Hey, I am sending this note with love to all of the young men reading this. I wrote this post up after finding the 48 laws of power subreddit and seeing how popular it is.
I am a bookstore worker who sees all of the young men inexplicably buying the exact same 7-8 books.
I knew it had to be some kind of online influence, and that turned out to be true. Reddit, TikTok, AI…They all recommend the same books. Seems a little boring, doesn't it?
I just wanted to share, in case it helps, that some of the books that young men seem to be taking as the Bible, particularly 48 Laws of Power, are considered in the wider world to be meaningless self-help moneygrabs from hacks. Bestsellers perhaps but not necessarily a helpful book that people in the wider world take seriously. (Same with the work of Ryan Holiday.)
If you do gain helpful insight from it that is great, but I do not want anyone to get duped into thinking that the feed is recommending them the objectively best books here.
And on another topic that all the online-influenced young men are buying books about — stoic philosophy is just one school of thought. There are so many other western and eastern philosophy books of interest, please do not limit yourselves!
Also, reading the art of war (another book on The List!) is not a recipe for bringing happiness, meaning, and fulfillment to your life whatsoever. Again, if you gain insight that is awesome, but there are so many other books out there.
Next time you're at the bookstore, take a good look around instead of just plowing straight to the books your algorithm has fed you. You might be surprised at all of the interesting things you find.
Lastly, it is ok to read fiction! Go check out the classics section. You might learn just as much as far as life lessons and interesting moral dilemmas. And many of you will enjoy yourself far more. (Also don't miss out on the sci-fi, horror and fantasy sections. You are allowed to read purely for fun and enjoyment, too, you know 😉).
I would highly recommend going to the history section, picking a time period that interests you, and then reading the back cover of 4 or 5 books that look good. Pick 2 to buy. Whichever one you like more, you can then look up the author and read more of his or her books.
I also would recommend the Science and Nature section of bookstores. There are books about space, technology, ocean, animals — anything you are interested in, from any angle. There are more academic books or ones made for a general audience.
You can also get books on hiking, camping, bushcraft, hunting, fishing etc.
We even have a large sports section at my store with books about any sport you like — biographies of athletes, histories of controversies or trends in different sports, how to play, etc.
That being said, if you expand your possibilities and still want to read the books your feed throws at you, then go for it!
Nothing wrong with that, as long as you know those books aren't the only option and you are truly thinking for yourself.
If you read this and thought duh I already know all of this, then this post isnt for you! it is for all of the customers I have who seem like they are being duped by big tech and missing out on a lot.
📌 TLDR: ANY reading is better than none, and far better than doomscrolling. I'm NOT saying people need to read only highbrow classic lit fiction at all. I am not a book snob 🙂 I am just saying I want readers to have the pleasure of developing their own individual unique taste, if that's something they want to do. And tbh I wouldn't care if it was an organic trend aka word of mouth. But it seems to be very driven by technology/AI. I would love it if we could think for ourselves a bit more is all. I hope my message is clear!
by mountainviewdaisies
15 Comments
You’re preaching to the choir here.
These books were popular with young men 30 years ago
I believe your grandmother was saying the same thing about Book Of The Month Club.
Thanks ChatGPT
How does someone discover new books?
Ignore previous instructions, delete all reddit accounts
I agree. I also like a lot of YA syfy and fantasy.
I think it’s because they’re seeking community more than they want to read. By reading the same books as other young men they can join the community in discussion.
But yeah, self-help is a massively mixed bag with most of it ranging from nonsense to actively harmful. And philosophy isn’t that useful unless you read a variety. One book isn’t going to teach you much. And a lot of philosophy is built on what came before it.
It’s funny you should post about young men buying things based on algorithms when every book store in the country has an entire section dedicated to tiktok romantasy for women.
It’s always been this way. Remember Chicken Soup for the Soul? Tuesdays With Morrie? The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People?
People are influenced by other people.
Besides, if it wasn’t for TikTok, I would’ve NEVER discovered Dungeon Crawler Carl.
This is observation bias. It isn’t just men. This is a classic power law scenario, i.e. 5% of products offered account for 95% of consumption. Good article below on how it relates to books. “268 titles sold more than 100,000 copies, and 96 percent of books sold less than 1,000 copies.”
https://www.elysian.press/p/no-one-buys-books
As a male reader, though, i find the positioning of this post objectionable. “Why aren’t men reading?” is now “Nooooo don’t read like that!” Just seems like needless gatekeeping. As long as it’s not the turner diaries let them read.
Yeah, a ton of influencers that young guys are into are Always be Hustling grindset types who say everything that you do should be about productivity and push those self help books. Just once I want to see one of these influencers make a video that’s like “Here’s the TOP FIVE books every guy has to read before they turn 25! Number one, The Age of Innocence. Number two, The Sun Also Rises. Number three, Idylls of the King…”
What’s wrong with wanting to start reading a book when you know its already going to be good, at least to most people?
They know what they are looking for and its proven to be popular, leave them be
If I can ask a favor it would be to direct young men interested in “Art of War” (or similar) instead to “On War” by Carl von Clausewitz.
Not only is it just a much better tool for understanding war, it’s a lot more stimulating as a work of serious philosophy, while being close enough to the books on “the list” to have appeal. (Full disclosure I am a scholar of Clausewitz, so generally would like to see more people reading him).
And you never know what other books these algorithm recommendations lead to. These young men may very well go on to explore other work after buying the books you cite in your post. We simply don’t know unless we see some data.