Fall/Winter Reading List
40 books you might want to read + a free video course on classical architecture
In February I shared 50 Books From My Reading List, and in June we had A Few Good Things to Watch and Read. The time has come for another reading list. Today I proudly present: 40 books you might want to read. Personally I am always looking for good books, and I enjoy seeing what other people are reading, so I hope you will find something you like.
I thought about trying to sort these into categories, but I quickly realized most of them are so interdisciplinary that it would be rather pointless. The themes you will see across many of these books are philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, nature, environment, love, music, art, history. I’ve linked them all to Amazon so you can quickly find more information about each book.
You will also recognize some of these books from previous posts, since I’ve written about many of them before. However, I’m including them all in this list for anyone who hasn’t seen all the previous posts. It’s also a nice handy reference to have them all in one place.
Before we get started with the books, however, I also want to share a very interesting video series on classical architecture. If you’ve ever wondered what makes Greek and Roman buildings so beautiful, the secret is in the proportions of all the elements to each other. This series, presented by the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, is called A Theory of Proportion in Architecture and Design and is hosted by respected architect Bill Bass. He focuses on the Pythagorean and Platonic tradition, demonstrating how geometry forms the basis of Greek porticos and columns. The tempo is pretty slow so it will require patience to sit through all the demonstrations. But if you can bear with the plodding pace, you will learn a lot—not just about architecture and proportion, but about Greek history and culture.
And did I mention the course is completely free? Here are the first two parts, plus a very helpful course book:
Between these videos and all the books listed here, I hope you find something to curl up with and enjoy on a crisp autumn day!
40 Books You Might Want to Read
(my favorites are starred)
10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People (David Yeager)
Aesthetics (Dietrich von Hildebrand)
*Aesthetics of Care: Practice in Everyday Life (Yuriko Saito)
Against Nature (Lorraine Daston)
Aquinas's Ethics (Thomas M. Osborne)
Beauty (Roger Scruton)
Being Aware of Being Aware (Rupert Spira)
Healing Songs (Ted Gioia)
How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen (David Brooks)
*Heal Your Nervous System: The 5-Stage Plan to Reverse Nervous System Dysregulation (Linnea Passaler)
Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relations, Vol. 5 - Practice (Gavin Van Horn, Robin Wall Kimmerer, John Hausdoerffer)
Love: A History (Simon May)
Love's Knowledge: Essays on Philosophy and Literature Essays on Philosophy and Literature (Martha Nussbaum)
*Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness (Renée Fleming)
Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet (Hannah Ritchie)
*On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction (Brian Boyd)
Philosophy, Literature and Understanding: On Reading and Cognition (Jukka Mikkonen)
Philosophy of the Arts (Gordon Graham)
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (Annie Dillard)
*Restoring the Soul of the World: Our Living Bond with Nature's Intelligence (David Fideler)
*Rules: A Short History of What We Live By (Lorraine Daston)
Seven And A Half Lessons About The Brain (Lisa Feldman Barrett)
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne (Katherine Rundell)
Taking Confucian Ethics Seriously: Contemporary Theories and Applications (Kam-por Yu, Julia Tao, Philip J. Ivanhoe)
*The Age of Conversation (Benedetta Craveri)
The Art and Science of Connection: Why Social Health Is the Missing Key to Living Longer, Healthier, and Happier (Kasley Killam)
*The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution (Dennis Dutton)
The Book-Makers: A History of the Book in Eighteen Lives (Adam Smyth)
The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World (Christine Rosen)
The Greeks and the Rational: The Discovery of Practical Reason (Josiah Ober)
The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America (Jeffrey Rosen)
The Routledge Handbook of Love in Philosophy (Adrienne M. Martin)
The Seasons of the Soul: The Poetic Guidance and Spiritual Wisdom of Hermann Hesse (Hermann Hesse, Ludwig Max Fischer, Andrew Harvey)
The Seven Stone Path: An Everyday Journey to Wisdom (Peter Bolland)
*The Women Are Up to Something: How Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, Mary Midgley, and Iris Murdoch Revolutionized Ethics (Benjamin Lipscomb)
Think You'll Be Happy: Moving Through Grief with Grit, Grace, and Gratitude (Nicole Avant)
Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure (Maggie Jackson)
*Weathering (Ruth Allen)
What Kind of Ancestor Do You Want to Be? (John Hausdoerffer, Brooke Parry Hecht, Melissa K. Nelson, Katherine Kassouf Cummings)
*Why It's OK to Mind Your Own Business (Justin Tosi, Brandon Warmke)
Wow that is some list. Even the titles challenge you. Love the one called 'why it's ok to mind your own business!' due to my interest in neuro as curnce just ordered The 71/2 lessons about the brain. What are your top 5 must reads?
Thank you!