Books Everyone Should Read

This list was very hard to form. Choosing only 10 books that everyone should absolutely read is a difficult task. There are so many books that have personally impacted me, most of which are listed below, but this list is a great place to start.

  1. 1984 - George Orwell

  2. Notes From Underground - Fyodor Dostoevsky

  3. Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life - Jordan B. Peterson

  4. Discourses - Epictetus

  5. The Gulag Archipelago (abridged) - Aleksander Solzhenitsyn

  6. The Righteous Mind - Jonathan Haidt

  7. Modern Man in Search of a Soul - Carl Jung

  8. Man’s Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl

  9. Beyond Good and Evil - Friedrich Nietzsche

  10. The Prophet - Kahil Gibran

Stoicism

Stoicism is an ancient philosophy that teaches virtue as being the ultimate good, and it defines virtue as Wisdom, Justice, Courage, and Temperance. It is a philosophy that is simple, yet complicated; theoretical, yet practical. It is based on rationality, yet understands the reality of humanity’s often irrational nature. These are my personal favourite books on Stoicism.

  1. Discourses - Epictetus

  2. Being Better: Stoicism For A World Worth Living In - Kai Whiting & Leonidas Konstantakos

  3. Meditations - Marcus Aurelius

  4. Letters From A Stoic - Seneca

  5. The Practicing Stoic - Ward Farnsworth

  6. Breakfast With Seneca - David Fideler

Other Philosophy

Though I have an appreciation for Stoicism, it is not the only philosophy I find value in. In my opinion, even if you are a devout Stoic, you should at least be familiar with other philosophical ideas. It will solidify (and maybe change) your perspective and, who knows, perhaps even teach you something Stoicism can’t.

  1. Beyond Good and Evil - Friedrich Nietzsche

  2. Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Friedrich Nietzsche

  3. Barbell Buddha: The Collected Writings of Chris Moore - Chris Moore

  4. Wisdom of the Shamans - Don Jose Ruiz

  5. Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson - Ralph Waldo Emerson

  6. Way of the Peaceful Warrior - Dan Millman

  7. The Prophet - Kahil Gibran

  8. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values - Robert Pirsig

  9. Maps of Meaning - Jordan B. Peterson

  10. The Philosophy of Science - A Very Short Introduction

  11. The Socratic Method - Ward Farnsworth

Fiction

I’ve heard people say that they don’t want to read fiction because “it isn’t real”. I’ve always had trouble with this because it really depends on what one means by “real”. Does fiction describe historical events? No, but why does that mean that it isn’t real? Fiction can describe the complexity in the world in a way that non-fiction struggles with. Many of the valuable life-lessons I’ve learned has been through fiction, so I encourage everyone to read at least some.

  1. 1984 - George Orwell

  2. Animal Farm - George Orwell

  3. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky

  4. The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky

  5. Notes From Underground - Fyodor Dostoevsky

  6. The Lord of the Rings (including The Hobbit and The Silmarillion) - J.R.R. Tolkien

  7. Harry Potter (books 1-7) - J.K. Rowling

  8. The Giver - Lois Lowry

  9. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

  10. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Psychology

Psychology, put simply, is the study of the mind. As a philosopher, understanding how the mind works is fundamental. In my opinion, a philosopher who doesn’t study psychology is like a doctor who doesn’t study nutrition; it may not technically be part of one’s study area, yet it offers unbelievable value.

  1. 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos - Jordan B. Peterson

  2. Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life - Jordan B. Peterson

  3. Modern Man in Search of a Soul - Carl Jung

  4. Man’s Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl

  5. Depth Psychology and a New Ethic - Erich Neumann

  6. Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland - Christopher Brown

  7. Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind - David M. Buss

  8. Active Listening - Carl Rogers

  9. Becoming A Person - Carl Rogers

History

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” - George Santayana

Studying history is one of the most important things for people to do. Firstly, it’s of utmost importance to understand where we came from. Secondly, we need to have some comprehension of just how horrible things can get. And thirdly, we need to figure out how people got there so that we don’t go there again.

  1. The Gulag Archipelago (abridged) - Aleksander Solzhenitsyn

  2. The Rape of Nanking - Iris Chang

  3. Mao: The Unknown Story

  4. The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank

  5. By Chance Alone: A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz - Max Eisen

Other Non-Fiction

This list contains books that didn’t quite fit in any of the other categories. However, that doesn’t mean that they weren’t equally as impactful.

  1. The Madness of Crowds - Douglas Murray

  2. The Strange Death of Europe - Douglas Murray

  3. One Good Reason - Sean McCann & Andrea Aragon

  4. Talking to Strangers - Malcolm Gladwell

  5. Affective Neuroscience - Jaak Pankepp

  6. A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century - Heather Heying & Bret Weinstein