Winter is ALMOST officially here.
At least in the Northern Hemisphere.
For our friends Down Under, we see you. Enjoy your summer sun, cold drinks, and long evenings while we wrap ourselves in blankets and pretend we like early sunsets. Which, in Poland, come at about 3pm
I think of the winter solstice is a natural pause point. Shorter days invite slower mornings, quieter evenings, and more time away from screens. It feels like the perfect moment to reach for a good book. PLUS…it means that the days are slooooowwwly going to get longer
So we’d love your help.
I’m putting together Mudita’s Curated Wintertime Reading List, inspired by mindful living, intentional technology use, and healthier relationships with our devices. Instead of algorithms recommending the next thing to consume, we want real humans (our AWESOME MUDITA COMMUNITY) sharing the books that genuinely changed how they think, live, or unplug.
We’re looking for book recommendations related to:
Mindful tech use
Digital minimalism
Digital burnout and recovery
Attention, focus, and presence
Living more intentionally in a hyperconnected world
Or anything that feels deeply aligned with the Mudita ethos
Fiction or non-fiction, classics or newer titles, heavy thinkers or gentle reads, all are welcome.
If you’d like, tell us:
The title and author
Why it stuck with you
When or how you like to read it (winter evenings, slow mornings, offline weekends, etc.)
We’ll curate the community’s recommendations into a blog article and share it back with you next week Right in time for the Holidays.
Let’s build a reading list that encourages fewer notifications and more quiet moments.
Looking forward to seeing what’s on your nightstand.
The Attention Fix: How to focus in a world that wants to distract you
Great author and a bit of a personality here in sweden. Important book in these agressive digital times.
On my Kobo E-reader (since I got the Mudita Kompakt i have fell in love with E-ink in general so I bought a dedicated E-reader).
I wonder if there’s any fiction along these themes. Probably something aligned with Cyberpunk. The Circle by Dave Eggers comes to mind. I know just a few years ago people tended to roll their eyes at the “technology bad” trope but these days I see more and more (even younger folks) agreeing that “technology bad, actually”.
Industrial Society and Its Future by Theodore Kaczynski
It stuck with me because it’s a ruthless critique of how technology erodes autonomy and reshapes freedom. Best read on winter evenings, slow mornings, or offline weekends when disconnection makes the arguments hit harder.
This winter I’m going to read “Irresistible” by Adam Alter. I had a moment of awakening this year when I realized that I was turning on my phone and staring at the home screen simply because it had pretty colors. I would also browse the internet during work meetings and miss important information, and browse late at night due to compulsion, some uncontrollable urge, and this would cause me to get poor sleep, which affects my health and happiness. It became a vicious cycle because if I didn’t sleep well, I wouldn’t have the energy to go out and do anything, so I’d just stay home, which encourages more internet usage. Finally I had to admit to myself that this was an addiction that was negatively impacting my life. I’ve started taking some steps, such as plugging my wifi router into a timer that shuts it off at 9pm, using a limited-data mobile plan, and I just got my Kompakt this week so we’ll see how that goes.
No judgement, but isn’t this the unabomber manifesto? I am old enough to remember how Kaczynski offered to suspend his bombing campaign if his manifesto was widely circulated, so they published it in the Washington Post.
Your suggestion prompted me to look up the essay again & read it. And I have to admit, personally, I think the the whole premise of the essay fits uncomfortably well in the current state of technology being the center of our lives. Kaczynski’s core claim, that technology reshapes society around its own needs rather than human ones, maps almost directly onto how technology functions today, especially digital technology. However, I hope you’re not offended if I don’t include it in the list. It is Ted Kaczynski & his philosophy basically says:
Technology is irredeemable and must be destroyed.
That’s not totally in line with the message of Mudita & his text is intentionally confrontational, absolutist, and, let’s be honest, quite destructive.
That said, I do appreciate you suggesting it. It allowed me to look back at it as an adult, this time with more reflection.
Never. I think it’s great that you took the time to give it a read.
Wait until you read OBL’s Letter to the American People. I think it’s not hard for these people to resonate a bit and even become trends in today’s sociopolitical climate.
I read that a while ago when it went viral 2 years ago. Definitely eye-opening.
I do like reading things that are recommended by people outside my circle, with different perspectives & opinions because it always challenges my own biases, and more importantly allows me to see things through a different lense.
These two essays, OBL’s & Teds, are worth reading, not so much to agree (OR NOT AGREE) with them, but to understand how deep critiques of society are formed, where they can sometimes go wrong, and why they can feel persuasive.
For me, they validate the existence of the discomfort.
Comfortable ideas tend to confirm what you already believe.
Uncomfortable ideas interrupt you.
I think it’s been mentioned here on the forum already, but books such as The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.
Or, something more positive and aside, Extreme Ownership.
Yes. There even is quite a good translation (not flawless though, “ownership” translated to “zawłaszczanie” while it doesn’t mean property appropriation, but standing up to your duties, own your responsibilities and mistakes, etc.).
Which, in Poland, come at about 3pm 
