Book Review: It's Not What You Think

Title: It's Not What You Think

Author: Clare Mackintosh

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Publication Date: September 22, 2026

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I've read enough Clare Mackintosh to know she doesn't disappoint, and this one sits comfortably near the top of her output. She is at her best here — controlled, bold, and fully in command of her craft. It's Not What You Think is a tightly constructed, deeply satisfying thriller that pulls you forward with quiet insistence from the very first pages.

The setup pulls you in with the familiar architecture of domestic suspicion: Nadeeka is convinced her husband Jamie is having an affair. She knows the signs. She's been here before. But when she arrives home ready to confront him, Jamie can't explain himself — because Jamie is dead, and the house is now a crime scene. It's a sharp pivot, and it works beautifully. A twist arrives early — genuinely shocking — and it transforms what might have been a competent domestic thriller into something far more urgent and obsessive. From that point, Mackintosh keeps ratcheting up the tension with precision and confidence.

What gives the novel its particular resonance is its thematic backbone. At its core, this is a story steeped in the fear and fury surrounding immigration — extreme right-wing ideology, the demonization of the foreign-born, the very real danger that rhetoric becomes when it finds a body to act on. With Nadeeka as a central figure of Asian heritage, Mackintosh grounds these ideas in human consequence rather than abstraction. It's the kind of fiction that feels ripped from current headlines, whether you're reading it in England or the United States.

Adding a key human dimension to the investigation is the pair of detectives leading the case — who happen to be engaged and mere days away from their wedding. Their impending nuptials create a constant undercurrent that both complicates and crystallizes their pursuit of the truth. It's a clever structural choice that keeps the personal and the procedural in productive tension throughout.

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Book Review: Easy Discipline

Title: Easy Discipline

Author: Jia Jiang

Publisher: Simon Element

Publication Date: July 14, 2026

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Having loved Jia Jiang's debut, Rejection Proof, I came to Easy Discipline with enthusiasm and excitement — and while this sophomore effort doesn't quite reach those heights, it delivers enough fresh thinking to make it well worth your time.

The book is built around the EASY acronym — Enjoyment, Artistic Mindset, Systems Approach, and Yourself — with each section opening with an overview chapter followed by two chapters introducing what Jiang calls "tools." He illustrates his principles with stories drawn from an engaging cast of historical and pop culture figures, including Kobe Bryant, Florence Nightingale, Steve Jobs, Alexander Fleming, and Jim Collins. This storytelling approach makes for easy reading and gives the framework a human dimension that pure productivity manuals often lack.

Not all of the tools land equally. The Game Changer concept in the Enjoyment section is good — the idea that reframing a dreaded task as a different kind of challenge can transform your relationship to it is both practical and psychologically sound. The Momentum Loop felt less developed to me, more concept than actionable method. The Artistic Mindset section offers a memorable reframe: the idea of pursuing a "maximally lovable product" rather than a minimum viable one is the kind of perspective shift that sticks with you. The emphasis on relationships as a core asset is one of the book's warmer and more grounded moments.

The Systems section is where Jiang arguably hits his peak. The One Action Goal is the standout tool of the entire book — a deceptively simple framework for cutting through paralysis and establishing momentum. Paired with the Inspiration Index, which links an input number (purpose) to an output number (power), it gives readers a surprisingly concrete mechanism for tracking effort and sustaining motivation. Repetition with Variation rounds out the section with a useful reminder that consistency doesn't have to mean monotony. The final section, on being yourself, is the lightest of the four — more motivational than methodological.

My one reservation is that Jiang's "tools" are often more like ideas or concepts — thoughtful ones, certainly, but not always immediately applicable without further development on the reader's part. That said, Easy Discipline is a genuinely enjoyable read with several ideas worth returning to, and the One Action Goal alone may justify the price of admission for anyone wrestling with focus and follow-through.

A big thank you to Simon Element and NetGalley.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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