2 ratings | 1 review | avg rating:5.00

Christopher’s Year In Books

Christopher’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Christopher’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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313 books | 337 friends

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Christopher Lane

Goodreads Author

Born

London, The United Kingdom

Website

https://www.christopherlane.org

Twitter

christophlane

Genre

Psychology, Science, Nonfiction

Member Since

December 2010

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Literary & Medical Historian | DSM Examiner | Yale Press Author

Christopher Lane investigates how modern institutions define normal behavior, belief, and doubt.

His prize-winning study Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness (Yale, 2007) exposed the controversy over major changes to American psychiatry’s diagnostic manual in the 1980s and 90s, including how guesswork and faulty science, loose criteria and undisclosed conflicts of interest led to skyrocketing rates of social anxiety disorder and the creation of six other anxiety disorders that we use today for insurance billing. Translated into six languages, based on exhaustive archival research and in-depth interviews, Shyness was highly commended by the British Medical Association an ...more

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Christopher Lane's Blog

How Social Context Influences Brain Disorders

An important new book provides vital and exciting perspective on the interface between brain and culture.

View more on Christopher Lane's website »

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Published on June 06, 2026 09:02

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Combine Editions
Christopher Lane’s books

Average rating: 3.76 · 313 ratings · 135 reviews · 9 distinct works • Similar authors

	Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness 3.56 avg rating — 211 ratings — published 2007 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Surge of Piety: Norman Vincent Peale and the Remaking of American Religious Life 4.06 avg rating — 36 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Age of Doubt: Tracing the Roots of Our Religious Uncertainty 4.29 avg rating — 24 ratings — published 2011 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Psychoanalysis of Race 4.41 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 1998 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hatred and Civility: The Antisocial Life in Victorian England 4.47 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 2003 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Imperial Desire: Dissident Sexualities and Colonial Literature by Philip Joseph Holden, Richard J. Ruppel (Editor), Christopher Lane (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2003 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Ruling Passion: British Colonial Allegory and the Paradox of Homosexual Desire 3.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1995 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Burdens of Intimacy: Psychoanalysis and Victorian Masculinity liked it 3.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1998 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La timidez : cómo la psiquiatría y la industria farmacéutica han convertido emociones cotidianas en enfermedad really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Christopher Lane liked Ronny Smith's review of Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness: "Few books make me stop and reconsider everyday language. After reading this, even casual terms like “disorder” and “diagnosis” felt more complicated and worthy of scrutiny."
Jun 23, 2026 01:59PM · see review
Christopher Lane liked John Bussey's review of Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness: "This isn’t really a book about shyness. It’s a book about how society defines normality, and what happens when those definitions change. Fascinating from beginning to end."
Jun 23, 2026 01:59PM · see review
Christopher Lane liked Barbara Gardner's review of Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness: "I highlighted more passages in this book than almost any nonfiction title I’ve read recently. Every chapter seemed to raise a question I didn’t know I should be asking."
Jun 23, 2026 01:59PM · see review
Christopher Lane liked Kerry Brunner's review of Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness: "What impressed me most was not the criticism of psychiatry but the careful historical investigation behind it. The research is as compelling as the argument."
Jun 23, 2026 01:58PM · see review
Christopher Lane made a comment on Raully’s review of Surge of Piety: Norman Vincent Peale and the Remaking of American Religious Life " Sorry I missed this earlier! I am most definitely interested in Peale's major, contributing role in pushing acceptance of the American prosperity gosp ...more "
Jun 11, 2026 07:22AM · see review
Christopher Lane is now following Ed Hirschland and Maher Razouk
May 17, 2026 01:50AM
Christopher Lane rated a book it was amazing Everyone Else is Lying to You: How our medical establishment weaponized doubt to spread COVID, normalize quackery, and undermine public health by Jonathan Howard MD	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Outstanding. Extremely troubling but a powerful and necessary read.
Nov 01, 2025 02:21PM · like · see review
Christopher Lane rated a book it was amazing Small Rain by Garth Greenwell (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 20, 2024 03:24PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Small Rain by Garth Greenwell. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Small Rain by Garth Greenwell <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">