I'm 22 and I've made a decision I want to stick to for life — building a real physical library. Not a shelf full of self-help bestsellers, but a collection of books that actually shape how I think, understand people, make decisions, and see the world.
I've already read a decent mix — Atomic Habits, The Psychology of Money, The Warren Buffett Way, The Alchemist, Animal Farm, The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, White Nights, The 7 Habits, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Ikigai, and some price action/trading literature.
My unread pile right now includes Meditations, Notes from Underground, The Double, The Intelligent Investor, 1984, Siddhartha, The Bell Jar, Metamorphosis, Mindset, Deep Work, and a few others.
So I have a decent foundation. But I'm very aware of how much I don't know yet.
What I'm looking for:
I want books that genuinely rewire how you think — not surface-level motivation or hustle culture stuff. I'm specifically interested in building depth across these areas:
Philosophy — Western and Eastern, ancient and modern
Psychology & human nature — How people actually think, behave, and deceive themselves
Investing & finance — Beyond the basics, actual frameworks for thinking about money and markets
History & geopolitics — The patterns behind civilizations, wars, power, and collapse
Strategy — Military, political, business, or just general game theory thinking
Literature — Novels that say something real about the human condition
Biographies — People worth studying closely
Hidden gems — Books that aren't on every "top 10" list but left a serious mark on you
I'm not looking for a quick list of popular names. I genuinely want to know: which book actually changed the way you see things? And why.
Open to any era, any country, any genre. Classics, obscure, translated — doesn't matter. If it made you think differently, I want to hear about it.
by mravanish1923
2 Comments
Literature:
The Buru Quartet by Pramoedya Anata Toer is a dramatic and soulful series of four novels that must be read in order to get the full story: This Earth of Mankind, Child of All Nations, Footsteps and House of Glass. This is historical fiction about the birth of Indonesia as a nation and national identity, told through the eyes of young student Minke, half Dutch, half Indonesian, who is based on the father of Indonesian journalism. The author Pramoedya Anata Toer was a political prisoner when he told this as oral stories to fellow prisoners who were not allowed to read and write at the notorious Buru prison. Minke’s has an identity crisis. His trials and tribulations are uplifting and heartbreaking.
History:
A History of Civilizations by Fernand Braudel. He is famous for his works in the Mediterranean. This goes continent by continent focused on long term forces like geography, climate and culture. There are two great chapters on America.
Science & Economics:
Complexity: The New Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos traces the intellectual journey of W. Brian Arthur (inventor of complexity economics), Stuart Kaufman (traced the origin of life with his theory of auto catalytics) and John Holland (one of the earliest pioneers of artificial intelligence).
Religion & Mythology:
Hero of A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell.
The World’s Religions by Huston Smith.
Biography:
The Orientalist by Tom Reiss
Lust for Life by Vincent Van Gogh
Autobiography:
Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
Counsel to the President by Clifford Clark
My favorite –Narrow Road to the Interior (this is a Japanese classic., The best version is the translation by Sam Hamill done by Shambla books.
Biography of a man worth studying–I am in awe of Lee Kuan Yew’s absolute genius. His biography starts with The Singapore Story followed by From Third World to First, but the best Lee Kwan Yew book is One Man’s View of the World by the Straits Times Press.
It’s so good I read it twice.