Books

“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”

A nice bit of truth from Ralph Waldo Emerson, but unfortunate when trying to write a list of recommended books. I’ll do my best.

I’ll limit myself to non-fiction here; if you read fiction you already know about Tolkien.

I read a lot of books the traditional way, but I’m also a big fan of audiobooks. I don’t make much of a distinction but will note it when relevant.

philosophy

I spent the first few decades of my life with an unwavering disdain for philosophy. I had only vague impressions of haughty academics discussing esoteric topics with little to offer in terms of practical advice.

That’s still my impression of modern philosophy, but I discovered that classical philosophy is entirely different, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. It turns out that the ideas people have hand-copied for literally over 2000 years are worth a read.

  1. The Great Courses - Think like a Stoic: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World

This is actually a series of lectures distributed as an audiobook. It is narrated by the author, Massimo Pigliucci. The lectures are in large part drawn from the surviving Stoic literature like Seneca’s letters, Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, the Enchiridion by Epictetus, etc. I include this as my number 1 pick (rather than the source material) because this is what overcame my predjudices and got me to listen.

The author is very down-to-earth and speaks with an enthusiasm that far outweighs any trouble from his sometimes difficult Italian accent. It’s unfortunate that he doesn’t narrate most of his other audiobooks.

An excellent overview of Stoicism and why a philosophy thousands of years old is so very relevant today.

  1. Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright

Wonderful in every way. I find the author (particularly his sense of humor) very relatable. I’m not a Buddhist and don’t meditate, but even so the very well researched connections between Buddhist philosophy and evolutionary psychology are as fascinating as they are eye-opening. I feel as if the author has articulated and made concrete half-realizations floating around my unconsciousness.

If the material in this book were made part of compulsory education the world would be a far, far better place.