As others have noted, it’s difficult to find a books that is unbiased. Of note, not one book suggested comes from a Palestinian author. It is imperative that voices of those affected are heard. I’m recommending Edward Said’s book, “The Question of Palestine.” He was a professor at Columbia University and in this book discusses how Israel was created, the Palestinian Nakbah, the aftermath and its affect on Palestinians. It’s a detailed book that is used in multiple university settings but easy to read as well.
https://www.amazon.com/Question-Palestine-Edward-W-Said/dp/0679739882/ref=nodl_
Here is a link to the book even though I’m sure you can find it at your local library or bookstore.
Good luck and thank you for asking!
Have you thought about magazines? Sometimes those are more approachable! Some nice National Geographic or Smithsonians could be fun, and you can buy them used on ebay or whatever for pretty cheap.
I also remember enjoying World's Dumbest Criminals, F in Exams, and those world record books around that age & younger.
The Hidden Life of Trees - It's about how trees work and communicate, really makes you look at them differently!
The Atlantis Gene is the first of a 3 part series that gets more absurd and out there with every passing chapter. It's basically what would happen if Shyamalan wrote a book and attempted to include a plot twist every 3-4 chapters.
Edit: it's more philosophical about suicide but a very interesting story and read. One of my favorite books which helped ~~bring~~ me navigate comfortably through a dark place.
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
Holy shit. This book.
I’ve been having some passive ideation lately. Some shitty stuff has been triggering my PTSD, anxiety, and depression.
But this book is fun, funny, and zen AF. Very heavy Buddhism at play in the core of it. It’s beautiful.
It’s all the benefits of motivational self-help, for someone who hates motivational self-help.
I am going to face the potential karma wrath and recommend Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. There is lesbian sex in both novels but they're not ABOUT lesbian sex.
I’m in the middle of reading this book, The Meddling Kids, that is so bizarre and good? It’s basically if you took the Scooby Doo gang and threw in an actual semi-Lovecraftian supernatural terror into one of their mysteries that sets the kids spiraling into escalating mental traumas and bad coping mechanisms as they flee each other and any reminder about what happened. Then they decide to reclaim their peace and figure out what actually happened to them by going back and solving their biggest mystery. It kind of has the same flavor as Natural Born Killers with the abrupt style changes and the horrific intermixed with jokes and pop culture references. That’s where the similarities end, its not particularly gory and there aren’t any remorseless serial killers.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, very interesting story about human cell research, the woman whose cells made it possible, and her daughter. It is a compelling true story and describing it makes me want to read it again! And I second (or third) the Mary Roach books; they are sometimes LOL funny.
I’m mixed (Italian and Haitian) and grew up with a lot of identity issues starting very young, including not truly feeling like a part of either side of my family because I didn’t look like them. I get mistaken for Indian and Dominican often, my dad is very dark and my mom white with dark long straight hair. I was never made to feel outcasted by a family member and there was so much love on both sides, but I still felt like I’d never truly be apart of or understand either culture.
Out of everything ever given to me the ONE book that has actually stuck with me when I got it at 5 years old was Shades of Black by Sandra Pinkey.
It’s a beautifully written book filled with pictures of mixed race kids of all the different shades you could imagine and comparing their skin tones and hair textures to beautiful things you find in nature and everyday life. Implying that there is no specific look to being partially black, that every shade of biracial/multiracial is beautiful and should be embraced.
I still enjoy looking back at it now at 25 years old so I think all the kids might enjoy it. Older ones will have a more introspective look at it.
I know this isn’t exactly what you were looking for but this post hit close to home and this is a book that has stuck with me through all these years.
If you have any other questions please feel free to ask! Everyone’s experience is different but it’s good to get insight from all sides.
She'd be going into fourth grade? I was about that age when kids, mostly girls but a few boys, began reading the Animal Ark series.
The gist of it is that a thirteen-year-old girl helps out her parents in the veterinary clinic they run out of their home in Yorkshire. Each book has a different critter that they help, though animals are repeated a lot.
But they helped horses all the time.
The second book is called Pony on the Porch.
And with only a few exceptions (a grouchy busybody becoming much less grouchy as time went on), the books weren't really necessary to read in order.
My personal favorite is Political Economics by Professor Barry Clark.
It's very readable and breaks down political views by societal function. For example, there are separate chapters on the role of the state, education, trade, taxation. Each one is explained through the eyes of a classical liberal, social Democrat, conservative, and radical.
I highly recommend the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It's basic Midwestern USA cooking, for the most part, which is where I grew up, so most of my family recipes come from one edition or another of it.
https://www.amazon.com/Better-Homes-Gardens-Cook-Cooking/dp/1328498859
Another cookbook that I recommend equally highly is Fannie Farmer.
https://www.amazon.com/Fannie-Farmer-Cookbook-Tradition-Generation/dp/0553568817
I have both of these cookbooks and use them frequently.
This is a great idea. OP, I don’t know where you are located, but the 60 hikes within 60 miles series is very good. I have the Dallas Fort Worth one ... 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Dallas–Fort Worth: Including Tarrant, Collin, and Denton Counties https://www.amazon.com/dp/1634040945/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_XGAX25QPHCYXMYDP4E5W
Maybe you can get some books about your specific location to give students an idea about what is available around them that they may not have done before.
Hijacking the top comment here. The New Jim Crow is an excellent book and a great starting place. For anyone interested in the ideas presented in that book, From #blacklivesmatter to Black Liberation by Keeanga Yamahtta Taylor is a great follow up which helps explain some of the deeper causes of the hyperincarceration presented by Alexander.
So sorry to hear about your mental health struggles—it sounds like our situations aren’t too different. But without knowing many specifics, I can only recommend what resonated with me most when I was recovering:
Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life
Also, if you’ve been struggling with suicidal thoughts or impulses for years, you may need more than self-help books to change your mental health. It took a combination of literature, social support, therapy, medication, and meditation to get me on the road to mental health recovery. If you find things to be too hard, reach out to whatever resources are available to you. The US has the National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255
Please do whatever it takes to feel better—you’re worth that!
The three books I most commonly recommend on this sub are:
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Bird Box by Josh Malerman
Honorable mentions:
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor; I just finished it. It's a breath-taking romance that is anything but typical. It is pure, eretherial, and romantic.
I am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells
The main character, John Cleaver, is a sociopath just trying to get by in life without stalking and murdering. He lives by a set of rules to keep him from going down that road. While working with his mom in their morgue he notices that some of the bodies coming through have evidence of a serial killers signature. Now John has to figure out if it's wrong to break his rules when doing so might keep his town safe.
Throw in a little horror. Maybe a little fantasy/sci-fi. This is a great book.
You've got two different questions, so:
The book any library would be incomplete without: The Complete Works of Shakespeare (also, the Bible, because they're both such touchstones of Western culture)
The first book I would add to my personal library: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
If you can read, then you're not too old.
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I have a big hardback copy from childhood, it has all the stories I think and is a lovely edition.
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This edition is probably one of the newer reprinting of the same edition I have: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Winnie-Pooh-Complete-Collection-Hardback/dp/1405284579/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=winnie+the+pooh&qid=1564491890&s=gateway&sr=8-1
I have no suggestions but wanted to let you know this post felt so full of love. Keep it up Mama. I teach middle and high school kids and it’s a rough time. If he’s into building cars, why not get him a book related to that? Something on mechanical engineering? How Cars Work by Tom Newton looks good. how cars work
This isn't quite what you requested, but Adler's How to Read a Book gives you a framework for something similar that can be used with any reading you do. The book features a brief set of questions designed to get you to express the main idea of what you read, how to apply the knowledge, etc. It's far more difficult than it appears, but it makes reading much more rewarding.
The method was introduced to me in my college philosophy classes and has served me well ever since.
Check out some books on alchemy. There are a lot of beautiful books with alchemical art. They aren't full of demons, but you may find them interesting.
Example:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/3836549360/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_FJCFBNE5NC8WTTV724FT
Super cheesy, but it literally changed how my husband and I lived. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is amazing. I don't usually get wrapped up in trendy self-help junk, but the konMari method is the real deal.
oh man what a request. Read: Name Of The Rose by Umberto Eco or Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go
Seconded. This is a fun little book!
u/Sarmancat, you may also want to check out the Granddaddy of them all, The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan. If you haven't read Demon-Haunted World, I would highly, highly recommend it. It's the book I recommend more than any other book, and it's right up your alley.
Not to be pedantic, but a "novel" is a work of fiction. So The Communist Manifesto is a nonfiction book, not a novel.
Philosophically, I remember that Nietzche's books (particularly The Gay Science) were generally collections of anecdotes. So his famous line "God is dead" was actually spoken by a character in story, not by him. I don't know enough about him, though, but that always stuck with me from a college class in Philosophy in Literature.
Because I don't want you to feel discouraged, I have always been an avid reader and have NEVER found a philosophy book that I understood without assistance. First of all, they are generally translated from another language, so there's always the chance that you are reading a poor translation. Secondly, they usually require a knowledge of the material beyond where you are. I remember feeling like an idiot because I couldn't read Simulacra and Simulation, which is a philosophy book that inspired The Matrix, and then I eventually realized that this book was designed for graduate students. So if you can't understand it, don't be too hard on yourself.
Honestly, just read the Wikipedia summaries for <em>The Communist Manifesto</em> and <em>The Wealth of Nations</em> and then, once you understand those, see if the books make anymore sense.
Hope that helps!
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: an inquiry into values. amazon link to reviews
From their description: “A narration of a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, the book becomes a personal and philosophical odyssey into fundamental questions of how to live. The narrator's relationship with his son leads to a powerful self-reckoning; the craft of motorcycle maintenance leads to an austerely beautiful process for reconciling science, religion, and humanism. Resonant with the confusions of existence, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a touching and transcendent book of life.”
For a fun contrast, read Wired Love: A Romance Of Dots And Dashes by Ella Cheever Thayer, a novel about texting between telegraph operators from 1880! Ella Cheever Thayer worked as a telegraph operator herself, so she knows what she is writing about.
By the way, it contains this visionary passage:
>"We will soon be able to do everything by electricity; who knows but that some genius will invent something for the especial use of lovers? Something, for instance, to carry in their pockets, so when they are far away from each other, and pine for a sound of 'That beloved voice', they will only have to take up this electrical apparatus, put it to their ears, and be happy. Ah! Blissful lovers of the future!"
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
(Eckhart Tolle might just change your life altogether!)
I found a book called The Defining Decade to be hugely motivating, practical, and life affirming when I read it in my senior year in college. I hope it inspires you the way it inspired me :)
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https://www.amazon.ca/Defining-Decade-Your-Twenties-Matter/dp/0446561754
Anything by Fyodor Dostoevsky is usually a good place to start when thinking about non-English classics. His Crime and Punishment is a particular favourite of mine. I've found a French translation on Amazon but I can't speak to its quality from personal experience. I struggle to believe Dostoyevsky hasn't been translated into half a dozen languages though, so French isn't too much of a stretch.
The Sorrows of Young Werther had a marked influence on the world and is a product of Germany. I don't know if there has been a French translation though. As above, I struggle to believe there hasn't been given that it's a seminal work of literature.
Dante has already been mentioned in the thread so I won't labour over him. Tolstoy is well-regarded (to put it lightly) so you might find some luck there.
Depending on how conservative you are with what qualifies as 'English' you might enjoy Beowulf which was written in Old English:
> Hwæt. We Gardena in geardagum, þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon. Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum, monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah, egsode eorlas.
If you can understand that then you're a better man than I am, and there has to be a French translation of this work. I'd be shocked to learn otherwise. It does fall far outside your time periods specified though, so I don't know if it's any good to you. If this appeals to you then you might like the Prose Edda which is Nordic, 13th century; so again, earlier than you were looking for but you might like it. However, I'd be less surprised to learn that this one hadn't been translated into French. It's not exactly a household name. The extent to which it would be considered a 'classic' would be disputed though. I'll leave that up to your discretion.
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brenè Brown. Addresses shame, vulnerability, and love.
Here is her TED Talk
I'm also 25 and went through the same thing for several years.
Let me tell you that self help/self improvement books are almost all bunk. I've read everything that people recommend from The Secret to 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. At best, they tell you to believe in yourself and work hard; and at worst, they spend half of the text making grandiose claims about the text and then fail to deliver anything of substance.
There is no silver bullet to creating meaning in your life. We all need to be proactive and create the meaning for ourselves.
Is there anything you have always wanted to do, but have not had the motivation/time? Our 20s are the time to do these things, says clinical psychologist Meg Jay in The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter and How to Make the Most of Them Now.
Though not self help, I found that the book The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individiual in an Age of Distraction by Matthew Crawford is also very thought-provoking. It is a philosophy text that meditates on the problem of attention in a society where we are bombarded with stimuli in the form of advertisements and smart phones. According to Crawford, the inability to focus leads to distress, and the way to counteract this is through learning and practicing a skill that requires us to think, and to develop this skill on a regular basis..
Crawford's suggestion is what personally led me to creating meaning in my life.
And while we're on the topic of meaning, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is always a candle whenever I am in a dark place. Frankl was a Jewish doctor who lived through a Nazi concentration camp. His book is about how the human mind reacts to being placed in a concentration camp and ponders the question of whether life ever stops having meaning during such an crisis.
A mix of sci-fi from the last 10 or so years I've found to be great.
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
A double billing of Iain Banks and Iain M. Banks (one is for fiction, the other sci-fi)
Altered carbon by Richard K. Morgan
Childen of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
There is! In fact there are two books commissioned to British author Greg Keyes that are set in the elder scrolls universe.
The infernal city: https://www.worldofbooks.com/the-infernal-city-by-greg-keyes-gor003921270.html?keyword=&gclid=
Lord of souls: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elder-Scrolls-Novel-Lord-Souls/dp/0857680870
I haven't read A Short History of Everything, but <em>Guns, Germs, and Steel</em> by Jared Diamond might fit the bill - it is a history of human...history (and why/how Western Europe "won").
The Ramayana and Mahabharata have different interpretations.
If you're looking for one which is purely for lore and entertainment without religious descriptions - I recommend Devdutt Patnaik's three books: Shyam, Jaya and Sita.
Keep in mind this is written as a story with a lot of the author's imagination and has nothing to do with scripture.
All in all, this is an entertaining read for ample mythology though it is advisable to take his words with a pinch of salt and completely dissociate it from the scriptures.
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
It reads almost like a mystery novel even though you know how it will end, weirdly enough. I highly recommend it to anyone who has been touched by cancer.
Most T.S.A.O.N.G.A.F. fans are people reading only books with fuck in the title. Sorry guys, deal with it. It's typical self-help book, as 1000 others, with just a few fuck words added. I'm not saying this one is bad, it's just the same. If it's your first self-help book, then you may think this is something special...
If you like psychology and detective type books, then I have one perfect for you: Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss - You can watch my animated summary of this book here > u/Science_of_success The Book is bunch of stories from work ok FBI Hostage Negotiator, with psychology and techniques used in situations. All explained, so you can use it to negotiate better grades with teachers or some girl's numbers... :D
If you are going back to reading, you may enjoy books like Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (this one also animated, loved it!) by Max Tegmark or Nudge by Richard Thaler
I would also suggest to pick up The Millionaire Fastlane by M.J. DeMarco, since 20years is the time you should probably start thinking about your future in terms of money and lifestyle. The title is crap, the book is gold.
Since u/lookat_meeseeks and u/nofaceD3 mentioned The Power of Habit - I must say this is also an amazing book, and you can find a summary of this one as well on my youtube, not sure if you will like this one, many people like their bad habits and get defensive...
I'd also recommend using Goodreads.com for better book memory, haha :) You can add me if you want: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/67326390 to see all books I enjoyed :D
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl which is written by a Holocaust survivor, and the central premise of the book is how important it is to find some meaning in life, even during the most difficult experiences.
Read Marie Kondo! I know it is zeitgeisty to the point of feeling like you've read it by osmosis even if you haven't. However, if you haven't, you are missing out on a minimalist world-view that lodged in the amygdala of millions of people. It has some powerful ideas that are short-shrifted by the "spark joy" catchphrase.
I'd also check out Mr. Money Mustache's blog if you haven't read it yet. There are enough posts that it might as well be a book. If you are feeling like you want a book not a blog, "Your Money or Your Life" is what inspired MMM.
Brave New World by Huxley The Handmaid's Tale by Atwood Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury
If you enjoy nonfiction I would recommend:
The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley
A Peoples' History of The United States by Zinn
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Dunbar-Ortiz
The best place to start, in my opinion, is Timothy Zahns Thrawn trilogy. First book is Heir to the Empire ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216443.Heir_to_the_Empire?from_search=true ). From there you can expand out, but Zahn is certainly one of the better authors writing in the expanded universe. The Han Solo trilogy by Crispin is solid too. First book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/617086.The_Paradise_Snare?from_search=true
Might sound strange but The Enchiridion, a collection of life advice given by the stoic philosopher Epictetus has become a cornerstone for me whenever I need to readjust my perspective and stop worrying about things I have no control over.
Here is Project Gutenberg's version, I don't know how modern the translation is since I have a different edition, but it doesn't hurt to check it out ;)
(IMO it's especially cool since it's essentially thousands of years old and I always imagine all the depressed individuals through time that have looked there for some advice and consolidation)
Thanks! It's called Dead Men Naked. You can find it on Amazon.
I'd say it falls into the Magical Realism realm. Here's the blurb:
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After the sudden and somewhat comical death of his best friend Neil, Lou's tequila-fuelled ghostly visions will bring him alone to face his Death - quite literally, in the form of a skinny, sarcastic anthropomorphic embodiment of his end-of-time which - who? - goes by the name of D.
The strange duo will be forced to begin a road trip from dusty interstates to lousy strip clubs, during which they'll have time to know each other and discuss the meaning of life, love, and Everything.
Will Lou be able to stop the apparitions, and save Neil's soul?
But more importantly: will he make peace with his own Death?
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Hope you'll give it a shot! :)
The Meno dialogue by Plato. I recommend the Grube translation published by Hackett
https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Dialogues-Euthyphro-Apology-Classics/dp/0872206335/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=meno&qid=1554906863&s=gateway&sr=8-6
I have a few reviews, and this book is a little dated for me now, but I truly would appreciate any more insights. I plan to launch a few more this year. Thanks for this!
Really liked The Subtle Art.
Just finished The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. I think it's the most important book I've read so far. Highly recommended.
Based on the books you enjoyed, I'd recommend: The Poet, Michael Connelly Tell No One, Harlan Coben
Here is a selection of "Canon" lit that I've enjoyed:
Easy accessible Philosophy (mostly): Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Stoicism, or how to control what you can control and forget about the rest,) The Art of War by Sun Tzu (Or how to win hearts and minds, defeat your enemies, and generally get shit done,) Rhetoric by Aristotle (how to persuade and win arguments before the other person even realizes what's happening,) The Prince by Machiavelli (how the shitty world works,) and The Republic by Plato (how the shitty world SHOULD and could work.)
To tag onto this: I'd like to recommend finding the translations of Dick Davis, if possible. He's one of the better working translators out there, and he really brings Hafez's poetry to life.
There's a fantastic collection of Hafez's work (and a couple of other Persian poets) he translated called Hafez: Faces of Love. I really recommend that if you can track it down.
A Song of Ice and Fire series! (aka Game of Thrones).
I also really **really** enjoyed The Shifting Tides Series !!!
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edit to add: The Bartimaeus Trilogy: Jonathan Stroud more of a young adult series, but still engrossing, enjoyable, and reads well, even for high level readers.
My brother has never been a big reader, and growing up there were exactly two series’ he liked: Percy Jackson, and Ranger’s Apprentice. The Ranger’s Apprentice books by John Flanagan follow Will, a young, scrawny boy from a small village who, to his complete bewilderment, has been chosen as an apprentice to one of the fearsome Rangers. As he enters their world, he realizes they are the secret protectors of the kingdom, and a large battle he wasn’t even aware was raging is about to come to a head.
Both series have young, likable male protagonists, thrust into a world where they need to make new friends and learn new skills quickly, in order to step up and do the incredible things they never knew they could do. If you haven’t already, I would highly recommend check the Ranger’s Apprentice books out.
Here are some books/graphical novels I read over the years, that I think you might enjoy.
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
It's a nonfiction book from a very successful and ambitious man who was diagnosed with cancer in his mid 30s. It's relatively short because he died 15 months after the diagnosis, and obviously also very sad and confronting.
I think this book is a gift to probably everyone who reads it, because you're taken on this journey and while the author lost his life in the end, you still get to live yours for a while longer. It really put things into perspective for me, reminded me how beautiful life is and that all that really matters in the end are the people you spend it with and the love and respect you give yourself and others.
As I said, it's quite confronting, so it's on you to decide whether it might help you or make things worse. I'm a pretty anxious person though, and it's easily one of the most rewarding books I've ever read.
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi
The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud
The Greatest Salesman In The World by OG Mandino
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell
I Know this Much is True by Wally Lamb, and Beach Music by Pat Conroy.
Both books are about a guy, whose lives are turned upside down, who manage to get through a lot of drama, obstacles and what not, all why discovering family/friend secrets and trying to put things back together. They were very inspiring for me. (also laughed my ass off at times, teared up at other times) They got me up and out and sparked my interest in travelling, photography and hiking (even tho none of the books revolve around that stuff). What Im trying to say is that they helped me "discover" who I am today.
Also, as an aside, if you feel like you're in a rut and just a robot getting up, working, coming home, computer, bed...try injecting yourself into a social circle where opportunities to meet people can arise, like meetup.com or your local library book club. Volunteer around town. These types of things sort of force you to interact with people, and you can develop new contacts, a circle of friends etc.
Im not unlike you, except older. I used to have the closest friends from school, work etc. I still have strong bonds with them, but everyone has moved across country somewhere. We all have kids and basically my once strong friendships are now boiled down to a Christmas card once a year and a Happy Birthday on Facebook. However, I am very happy now with a family of my own etc. It takes meeting/dealing with other people to open new doors to things, such as career/relationship opportunities.
Anyway, sorry for the long winded post.
TL:DR the above books helped me find myself. Aside: get out and meet people, doors will open.
It's more of an anthology and creative reflection on the literary contributions of the Russians to the 20th century, but George Saunders' <em>A Swim in a Pond in the Rain</em> is REALLY good. I would highly recommend it, especially if you are interested in writing yourself.
Sorry, there’s so many copies throughout the years that the name sometimes changes.
HERE is the English version on Amazon.
When I was young there wasn’t the World Wide Web or anything like google. I had to learn how to find out information that I needed. Even with the resources at your fingertips this is an invaluable tool. Don’t shun away from talking to experienced adults. With that said one of the two most helpful books I read were: the sidetracked home executive Sidetracked Home Executives(TM): From Pigpen to Paradise https://www.amazon.com/dp/0446677671/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_VujbGbT5BHZD4
And ADD friendly ways to organize your life: ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life: Strategies that Work from an Acclaimed Professional Organizer and a Renowned ADD Clinician https://www.amazon.com/dp/1138190748/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_bwjbGbHNTZAEB
I am of course someone with ADD so these books appealed to me but ona greater level they show you the executive functions needed to thrive in easy to do, quick steps. They will not address everything but as things creep up you can add to your routine to accommodate them.
While it’s ADHD specific, the tips can apply generally to everyone as well: Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD. It’s about organizing your physical space, time and task management, and more.
From a visual arts perspective,I Too Sing America: Harlem Renaissance at 100
Anything by Zora Neale Hurston.
Jane Toomer's novel Cane
Nella Larson's amazing novel, Passing
George Schuyler's Black No More is a wild satire of everyone and everything in the era, with lots of afro-futurism thrown in as well. This one might be more enjoyable after you get to know the various personalities from the period.
Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
I've always thought "Live each day as if it was your last!" was irresponsible and "YOLO!" was too vague.
Thanks to this book, my new life motto is Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now!
I spend more time with my family and out of my comfort zone. I don't stress over small things or ruminate on the past anymore. I no longer fear death as death makes life precious.
I still don't what my greater purpose is, but I know I can discover this in three different ways:
1. by creating a work or doing a deed (contributing to society)
2. by experiencing something or encountering someone (love)
3. by the attitude I take toward unavoidable suffering
These aren't all philosophy per se, but they are all philosophical. (This is essentially the reading list from a Meaning of Life course I took in college mixed with some of my own favorites)
Being There by Jerzy Kosinski
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (his other books are great, too, including Demian and Steppenwolf)
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Tuesdays with Morrie
The Myth of Sisyphus by Camus
Lots by Franz Kafka, including The Metamorphosis and The Trial
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy
also read lots of great literature -- Steinbeck, Dostoyevsky, whatever draws you -- anything where the author has poured their understanding and wisdom about life into the work
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
This book has literally changed my life. I have struggled with seasonal anxiety/depression for the past 5 years or so. When I get real anxious, it seems as if my room gets extremely messy and cluttered which multiplies my anxiety 10 fold. I am a self proclaimed hoarder and am guilty of just having so many clothes but never being satisfied with most of it. The idea of de cluttering is simple in that when you surround yourself with possessions that make you happy and get rid of the things that make you unhappy, you're bound to live a more organized and joyful life. A must read.
The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn by Richard Hamming. If you want a sense of what it is like, you can read the transcript of his talk You and your Research online. The book is derived from a course he taught, and you can find recordings of his lectures on YouTube.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but this book was all the rage last fall... Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up"
I didn't read it, but i know it was everywhere and people were swearing by it.
Not 100% sure I understand the question, but On Writing by Stephen King is my favorite book I've ever read about the writing process.
It's easy to read, changed the way I thought about writing and is also just really entertaining and interesting.
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl - changed the way I think about life and suffering.
The German Ideology by Marx and Engels - changed the way I think about history and historical processes of development.
Dialectic of Enlightenment by Horkheimer and Adorno - changed the way I think about reason, rationality, and modernity.
Critical Theory by Horkheimer - changed the way I think about social scientific method.
The Dogma of Christ (long essay) by Erich Fromm - changed the way I think about the historical development of Christianity and class relations.
Historical Capitalism with Capitalist Civilization by Immanuel Wallerstein - changed the way I think about international capitalist development.
Distinction by Pierre Bourdieu - changed the way I think about revolution and the possibility of successful revolution in the contemporary period.
The Birth of Biopolitics by Michel Foucault - changed the way I think about power, knowledge, and values under neoliberalism.
The Culture Series by Iain M Banks
Although each book is a different story with different characters and locations, they all take place in a far futuristic society where AI minds have developed to the point they can transcend the physical universe if they so wish and the series explores the relationships the civilisation of those minds and their original human creators (The Culture) have with the rest of the societies and civilisations in the universe.
Takes place over vast distances and time spans with a wild range of races, cultures, worlds, civilisations. All written against a background of a somewhat utopian future created by humans and their inventions.
Personally I started with The Player of Games but there is no distinct order as each book is self contained.
You could easily read them in the order they were published (which I think is the best way as you see the ideas of the Culture expanding as the author himself develops them). Or you could just pick and choose the order you prefer - there are some cross references but they aren't spoilers or necessary to appreciate each story.)
You might like <em>To Say Nothing of the Dog</em> by Connie Willis. I thought it was sweet, funny, and thought provoking.
Plus it got me into her other time-travel stories (which are much less lighthearted).
If you're into detective fiction, there's a very cool genre of detective book that gives you a map, a phone book, a newspaper, and then complete freedom to visit wherever you like in that map - you just open the page to the map reference and are given a scene where the lead investigator interviews whoever is in that location. Over time, you gather your clues and and try to solve the book.
Even better, these books can be done alone or in groups. Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is what revived this genre most recently. If you want to try the genre out, I wrote my own case, with a science fiction setting, called The Martian Investigations.
Do collections of short stories count as chapter books? Because if not, I would recommend A Phoenix First Must Burn. Stories of black girl magic and lots of LGBTQIA+ representation. I think there are 10-15 stories in there. You could also look for books of concept art. Here is a star wars one that I have on my bookshelf https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Art-Concept/dp/1419708627.
Sure - I think they call them "carousel popup books"
I found an ebay listing for it - so that I could see the back, and get the ISBN, the publisher, the author and the paper engineer's name from the picture of the back.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/A-Pop-Up-Hardcover-Book-Jungle-Tree-House-2000-PA246-/252894864708
See third pic.
From that, I found the publisher's website (looks like they don't make that kind anymore?) but did find other they made in that series (Dinosaur, Fairy Party, etc.). Also found that author and paper engineer's other books.
Then I found other carousel pop up books like:
https://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Castle-Carousel-Pop-up-Book/dp/0001360779
(and mods - I know we normally aren't supposed to link to Amazon on here, but felt like I had to, to show...)
...and if you look at pages like that, you'll see other ones listed in the "also bought/looked at" related items pics at the bottom that helped me find others.
I think the cheapest of the ones I saw of your were on abebooks listings. Those I found after I got the ISBN off the back of that one pictured and ran it.
The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Not the easiest read in the world (there’s not plot, it’s just a series of personal diary entries that were never meant to be published) but a truly incredible source of stoic philosophy and life wisdom.
Some stuff I gathered around Reddit and did a good job for me :
Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl Very powerful book about meaning of life through the eyes of a psychiatrist who survived the holocaust.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Tolstoï Short novel, for some people it has a profound impact on life's purpose.
Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman Dense and solid book about how your brain works and where most of your emotions come from.
The Shining is amazing, almost certainly his "best" book from a literary merit standpoint. He hadn't yet developed his bad habits, it's loaded with fresh ideas, it's got a strong point of view and thematic undercurrent. It's an amazing book.
Carrie is quite different. It's a strong book and deservedly put King on the map, but reading it now it feels raw and even thin compared to the rest of his oeuvre.
My favorites are Salem's Lot, Christine, Misery, Bag of Bones and any of his short-stories or novella collections.
Oh and On Writing doubles as one of the best books about writing and one of the best autobiographies I've ever read.
History/politics: Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (this is THE Lincoln biography)
History/politics/psychology: Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk (less total than Team of Rivals but more focused on Lincoln's mental state and might be right up your alley)
Politics: Supreme Conflict by Jan Crawford Greenburg (all about SCOTUS)
Psychology: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (behavioral economics)
Psychology: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
History: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (about a WWII POW in the Pacific theater)
Nonfiction:
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (motivation, perspective about fear and adversity)
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin (discipline, leadership, executing goals, teamwork, amazing book)
Flow by Mihaly Czikzsentmihalyi (no-BS, science-backed book in pure happiness and how to feel it every single day)
Letters from a Stoic by Seneca
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fck by Mark Manson
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Zen Mind: Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
Fiction:
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (it will change how you look at the world on a moment-to-moment basis, and appreciate the beauty of everyday life)
The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky
War & Peace (and Anna Karenina) by Leo Tolstoy
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (if you pay attention to how to deals with addiction, loneliness and depression in the modern era, it's extremely impactful)
Freakonomics is actually behavioral economics. You'd be much better off reading Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Khaneman. He is an economy and psychology professor and won the Nobel prize for his life long work. His book is probably the best pop-psychology title out there.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo was a lifestyle changing book for me. I thought I was a great declutterer, but after reading that book I got rid of so many things. I don't buy nearly as much as I used to as well.
I'm sorry for your loss.
CS Lewis (of Narnia fame) wrote a beautiful book called A Grief Observed after the death of his wife Joy.
Also, this doesn't deal with bereavement exactly but consider Paul Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air. He's a surgeon who wrote the book while battling cancer.
I have two answers. First, read a bunch of different things; that which speaks to you will be different than that which speaks to others around you.
Secondly, my daughter (about your age) had the same question, so I started a short list for her:
Not on my list for her because I know her tastes, but I strongly recommend Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey - Maturin novels starting with Master and Commander.
These are not the greatest novels ever; rather, there is a mix here of literature and pulp and some genre fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, mystery) that is very accessible. Seven Habits... is not fiction but it is a very good book for helping sort out priorities (and it will probably be given to her as summer reading next year).
She loves horror, thus, the Stephen King.
There are a bunch of books I like for understanding better about how the mind works:
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg is great for understanding about habits - how they develop, why you do the things you do without thinking about them, how that works in the brain.
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert is a great review of research on what makes us happy, which isn't always what we think.
Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink describes a wide range of experiments on eating in an entertaining way - and also some great tips for eating less without thinking about it.
The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz is a cool book about how too many choices don't actually make you happier.
Honestly, Poe's a short story writer, not a novelist. Go to your local library, find an anthology with a dozen or so stories of his and enjoy.
If you have an e-reader, try Vol. 2 of his collected works since this is the one with a most of his well known stories.
If you want particular favorites of mine:
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Black Cat
The Cask of Amontillado
William Wilson
The Tell Tale Heart
I didn't much care for the Purloined Letter, but if you like Sherlock Holmes you should give it a try.
For his poems, at the least, read The Raven and Annabelle Lee
Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress in 1993. Won a Hugo, hardly ever gets mentioned on reddit.
The lowdown: Society has been genetically altering people for a while, making more attractive, healthier and stronger offspring. This opens the door (to the rich) for a genetic alteration that results in humans that do not need to sleep, nor can they sleep. Turns out you can get a lot of shit done when you don't waste 8 hours a day, plus the sleepless are healthier and much more intelligent than sleepers. The sleepless are an elite group and this makes them hated by most sleepers, people stop wanting the option for their children because they know they will be ostracized for it, plus babies who don't sleep are tough cookies. The sleepless band together and start building their own society (in space!). A really good us-vs-them story with lots of political and social themes.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn surprised me pretty well. They're making a movie out of it soon so it's the perfect time to read it before it comes out.
I just read this and was actually going to say the same thing!
Also, I haven't read this one but it has been on my list and could be relevant: The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
I am mainly thinking about Dutch literature (I am native Dutch). Pick almost any male author and you'll encounter this. Most poignant example I can think off is Jan Wolkers. "Turkish Delight: Wolkers, Jan, Garrett, Sam: Amazon.nl" https://www.amazon.nl/Turkish-Delight-Jan-Wolkers/dp/1941040470
I'm currently re-reading Crime and Punishment. I highly recommend it. In short, the protagonist decides that humanity can be divided into two kinds of people: the 'great men' and those destined to carry them on their shoulders. These 'great men' can break as many laws as they want, and they're overlooked because their greatness outweighs the legitimacy of the law (Napoleon is his favourite, but a case could be made, I suppose, for someone akin to Mandela). Naturally, the next step is to determine whether or not he is a 'great man', and kills an old pawnbroker very early in the novel. The story charts his attempts to rationalise what he's done, to say that as long as he is truly 'great' then the killing is justified, and explores the guilt he feels as he descends straight into madness.
It's dark as all hell, and I can't praise it enough. at approximately 600 pages it's going to take up a fair whack of your time, and rest assured my little bio above hasn't spoiled anything.
edit: links
Victor Pelevin is the the most influential and popular modern Russian writer. His books are Swift-scale and depth satire on the modern culture and politics, sprinkled with an entertaining analysis of the inner working of the humans. He pokes fun at everything that's currently wrong with society -- the fake media, the political movements, the idiocracy -- and does it in an incredibly cynical way.
I'd recommend to start with his Homo Zapiens and S.N.U.F.F. to grasp how the modern Russians perceive the world.
Out of the Ashes - Esolen (Religion/Sociology)
The Best Things in Life - Kreeft (Philosophy/Ethics)
Confessions - Augustine (Classics/Autobiography)
Leisure: The Basis of Culture - Pieper (Philosophy/Sociology)
Economics in One Lesson - Hazlitt (Economics)
Plutarch's Lives vol 1 - Plutarch (History/Biography)
His Excellency - Ellis (Biography)
The Law - Bastiat (Law/Philosophy)
Frankenstein - Shelley (Literature)
The Great Divorce - CS Lewis (Religion/Classics/Allegory)
The Odyssey - Homer (Epic)
Out of the Silent Planet (part one of trilogy) - CS Lewis (Science Fiction)
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (Fantasy)
The Fellowship of the Ring - JRR Tolkien (Fantasy)
Poetics - Aristotle (Drama/Aesthetics)
Nicomachean Ethics - Aristotle (Philosophy/Ethics)
The Metaphysics - Aristotle (Metaphysics)
The Art of Rhetoric - Aristotle (Rhetoric/Public Speaking)
This might sound odd, but give "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" a try.
Our living space gives us a lot of subconscious cues, and can reinforce habits like laziness or inconsistency. You might be surprised (as I was) by how much more productive a truly uncluttered space can make you.
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman
[edit: didn't read you're post thorough before posting this. I guess Feynman isn't someone who's gone through noteworthy struggles, although the book definitely deals with some, like the death of his first wife. It's mostly about how he sees the world and playing pranks on people. But it's hilarious and enlightening]}
Second edit: and if you're up for a graphic novel, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Disagree vehemently. Plenty of books in particular as well as the act of reading can greatly develop one's wisdom - improving not just knowledge, but critical thinking skills while also benefiting from the experiences and life-events of those you're reading about.
One could read about philosophy and reasoning (Kant, Nietzsche), one could read about application of economic or other academic approaches to real-world problems (the pop non-fiction of Michael Lewis, Malcolm Gladwell, or Steven Levitt often focuses on people who think outside the box and how to do it). Good history writers don't just record and analyze past events, but give the reader a pathway to applying that knowledge to modern-day contexts and to learn from the experience of others. Religious texts, be they the originals or modern interpretations (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, The Tao of Pooh) give insight into to other trains of thought and the evolution of our own. Even reading literary fiction has been proven to enhance empathy and understanding of people different to the reader.
All those things: empathy, reasoning, problem-solving, contextualizing, recognizing and challenging paradigms, and experience are the essence of wisdom.
Reading just doesn't improve one's knowledge base, but actively helps one apply that knowledge as well as improve their thinking and reasoning skills. Hence: wisdom.