Whether you’re happily partnered, endlessly curious about relationships, or just tired of dating advice that feels outdated, these 8 new nonfiction books offer fresh perspectives on love, sex, and connection. Consider this your Valentine’s-season reading list for understanding what really brings people closer.
Why We Click: The Emerging Science of Interpersonal Synchrony
By Kate Murphy
Humans are instinctively wired to sync with one another, and this invisible alignment of bodies, brains, and emotions shapes attraction, trust, and belonging. It can deepen connection and fuel cooperation, but it also makes feelings and behaviors contagious, giving each of us more influence over others than we realize. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Kate Murphy, or view on Amazon.
Bonded By Evolution: The New Science of Love and Connection
By Paul Eastwick
A groundbreaking look at the science of attachment and compatibility, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about love and attraction and revealing the real keys to lasting connection and deeper relationships. View on Amazon
Love’s Labor: How We Break and Make the Bonds of Love
By Stephen Grosz
An acclaimed author and psychoanalyst shares moving true stories from his practice to explore the central question of our lives: how do we find and keep love? View on Amazon
Smitten: Romantic Obsession, the Neuroscience of Limerence, and How to Make Love Last
By Tom Bellamy
Limerence—the obsessive, all-consuming early stage of love—feels like being struck by something supernatural. Euphoria, anxiety, daydreams, and intrusive thoughts all narrow toward a single goal: union with the beloved. But it’s not magic. The neuroscience behind intense infatuation can finally explain why love often feels uncontrollable. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Tom Bellamy, or view on Amazon.
How to Feel Loved: The Five Mindsets That Get You More of What Matters Most
By Sonja Lyubomirsky & Harry Reis
In this pioneering work, a renowned happiness scientist and a top relationship researcher draw on the science of happiness, love, and human connection to offer a powerful framework to help readers appreciate and nurture what makes them feel truly loved. View on Amazon
You Could Be Having Better Sex: The Definitive Guide to a Happier, Healthier, and Hotter Sex Life
By Nicole McNichols
A healthy, fulfilling sexual life is built in layers. The McNichols Hierarchy of Sexual Needs offers a three-tier framework for understanding—and strengthening—the foundations of sexual confidence, connection, and pleasure at every stage of adult life. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Nicole McNichols, or view on Amazon.
The Intimate Animal: The Science of Sex, Fidelity, and Why We Live and Die for Love
By Justin Garcia
In an eye-opening exploration of the most powerful force that drives our species, Kinsey Institute Director Dr. Justin Garcia illuminates the mysteries of how we date, mate and navigate our love lives. View on Amazon
The Balancing Act: Creating Healthy Dependency and Connection Without Losing Yourself
By Nedra Glover Tawwab
A guide to understanding healthy dependency—to bring our relationships back into balance. View on Amazon
The Key Ideas in 15 Minutes
“If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books,” Roald Dahl once famously said. The only trouble is, reading even one book from cover to cover takes hours—and you may not have many hours to spare.
But imagine for a moment: What if you could read a groundbreaking new book every day? Or even better, what if you could invite a world-renowned thinker into your earbuds, where they personally describe the 5 key takeaways from their work in just 15 minutes?
With the Next Big Idea App, we’ve turned this fantasy into a reality. We partnered with hundreds of acclaimed authors to create “Book Bites,” short audio summaries of the latest nonfiction that are prepared and read aloud by the authors themselves. Discover cutting-edge leadership skills, productivity hacks, the science of happiness and well-being, and much more—all in the time it takes to drive to work or walk the dog.
Go Deeper with a Next Big Idea Club Membership
The Next Big Idea App is free for anyone to try—and if you love it, we invite you to become an official member of the Next Big Idea Club. Membership grants you unlimited access to Book Bites and unlocks early-release, ad-free episodes of our LinkedIn-partnered podcast. You also gain entry to our private online discussion group, where you can talk big ideas with fellow club members and join exclusive live Q&A sessions with featured authors.
For a more focused learning experience, we recommend a Hardcover or eBook Membership. Every few months, legendary authors and club curators Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink select two new nonfiction books as the must-reads of the season. We then send hardcover copies straight to your doorstep, or eBook versions to your favorite digital device. We also collaborate with the authors of selected books to produce original reading guides and premium e-courses, 50-minute master classes that take you step by step through their most life-changing ideas. And yes, it’s all available through the Next Big Idea App.
Learn Faster, from the World’s Leading Thinkers
Whether you prefer to read, listen, or watch, the Next Big Idea is here to help you work smarter and live better. Wake up with an always-fresh Idea of the Day, the perfect shot of inspiration to go with your morning coffee. Then dive into one of our Challenges, hand-picked collections of Book Bites that form crash courses in subjects like communication, motivation, and career acceleration. Later, watch the playback of an interview with U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Stanford psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt, or philosopher John Kaag. And be sure to check the “Events” tab in the app, so that you can join an upcoming live Q&A and personally chat with the next featured thought leader.
If you’re hoping to grow as a person or as a professional, we hope you’ll join us and tens of thousands of others who enjoy the Next Big Idea. Get started by downloading the app today!
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