100 Books Like In Search of the Good Life

Friedman, a longtime New York Times foreign affairs columnist, was one of the first to show me what I should love and hate about globalization, circa 1999, at the peak of Western support for neoliberal globalization.

Although his gee-whiz, gung-ho enthusiasm for the world of the Lexus (high-tech globalization with global supply chains and integrated financial markets) sometimes wears thin, he also covers the problems caused by globalization. He even appeals to the need for the “olive trees” of community, family, and religion to make globalization ethical.

Even when the breezy tone annoys me, this book is still my go-to guide for mapping the effects of globalization on business, economics, politics, culture, and the environment.

I find Sam’s book imperative: love it or hate it, praise it or criticize it; Sam gets us to think seriously about culture and identity as he opens an important debate for our complex democracies to engage with. I taught with Sam at Harvard and never ceased to be amazed by his profound understanding of the world. We may disagree with him, but he certainly gets us talking.

Hamid’s prose is sparkling, reflecting his experience of globalization, as a Princeton-trained native of Pakistan who lives in Lahore, New York, and London.

Framed as a self-help book and narrated in twelve short chapters with self-help titles like “work for yourself,” this novel follows the life story of one man in a country that sounds a lot like Pakistan, as he moves from the village to the city and tries to make it in business.

I loved Hamid’s vivid portrait of challenging daily living conditions in a developing country, including unclean water, stifling rural life, urban overcrowding, and corrupt bureaucrats. While reading, I felt like I was living in Lahore, rooting for a Pakistani friend to succeed.

Is the self-help advice ironic or earnest? The reader will have to judge. 

Full disclosure: I spent two weeks studying with Professor Volf in a summer seminar on Faith and Globalization in 2010, which occurred after the publication of my book.

Along with Tony Blair, he taught a similar undergraduate seminar between 2008 and 2011 at Yale University, which became the basis for Flourishing. I admire Volf’s boldness in summarizing the vast debates between major world religions concisely here. But, characteristically, he defines his terms precisely and defends his thesis clearly.

Although he identifies with the Christian tradition, he is eager to foster an inclusive dialogue between that tradition and others. His consistently evenhanded tone models the very kind of dialogue our world needs if we are to begin making peace.

I’ve read this book twice and I would read it again and again because it taught me so much about myself in relation to how I want to approach and understand love. It affirmed my feelings about love and gave me the language and tools to understand the dynamics of love in platonic relationships, familial relationships, or romantic relationships.

I enjoyed how Hooks discussed themes such as spirituality, values, trauma, and greed. I consider this book to be an essential read and one I will always go back to when exploring concepts of love.

This country was settled primarily by Puritan extremists who imprinted their deep distrust of the body’s needs onto future generations. The Calvinist obsession with sin and predestination led to a uniquely American situation. As wealth became a sign of grace, poverty indicated moral failure.

Weber’s classic book describes the process in which a perspective that began in renunciation was transformed into the drive to work incessantly in the pursuit of worldly success and, eventually, conspicuous consumption. As the strictly religious fervor dissipated over time, the competitive quest for efficiency, productivity, wealth, and the self-validation they symbolized remained and became our most fundamental value.

What others would later call the “American Dream” endures because, like no other myth, it promises fulfillment both in this world and the next. This helped me understand our obsession with individualism and why America ignores or mistreats many of its children simply because their parents are… show more.

I have found this book to be outstanding on almost all of life’s major philosophical questions, to the extent that I have not only read it at least a half dozen times but also taught it as a course, working through the book one chapter at a time.

It deals with arguably all the most important questions in life, including love, the problem of injustice and suffering, the existence of God, and human nature. I especially love C.S. Lewis’s ability to address deep subjects in everyday language in such an enjoyable and engaging way.

I call him HIM is an apocalyptic horror story about a man who is a fighting machine.

Hell has come to earth and wreaked havoc. Demonic beings lurk everywhere, feasting off of humanity. Our main character is simply called Him. He has no name, but only rage as he kills demonic hordes with his sword and his strength.

Where is God in a world filled with demonic influences? Where is God when the cry of humanity reaches out for answers? This thought consumes Him, but there may be a light. A young girl who may be the key.

Scott Kimak blends this horror, apocalyptic story with gritty violence, intense action scenes, coarse language, but also themes of redemption and sacrifice.

He is so hilariously good at swearing!

That’s a major reason I love this book: Francis Spufford raises profanity to a high art, and he does it in a book that is, ostensibly, about Jesus.

A Christian friend recommended this one to me, and I bought it and let it sit on the shelf for a long time before I finally picked it up. Then I read it in maybe three sittings, because it’s silly and profound at the same time. (Also it’s short and carries you along—this is a good one to stick in your bag and read a couple pages at a time whenever you are at a bus stop.)

Spufford is mainly a novelist, and his aim here is not to convince you that Christianity’s fact claims are true. (Although he does think it’s all true.) Instead, he’s explaining the way the Christian picture of God and… show more.

Martin Schleske is a German luthier and theologian. My daughter is a violinist. I picked up this book at the recommendation of Byron of Hearts & Minds Books, hoping to learn more about the violin-making process, and it has remained one of my favorite books ever since. Schleske slowly and carefully walks the reader through his process, from choosing the right trees, to designing the structure, to helping “closed” violins discover their sound. Along the way, he shares how his work crafting violins helps him grow in his faith.

I can only read a couple pages of this book at a time, as Schleske’s profound wisdom often leaves me with thoughts I need time to process and sort through. This is a book about how God, as the Artist, will continue to shape me, work with me, and help me be the best instrument I can be to make music… show more.