Books like The Counterlife — picked by fans

While I hunted for spiritual wisdom, I also read great fiction, and sometimes, the two came together in one work of art. The protagonist of this book, whose title derives from the Upanishads, is Larry Darrell, an upper-crust young man slated for the perfect marriage and career. But WWI left him with PTSD and higher priorities.

His search for truth and meaning eventually takes him to an Indian ashram and transformation in the Himalayas. He returns to New York but resists the pull of privilege. He’ll drive a cab to pay the bills and frequent the libraries. I grew up the opposite of privileged, but Larry was nevertheless a role model. I wanted what he wanted; I was even a New York cabbie for a year. 

I remember reading this in my student bedsit and being transfixed. I was studying art but had just decided that I wanted to be a novelist. As such, I loved the opening lines: “A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead.”

It is a simple yet beautiful book about love, belief, and betrayal. I’m not religious, but the testing of someone’s faith and how it may make them act stuck with me. Also, the facade of the ‘stiff upper lip,’ but underneath, the vulnerability.

In the current media environment, it is hard for us to do the one essential thing that novel readers must do: suspend disbelief—to read something that we know is not true, yet accept it as if it were true. It is a cynical time. We have learned to mistrust what we read.

So what is a novelist to do? Well, one way to win over skeptical readers is by a simple trick, one that I love (as both reader and writer): the novelist appears in his own novel. My novel uses a similar device, beginning with a novelist-narrator who bears a striking resemblance to me. These five novels all use a similar strategy.

The first book, American Pastoral, is one of my favorites. Philip Roth frequently borrowed from his own life in his novels, but to me, this is his most effective blend of fact and fiction. The novel lifts… show more.

A more modern example of the writer as a character in his own novel, borrowing pieces of his own life and weaving them into something more. It is so polished that it is hard to believe it was the first novel. And so personal, in the way it borrows from Foer’s family history (or seems to), that it gives the reader that distinctive shiver of fiction that threatens to burst through the confines of a novel into something like truth—realism that verges on reality.

I tried to weave my own history into my book in a similar way; this book probably had something to do with that.

There is nothing quite like this book. It is grotesque and bizarre and reads like something out of a lucid dream. I do not and will not stop recommending it.

Each word is like sticking my fingers into the trama of a mushroom and coming out covered in spores. I love how it felt like I was losing my mind along with the characters, diving deeper into the unknown and hoping to come out unscathed.

When I read Werner's Effortless Mastery, the first thing that happened was that my style of piano playing and composing transformed. What was once very methodical became free-flowing. Secondly, whatever I learned at the piano, then seemed to transfer to my writing and other projects. An absolute unsung hero of both mastery and productivity, Werner does a fantastic job of describing the work of getting your mind into that state of play where learning and creating happen best. 

Anthony Robbins is the world's most famous success coach.

With Unlimited Power, he has made Neurolinguistic Programming known outside of therapy in management.

Anyone who wants to break through beliefs that prevent success and wants to get many valuable suggestions at all levels of success, can not get past Anthony Robbins. His books have inspired and motivated me.

Anyone who really wants to be successful should read his books. In Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical & Financial Destiny! you get a very good summary of his thoughts.

I loved this book because it helped me delve further into being a Highly Sensitive Person. The reason I loved this book so much is that it describes and explains the Sensitive in a different way. Dr. Orloff explains the Sensitive/Empath in a more energetic way, on a “higher” level.

This helped me understand an even bigger part of myself as a Sensitive. Dr. Orloff’s book offers quizzes that helped me identify whether I was an empath and what kind of empath I was. She offers insight with little tips and techniques sprinkled throughout the book, which I have found to be quite helpful.

Far too many people are stuck in life and don’t even know what they are passionate about. A few years ago, I read this book and took the test. I not only found my top five passions, but it also helped me hone into my top five passions simultaneously. I am now living them, loving them, and being quite abundant for them. It was the starting point that got me where I am today.

This starting point led me to a successful business in an industry I love. I found new ways to grow and become a leader, so much so that I was inspired to write my book a few years later. 

Pressfield explores the concept of resistance, the internal forces that hold us back from pursuing our deepest callings, and how committing to our craft transforms amateurs into professionals.

Meaningful living requires alignment with our true desires, not the stories or expectations imposed by others. Pressfield offers a direct and honest pathway for confronting fear and stepping into the life we are meant to lead.

I appreciate Pressfield’s straightforward style. This book helped me recognize how often we avoid our dreams out of fear or self-doubt. When we finally turn toward the work our soul is calling us to do and commit to showing up daily, everything changes. Turning pro is ultimately about choosing authenticity over approval.