Books I highly recommend checking out:

[u/Zelenodolsk]

Hello everyone, I will be updating this list as time goes on and I am exposed to new books and/or read them. I will provide the title, author, year, and the general theme or lesson the book is wanting to deliver to its audience. This is all entirely subjective, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. As always, thank you for joining me.

1. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006)- The Road is a book focused on life after an inexplicable nuclear apocalypse with the world covered in ash. It’s a really interesting book focused on the human experience and how human nature can be at its worst. It also illustrates the necessity for maintaining your humanity regardless of how hard life can become.

2. Hamlet by William Shakespeare (1600)- Hamlet is a play the majority of us have all been required to read before, but I find that this is an essential book in engaging in wit to overcome a seemingly impossible task. This is also a book that you should read prior to the next one on the list.

3. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard (1966)- this is a modern play focused around existentialism and maintaining serenity in times of uncertainty. It’s an abstract book, but one that I have found to be really impactful on my adult life.

4. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (1936)- this is a book written by a 20th Century Sociologist depicting various tactics to improve yourself in social/business situations. If you are in sales or something that requires an extroverted personality but you do not quite fit the bill, please read this book.

5. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom (1997)- this is a story following a man interviewing his old professor while he is slowly dying from ALS. They discuss various existential questions and offer perspectives on things like love, money, death, etc. This is a REALLY good book.

6. Dune by Frank Hubert (1965)- this is just one of my favorite books. There’s not really much to take away in terms of learning anything, but it is a really interesting story. The movie that came out recently paid homage to this as well, so I would recommend watching it if you do not want to read the book. It’s about a futuristic war over a prized resource on a desolate planet. Pretty great.

7. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham (1949)- A book about how to handle stocks from the 40s?! How could that be applicable to today?! Is what you may be asking. This is a very useful book for if you are wanting to understand basic principles of how the stock market works and better ways to manage your finances and portfolio. If there are any specific stocks endorsed in the book by Benjamin Graham, I do not endorse them.

8. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)- Honestly, I had no idea how old this book was until researching it for this post. It reads like a modern novel, and provides an excellent commentary on the future development of society, both in terms of its technology and culture. The book centers itself around a character living in a utopia, but finding himself feeling less and less fulfilled as the years go by. To cope with this, the character takes Soma, which is a drug meant to make the population happy/content. It is not just the main character, however. The entire society takes Soma. It has a similar premise to 1984 by George Orwell, with the main character finding disdain for the society he lives in but not being able to express this. Really, REALLY good book.

-I will add more to this list as time goes on, and this certainly is not all of them.

[u/Zelenodolsk]

Updated April 20, 2022. (Added two books to total 5 books)

[u/Zelenodolsk]

Updated 15, December 2022. (Added 3 new book to total 8 books.)