This list is specifically “secret” philosophy books. There were plenty of novels (Victor Hugo, Milan Kundera, Robert Pirsig) that I love, but they don’t hide the fact that they’re significantly philosophy books. My degree is in philosophy (BA, UCLA), with a special interest in ethics, ethical questions. I still really love the marriage of fiction and philosophy especially when it’s done subtly and beautifully. I am the author of three books: Approaching the Natural, Raising Healthy Parents. and Six Truths. I hold a BA in Philosophy from UCLA, am a public speaker, podcaster (What Sid Thinks Podcast), certified nutritionist & running coach, Oxygen Advantage breathing instructor, and founder of Small Steppers.
I wrote...
Six Truths: Live by These Truths and Be Happy. Don't, and You Won't.
I’m not a sports fan. My good friend, Ryan Harty (author of one of my favorite short story compilations: “Bring me your saddest Arizona”) recommended this book to me many years ago. I’m not a sports fan but he assured me it had very little if anything to do with sports. He was right about that! I gave it a shot and was immediately transported into the narrative. It’s still in my top 5 all-time favorite book list. Ford’s ability to communicate existential crises in deeper but simple ways is so, so good. Frank Bascombe, the protagonist is detached in a way that is both beautiful and unsettling.
As a sportswriter, Frank Bascombe makes his living studying people--men, mostly--who live entirely within themselves. This is a condition that Frank himself aspires to. But at thirty-eight, he suffers from incurable dreaminess, occasional pounding of the heart, and the not-too-distant losses of a career, a son, and a marriage. In the course of the Easter week in which Ford's moving novel transpires, Bascombe will end up losing the remnants of his familiar life, though with his spirits soaring.
This is a memoir of sorts, but a fiction book nevertheless. Again, the philosophy of life is shown through the dying grandfather. The book highlights the sometimes blurry lines between right and wrong, but also standing up for what is right, questions of personal sacrifice for the common good, and more.
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A Telegraph Book of the Year * A New York Times Notable Book of the Year * A Washington Post Book of the Year * A Wall Street Journal Book of the Year * A Slate Book of the Year
'Probably Chabon's greatest, a piece of sustained writing that will be hard to see outdone in 2017' The Times
'Entirely sure footed, propulsive, the work of a master at his very best. The brilliance of Moonglow stands as a strident defence of the form itself, a bravura demonstration of the endless mutability and versatility…
At times a difficult (but great) read, The Darling tackles some big ethical and political subjects. Banks addresses the power of speech (and silence), the separation of emotions from choice, and the sometimes necessity of compartmentalizing traumatic experiences in order to survive. I found the protagonist’s voice compellingly detached with just the right amount of compassion and engagement (similar, in fact to Frank’s voice in The Sportswriter).
(Side note, Banks’ Rule of the Bone almost made this list as well…)
Hannah Musgrave has always been on the run: from her adoring parents, her many lovers, even from herself. As a young woman, she dropped out of her privileged Boston world to work for the terrorist group the Weathermen. Her activities put Hannah on the FBI's most wanted list forcing her to flee to Liberia in West Africa. There she marries an ambitious, young politician and settles down to being a wife and mother. Liberia, in the meantime, is a country waiting to explode. A century of American exploitation has created a corrupt elite and a fragile military state where the…
The least “secret” of on the list, this book is still excellent. Tom Robbins is one of my favorite authors (I’ve read nearly everything he’s ever written). He has incredible freedom of language (the author version of my favorite singer-songwriter, Vic Chesnutt). Jitterbug Perfume is also one of my favorites, but in that book, Robbins gets a bit too blatant/heavy-handed in his delivery, whereas Skinny Legs and All grabbed me right out of the chute and kept me glued to the pages for the rest of the ride.
An Arab and a Jew open a restaurant together across the street from the United Nations....
It sounds like the beginning of an ethnic joke, but it's the axis around which this gutsy, fun-loving, and alarmingly provocative novel spins, in which a bean can philosophizes, a dessert spoon mystifies, a young waitress takes on the New York art world, and a rowdy redneck welder discovers the lost god of Palestine-while the illusions that obscure humanity's view of the true universe fall away, one by one, like Salome's veils.
Skinny Legs and All deals with today's most sensitive issues: race, politics,…
This book explores honor, principles, ethics, religion, and more, is a powerhouse (in fact, the whole trilogy could be on this list as well). I was drawn to the old-school “cowboy” ethic (idealized to be sure, but in many ways the modern world is moving further and further away from principled action/standing up for what is right regardless of the outcome).
John Grady Cole is the last bewildered survivor of long generations of Texas ranchers. Finding himself cut off from the only life he has ever wanted, he sets out for Mexico with his friend Lacey Rawlins. Befriending a third boy on the way, they find a country beyond their imagining: barren and beautiful, rugged yet cruelly civilized; a place where dreams are paid for in blood.
The first volume in McCarthy's legendary Border Trilogy, All The Pretty Horses is an acknowledged masterpiece and a grand love story: a novel about the passing of childhood, of innocence and a vanished American…
I’m passionate about helping people see the incredible beauty of God’s unfolding plan of redemption and restoration that unfolds in the pages of the Bible. In the Old Testament, this plan is hidden in mystery and symbolism. But then in the New Testament, this great mystery is unveiled in all its glory, and the symbolism emerges from the shadows and steps into the light! For the past 15+ years, it has been my great honor to read the Bible with people for their very first time and help them watch this great mystery unfold. These books do that very same thing!
The Bible is the greatest mystery novel ever written. It begins in the Old Testament with seemingly random accounts of ancient people in far away places with strange customs. There’s the prophecy of a coming Hero who will conquer the villain and restore peace to the land. The mystery reaches its climax of anticipation as the Old Testament comes to a close and 400 years of silence ensues and the world longingly waits for its deliverer. Then, in a stable outside a small village in a conquered nation, a peasant woman gives birth to a baby boy. And the great…
The Essence: A Guided Journey of Discovery through the Bible
The Unfolding Story of God's Ultimate Plan of Restoration
The Bible is the greatest book ever written, and it's more than just a book-it's the very Word of God. It unveils the unfolding story of God's ultimate plan to restore mankind's relationship with Him. The answers to life's deepest questions are found within its pages. It reveals who we are, why we are here, who God is, and how we can know Him. However, for many people, the great riches of the Bible remain undiscovered and its exquisite beauty, unseen. The relevance of the peculiar accounts of ancient people in…
Everyone wants to be happy. Everyone. We certainly have opinions about what choices someone might make to get there but we absolutely want happiness, and as much of it as possible. Six Truths is simple, accessible, cutting edge, edgy, and most of all, necessary. Sid Garza-Hillman has taken all he's learned as a nutritionist, philosopher, speaker, podcaster, Small Steps coach, ultramarathoner, father, and husband, and distilled it into six truths. Six truths that, if you live by them, will deliver you a happy life.
In Six Truths, Garza-Hillman, uses his usual funny, smart, no BS approach to helping you live your best life.
Interested in
Liberia,
family secrets,
and
a middle age man?
11,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them.
Browse their picks for the best books about
Liberia,
family secrets,
and
a middle age man.
