Books like How Proust Can Change Your Life
12 books with a reading profile close to How Proust Can Change Your Life by Alain de Botton. Balanced in tone; an easy read.
-
1
The Road to Character
by David Brooks
self help, philosophy
David Brooks distinguishes between resume virtues and eulogy virtues to argue that modern society overemphasizes external success at the expense of internal integrity.
-
2
The Witch of Portobello
by Paulo Coelho
philosophy, literary
Athena is a woman born in Romania to a Roma mother, adopted as a baby by a Lebanese couple, and raised partly in Beirut and later in London.
-
3
The Art of Loving
by Erich Fromm
self help, philosophy
Erich Fromm argues that modern society treats love as a passive feeling to be stumbled upon rather than a skill to be mastered.
-
4
The Zahir
by Paulo Coelho
philosophy, literary
Esther, a war correspondent, is married to a celebrated novelist, the narrator, who is living comfortably in Paris.
-
5
The Consolations of Philosophy
philosophy, literary
Alain de Botton pairs six common human afflictions with the teachings of specific historical philosophers to demonstrate how logic applies to emotional pain.
-
6
Three Daughters of Eve
by Elif Shafak
philosophy, literary
Peri is an Istanbul housewife in her thirties, married with a child, who is at a dinner party when a mugger takes her bag and she chases him.
-
7
Intimations
by Zadie Smith
philosophy, literary
Written during the early months of the 2020 pandemic, this collection consists of six essays that analyze the sudden contraction of physical space and the expansion of internal reflection.
-
8
-
9
Bad Feminist
by Roxane Gay
philosophy, literary
Roxane Gay uses this collection of essays to analyze the contradictions between feminist ideology and contemporary pop culture.
-
10
Run
by Ann Patchett
literary
Bernard Doyle, a former Boston mayor, has raised his sons Tip and Teddy, who are Black and were adopted, along with his biological son Doyle.
-
11
The Invention of Wings
literary
The story follows Sarah Grimké, the daughter of a wealthy Charleston judge, and Hetty "Handful," the enslaved girl gifted to Sarah on her eleventh birthday.
-
12
Ego Is the Enemy
by Ryan Holiday
self help, philosophy
Ryan Holiday argues that an inflated sense of self-importance acts as a barrier to mastery and long-term stability rather than a fuel for achievement.
Get picks matched to your own reading on papr.
Get papr
