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📚 Welcome back to The Reading Life!
The other day on Instagram, I shared a selection of “30 Books to Become Disgustingly Well-Educated,” and it also took off a little bit when I re-shared it on Twitter.
Apparently, it really resonated with people, and they wanted more! So tonight I’ve got the full list of 30, along with brief descriptions of each one, and I’ve selected five more books if you want to become even more of a super-nerd like me.
Below the list of 30 are the 5 additional books that I think you’ll really like. There’s a good mix of lighter reading, some comedy, and then the heavier philosophical stuff. It’s all there!
I also have to (as in, have to) tell you about the book I’m looking forward to more than anything else in recent memory.
It’s Robert Greene’s upcoming book, The Law of the Sublime.
He’s the author of The 48 Laws of Power, The Laws of Human Nature, The 50th Law, and several other favorites of mine. This next one is going to be SO. GOOD. I can’t even wait.
And in case you missed it, here’s my selection of 7 Books That Made Me IMPOSSIBLE to Control (YouTube).
Now, before our coffees get cold, let’s hit the books!
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1. Plato, Collected Works: Everything is just a footnote to Plato. Read him first, then the entirety of Western civilization starts to make a lot more sense!
2. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, by Edith Hamilton: This book has sold millions of copies since 1942 and it’s the world’s best introduction to Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology.
3. Enlightenment Now, by Steven Pinker: The world isn’t going to hell, contrary to what all the news stations keep trying to make you believe. Life is actually better than it’s ever been for more people than ever before in human history, and Pinker’s book breaks down why.
4. Diogenes, by Inger N. I. Kuin: This is a biography of the free-thinking philosopher that stood up to Alexander the Great, inspired Stoicism, and the gave the world a model for intellectual freedom and integrity.
5. Skin in the Game, by Nassim Taleb: “Skin in the game” means that the consequences of your bad decisions also affect you. Beware anyone who doesn’t have any.
6. The Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell: George Lucas read this book more than 100 times (literally), and it’s here that Joseph Campbell breaks down the “monomyth,” or the one universal story behind all stories.
7. The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri: Dante’s visionary journey down into Hell, through Purgatory, and up into Paradise is one of the most powerfully influential works of literature ever put to paper.
8. The Iliad, by Homer: One of the earliest surviving works of Western civilization, it follows the Greek army as they wage war on Troy (and tangle with the gods as well).
9. The Odyssey, by Homer: The best sequel in literary history, by far. It follows the Greek hero Odysseus on his journey home. Spoiler alert: it, um…takes a while!
10. The Histories, by Herodotus: This is the earliest surviving work of nonfiction, and details the Greco-Persian Wars and various customs of the known world.
In this gripping psychological drama, Radek, a Polish émigré returning home after communism's collapse, builds a new life with Anna-his charming and much younger wife. But behind their seemingly idyllic marriage lurks suspicion and secrets that explode into a labyrinth of revelations. (Buy on Amazon | Sponsored)
11. The Aeneid, by Virgil: Another epic masterpiece from the ancient world, this one follows Aeneas on his divinely-ordained journey to found Rome.
12. Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, by David W. Blight: Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who taught himself how to read, and then went on to become one of the greatest orators ever. This is a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of the great man.
13. Varieties of Religious Experience, by William James: A fantastic series of lectures by the Harvard professor (and founding father of the entire field of psychology), William James.
14. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari: Somewhat controversial (okay, highly controversial), this is a grand, sweeping history of humanity. Worth reading.
15. A Theory of Everything, by Ken Wilber: Literally what it says. Combines psychology, business, spirituality, politics, and basically everything else into a unified theory. Fascinating stuff, even if you don’t buy into the ideas wholesale.
16. The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde: Easily one of my favorite novels of all time. The main character sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty, keeping a portrait hidden that ages and becomes more vile and hideous while he never ages a day.
17. The Ambassadors, by Henry James: Another favorite! A masterpiece of psychological realism, where the middle-aged main character gets sent to Paris and realizes that perhaps he had never yet begun to live at all.
18. David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens: An unforgettable coming-of-age story by the author of Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol. People typically say that this is their favorite Dickens novel.
19. The Beginning of Infinity, by David Deutsch: This one’s another grand, sweeping overview, this time of human progress and “the explanations that changed the world.”
20. Pale Blue Dot, by Carl Sagan: This is an absolutely incredible book about the first forays into deep space exploration and the (possible, hopeful?) bright human future among the stars.
The Upside of Down is a powerful true story of resilience, as John Ulsh recounts his journey from a catastrophic accident and a near-hopeless prognosis to overcoming immense physical and emotional challenges - offering readers an inspiring roadmap to rebuilding their lives, embracing adversity, and reclaiming their personal power. (Buy on Amazon | Sponsored)
21. Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville: You’ll learn way more about whales in this one than you’ll ever want to know, but it’s an absolute masterpiece about good and evil, and obsession on the open seas.
22. Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle: One the foundational works of philosophy, dealing with happiness, virtue, friendship, and the good life.
23. King Lear, by William Shakespeare: Okay so this one’s quite bleak, but it’s about betrayal, madness, and filial ingratitude - one of the Bard’s most enduring works.
24. The Epic of Gilgamesh: This is the anonymously written tale of Gilgamesh, whose fear of death leads him on a quest to discover the secret of eternal life.
25. Ethics, by Baruch de Spinoza: An Enlightenment-era masterwork of philosophy, giving a reasoned, intellectual description of the nature of the universe, and how we can behave ethically within it.
26. Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics, by Stephen Greenblatt: This is a really cool book about how Shakespeare portrayed tyrannical leaders in his plays, and about the fragility of democracy and good governance.
27. Resistance, Rebellion, and Death, by Albert Camus: This book features a variety of political essays on topics such as colonial war in Algeria (which he lived through), capital punishment, and our moral obligations to one another.
28. The Perennial Philosophy, by Aldous Huxley: Kind of like Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces, except for religion. Huxley shows the common mystical undercurrent running underneath a variety of mainstream religious traditions, arguing (persuasively) that they point to the same fundamental truths and experiences.
29. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, by Mary Wollstonecraft: This is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy, back when feminism was actually coherent and beautiful. Wollstonecraft was also Mary Shelley’s mother! Fun fact!
30. Candide, by Voltaire: One of the first, greatest satires, following the main character’s tour through an absurdly cruel world. It also offers a vision of sanity and quiet hope in the advice at the end to “tend to your own garden.”
Alright, so that was a lot! Are you disgustingly well-educated yet?
I’m not done though! Because tonight, I’m also sharing my complete notes and summaries of each of the following Five Great Books:
After achieving my (somewhat meaningless) goal of reading 1,000 books before I turned 30, I set a new (also meaningless but cool) goal of reading 10,000 books. As of today, I’ve read exactly 1,487 books, including 33 books so far this year, and if you’re interested, here’s my full Reading List.
“Not so long ago, our forebears had to chase, fight, and kill just to survive. They expected hardship. They were willing to face the worst.
They embraced the fact that the universe, in all its apparent tranquility, is a carefully balanced chaos of forces that we barely understand.
The time has come to act like we’ve descended from these hardy men and women. To redirect anxiety, stress, and fear toward positive outcomes. To push through the pain of life’s most important lessons. To never say die, no matter how fiercely the shifting sands of fate roil.”
Inside my private business mastermind, Creator Launch Academy, we’re tackling one nonfiction book per month and implementing its lessons inside our businesses.
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“I'm afraid most people choose political parties based on the same question they ask about regular parties: Who else is going to be there?”
“The refusal to belong to any school of thought, the repudiation of the adequacy of any body of beliefs whatever, and especially of systems, and a marked dissatisfaction with traditional philosophy as superficial, academic, and remote from life – that is the heart of existentialism.”
Walter Kaufmann was one of the leading Nietzsche scholars, as well as being responsible for translating some of the most important books of all time from German to English.
Man, I’m telling you, every time I pick up a philosophy book or some German classic, it says at the bottom: “Translated and with an introduction by Walter Kaufman.” He’s everywhere, and for good reason.
This is an anthology of some of the most famous and influential writings from the existentialist “movement” (for lack of a better word), including people like Sartre, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, Jaspers, Camus, and several more.
Almost every single one of them would have rejected the term “movement,” but they’re grouped together here (with an excellent introduction by Kaufmann) because they would all be labeled existentialists. All of them were concerned with the freedom of the individual, with authenticity, and with the weight of human responsibility.
The collection is often tough reading, but incredibly rewarding reading as well.
The existentialists changed my life – seriously – and this is an impressive overview of some of their major ideas. They’ll stay with you, urgently reminding you that you are in fact free in this world, and that what you do with that freedom is entirely up to you.
“Don’t cede control of your opinions to critics, teachers, famous writers, or know-it-all professors. Listen to them, but read confidently and assertively, and don’t be ashamed or apologetic about your reading. You and I both know you’re capable and intelligent, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Trust the text and trust your instincts. You’ll rarely go far wrong.”
You’d think that I would know how to read literature by now, and yet there I was, reading a book about how to read. After finishing this one, though, my advice to people who may consider themselves a little too “advanced” for this book would be: Don’t skip this one!
I don’t know about you, but before reading How to Read Literature I had read close to 800 other books, many of them perennial classics like Crime and Punishment and Paradise Lost, and I still got a ton of value out of this book.
Dr. Foster is pretty much a composite of all the professors I loved most while in university, and he never once makes you feel - or ever tries to make you feel - dumb for not having read Jane Austen, or King Lear, or whatever else.
Everyone starts where they are, and his democratizing view of literature and his emphasis that it’s for everybody struck me as a message that deserves a huge audience.
If you’ve ever felt like certain classics were “above you” (ridiculous notion), or that you didn’t have the ability to read more challenging books, Dr. Foster and I are here to tell you that you’re smarter than you think you are, the world of books and literature is warm and welcoming, and that you should grab your library card and dive right in.
“Everything in philosophy and the history of philosophy is up for debate.”
This is an absolute brick of a book - a grand, sweeping overview of the history of both Western and Eastern philosophy that clocks in at over 700 pages. Yet, strangely enough, I just don’t see how it could be any shorter.
After reading it, the history of philosophy now has a shape for me, and I can see exactly where my own knowledge is incomplete.
I now see philosophy as being linked throughout history, an extended human conversation about where we came from, how we should treat each other, and what we should do with our lives while we’re here. But I still can’t get over how many holes there are in my understanding!
He gives you multiple jumping-off points though, and you can start with his introductions to Confucius, Socrates, Aristotle, Mill, Nietzsche, Sartre, more contemporary philosophers, Indian, Chinese, Arabic-Persian philosophers and perspectives - just on and on - and then go from there to dive into anything you start taking a greater interest in.
Personally, I felt as though there were too many pages dedicated to analytic philosophy and not enough to the existentialists, Eastern philosophy, etc., but the former is clearly his strength. And that’s the thing about philosophy: if one thinker or tradition or perspective doesn’t grab you right away, there are literally thousands more!
“Everything will turn out right, the world is built on that.”
In The Master and Margarita, the Devil and his entourage - including a giant talking cat with a passion for shooting guns and drinking vodka - come to Moscow in order to judge the moral progress of the Russian people, thereby providing the background for one of the greatest love stories in world literature.
It's a satire, pillorying contemporary Russian society under Joseph Stalin, but it's also a story of forgiveness, absurdity, and true love.
On one level, it's just a great story, a work of fantasy, where you have people turned into flying pigs and others losing their heads - literally - but it's so much more than that, and an entire nation fell in love with it, to the point where, if you say "manuscripts don't burn" in Russia, most people will know which book you're referencing.
Indeed, since it took aim at the pointless bureaucracy and gross social injustice of Stalin's Russia, it couldn't be published during Bulgakov's lifetime, but when the magazine Moskva published the first part of the novel in 1966, 150,000 copies sold out within hours.
“Let us summarize our conclusions briefly:
The Outsider wants to cease to be an Outsider. He wants to be 'balanced.'
He would like to achieve a vividness of sense-perception (Lawrence, Van Gogh, Hemingway). He would also like to understand the human soul and its workings (Barbusse and Mitya Karamazov). He would like to escape triviality forever, and be 'possessed' by a Will to Power, to more life.
Above all, he would like to know how to express himself, because that is the means by which he can get to know himself and his unknown possibilities.
Every Outsider tragedy we have studied so far has been a tragedy of self-expression."
If ordinary life usually seems a bit...well, ordinary...it may be because the way most human beings live their lives can be compared to an extraordinarily powerful jet airplane flying on only one engine. That's Colin Wilson's basic contention in The Outsider, where he outlines his fundamentally optimistic philosophy of New Existentialism.
It's meant to contrast with the "old" existentialism of philosophers such as Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, and others for whom the universe is a rather cold, dreary, abysmal place.
While they wrote about futility, "Being-towards-death," the absurd, and the inevitability of suffering, it was always Colin Wilson's contention that there is a deeper, more meaningful, and vibrant dimension to life that all human beings have access to if only they would put forth the proper effort.
He doesn't deny the existence of suffering and the harshness of life, but in this book, he examines the lives of individuals he called "Outsiders," who were able to come closest to realizing this ultimately optimistic view of life and the universe.
Wilson exploded onto the literary scene with this book, which came out in 1956 to massive acclaim. It's never been out of print since then, and it's been translated into more than thirty languages. What's more, is that he was only 24 years old when he wrote it!
In the book, he explores the lives and ideas of key literary and cultural figures such as Hermann Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, T.E. Lawrence, Vincent van Gogh, H.G. Wells, George Gurdjieff, and a multitude of others, discussing their effects on society, and society's effects on them.
I just happened upon this book one time – I had never heard of it before – and thought it looked interesting, given that he references philosophers and writers I enjoyed reading, such as Kierkegaard, Camus, Dostoyevsky, etc.
I had no idea that it would completely change my life forever after and would radically alter how I lived out each day of my one and only life.
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OK, that’s it for now…
I’ve got plenty more excellent book recommendations coming your way soon though!
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With that said, I hope you enjoyed this edition of The Reading Life, and enjoy the rest of your day!
Until next time…happy reading!
All the best,
Matt Karamazov
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