Books › The examined life › Books like it
If you loved
Books like The examined life
An intimate, jargon-free masterclass in empathy that reveals the profound truths hidden within our everyday anxieties. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with The examined life.
- intimate
- quiet
- contemplative
- gently melancholic
- 01
Love's Executioner
Irvin D. Yalom · 1991
An unflinchingly honest, deeply empathetic look into the messy, beautiful reality of two humans sitting in a room trying to make sense of existence.
- 02
The state of affairs
Esther Perel
A compassionate, provocative exploration of the gray areas of human desire and the complex anatomy of betrayal.
- 03
Lying on the Couch
Irvin D. Yalom · 1996
A sharp, deeply empathetic peek behind the therapist's curtain, where the healers are just as flawed and vulnerable as the patients on their couches.
- 04
The Gift of Therapy
Irvin Yalom · 2002
A masterclass in human connection delivered as a series of intimate, fireside chats with a wise mentor.
- 05
Good Morning, Monster
Catherine Gildiner
An intimate, harrowing, yet profoundly hopeful exploration of the human mind's astonishing capacity to survive and heal.
- 06
A shining affliction
Annie G. Rogers · 1995
A raw, poetic exploration of the fragile boundary between healing others and losing oneself.
- 07
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
Lori Gottlieb
A warm, witty, and profoundly human look in the mirror that makes you feel a little less alone in your messiness.
- 08
12 Rules for Life
Jordan B. Peterson
A tough-love philosophical manual that blends ancient mythology with clinical psychology to forge order out of modern chaos.
- 09
The Road to Character
David Brooks
An earnest, biographical meditation on cultivating deep inner goodness in a world obsessed with external achievement.
- 10
Four Thousand Weeks
Oliver Burkeman
A gentle, philosophical dismantling of hustle culture that feels like a massive, life-altering exhale.
- 11
Strangers drowning
Larissa MacFarquhar
A deeply unsettling and beautifully written exploration of what happens when people take morality to its absolute, uncompromising limits.
- 12
Three Women
Lisa Taddeo
An intensely intimate, voyeuristic deep-dive into the raw and often destructive nature of female desire.
