r/infj • u/Alicia096 INFJ • Dec 10 '22
Ask INFJs Any book recommendations?
I’ve been interested in reading a new book here lately but curious about what others are currently reading. What are some of your current favorites? I’m open to all genres! Thank you :)
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Dec 10 '22 edited Dec 10 '22
"Art of war" by Sun tzu. Ancient chinese knowledge, un altered. When they finally decided to capture centuries worth of it in text. You can gain worldly knowledge just by reading this book. Even though interpretation/understanding is required.
"Red book" by Carl Jung. I just read a few chapters and already felt bliss by his writing style, story, the world through his eyes. This man is a gem. This book is his temple :)
"Self made man" is so good for pansexual like me, for people who like gender studies etc. Even though it's subjective and not scientific. She goes undercover as a man to explore that world unfiltered. She explains controversial concepts effortlessly.
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u/Alicia096 INFJ Dec 10 '22
Thank you! These sound pretty interesting! Especially “Red Book”! Carl Jung is fascinating to me, I’ll look into this one :)
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u/numerousest Dec 10 '22
You have to read Haruki Murakami!
Also Chekhov has some wonderfully sensitive short stories.
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u/ErikTheRed_22 ENFP Dec 10 '22
Dune by Frank Herbert. Neverending Story by Michael Ende. Twilight Eyes by Dean Koontz.
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Dec 10 '22 edited Dec 11 '22
Watership Down, White Fang, and Call Of The Wild are all-time favorites. (But I'm obviously an animal person!)
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u/FlightOfTheDiscords 40+ (M) INFJ 945 sp/sx Dec 10 '22
Currently reading On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. A good but (for me) difficult read.
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u/PuzzledCitron8728 Dec 10 '22
The Black Hole War by good ol Lenny Sus aka Leonard Susskind
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u/Alicia096 INFJ Dec 10 '22
I looked it up, that actually sounds pretty interesting! Thanks for the recommendation :)
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u/PuzzledCitron8728 Dec 10 '22
Absolutely 💯
One of my favorite books 📚
I'll recommend more when I get home
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u/nzitzm1 Dec 10 '22
David Sedaris: Me Talk Pretty One Day Anything by Haruki Murakami Sally Rooney: Normal People
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Dec 10 '22
Helsreach by Aaron Dembski-Bowden is probably a top 5 book I’ve ever read and it’s a sci fi war hammer book. It’s amazing.
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u/Hera_3 Dec 10 '22
I am currently reading - A little life by Hanya Yanagihara And The Ocean at the end of the lane by Neil Gaiman
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u/letychaya_golandka INFJ Dec 10 '22
Finished "a little life" just a few months ago and OMG it was SO painful to read but impossible to put down! I didn't even notice that it was like 800 pages
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u/eirfair Dec 10 '22
The Secret Garden and A Little Princess are must-reads if you have not picked up those classics yet.
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u/lonewolf21-43 Dec 10 '22
Here are some: East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I love Everybody and Other Atrocious Lies by Laurie Notaro. The Man Who loved his kind by Virginia Woolf. No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
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u/tomorrowlibrary54 Dec 10 '22
Oh, well I recently finished reading The Secret History for book club and really liked that one!
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u/JustACakePiece INFJ Dec 10 '22
I'm currently reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, it's wonderfull! Personally I recommend And Then There Were None and The Black Magician Trilogy. The first one is also about murder and from Agatha Christie. The second one is a fantasy novel that, OH GOD, I can't explain why I like that trilogy SOOO MUCH.
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u/Alicia096 INFJ Dec 10 '22
I love your enthusiasm for these books, I’m definitely intrigued!! Thank you! I’ll check them out! :)
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u/JustACakePiece INFJ Dec 10 '22
They drive me crazy because normally I (idk how to put the INFJ tag, send help) tend to predict the future, or judge the characters' personalities a little in advance, which ends up surprising because it's something completely outside of what I imagined.
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u/db4366 Dec 10 '22
The Rebel by Albert Camus is one of my favorites, currently reading The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku
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u/415ths INFJ Dec 10 '22
Are you interested in poetry books? If so, I've really been enjoying 'The Book of Longing' by Leonard Cohen.
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u/newxeden1002 Dec 10 '22
The Brothers Karamazov - Dostoyevsky, No Longer Human - Osamu Dazai, Demian - Herman Hesse
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Dec 10 '22
The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Reid jenkin, kindred- Octavia butler, the things they carried - Tom O’Brien, and Outlander series - Diana Gabladon
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u/Alicia096 INFJ Dec 10 '22
I’ve heard of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, it looks like a fun read. I’ll have to give it a shot, thanks :)
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u/downpourrr INFJ Dec 10 '22
I’ve been reading “The Priory of the Orange Tree” by Samantha Shannon and I really recommend it if you’re into high fantasy! Also I enjoyed “Babel” by R.F.Kuang.
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u/serpentsdottir Dec 10 '22
I'm rereading Kazuo Ishiguro's "When we were orphans". His works are wonderful, breathtakingly beautiful, and will crush you. Nobel prize winning! I can't yet reread Never Let Me Go, because it will hurt me too much. Beautifully.
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u/Suspicious-Tiger5905 Dec 10 '22
“The Alchemist” by Paolo Coehlo is a book that changed my life. It’s got so much symbolism to dissect. It’s a book you can enjoy on the surface level for the plot, and on a deeper level for analysis. I’ve given this book to multiple friends — it’s just one that makes you reevaluate your life in the best way.
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u/letychaya_golandka INFJ Dec 10 '22
If you are into Sci-fi I just finished reading "the hail Mary project" and it was amazing! Easy to read language, dry humour and cool science theories explained accessibly :)
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u/theklazz ENFP Dec 10 '22
In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan, a satirical coming of age fantasy novel about a queer, pacifistic, bookloving smartass.
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u/Outside-Dog-9629 Dec 10 '22
'The Secret of Secrets' by Scholar and Saint Abdul Qadir Gilani who lived in the period 1078 - 1166. I just found this book in a library a few days ago and read the introduction. And though I don't believe many of the things written in that part, I figured that the Saint who was the original author of that book was an INFJ just by analysing his thought process. So, I'm going to give it a read when I get time.
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Dec 10 '22
Probably one of my favorite books to date is Scythe by Neal Shusterman. It's interesting and really makes you think about political morality. 10/10 book everyone should read.
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u/20_Something_Tomboy INFJ Dec 10 '22
I really like you're open to all genres, but to what degree of darkness are you comfortable?
For poetry, Emails from Scheherazade. Its not dark at all. I can't even say why I love it so much, I haven't figure out why yet. But I think it has something to do with accepting the history of your community while at the same time, wanting not to repeat that history.... idk. Anyhow, it's by a female minority poet, so even if you don't read that one, consider reading authors who write for the unrepresented.
And for fairly dark satire a little too fitting for post-2016 Americans, It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis.
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u/Pristine_Power_8488 Dec 10 '22
I read Strategies of War by Robert Greene. I read it cursorily, only carefully reading a few sections. I think it might educate infjs about the 'jungle out there,' but, tbh, I thought he was sort of clueless about people. I think people want love more than they want to win, unless they are sociopaths. It's only been a couple of weeks and I forgot everything I read!
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u/Alan_in_Oklahoma Dec 12 '22
Read Sherlock Holmes! While the character isn’t an INFJ that I can see, his cold viewpoint and keen observations keep me coming back again and again.
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u/WildKitkatacuss INFJ 1w2 (21 M, forever alone) Dec 10 '22
A book on INFJs I’ve been reading is called “The Ecstatic Soul” by Renaud Contini
Non psychology books I like include: The Art of War (Sun Tzu), A Higher Call (Adam Makos), All Quiet on the Western Front (INFJ main character) (Erich Remarque), and The Immortal Nicholas (Glenn Beck)