner that layman could easily understand. What makes it different from mainstream psychology books, is that she takes sherlock holmes stories to explain how he trained his brain to think, and gives examples from his words and actions. She also delves into real life incidents in the criminal world at the time when Sherlock holmes was

A marketing ploy with a catchy title, devoid of any new, insightful content whatsoever. I am both a zealous Sherlock Holmes fan and familiar with Konnikova's work for the New Yorker, which, while not especially well-written or scientifically rigorous, at least attempts to discuss new research findings in contemporary neuroscience. At least it gets the mental gears turning in fresh directions. But, this useless, supposed "close-reading" of Holmes is a merely a childish regurgitation of detail thr...

"If you get only one thing out of this book, it should be this; the most powerful mind is the quiet mind. It is the mind that is present,reflective, mindful of its thoughts and its state. It doesn't often multitask, and when it does, it does so with a purpose" (p. 257).A fine blend of character analysis, psychological research, and good writing, Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes caught my interest and held it all the way through, which is a difficult task for nonfiction in general. M...

I do not think like Sherlock Holmes. Not in the least . This is the rather depressing conclusion I came to researching , until I read this book ...Watch and observe. This is the secret key. When I first read these words, I was a child then and I was amazed.Alertness and keen sense of observation used by Sherlock Holmes to solve the biggest mysteries are legendary. Although Sherlock Holmes is often used a survey to ascertain the facts , its approach demonstrates that he relied too much on his int...

*A full executive summary of this book is available here: http://newbooksinbrief.com/2013/01/28...The main argument: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes is as popular today as when he was created back in the late 19th century. This comes as no surprise, of course, since there is just something about Holmes’ peculiar qualities—his keen observation, clever imagination, and incisive reasoning capabilities—that is both awe-inspiring and inspirational. We admire Holmes for cutting thro...

"Mindless: How to Regurgitate Useless Information"Do you know what I learned in the first hour of this book while I went on my morning 5 mile run before I realized that there are no chapter markers? Absolutely nothing. I actually groaned out loud numerous times and yelled "Come ON! Are you serious?" to the running path. The only explanation I can think of is that author must have been paid by the word, because she has reinvented the meaning of taking commonly known ideas and taken the phrase "be...

I’ll give her five stars for the book’s premise, but only two stars for execution. This book is like a good first draft. I would love to get in there and get the material organized in a concise readable format and get the scientific references cited properly so that it could be a good book.The Writer is very wordy and takes several paragraphs to say what she’s trying to say, yet still doesn’t manage to say it. It’s hard to explain but she has a way of wording things in a mildly sarcastic way so

I found this book engaging, interesting and useful, both as a Sherlock Holmes fan and as someone who is interested in self-help books about self-awareness and how to hone our critical thinking and problem-solving strategies in our everyday life. +1 When talking about how bias influences people's thinking, there are also some (brief, though) mentions of various forms of discrimination - sexism, racism, heteronormativity and ableism, mainly. She cites, for example, the study showing that women per...

A book that deserves a reread (twice in my case). The writer gave emphasis on two Ms: Mindfulness and Motivation, but described Sherlock Holmes as much more than that. The level of isolation he provided his thoughts with was so extraordinary that resulted in him accurately deducing each case. This book deserves reread not because it's about Sherlock Holmes, instead, this book gives me methods to think elementarily.

I was surprised about the many negative reviews here at Goodreads. The main complain is that the author doesn't come up with something new, which is true, and that the Sherlock Holmes examples are taken too far. In the last months I have read a couple of books about our brain, perception, memory and how we think. Many of the discoveries can be found here in the book, nicely wrapped in the world of Sherlock Holmes. This by itself is an amazing thing! It's astonishing how good it works and a great...

Sherlock Holmes is the epitome of the mystery genre and the private detective. He uses his senses, his expansive knowledge, and his cunning skill to seek out the truth behind the crimes that come to his door. But what goes on in Sherlock Holmes mind? How does he think? And can we get anywhere near the skill of the Master Detective?While I like Sherlock Holmes well enough, reading two books and a couple movies based on the stories is not enough to call me a fan. The primary reason I read this boo...

If you're an avid Sherlock Holmes fan like me, then most likely you have already come across the examples and quotations explored in this book. Because that's what this book is all about: quotations, quotations and exploring and dissecting those Sherlock quotations in every manner possible. In short, you won't be learning anything new. But if you're such a ginormous fan that you'll read even the back of a shampoo if it's labeled Sherlock Holmes, then by all means, read this. This book is more of...

Just a note: I review Sherlock Holmes-related books on a blog, so my reviews on Goodreads are generally shortened versions of those postsMaria Konnikova, a doctoral candidate in psychology at New York’s Columbia University, first encountered Sherlock Holmes as a child, when her father read Waton’s accounts to her and her siblings at bedtime. As happens for many, the sleuth stuck with her, and in Mastermind she combines current psychological insights with lessons from the Canon, in the touchingly...

I'm not going to finish this book because (1) it is redundant (padded like a high school paper with an assigned word count); (2) the psychological and neurological concepts are fairly basic; and (3) it's more about Holmes her hero than a book on mindfulness. If you're a big Sherlock Holmes fan, you'd probably like this.

Simplistic and lacking research behind many of the suppositions, the book is more homage to Holmes and Doyle than how to improve thought process.

Well written grammatically but... An extremely frustrating read in so far as that the inescapable premise of the book appears to be that psychological principles can be taught upon the back of an entire fiction. There is such paradoxical logic in this that at times I felt genuine anger, the work is simply riding the crest of a huge wave of interest in Sherlock Holmes at present, this is not in the main, psychology, but literary review in the guise of science, and as such the whole thing appears

As usual, I received this book for nothing from a GoodReads giveaway but despite that kindness I give it my candid opinion below.Our author's submission is one of those that tries to be two things at once, cross-selling you on a bit of neuroscience in the context of Sherlock Holmes as favorite fictional genius. The basic format boils down to something like this:* Quote from a Sherlock Holmes story* Here's what Holmes did that was so genius* Here's what Watson, mental midget, did. [explanation of...

Featured on Skeptically Speaking show #193 on December 21, 2012, on our special Book Review episode. This book was reviewed by Scott Huler and the review can be heard starting at timestamp 00:00:58. http://skepticallyspeaking.ca/episode...