Philosophy · Similar reads
Books like The Listening Book
The best books like The Listening Book are This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, and The Creative Habit. The Listening Book by W.A. Mathieu is about music, listening, attention. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
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This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
Daniel J. Levitin · Science
Daniel Levitin came to neuroscience from the music industry — he was a record producer who worked with Stevie Wonder, the Grateful Dead, and Blue Öyster Cult before getting a PhD in psychology and cognitive neuroscience.
Shares music and perception with The Listening Book.
Read the summary → - Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
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Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
Mason Currey · Biography
Daily Rituals is Mason Currey's compilation of the working habits of 161 writers, artists, composers, philosophers, and scientists — from Beethoven to Darwin, Kafka to Freud, Maya Angelou to W.H.
A kindred philosophy read.
Read the summary → - The Creative Habit
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Twyla Tharp · Self-help
The Creative Habit is legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp's account of how creativity works in practice — not as inspiration but as habit, discipline, and preparation.
Both dig into creativity.
Read the summary → - Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
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Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi · Psychology
Flow is Csikszentmihalyi's landmark study of optimal experience — those moments when people are so deeply absorbed in an activity that time warps, self-consciousness disappears, and effort feels effortless.
A kindred philosophy read.
Read the summary → - Deep Work
05
Cal Newport · Self-help
Deep Work is Cal Newport's case that the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task is becoming both rarer and more valuable, and that people who cultivate it will thrive while everyone else stays stuck in shallow busywork.
Both dig into attention.
Read the summary → - Your Song Changed My Life
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Bob Boilen · Memoir
Your Song Changed My Life is Bob Boilen's account of conversations he had with musicians about the single song that most shaped their artistic lives.
Shares music and listening with The Listening Book.
Read the summary → - Art as Experience
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John Dewey · Philosophy
Art as Experience, published in 1934, is John Dewey's attempt to rescue aesthetics from the museum pedestal and return it to ordinary life.
Shares perception and creativity with The Listening Book.
Read the summary → - Chronicles: Volume One
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Bob Dylan · Memoir
Chronicles: Volume One is the first installment of what Dylan announced as a multi-volume memoir, and it is one of the stranger and more rewarding books any major artist has written about their own formation.
Shares music and creativity with The Listening Book.
Read the summary → - Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
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Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
Betty Edwards · Art
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain rests on a claim that has quietly reassured millions of self-declared non-artists: drawing is not a gift you're born with but a learnable skill, and it is a skill of seeing rather than of the hand.
Shares perception and creativity with The Listening Book.
Read the summary → - How Music Works
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David Byrne · History
David Byrne's central provocation in How Music Works is that music doesn't emerge from individual genius and then find a context — the context shapes and creates the music.
Shares music and creativity with The Listening Book.
Read the summary → - Hyperfocus
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Chris Bailey · Self-help
Hyperfocus is Chris Bailey's second book, narrowing in on the attention piece of his earlier productivity triad.
Shares attention and creativity with The Listening Book.
Read the summary → - Keep Going
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Austin Kleon · Self-help
Keep Going is Austin Kleon's third book in his series on creative practice, following Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work.
Shares attention and creativity with The Listening Book.
Read the summary →
Books like The Listening Book: quick answers
What are the best books like The Listening Book?
The best books like The Listening Book by W.A. Mathieu are This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey, The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Deep Work by Cal Newport, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with The Listening Book, such as music, listening, attention.
What should I read after The Listening Book?
A natural next read after The Listening Book is This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin. Shares music and perception with The Listening Book. Other strong choices are Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey, The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
What books are similar to The Listening Book by W.A. Mathieu?
The Listening Book centers on music, listening, attention. Books with a similar feel include This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey, The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Deep Work by Cal Newport, Your Song Changed My Life by Bob Boilen — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
