Reading Journey: From Start → Deepest

 Stage 1: Gentle & Practical (Start Here)

These are simple, conversational, and motivating.

1. The Art of Happiness – Dalai Lama & Howard Cutler

2. Factfulness – Hans Rosling

3. The Courage to Be Disliked – Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga

4. How Will You Measure Your Life? – Clayton Christensen

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Stage 2: Self & Happiness

These explore how our minds fool us and how to live better.
5. Stumbling on Happiness – Daniel Gilbert
6. Predictably Irrational – Dan Ariely
7. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
8. The Untethered Soul – Michael A. Singer
9. The Happiness Trap – Russ Harris

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Stage 3: Struggle & Suffering

Now move into human limits, mortality, and resilience.
10. Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl
11. The Road Less Traveled – M. Scott Peck
12. When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
13. Being Mortal – Atul Gawande

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Stage 4: Timeless Wisdom

Classic thinkers on how to live with suffering, anger, fear, and death.
14. Letters from a Stoic – Seneca
15. Meditations – Marcus Aurelius
16. The Prophet – Kahlil Gibran

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Stage 5: Human Conflict & Illusions

These go broader — why society and morality remain so divided.
17. The Righteous Mind – Jonathan Haidt
18. Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman

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Stage 6: Deep Existential Works (Finish Here)

Profound, challenging books — heavier but transformative.
19. The Denial of Death – Ernest Becker
20. The Myth of Sisyphus – Albert Camus

⚡ Tip for reading:

• Read one book per stage at a time (don’t rush).

• Keep a small reading journal: 3 lines per book → One key idea, one personal insight, one action to try.

• By the time you reach Camus at the end, you’ll be prepared for the deepest human questions.