Books like Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living

01

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor E. Frankl · Psychology

Man's Search for Meaning is Viktor Frankl's account of his years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and the psychological theory he developed from that experience.

Both dig into meaning.

02

When Breath Becomes Air

Paul Kalanithi · Memoir

When Breath Becomes Air is Paul Kalanithi's account of his life before and after being diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer at 36, while completing his residency in neurosurgery at Stanford.

Both dig into meaning.

03

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

Oliver Burkeman · Self-help

Four Thousand Weeks is Oliver Burkeman's philosophical attack on the entire project of time management as it is usually practiced.

A kindred philosophy read.

04

The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves

Stephen Grosz · Psychology

The Examined Life is a collection of short psychoanalytic case studies drawn from Stephen Grosz's 25 years of practice as a psychoanalyst in London.

A kindred philosophy read.

05

Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion

Sam Harris · Religion & Spirituality

Waking Up is Sam Harris' argument that the insights of contemplative traditions — particularly Buddhism's claim that the sense of self is an illusion — can be separated from religious metaphysics and investigated directly through meditation and introspection.

A kindred philosophy read.

06

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Yuval Noah Harari · Philosophy

Where Sapiens traced humanity's past and Homo Deus speculated about its future, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century plants itself in the present.

Both dig into meaning.

07

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

George Saunders · Philosophy

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is George Saunders's account of the graduate fiction workshop he has taught at Syracuse for over twenty years, organized around seven stories by Tolstoy, Chekhov, Turgenev, and Gogol.

Both dig into meaning.

08

Essays and Aphorisms

Arthur Schopenhauer · Philosophy

Essays and Aphorisms is R.

Both dig into wisdom.

09

Fear and Trembling

Søren Kierkegaard · Philosophy

Fear and Trembling was published in 1843 under the pseudonym Johannes de Silentio, and it is Kierkegaard's most sustained meditation on the nature of faith through the lens of the story of Abraham and Isaac.

Both dig into faith.

10

Ikigai

Héctor García · Philosophy

Ikigai is a short, accessible book by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles that explores the Japanese concept of a reason for being — the intersection of what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for.

Both dig into meaning.

11

Mere Christianity

C. S. Lewis · Philosophy

Mere Christianity began as a series of BBC radio broadcasts Lewis gave during World War II, and the book retains that quality of direct, informal address.

Both dig into faith.

12

Play Anything

Ian Bogost · Philosophy

Play Anything is Ian Bogost's argument that play is not something we bring to enjoyable activities — it's something we do with things, including tedious and unpleasant things, by paying them closer attention.

Both dig into meaning.