You May Also Like: Taste in an Age of Endless Choice

You May Also Like deals with the subject of individual taste and how we have come to manage it in an age where choice is ubiquitous in day-to-day life. Author Tom Vanderbilt delves into the psychology of what influences us and the ways our likes/dislikes are formed with interesting results. This book felt like the kind of subject that Malcolm Gladwell or Tom Standage might tackle but the approach was different. Gladwell and Standage employ a sharper writing style that gets to the point quickly whereas Vanderbilt’s sentences tend to meander a bit more. This isn’t necessarily bad, it just takes more effort to stay with the train of thought. The research Vanderbilt has done for every subject he tackles from MRE’s to cat competitions is extensive. The writing is well organized and plotted out and the subjects are interesting – especially the sections on Netflix and Pandora and how they track user preferences. This is not a breezy beach or vacation read, but one that requires the utmost concentration when reading it. That being said, the reward for such concentration is some very insightful and interesting points of view. You May Also Like may not supply all the answers regarding tastes, but it does give the reader pause to really think about why they like something and what may be influencing them.