Books This month’s best paperbacks November and December Tue 9 Dec 2025 9.00 GMT Share Psychology Hope for Cynics Jamil Zaki Terrorism V13 Emmanuel Carrère Biography The Elements of Marie Curie Dava Sobel Memoir Over the Rainbow Alex James Mystery Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret Benjamin Stevenson Memoir Who Could Ever Love You Mary Trump History Unfortunately, She Was a Nymphomaniac Joan Smith Conservation Myself and Other Animals Gerald Durrell Tue 9 Dec 2025 9.00 GMT Share Psychology Beating the ‘trust recession’ Hope for Cynics Jamil Zaki Hope for Cynics Jamil Zaki Beating the ‘trust recession’ If you were under the impression that the opposite of a cynic is an easily hoodwinked person of low mental horsepower, then Jamil Zaki, a professor of psychology and director of Stanford’s Social Neuroscience Lab, has news for you. The idea that cynics are somehow more astute is the first of many notions demolished in this succinct, uplifting book. Cynics perform less well in cognitive tests and “have a harder time spotting liars than non-cynics”.
