On Sensitive

Like The INFJ Revolution and Your Rainforest Mind, this is a book by bloggers who found an audience writing about the experiences of highly sensitive people (HSPs). It works as a sort of self-help, but it matters more for the way it validates personal experience and brings attention to sensitivity. The chapters break down by subject — relationships, the workplace, friendships — much like You Mean I’m Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?!, though the topic is different. To be honest, I’m not wholly convinced that “highly sensitive” is a coherent category that picks out any one group of people. Some people are certainly more sensitive than others, and some less, but it seems far likelier to be a spectrum, where those at the far ends differ in the intensity of their experience rather than in kind. Even so, it’s highly readable and comforting enough to read before bed — a good touchstone for the curious, though you won’t find anything groundbreaking here.