How do you choose which books to summarize?

Our selection process has three filters.

1. Does the book have a real idea? Plenty of bestsellers are 300 pages of repackaged common sense. We skip those. We look for books with a thesis sharp enough to summarise in one sentence — Atomic Habits: small changes compound. Thinking, Fast and Slow: you have two thinking systems and one of them lies to you. If we can't state the idea cleanly, the book probably can't either.

2. Does it hold up? We favour books whose claims survive the last decade of follow-up research and criticism. That means leaning toward authors who cite primary sources, acknowledge uncertainty, and don't overclaim from a single study.

3. Would a smart friend recommend it? The final filter is taste. If a thoughtful reader would feel their time was well spent, the book makes the cut. We mix categories — business, psychology, philosophy, fiction — so the channel stays varied and reflects how curious people actually read.

For a concrete example of how those filters play out in one genre, browse our Business summaries — every title there earned its spot by passing all three.

We publish one new 5-minute summary every Tuesday at 14:30 UTC.