The books that made me who I am

I was looking through my book journal recently, and I decided to make a video about some of the best, most impactful books I've read in the last few years. These are books that have had a lasting effect on me. These are the books that made me who I am.
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Intro 00:00
The Dispossessed 00:36
Crime & Punishment 01:44
1Q84 03:30
Circe 05:30
God Save Texas 06:30
After Virtue 07:37
Confessions 09:00
Anathem 10:37
Piranesi 11:58
The Wheel of Time 12:45
The Orthodox Way 13:59
The Intellectual Life 14:40
We 15:29
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[@ananyao6547]

like the soft spoken-ness

[@muratisik6956]

Love it!

[@carlrenzi]

A book I try to read every year is "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". Each time I read it I discover new things.

[@jakeryanshepard]

🎉

[@domingo-osabel]

I never get tired of watching people who passionately talk about their reading journey and recommend great books. I somehow resonate with this as I started to record my reading journey as well starting in 2019. I hope to get a platform as well to share my experiences and lessons. Thank you for this video, Mr. Jared. I am encouraged to add "The Intellectual Life" to my TBR.

[@guidomarchessi5322]

The book that quite literally changed my life is The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. It was a recommendation by my literature teacher in college. I didn't read much fiction before that book, but when I read it, something just clicked. The exploration of depression and suicidal tendencies in the character of Kaladin resonated on a whole new level. And because of that book, my passion for literature was born.

[@nenyeo6090]

❤ hope you’re doing better. Sending warm hugs 🤗

[@hansolo989]

This comment has finally encouraged me to read Sandersons work. Thanks 🙏

[@jasonharris7975]

Brandon got me on my running journey

[@noname3609]

Same here. 🙏

[@jamesb7924]

I'm glad Sanderson worked out for you and helped you find literature

[@pencilonpaper1026]

Crime and punishment literally changed what I enjoy reading now. Still one of my favorites.

[@aarjavmehta3806]

Every video on this channel adds something to my TBR list and every time I am thankful to have found this channel

[@thekidd7]

Goodness gracious, I'm so glad this channel popped up in my algorithm. I love these videos, and the soothing nature of your voice. Keep it up! ❤

[@poojakumar883]

Piranesi and Anathem are on my TBR and your review has convinced me to pick it up sooner over later. Thank you for sharing!

[@lauriesopas]

These are great suggestions. You have inspired me to tackle Crime and Punishment. I also wanted to thank you for the recent suggestion of Klara and the Sun. I devoured it in about a day and a half, and I cannot adequately tell you how much I loved it. Gorgeous, painful, thought-provoking, melancholic, HUMAN. I'm looking forward to more of Ishiguru's books. Thanks for sharing!

[@ShitCoveredStatue]

This channel is absolutely fantastic. Thank you for all the wonderful insights and book recommendations.

[@jasonwojcik]

Your channel is the channel that does it right. You've made philosophy accessible to those who want to explore philosophy without the baggage of "industry jargon". Thank you for making these videos and sharing your experience experiences in content creation.

[@UnderEveryBookAndCranny]

I come back to this video a lot. It's so soothing and inspiring

[@ssartre5240]

You are very fortunate to have been born in a time and environment that gave you the opportunity to access books. I was born in a remote town in the south of a country in South America at a time when there was no internet or television or even telephone. I didn’t have access to the books until late in my life. I always had the restlessness to learn and now that I have read a little I realize how different my life would have been if I had been able to read. So far I have enjoy philosophy and history for some reason I don't enjoy novels, maybe I feel I don't have enough time if you know what I mean.

[@ivanmanriquezjr.9032]

@ssarte5240 While you still have the breath of life, don't think twice on whether or not you have enough time. I recommend reading Stoic works like Meditations by Marcus Aurelius or Letters of a Stoic (Penguin Edition) by Seneca, if you have access to them. They will console you on almost any circumstance or vicissitude.

[@ssartre5240]

@@ivanmanriquezjr.9032 Hola Ivan, no puedo decirte en palabras lo mucho que agradezco tu comentario, sugerencias y preocupación. La verdad es que seguí tus consejos y he leído todo lo que me sugeriste, ha sido life changing. Me han ayudado a entender la vida, creo que los estoicos me han identificado. Ha Nietzsche lo he entendido bastante y ha sido un gran aporte a mi vida, pienso que fue uno de los mejore pensadores y tal vez inspiró Freud . También he leído a Camus y Seneca, como me recomendaste. Hay muchos libros más que me gustaría leer pero es difícil para mi comprarlos, por eso leo lo que encuentro en la web y en PDF y hay algunos sitios en los que pueden leer gratis, pero se echa de menos tocar el papel., la vieja escuela, tú sabes! En la literatura he encontrado compañía y ahora vivo rodeada de personajes con experiencias inimaginables. "Tú que eres más joven no dejes de leer. Serás toda tu vida lo que logres ser cuando joven!

[@Cr1z_R]

@@ssartre5240 wow I'm a young man 18 and i also like philosophical works such as human all too human, although it's difficult to understand his ideas at times i lack vocabulary in English so i'm getting better in that matter while i read it and I'm planning to read stoic works as well, i recently read crime and punishment and i can relate to Raskolnikov anxiety i literary can't talk to people i get pale as him because of it, i also relate to the underground man from Dostoyevsky's works, i want to read a hundred years of solitude because I'm Colombian from a little town too, i always think how privilege i am due to the invention of the internet has allow me to read and learn otherwise i would have been the same as you , i want to read more but reflecting on the works, i don't want just to consume, as Friedrich said to be careful reading too much , it can poison your intellect. I spend time in solitude to process them, anyway best wishes now that you have access to books, i try to buy physical books, but as you said they are indeed not cheap especially if you are reading in foreign language because the shipping is crazy expensive and import fees i completely feel you in that regard hope the economy gets better here in SA :(

[@ssartre5240]

@@Cr1z_R Hola, ya que eres colombiano hablemos en español que es nuestro idioma, yo soy de más al sur aún, casi del "fin del mundo" y no es broma!! Me alegra saber que siendo tan joven te interese la filosofía. Leer filosofía es fascinante, te hace pensar y cuando tomas partido por uno aparece otro que te parece mejor. Ciertamente hay libros a los que hay que llegar vivido o leído, porque son peso pesado! pero leyendo uno va ampliando el conocimiento. Una vez le dije a alguien que la filosofía me había sacado de una depresión y no entendieron nada, pero la verdad es que leer a Nietzsche y entender su concepto de superhombre es algo extraordinario. Es un concepto fundamental para vivir la vida dura que tenemos por delante. El hombre que se hace cargo de sí mismo y sus circunstancias, el que se aleja del nihilismo metido a la fuerza a través de las religiones y deja de victimizarse y sigue su camino con dignidad. Hay mucho para hablar de Nietzsche que ha sido tan mal entendido. Leer a Camus y su Sísifo te hace darte cuenta del absurdo de la vida y por ende tomar una postura diferente frente a ella. No puedo imaginar lo que sería poder haber leído a los filósofos orientales que quedaron perdidos en el camino de la historia. Dale una mirada a la Epopeya de Gilgamesh y como fue descubierta y traducida, muy interesante. Saludos.

[@Cr1z_R]

​@@ssartre5240A tu talves eres de argentina la Patagonia o cerca como chile, me incline a la filosofía joven porque gaste mucho tiempo en soledad porlotanto entre en contacto con mi conciencia y me di cuenta que el yo que era antes no era yo. Era un producto de mi entorno entonces busque a alguien que discutirá esa idea y encontré a Arthur y su The world as will and representation, que de paso fue muy influential para Friedrich me gusta que el se alejo del nihilismo y encontró sentido en el Arte como el "Übermensch" que aportan al mundo con su talento y intelecto ya se un escritor o matemático porque el flow como lo llamo yo, da mucho sentido a la vida en mi opinión donde una persona se dedica su tiempo a su pasión algo como el concepto "Ikigai" , también voy a leer philosophia occidental como las ideas de Buddha y Laozi, claro camus esta en mi lista para leer y tu recomendación también Epopeya, Gracias sigue leyendo no importa la edad de por mi nunca voy a parar así tenga 100 años desde que mis ojos sirvan ahi estaré leyendo. Saludos para ti también 👍

[@EduardoHenrique-nd1ro]

Amazing video, Jared! Thanks for sharing with us! Cheers from Brazil!

[@maryfilippou6667]

Thank you for bringing up After Virtue. I recall you cited it in an early vlog. Yesterday, by chance, I found my copy missing for some months. Yay!

[@drawingsimpleton4827]

oh nice. I just discovered your channel. Like it. Finally someone who talks passionately about books without telling the plot 🙂

[@Castaca27]

Absolutely love your channel, your voice, your theology and most off all that you come very close to giving C&P the glory it deserves

[@Mark-co8gt]

Awesome picks! I'm revisiting C&P this year as it was originally serialised - because the serialisation of novels has always intrigued me.

[@floorshirts6402]

Love this! Thanks for sharing!

[@jean-micheldesmedt4126]

The brighthess of your soul is so intense, Jared ! Grazie di cuore

[@El_myth]

Amazing channel, Jared. My undergrad is in both physics and philosophy, and im now in grad school for medical physics. I can feel my philosophical muscles atrophying and its been difficult to find digestible and brief PHI vids to keep me fed. You and Sisyphus55 are the only channels I have found who are doing a phenomenal job. Keep it up!

[@PGY2000]

I would recommend "pursuit of wonder" as another channel you might really like. Let me know if you watch any of his videos and I hope you enjoy.

[@matthewmacleod-ow3rg]

Wow. I have never seen a book list so similar to my favourites and books of impact. That was incredible! I’m eastern orthodox, who studies Philosophy and reads science fiction in my free time. Even books I thought were somewhat obscure like the intelectual life I have read and enjoyed. Very cool, Thankyou for the list!

[@anthenehbeze.]

My dear thank you. Please continues.

[@willsanderson2818]

A really well made and thoughtful video, thank you. Robin Hobb made me fall in love with reading again and I haven't read anything since that fulfils my love for reading as much as she did. I had a very similar experience with Crime and Punishment as you - it made me realise that classics are relevant and always will be. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier made me fall in love with gothic classics, now one of my favourite genres. Lolita still haunts me to this day - beautifully written but highly disturbing. Dune is an amalgamation of everything that I love: politics, philosophy, ecology and religion. It explores all of these in so much depth.

[@greyone40]

Interesting list, and interesting thoughts. Thank you. I finally read Crime and Punishment this past summer, and I was surprised that it wasn't really all that difficult. I chose to read it because it is shorter than Brothers Karamazov, which I will get to soon. Stories that I keep going back to are Tolstoy's short stories, which I think helps when you go to other Russian writing from that time. You've mentioned Le Guin before, and she is definitely going on my list.

[@sherilynntellis7713]

I just love all the content you're putting out! I generally subscribe and then binge watch through videos, but you've put in so much of your personal thinking into every video that it's making me want to push myself to think deeper about all the ideas and thoughts you're sharing before I move on to the next video. So I'm just taking my time with all your content, and that makes it all the more more rewarding :) Same as your principle of re-reading books to better understand them, I've definitely set aside alot of your videos to re-visit at a later time.

[@LisaOfTroy]

Just came across your channel today and really enjoyed your vibe! My most formative books: Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Dune by Frank Herbert, His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, Atomic Habits by James Clear, How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue, The Storyteller by Dave Grohl, and The Last Chairlift by John Irving.

[@MyMy-tv7fd]

UK Le Guin - the Wizard of Earthsea trilogy - is aimed at children but is top quality

[@philarete]

Although I left academia two decades before you did, I think you and I probably share a lot of the same grievances. If it's any comfort, I can say that 25 years later I do not regret the five years I spent in philosophy grad school, nor do I regret leaving. The most recently read book I would call "life changing" was Gregory Vlastos's Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher, which I read around 10 years ago. Although I of course studied Plato both as an undergrad and graduate student, I hadn't realized the depths of Plato's work until reading this, and I've been on an ancient Greek philosophy kick ever since.

[@JosephHMama]

Thanks for this, Jared. For me Silence by Shusaku Endo. Has definitely stuck and shaped me. The Abolition of Man and The Screwtape Letters by Lewis. The Brothers Karamazov. The works of Wendell Berry; Leif Enger’s books. A couple of your picks are also on my list, includingThe Orthodox Way. If you ask me in a couple of years, I’m guessing my list will be full of Eastern Fathers 😊

[@TheBookWorm1]

Kalistos Ware, so cool to see this on you list. Yasas!

[@artscience9981]

Great list, and I appreciate your honest explanation of the place of the books in your life journey. A novel with philosophical overtones that stuck with me with a long time was “Before the Fall,” by Noah Hawley. Great read. I agree with you about After Virtue and Augustine’s Confessions. Last time I tried I wasn’t able to make it through Crime and Punishment, maybe I’ll give that a try again some time.

[@arnaudjiang128]

Thank you for your excellent recommendation of books. 谢谢! I'll start with Crime And Punishment.

[@markjelfo2492]

I love this video and I keep coming back to it. Like everyone else, I am a sucker for annual “Top 10” lists at the end of the year. I’d be curious to know what your Top 10 favorite reads are at the end of 2023. You probably already have enough topics lined up for these posts, but if not, there’s another. Keep up the great work.

[@jscibbe]

I’ve been meaning to pick up The Intellectual Life for a while and when you called out humanities grad students, I knew I’d have to fit it in. If you have time, I’d love to hear about your journey from graduate humanities work to non-academic life.

[@dianajflora]

Le Guin inspired me to write creatively again after 15 years. Thank you for the recommendations!

[@RashadKhalaf]

I don't know you or your channel but wow! love your book choices and your talking tone. definitely i am new subscriber.

[@stephenkivell]

I just became a heavy reader in 2022. 1Q84 is the longest book I’ve read and it was intimidating at first. Once I got into it, I fell in love. Now, picking up a very long book and slowly chunking away at it is vert satisfying. Especially when done right (like 1Q84), you really do immerse yourself in another world.

[@experiongallup]

I like Murakami, but I'm struggling through Killing Commendatore.

[@CesarSantosLopezYolo]

I'm back here just to let you know, that I started reading Crime & Punishment because you have recommended many times ... Loving it so far...

[@asimplenameichose151]

I read 'After Virtue' / wrote on it as an amateur doing philosophy electives alongside a fine arts degree. It opened a new world or a new set of realizations for me that showed the continuing relevance of philosophical (and theological / metaphysical) exploration and its immediate applicability. Neat to hear you reflect on that here. I share much in common with you in your intellectual experience, I think.

[@Tonysmithmusic]

the brothers karamazov is the greatest imo. i’ve just finished reading it and am going to start reading it again. timeless themes in dostoyevsky writing.

[@experiongallup]

Russian lit in general seems to me the best for its themes and depth of thought.

[@Squashmalio]

yeah karamazov took longer to sink in for me, but is definitely my favorite now

[@user-lc7qs4nk2y]

Thanks for this video, some of the books are definitely on my reading list now! Btw, when I read Piranesi, it very much reminded me of Michal Ajvaz novels, a similar feel. He is a lesser-known Czech author (also a philosopher in the phenomenology tradition), a bit on the artsy-experimental side. I really like his "The Other city" and "The Golden Age" -- the more experimental ones, and "Empty Streets" and "Journey to the South" -- those actually have a mystery plot :)

[@JLchevz]

Excellent! Wasn't expecting The Wheel of Time lol. I guess it's time for me to read it since it's sitting on my shelves...

[@ClassicsandChristianity]

I read Piranesi in January, loved it! I hope to read some Dostoevsky for the first time this year!

[@solomonfrancis3487]

Great inspo Henderson, for me I believe reading is not just enough". Take the action! Put your newfound knowledge to use. I read for a long time but Action made my life change in no time ( generally and mostly financially) That's my two cents on this

[@phillawson5785]

I struggle to follow through, especially financially. I earn quite enough but hardly have a saving. Rent, bills, debt, expenses take it all away. It almost feels like I leave paycheck to paycheck

[@solomonfrancis3487]

Live below your means, Adjust your lifestyle, be frugal in spending don't buy unnecessary stuff, Budget your spending and your debts, Save, Invest it's a better way to grow wealth, get a financial expert to help you.

[@phillawson5785]

Thanks

[@phillawson5785]

1 hear hiring a financial coach is quite expensive but I will have a look at it

[@solomonfrancis3487]

There's financial coaches out there to create value and not Just for the money they make. You can look out for them.

[@aarondavis9438]

It’s crazy to me how many people’s lives have been changed by crime and punishment. I didn’t even read the whole thing, just the snippets my teacher would read in class (which to be fair, was most of the book) and it totally floored me. I think it’s one of those rare books that you can’t just read and be the same afterwards

[@MrPodvig]

I've read 6 of these and have similar takes. I just threw the rest on my TBR pile.

[@Godovgrind]

Great video and great books.

[@lizarda87]

Nice list! I'm an Orthodox chrstian from Georgia. Kudos for mentioning Kallistos Ware.

[@ormdian]

Many on these books corresponded with my own favourites. So I thought that maybe I could try suggesting one that I liked myself from the last couple of years: the "Tokyo - Montana express" by Richard Brautigan. It's a collection of short (some very short) stories that he wrote while living his life between these two places. They reminded me of impressionists paintings - capturing the different moods in just a few strokes.

[@shadrachibinola2511]

Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl has been very impactful on my outlook and pursuit of set goals. In some ways there is an invisible thread that ties it to other works like Out of the Silent planet by C.S. Lewis and some of George MacDonald's Fairytales.

[@folksurvival]

It's propaganda.

[@frederickhunt5020]

I just stumbled upon your channel a few days ago. I’m it finding intriguing. As an early childhood education instructor, I would be interested in your favorite children’s books, especially the works of Madeleine L'Engle.

[@natedaug1]

Great list man.

[@alinao625]

Very interesting. Keep going 📚👍

[@africanzungu7350]

You're awesome brother!

[@yacine_mkhlf]

Hi have you read The Brothers Karamazov, if so what did you think of it?

[@jeffreybailey2442]

You took my question. That is my favorite all time classic.

[@Brian-sh5ne]

I just finished A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce last month and found it to be a very moving bildungsroman. It's all about struggling for self-identity against a culture that suppresses individuality, something which I can really relate to. More so than that or Crime and Punishment though, The Brothers Karamazov I think has impacted me more than any novel I've ever read.

[@jl2639]

Bildungsroman is such a cool word tho

[@ericm215]

Good vid! Sophie's world is a big influnece

[@kylben]

I just finished 1Q84 a few weeks ago, and it blew me away. Not just the story itself - as you said, there almost isn't a plot until the third book - but because of the subtle literary techniques. Which is interesting since I was reading a translation. I decided that the two tranlators credited with the edition I read must also be geniuses. Through the book, I kept getting convinced and then doubting the reality (or not) of the characters themselves, and even whether certain characters were actually the same person. And I'm sure that was intentional, because Murakami was dead set on f'ing with my head. I consider myself a fairly savvy reader, but it worked, and more, I wanted to let it work.

[@rhiyabhattacharyya880]

The one writer that will continue to inspire me in life is Donna Tartt. Her latest book, The Goldfinch is so so accomplished... I just wonder how someone can be so conscious of our mortal truths. Not only her writing is erudite but also highly philosophically captivating. This book changed my whole outlook of looking at the arts- paintings, architecture and Life itself. I would surely recommend this book to anyone searching for reasons to believe why our lives - our everyday simple lives are so worthy of respect and to be grateful for. The book is gateway to an existential wisdom. Lastly, thank you so much for giving this platform to share our book experiences with like minded people around the world. This community is wonderful .❤️

[@babyboy1971]

Agree. That book got me back into reading again. I am starting her other book, “The Secret History“ and she reads it on Audible.

[@rhiyabhattacharyya880]

@@babyboy1971 I bought this book the very day i completed reading The Goldfinch, i was sooo much in love with Tartt's writing. The Secret History is wonderful. You will love it!

[@BunsBooks]

My book journal (and current reading life) also begins in January of 2018, and Circe was my life changing read of 2019. I picked up a beat up copy of the Orthodox Way at a used bookstore in 2021 cause I was curious about eastern theology, and then got the courage to visit an Antiochan parish to ask more questions in February of last year. Now long story short I’m due to be baptized in the summer and married in the church come winter 💁‍♀️ Sometimes it be like that. I’d be interested in videos where you speak on religion, philosophy, and “where you’re at” theologically currently. I recommend the book Thinking Orthodox, my priest tells all the inquirers and catechumens to read it and it’s been very helpful in understanding Phronema and the eastern mystic tradition more

[@_jared]

Congratulations! My wife and I were chrismated not too long ago in an Antiochian parish.

[@cmoberg2036]

Welcome to the Orthodox way of life..I was chrismated seven years ago.. now praying for my husband to follow.

[@tzakman8697]

​@@_jared Oh, so you choose one fairy tail over the thousands nice great thinker.

[@noeditbookreviews]

You deserve a like just for having the Rememberance trilogy chilling in the background out of focus like it isn't incredible.

[@brettcody76]

Hey, I grew up in Texas! I enjoy hearing about your life, brother.

[@bushfingers]

Excellent - thank you

[@dmitriminaev]

Some years ago I made a list of the writers who made me: Jack London, Jules Verne, Gerald Durrell, Ernest Thompson Seton, Strugatsky brothers and Stanislaw Lem are the best known. There were also some writers who are completely unknown outside ex-USSR, I guess: Veniamin Kaverin, Vladimir Sanin and Yevgeny Shvarts.

[@ruiamaral7954]

As a life long reader in most things (especially Fantasy and Sci-FI) and also having a BA in Philosophy a lot of what you say resonates. Similar choices too. But there are a couple that have stayed with me over the years - Olay Stapleton's StarMaker (big sci-fi writer in the early 20th century and also a professor of Philosophy), E.R.R. Eddison's the Worm Ourobos (a close friend of JRR Tolkien), William Gibson's Neuromancer, Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, Tom Robbins' Jitterbug Perfume, and James Joyce's Ulysses (I gave up on Finnegan's Wake - so hard to understand the dialect that is used in that book). I recently finished Jose Saramago's Death by Intervals which has an interesting premise around Death.

[@xenobeers]

Started reading again in 2020, mostly science fiction and ended up being amazed at how self shattering it is as a genre dating back to Frankenstein. Along with Frankenstein and War of the Worlds, the World Inside by Robert Silverberg, The Iron Heel by Jack London, The Left Hand of Darkness by Le Guin just to name a few. Beyond that I think my favorite read of last year was What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher, a sort of cosmic horror retelling of the Fall of the House of Usher by Poe that gave me nightmares about fungus.

[@jonijacobs8499]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. You are a gift to us poor folk who can’t afford “higher” education.

[@thomasgent4789]

I started reading Crime & Punishment just yesterday and I picked it up because of one of your prior videos. I spent most of the evening just reading the first two chapters and writing so much marginalia and notes it was crazy - I didn't even fully dissect Marmeladov's dialogue in ch2. I can just tell I am going to want to re-read this every year or two. This is my next big project after reading Leviathan by Hobbes!

[@adityaraj6377]

I started reading crime and punishment just today...hope our journey with this book will be worth every second.

[@thomasgent4789]

@@adityaraj6377 thanks! Good luck!

[@margaretinsydney3856]

Another wonderful video, thank you. You have inspired me to read Dostoevsky - - The Brothers Karamazov - - and I'm loving it. I, too, would be interested in your journey to Orthodoxy, if you're up to sharing that. (BTW, I had never heard of Kalistos Ware until a week or so ago but I have come across his name at least three times since. Strange.)

[@philipswain4122]

I was fortunate to have discovered science fiction while at primary school in England. We were encouraged to read. Ii fell in love with science fiction, specifically Issac Asimov. I moved on to Homer at high school. I have to say it was The Odyssey that pushed me further into literature. I now have my own library that I’m passing down to my daughter. She’s currently in her first flushes of Shakespeare.

[@ttues]

This is a wonderful comment! Yes, I also have a daughter that reads books on my shelves. It is the best gift we can give to our children. Introduce them to ways in which they can enrich their lives and then engage with discussion and questions.

[@philipswain4122]

@@ttues thanks. I recently bought her a copy of Cold Comfort Farm. In essence, I want her to understand the subtlety of English humour. I know it’s probably more advanced than she’s used to, but my goal is to have her read above her school year level and not be intimidated by the great works.

[@guilhermeferrao5968]

Off the top of my head, the first book that really changed my life was Baltasar and Blimunda by José Saramago. I had always liked reading, but saw it more as something to do when I did not feel like doing anything else (usually, playing video games and watching TV). When I was a teen, my sister made me read that book for school and it completely changed the way I viewed reading. I would say most of what I am today cam as a consequence of reading that book. After that, Siddartha by Hermann Hesse was an extremely inspiring book for me. I felt like I had never read a truly Beautiful book until I read Siddartha. Another book that changed my life more recently was The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb. I don't even consider it a "great" book, but Nassim's skepticism was quite inspiring and came at just the right time for me when I read it.

[@rickemmet1104]

Hi Jared. I never heard the term "Booktube" until yesterday, so far your recommendations are far better than those I've seen elsewhere! Just thought of this book, which is impressive on many levels, it's "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl. You've probably read this already, but if not, it's right up your alley. Cheers :)

[@rickemmet1104]

Hey Jared, great video, thanks! The novel "We" was the basis for Orwell's "1984." I read it in junior high or high school and pales in comparison to Orwell. But you got to give it some love, cause George liked it enough to base a novel on it. For me "1984" was of one of the best books of all time and I can't say enough about it. Here are a few others I can suggest to you and your viewers: Shock Doctrine, The Road To Unfreedom, Conservatives Without Conscience, American Theocracy and The Selfish Gene. Also, all of Orwell's essays are great, even when he's talking about factions nobody remembers.

[@barryerhovwojosiah4935]

In 2016 'Eutopia' by Thomas More shaped my readimng culture and appreciation of art. Then I read 'The Man Who Was Thursday' by G.K Chesterton. This made me realise that uncertainty is an aspect of life we cannot dissociate from. The last book of that year was 'Whistling Season' by Ivan Doig. In this book I saw how the life of a single parent is faced with a lot of challenges and how Children will always follow the stages of development and be concerned about their own reality. The most interesting aspect of the book is the countryside lifestyle it portrayed. It shows how life can be interesting with little.

[@JimGFM]

Great video. I've also been trawling through the wheel of time series over the past year. Can be a slog at times, but it is truly epic. Have you read the Remembrance of Earths past trilogy by Liu Cixin? I really enjoyed that in 2022. I think you'd enjoy it too.

[@BonytoBeastly]

If you like Guy Gavriel Kay and Gene Wolfe, you might like David Gemmell's Sword in the Storm. It's packaged like a sword and sorcery novel, but it's emotional in a way that reminds me of Kay and thought provoking in a way that reminds me of Wolfe. If you haven't worked through all of Kay's stuff yet, Under Heaven is great.

[@clemfarley7257]

Great channel. Thx.

[@1369IC]

If you like sci-fi, fantasy and retellings of mythology, you should give the movie The Fare a look. Very simple concept, very well done. Anyway, nicely done. Going to have to read a couple of these.

[@aletseaniram]

When you mentioned, in this video and in another one, how much you love science fiction and philosophy, I immediately thought of The Dispossessed. Can't believe I have it in the shelve for 2 years and barely touched it. It was recommended by a great friend of mine, who admired our CEO. lol He's words were "If you want to get into his genius mind, read The Dispossessed." Now, I'm double curious. Just finishing Dr. Gabor Maté's "The Myth of Normal" (I love science, neurology, psychology...). Le Guin will go next. Thank you!

[@Cuckold_Cockles]

Love the channel brother! You've given me many great book recommendations thus far and will continue to do so, no doubt. I have a question though. As a reader of books. Do you ever go back and re-read any particular pieces of literature? And if so, what are they? Do they tend to be fiction or non-fiction? IF I ever go back and re-read something, it always tends to be non-fiction. For some reason I can only drag myself back to something with statistical, factual evidence and notation.

[@terileekline]

(Your voice is mellifluous) My life changed during the pandemic when I decided to take on the challenge of reading the great Russian literature. Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Chekov, and others. Nothing and I mean nothing compares. My favorite of all is Crime and Punishment I am loving your channel Thank you for your effort Cheers 😊

[@David-fo6oy]

You should take a dive into Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain. I think anyone who is a philosopher and a lover of literature would appreciate Mann.

[@Dreamer105-6]

based on the "The Orthodox Way" recommendation, id highly suggest you try to get your hands on anything written by Dumitru Staniloae. He was a romanian orthodox writer of the 20th century, his approach is very in-depth and thorough to whatever topic he covers and his writing style is very engaging. If you can find any of his works translated in english, give them a read and you will enjoy it.

[@stevietv321]

I read Martian Chronicles when I was 10. I am now 68. This story has deeply affected me. Ray Bradbury also wrote a book about writing. I think that’s why I love science fiction and fantasy so much, because of how characters relate to each other and their circumstances. Really, it’s how it relates to real life that I love so much.

[@phoebebaker1575]

I agree. How it relates to real life is also what I love about sci-fi, or literature in general. I’m always trying to figure out my life, and sometimes the stories you are presented with (work, living environment, etc.) don’t have the answers I’m looking for.

[@yneleg]

I would love to hear you speak more about your way to (?) orthodoxy.

[@rafaeldonnelly3593]

The following are some of the books that have left an impression on this particular Englishman, starting from when I was at school:- Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, George Orwell’s 1984, The Poems of Antonio Machado, Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall, Joseph Heller’s Catch 22, Thomas Keneally’s Schindler’s Ark, Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, Laurie Lee’s As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, Umberto Eco’s Name of the Rose, Haruki Marukami’s Wind up Bird Chronicle, Sebastian Faulks’s Birdsong, Graham Swift’s Waterland, Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory, Alain-Fournier’s Le Grand Meaulnes, Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons, John Le Carre’s A Perfect Spy, Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind, William Boyd’s Any Human Heart, Matthew Kneale’s English Passengers, and Antony Beevor’s Stalingrad. All heartily recommended.

[@oiu6859]

Another great vid

[@angelah6191]

1984 definitely had an impact on me as a child and truly made me think how far society can go with people's best so called interests in mind.

[@CDMVIDZ]

While it isn't deeply philosophical, the one book that changed the course of my life and led me to 30 years in the IT industry was William Gibson's NEUROMANCER. Written on a World War 1-era typewriter, published in the fateful year of 1984, it blew my mind like nothing else would until I read ANATHEM decades later. Gibson coined the term "cyberspace" and was lightyears ahead of the technocurve, winning the triple crown of Sci-Fi literature (the PKD, the Hugo, and the Nebula for NEUROMANCER alone) while helping to found the cyberpunk genre. I was 15 the summer that book dropped, and I honestly don't think I'll ever feel that very specific thrill -- of reading something so completely original and somehow pre-zeitgeist -- as an adult. I'd love to be proven wrong, but that book just flipped something fundamental in my sensorium that will never be duplicated. Love your channel, love your recommendations, subscriber for life!

[@NWong]

Thank you… I liked The Brothers Karamazov more than Crime and Punishment but Confessions was like looking into a spiritual mirror. Overall an interesting selection and I look forward to The Intellectual Life. What are your thoughts on the Reformed tradition compared to the Orthodox?

[@paulsevilla3656]

In the past few years the ones I've gotten the most out of are In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon by Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm, The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han, A Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis by Bruce Fink, The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord, Capitalism and Desire by Todd McGowan, On Love by Ajahn Jayasaro, and Passport to Magonia by Jacques Vallee

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

WE was an influence on Orwell. No surprise there. Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy is the most aesthetically powerful book I've ever read. I've read it multiple times over the past 20 years. Shusaku Endo's books are fascinating and frequently feature the culture clash of Christianity and traditional Japanese culture. Well worth exploring.

[@rachmusic9873]

Blood Meridian is the most powerful piece of content I’ve ever experienced.

[@JsnHgl]

Blood Meridian. Amazing book.

[@paulmitchell2916]

I was amazed by Blood Meridian when I read it, but the taste hasn't aged well for me. Taking that kind of negativity for philosophical depth seems a bit like the late adolescent who takes heavy drug abuse and sexual extremes for personal authenticity. Many unforgettable images in that book.. but I see no real merit in populating my mind with those kinds of images.

[@crinklecut6798]

Just started Blood Meridian after a long time without reading anything, and Christ is this book a tough one to get through

[@avery.a5948]

@@crinklecut6798 is it due to the Violence or is it because you are not liking it?

[@boardgamesonthemoon]

Speaking of dystopian fiction, would love to hear your thoughts on David Ohle’s ‘Motorman’. That one left me pretty gobsmacked

[@davidminken4094]

Loved Anathem, but the book that literally changed my life was Stephenson's earlier novel Cryptonomicon.

[@phoebebaker1575]

Life changing books for me: Murderbot Diaries series, by Martha Wells. A good blend of action and philosophy. Listening to the audiobooks performed by Kevin R. Free brings an exponential level of meaning and perception to the already great writing by Wells. Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie is my current favorite book of 40 or so years of reading. Again, a great blend of action and philosophy.

[@hattorihanzo2275]

Anything by James Ellroy and Philip Kerr's Gunther series are my favorites.

[@dudeskeela]

really stoked the algo recommended your channel to me! quick question about Confessions - is the Chadwick translation the best "starter" translation you recommend? it sounds like you were already quite familiar with the source material going into your reread, but for those like myself who would be reading it for the first time, is Chadwick the way to go?

[@jacksonmcnamee4467]

read the idiot and the brothers karamazov by dostoevsky in high school. I'm a slow reader, so spent a lot of time with these two. I think his ability to portray a giant mishmash of characters but expose their motivations and private suffering so clearly made me a more compassionate person, more understanding, objective with other people and the situations I found myself in with them. Also, already a young romantic, Jack GIlbert's The Great Fires and Pablo Neruda's 20 love poems enabled me like nothing else could. GIlbert's poems in particular; my English teacher in my junior year offhandedly recommended him to me and I've never read a better love poem than one written by him.

[@guyincognito9698]

I totally agree that C&P is the perfect novel - I have said this ever since reading it!