The best books for thinking differently about relationships

Colin Wright Author Of Some Thoughts about Relationships
By Colin Wright

Who am I?

I find a lot of satisfaction and beauty in the interconnections between people and things and concepts, as these relationships are numberless and varied, and the web they make—that entangling mesh—essentially defines everything and everything we’ll ever know or be capable of knowing. Relationships between people are just as diverse and structural to the shape of humanity and our globe-straddling society as anything else we might build or accomplish.

I wrote...

Some Thoughts about Relationships

By Colin Wright

Some Thoughts about Relationships

What is my book about?

A book for people who aspire to relationships tailor-made for their unique beliefs, goals, desires, and lifestyles. A book for people who aren’t afraid to ask, “How might we do this better?”

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

The Books I Picked & Why

The New Breed: What Our History with Animals Reveals about Our Future with Robots

By Kate Darling

The New Breed: What Our History with Animals Reveals about Our Future with Robots

Why this book?

Our relationships with living beings like plants and animals may influence the way we treat other sorts of life—or “life”—we encounter in the future, including the artificial life we create. It’s probably prudent to consider what those relationships should look like, now, before we begin engaging with AI or aliens lacking a clear sense of how to behave toward them.

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness

By Kristen Radtke

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness

Why this book?

Much ink has been spilled about the “loneliness epidemic” spreading widely in the modern world, and this book does a good job of illuminating several facets of that epidemic, addressing the distinction between our private and public selves, and questioning the means through which we attempt, with mixed results, to close our social gaps.

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

Love People, Use Things: Because the Opposite Never Works

By Joshua Fields Millburn, Ryan Nicodemus

Love People, Use Things: Because the Opposite Never Works

Why this book?

Josh and Ryan of The Minimalists have been doing a good job, for years, writing about the correlation between consumeristic compulsions and the spaces in our lives these acquisitions are meant to fill. This book focuses especially on several types of relationships that tend to shape our sense of satisfaction and fulfillment with life, alongside discussions of their own (at times troubled) relationships with people and possessions.

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

This Is How You Lose the Time War

By Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone

This Is How You Lose the Time War

Why this book?

This is an immensely poetic, beautiful work of science fiction that orients around the non-standard relationship between time-traveling operatives from rival, potential futures. That relationship evolves in interesting ways, and their behaviors toward each other as they go about their opposing tasks are both fascinating and smile-inducing. Just a joy to read, and a lovely example of interpersonal dynamics stealing the spotlight from an also quite compelling universe and plot.

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures

By Merlin Sheldrake

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures

Why this book?

We’re only now beginning to understand how completely interwoven fungi are with pretty much every other living creature, and I find that interesting and humbling unto itself, but also find it to be a useful metaphor for the mega-ecosystems of which we’re a part: even relationships we can’t perceive or quantify can play vital roles to the survival and well-being of seemingly disparate elements and entities.

When you buy a book we may earn a small commission.

Closely Related Book Lists

The best books that capture the inevitable bleakness of the apocalypse

David Moody Author Of Autumn: Dawn David Moody

The best middle grade books about unlikely friendships

Anna Humphrey Author Of Megabat Anna Humphrey

The best books about spiritual places

Kenneth Steven Author Of Iona: New and Selected Poems Kenneth Steven

The best picture books you can pore over for hours

Anne Lambelet Author Of Maria the Matador Anne Lambelet

Distantly Related Book Lists

The best dream-like fairy tales books

Mindi Meltz Author Of After Ever After: The Ritual of Forgetting (Book One of the After Ever After Trilogy) Mindi Meltz

The best sci-fi books to enjoy while expanding your mind

Ted Cross Author Of The Immortality Game Ted Cross

The best books about Armageddon

Adam Nevill Author Of Lost Girl Adam Nevill

The best books to make you forget (temporarily) you’re depressed

George Scialabba Author Of How to Be Depressed George Scialabba

Random Book Lists

The best books about rock and roll

Jeff Apter Author Of Bad Boy Boogie: The true story of AC / DC legend Bon Scott Jeff Apter

The best books about women in the Second World War

Belinda Alexandra Author Of Tuscan Rose Belinda Alexandra

The best books about Theodore Roosevelt

Clay Risen Author Of The Crowded Hour: Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the Dawn of the American Century Clay Risen

The best books to understand today’s Russia

Mark Galeotti Author Of We Need to Talk about Putin: Why the West Gets Him Wrong, and How to Get Him Right Mark Galeotti