The most recommended books about lying

Set in Australia, the story opens with a dead man lying in the desert heat. The quest to discover who he is, and what happened to him provide a most satisfying read, involving family feuds and community tensions. I can’t think of another book where I was so desperate to learn what had led to the man’s death—the back story, the reasons and the truth of the various family relationships. The central character is endearing and the slow realisations that dawn on the reader are handled with great skill. I have been to Northern and Western Australia a number of times, so could visualise the setting very well. I am fascinated by the lives of those living in such a hostile environment.

This was my first foray in Alice Feeney’s writing and it will not be my last. 

The many twists and turns make this a well-crafted whodunit. I’ll admit, I still don’t think I get the ending - but that did not detract from my love for this book. I was left questioning everything that happened…in a good way.

The movement between past and present worked well and gave me an insight into the characters that I thought meant I had it all figured out…oh but I didn’t!

Forget switching the laundering over. Switch to this book immediately to try and figure out what is the truth and what is a lie.

We use pieces of paper to pay people whom we let into our homes to fix our most intimate spaces. We provide details about ourselves all the time over the phone and the Internet. Most of us do not worry too much about the consequences of bad-intentioned people getting access to that information, or our bank accounts, or our social media accounts.

This book – written in a dry prose – nevertheless tells the fascinating story of how our society balances the enormous risks – robbery, impersonation, etc. – with our dislike of onerous security measures.

How do we really know that those green pieces of paper are dollars that our corner store will accept in exchange for bread? And how can we develop trust in a society where there are clearly people who wish us harm?

This book, written by a security expert, answers those important questions.

I’ve read a lot of books about American political polarization and I think this is one of the best.

Taylor focuses on our tendency to believe we’re in possession of “the truth” (something I’ve long believed is humanity’s main problem). He examines how that tendency leads to people speaking in insulting, condescending ways about their political opponents, and how this amplifies our divides.  

Taylor focuses on the certainty here, which I see as part of the broader cycle of conflict: as two groups become polarized, they’re increasingly drawn to simplistic, us-vs-them framings of the people and issues around them. The existential anxiety the conflict creates in them can in turn create a need for more certainty (something I touch on in my book).

Sometimes things happen in life that bring us to our knees – illness, relationships fail, job losses.

And we may feel small, overwhelmed, incapable. In this awesome book about living audaciously, Jones advises the reader to write their own oriki, or personal hype mantra.

When we are at our lowest, we need to look back and see how far we’ve come, remind ourselves of who we were, who we are, and who we will be.

Just as we have the power to write our own orikis, we have the power to write our own next steps. That’s pretty bad-ass.

This book is for a slightly older reader (probably 16+), but the first scene opens with a period. Blood. It’s one of the things I love most about it.

The story revolves around Bisou Martel, who becomes a wolf hunter. She is at her strongest when she has her period, and she saves girls who are in danger of being violated by boys and men. Talk about female empowerment!

By the early twentieth century, violent crime was the number one political issue in America. In response, Congress passed the Swift and Sure Anti-Crime Bill, which gave a previously convicted violent criminal one fair trail, one quick appeal, then immediate execution. But to prevent abuse of the law, it was necessary to create a machine that could detect lies with one-hundred percent accuracy. It was clear that such a Truth Machine would change the world. But the race to perfect the Truth Machine forces one man to commit a shocking act of treachery. Now he must conceal the truth from his own creation---or face execution.

The conflict here is truth versus justice, as is often the case in human affairs. I was extremely interested in seeing how the author would balance these two seemingly irreconcilable factors. The book does a startingly job in resolving this conflict, in the process creating… show more.

This novel is about a PH.D. candidate, Olive, who fake-dates a professor to make her best friend feel better about falling in love with her ex-boyfriend. It’s a wild premise, but I love suspending my own beliefs and falling into a romance novel.

This is another one of those single point-of-view books where the main character is incredibly dense, and we KNOW her fake boyfriend, Adam, is so in love with her.

There are also hints of sexism in the STEM field, which is very realistic, and this story touches on it exactly how a romance novel should, with a few moments of despair and a happy ending. 

Is it possible to detect deception? Can you really tell if someone’s lying just by looking at their body language? If so, what are the cues? When I was writing Duped, I decided to take a class with the authors, who were former CIA agents. I learned a ton. 

What happens when a client turns on a therapist? I hope I never find out.

I picked up Helene Flood's novel out of curiosity. As a writer, I wanted to know how Flood turns two people sitting in a room quietly talking into a plot that will hold readers' attention. I don’t want to give anything away, except to say her book deftly and accurately shows a clinician using her training to solve a terrible crime and save herself.

It was easy for me to identify with both the protagonist and the author. Flood and I are both practicing psychologists specializing in trauma. I’m grateful for a good read and a reminder to screen potential clients carefully.