200 Books Worth Reading
Ten-word reviews of books I often recommend
I finally sat down to make a recommended book list! It’s an eclectic mix of 200+ books across 20 genres: must-read classics and obscure gems, each with an Amazon link and a ten-word review. Feel free to bookmark this page and I will keep it updated. Also available here: Google sheet. This list is an updated companion piece to my earlier essay: 12 Ways to Read Books.
What did I miss? Please suggest below or share your own reading list. Enjoy!
Genres (click to jump)
1. Modern Fiction
Trick —Domenico Starnone (2018)
Sharp, succinct Italian storytelling and breathtaking prose. Grandparent vs grandchild.
Ties —Domenico Starnone (2017)
Incisive anatomy of a marriage, strained by infidelity.
The Netanyahus - Joshua Cohen (2022)
Pullitzer-winning dark and hilarious academic satire. Flirtatiously true story.
The Plot Against America —Philip Roth (2005)
Chilling alternate history of a family during folksy wartime anti-Semitism
American Pastoral —Philip Roth (1998)
Pulitzer-winning first part of Roth's American trilogy.
A Confederacy of Dunces —John Kennedy Toole (1980)
Pullitzer-winning original and hilarious romp set in New Orleans.
Catch-22 —Joseph Heller(1961)
Absurd, sad, hilarious wartime satire about Italian bombing missions.
The Overstory: A Novel —Richard Powers (2018)
The best novel ever about trees.
Midnight's Children —Salman Rushdie (1981)
Voted 'Best Booker Winner'. 1000 children connected by birth moment.
Love in a Time of Cholera —Gabriel García Márquez (1985)
Lovers separated for a lifetime...until a husband dies.
A Hundred Years of Solitude —Gabriel García Márquez (1967)
Irreconcilable conflict between desire for solitude and need for love.
The Name of the Rose —Umberto Eco (1980
Medieval murder mystery, set in Italian monastery in 1327.
King of a Small World —Rick Bennett (1995)
Deceptively good story about a young poker play navigating life.
West: A Novel —Carys Davies (2018)
Short, thrilling American frontier novel. Foolish father, abandoned daughter.
World According to Garp —John Irving (1978)
Comic and foreboding coming-of-age novel.
Shantaram —Gregory David Roberts (2003)
Epic, unique novel, an escaped convict navigates Bombay underworld.
Remains of the Day —Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
Nobel and Booker-winning portrait of a regretful English butler.
2. Classic Fiction
Metamorphosis —Franz Kafka(1915)
Short, poignant novel. Gregor Samsa awakes as a beetle. Darkly comic.
The Bell —Iris Murdoch(1958)
Funny, sad, and moving novel about religion, sex and morality.
The Sun Also Rises —Ernest Hemingway (1926)
Spare, poignant prose. Post-War love and loss in Europe.
The Idiot —Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1869)
Short, brilliant novel. A simple soul navigates a corrupt world.
The Plague —Albert Camus(1947)
Short existentialist novel about human powerlessness against bubonic plague.
Brave New World —Aldous Huxley (1932)
Terrifying dystopia predicts dark sides of technology and genetics.
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (1890)
Short, creepy, brilliant novel and philosophical exploration of art and beauty.
The Greatest Short Stories —Anton Chekhov (1903)
Masterful storytelling and insights into the human condition. Still fresh.
Madame Bovary —Gustave Flaubert (1857)
Not for everyone, but a ground-breaking narrative about adultery.
Siddharta —Herman Hesse (1922)
Beautiful, lyrical journey rooted in Bhuddism. Young man's spiritual awakening.
Narcissus and Goldmund —Herman Hesse (1930)
Gripping, complex relationship between an ascetic teacher and passionate pupil.
Pride and Prejudice —Jane Austen(1813)
Best of six sharp, witty novels exploring love and class.
In Search of Lost Time —Marcel Proust (1927)
3,000 page stream-of-consciousness novel about memory, love, and time. (And no, I didn’t even attempt to finish it, but everyone should make an effort!)
Tristam Shandy —Lawrence Sterne (1767)
250 year-old experimental, radical, complex, self-aware masterpiece!
Heart of Darkness —Joseph Conrad (1899)
Dark fictional masterpiece, voyage up the Congo.
The Ultimate Wodehouse Collection —P G Wodehouse (2024 edition)
Around 20 classic, irresistibly joyful novels, Jeeves, Blandings, and others.
I, Claudius —Robert Graves (1934)
Fictional 'autobiography' of an 'idiot' destined to become Emperor.
A Handful of Dust —Evelyn Waugh (1934)
Fast-moving poignant novel about a fading inter-war marriage.
Gulliver's Travels —Jonathan Swift (1726)
Not a children's book! Complex travel-memoir parody political satire.
Jude the Obscure —Thomas Hardy (1895)
Rural stonemason has intellectual ambitions. Romantic and tragic.
Orlando: A Biography —Virginia Woolf (1928)
Playful and experimental fantastical novel, crossing time and genders.
The Great Gatsby —F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
Uncannily modern depiction of greed, anxiety, excess, love during the Jazz Age.
Ulysses —James Joyce(1922)
Brilliant, challenging, modernist masterpiece. One day in Dublin.
Frankenstein —Mary Shelley (1818)
More than gothic horror. Strong, political, philosophical female voice.
Canterbury Tales —Geoffrey Chaucer (1400)
Earthy medieval storytelling. Window to another world. Great starter translation.
Great Expectations —Charles Dickens(1860)
Painful coming-of-age Victorian epic, often darkly disturbing.
The Stranger —Albert Camus (1942)
Ambiguous, modern and absurd novel. Murder on an Algerian beach.
Lucky Jim —Kingsley Amis(1954)
Sharp satire on college life. A hapless misanthropist.
Of Mice and Men —John Steinbeck(1937)
Tragic parable of George and Lennie, Depression-era migrant workers.
The Razor’s Edge - Somerset Maugham (1944)
Witty and Gatsbyesque storytelling, exploring a spiritual journey and snobbery
The Man Who Planted Trees —Jean Giono (1953)
Timeless heroic eco-fable. Sublime wood-engravings.
3. How to Live
The School of Life —Alain de Botton (2020)
Comprehensive secular bible to understand emotions and live wisely.
The Course of Love —Alain de Botton (2017)
Brutal but wise novel that tracks the birth and death of love.
Stay or Leave —Alain de Botton (2022)
Sensitive and human. To stay in or leave a relationship?
The Bed of Procrustes —Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2010)
Witty and clever anthology of aphorisms, capturing Taleb's fresh philosophy.
Wanting —Luke Burgis (2021)
Why we want what we want. Toolkit for freeing ourselves.
Consolations —David Whyte (2021)
Irish-Yorkshire poet and philosopher lyrically unpacks 52 ordinary words.
The Three Marriages —David Whyte (2010)
Meditation on integrating our work, relationships, and inner selves.
Raising Boys (3rd edition) —Steve Biddulph (2014)
Boys are different and struggling. Dealing with sex, violence, technology, etc.
The Good Enough Parent —The School of Life (2022)
Raising contented, interesting and resilient children.
Bittersweet —Susan Cain (2023)
How sorry and longing make us whole. Power of bittersweet personality.
The Art of Self-Improvement —Anna Katharina Schaffner (2021)
Historical review of 10 eternal themes. Ancient Greece till today.
Ten Foot Square Hut and Tales of the Heike —A. L. Sadler (Translation) (~1200)
Medieval Japanese classic exploration of the simple life.
Beyond Good and Evil —Friedrich Nietzsche(1886)
9-part attack on philosophical dogma, in favor of "free spirits"
Tao Te Ching —Lao Tzu (4thC BC)
81 short chapters of wisdom and balance from Ancient China.
The Gulag Archipelago —Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1973)
Nobel-prize winning report of arrest and investigation in totalitarian regime.
How Will You Measure Your Life? —Clayton M Christensen(2012)
Lucid insights about forging a fulfilling life.
Range —David Epstein (2019)
Why generalists triumph in a specialized world. Parenting and business.
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant —Eric Jorgenson (2020)
Naval's pithy wisdom about wealth and happiness. An investment philosopher.
Lost Connections —Johann Hari (2018)
Interviews and data revealing the causes of depression and creative solutions.
Meditations —Marcus Aurelius (~AD180)
Roman Emperor on self-discipline, ethics, humility and strength.
Rome's finest orator, on morality and duty.
Letters from a Stoic —Seneca (~AD65)
Letters on Stoicism, the good life, form a powerful diary.
The Prince —Nicolo Machiavelli (1513)
16th-century political treatise by Italian diplomat: ends justify means.
Man's Search for Meaning —Viktor E Frankl (1959)
Inspiring memoir, a holocaust survivor finding meaning from ultimate adversity.
The Republic Plato (~BC 376)
Socratic dialogues on the perfect society, morality and truth.
Candide —Voltaire (1759)
French satirical novella: "We must cultivate our garden"
4. Psychology
Memories, Dreams, Reflections —C. G. Jung & Aniela Jaffe (1963)
First hand biography of the influential psychiatrist.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces —Joseph Campbell (1949)
Travels through centuries of myth, the framework behind Star Wars
Grit —Angela Duckworth (2016)
Passion and perseverance outweigh talent.
Thinking, Fast and Slow —Daniel Kahneman (2011)
Nobel-prize winner unpacks how our 2 brain systems work.
The Happiness Curve —Jonathan Rauch (2018)
Hopeful and useful analysis showing why life gets better after 50.
Flow —Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1990)
Psychology behind optimal experience: Deep enjoyment, creativity, and total involvement.
Quirkology —Richard Wiseman (2007)
Quirky British professor runs experiments into everyday behavior.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion —Robert Cialdini (1985)
Useful classic text - the six universal laws of persuasion
Tribe —Sebastian Junger (2016)
Combines history, psychology, anthropology to explore belonging, and quest for meaning.
Quiet —Susan Cain (2012)
Why being an introvert can be a source of power.
Civilsation and its Discontents —Sigmund Freud (1930)
Profound text. How today's society causes suffering on a vast scale.
Why People Believe Weird Things —Michael Shermer (1997)
Skeptic magazine founder debunks pseudoscience, conspiracies and their roots.
5. Non-fiction
Team Human —Douglas Rushkoff (2019)
Manifesto of 100 insightful statements. Humans are better together.
Flash Boys —Michael Lewis (2015)
Shocking and funny. Reveals how insiders rigged the US stock market.
The Prize —Daniel Yergin (1991)
History of the modern world, told through quest for oil.
Who Gets What - And Why —Alvin Roth (2015)
The hidden world of matchmaking and market design. Nobel laureate.
The Tipping Point —Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
Gladwell's debut book explores why things take off.
Bowling Alone —Robert D Putnam (2000)
Collapse and revival of community in America.
The Undercover Economist —Tim Harford (2005)
Playful and smart essays. Who gets what and why.
Gang Leader for a Day —Sudhir Venkatesh (2008)
First year sociology graduate student gets involved with Chicago ganglife.
Incerto quintet —Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2021)
Fooled by Randomness, Black Swan, Antifragile, etc. Original, insightful.
The Book of Symbols —Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism (ARAS) (2010)
Over 350 short essays with images of archetypal symbols.
Gig —John and Marissa Bowe (2000)
Surprisingly gripping monologues from 150 Americans describing their jobs.
The Body Keeps the Score —Bessel van der Kolk (2014)
Pioneering research into the causes and healing of trauma.
All the Beauty in the World —Patrick Bringley (2023)
Ex-New Yorker staffer becomes a Met attendant. People-watching.
6. Travel
Falling off the Map —Pico Iyer (1994)
Witty travel writing, the world's loneliest places. Argentina, Bhutan, Iceland.
Wind, Sand and Stars —Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1992)
Autobiographical adventure about the wonder of flying.
The Songlines —Bruce Chatwin (1987)
Traveling the Australian Aborigines' dream tracks. A spiritual adventure.
The Snow Leopard —Peter Matthiessen (1978)
Spiritual Himalayan journey into Buddhism, reality, suffering, impermanence, and beauty.
The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot —Robert Macfarlane (2012)
A journey by foot, crisscrossing the ancient ways of British Isles.
Freedom —Sebastian Junger (2021)
Junger and friends spend a year on the move to understand freedom
As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning —Laurie Lee (1969)
Young Englishman walks around Spain as civil war looms
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon —Rebecca West (1941)
Wry British writer travels Yugoslavia by train as war looms.
7. Spirituality & Buddhism
The Book of Wisdom (Audio) —Osho (2000)
28 Q&A sessions with Osho. Funny, spiritual, wise, surprising.
Being in Love —Osho (2008)
Wise and witty. Love with awareness and without fear.
Living Untethered —Michael Singer (2022)
3rd and best book. Simple guide to a clear mind.
Awakening the Kind Heart —Kathleen McDonald (2010)
Clear and practical Buddhism. How to meditate on compassion.
Be Here Now —Ram Dass (1971)
Former professor discovers LSD and mushrooms and has spiritual awakening.
Old Path White Clouds —Thich Nhat Hanh (1987)
Life, teachings of Buddha, from 24 Pali, Sanskrit, and Chinese sources.
How to Love —Thich Nhat Hanh (2014)
3rd and best of 9 short mindfulness introductions.
Living Buddha, Living Christ (20th anniversary) —Thich Nhat Hanh (2007)
Reveals connections across religions, between inner and outer peace.
The Art of Stillness —Pico Iyer (2014)
Adventures in going nowhere, with Leonard Cohen, Matthieu Ricard.
The Four Noble Truths of Love —Susan Piver (2018)
Classic Buddhist wisdom applied to modern relationships.
Confession of a Buddhist Atheist —Stephen Batchelor (2011)
Frank exploration of buddhism without faith.
Buddhism without Beliefs —Stephen Batchelor (1998)
Buddhism is not something to believe in, but something to do.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance —Robert M Pirsig (1974)
Cult story and philosophical exploration, about a father and son roadtrip
The Book of Joy —Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu (2016)
Sweet, witty and wise inspiration in the face of adversity.
The Power of Now —Eckhart Tolle (1999)
16 million copies sold. Spiritual journey to find deepest self.
The Monk and the Philosopher —Jean Francois Revel & Matthieu Ricard (1997)
Father and son discuss the meaning of life, East vs West.
Bring Me the Rhinoceros: And Other Zen Koans That Will Save Your Life —John Tarrant (2008)
Unexpected guide to happiness through paradoxical Zen koans.
Wisdom Is Bliss —Robert Thurman (2021)
Playful exploration of Buddha's threefold curriculum of "super-education."
Why Buddhism is True —Robert Wright (2017)
Clear, lively and personal. Science behind why Buddhism works.
Waking Up —Sam Harris (2014)
Guide to spirituality without religion, backed by neuroscience.
The Art of Living —William Hart (2009)
Introduction to Vipassana meditation, through the lectures of S. N. Goenka
Into the Heart of Life —Tenzin Palmo (2011)
British Buddhist nun, lived 11 years in a cave. 37 essays.
The Heroic Heart —Tenzin Palmo (2022)
British Buddhist nun, lived 11 years in a cave. Profoundly wise.
Reflections on a Mountain Lake —Tenzin Palmo (2002)
British Buddhist nun, lived 11 years in a cave. Q&A talks.
8. Science
An Immense World —Ed Yong (2022)
How animal senses reveal the hidden realms around us.
Out of Control —Kevin Kelly (1995)
Prescient essays on the fusion of machines and biological systems.
The Origin Of Species —Charles Darwin (1859)
Science's most radical and important idea. Fresh, original text.
The Logic of Scientific Discovery —Karl R Popper (1959)
Radical text which revolutionized thinking about scientific methods and knowledge.
The Rational Optimist —Matt Ridley (2010)
Witty and positive survey of innovation and how prosperity evolves.
How Innovation Works —Matt Ridley (2020)
Innovation as an incremental, bottom-up, fortuitous process
The Selfish Gene —Richard Dawkins (1976)
Imaginative scientific classic. A gene's eye view of evolution.
"Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman!" —Richard Feynman (1985)
Brilliant, eccentric, curious physicist. Einstein, nuclear secrets, safe-cracking.
Six Easy Pieces —Richard Feynman (1994)
Essentials of physics explained by its most brilliant teacher.
9. Technology
What Technology Wants —Kevin Kelly (2011)
12 trajectories for this near-living system. How to align ourselves.
The Innovator's Dilemma —Clayton M Christensen (2013)
Bible on disruption. How innovation causes companies to fail.
Hackers & Painters —Paul Graham (2004)
Contrarian essays exploring beauty, wealth, wisdom in digital age.
Bad Blood —John Carreyrou (2018)
Rise and collapse of fraudulent Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes
10. Poetry
The Flame —Leonard Cohen (2019)
Final poems, lyrics and drawings. Stark, wise and witty.
An Introduction to Haiku —Harold Gould Henderson (1958)
Anthology of three-line poems from Basho to Shiki.
Collected Poems —W. B. Yeats (1933)
Towering, evolving Irish poet: romance, mysticism, nationalism, modernism.
The Complete English Poems —John Donne (1633)
England's greatest love poet.
11. Plays
The Browning Version —Terrence Rattigan (1948)
Poignant one act play. Retiring classics teacher in loveless marriage.
Waiting for Godot —Samuel Beckett (1953)
"Nothing happens. Twice." Iconic and absurdist play.
The Birthday Party —Harold Pinter (1957)
Darkly comic theater of menace.
The Homecoming - Harold Pinter (1964)
Professor in American university, brings his wife home to London.
King Lear —William Shakespeare (1605)
Relentlessly dark tragedy. We must all prepare for old age.
Hamlet —William Shakespeare (1605)
Shakespeare's most complex and nuanced play, burns with existentialist doubt.
12. Money & Investing
The Intelligent Investor —Benjamin Graham, Jason Zweig (1949)
Revised version of the value investor's bible that inspired Warren Buffett.
Market Wizards (ongoing series) —Jack D. Schwager (1986)
Candid interviews with successful traders. Ongoing series.
The Soul of Money —Lynne Twist (2003)
Liberating approach to your relationship with money.
The Psychology of Money —Morgan Housel (2020)
Growing wealth is about habits. Tells 19 useful stories.
Narrative Economics —Robert J Shiller (2019)
How stories go viral and drive major economic events.
More Money Than God —Sebastian Mallaby (2010)
300 hours of interviews, deep profile of hedge fund industry.
Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders —Warren Buffett (1965-)
The fastest way to become a good investor.
The Missing Billionaires —Victor Haghani & James White (2023)
Simple and practical guide to financial decisions and sizing investments correctly.
Broken Money —Lyn Alden (2023)
Masterful history and meaning of money, with foundations of Bitcoin.
13. Probability
Thinking in Bets —Annie Duke (2018)
Poker champion unpacks uncertainty and making better decisions.
Superforecasting —Philip E Tetlock (2016)
Art and science of making predictions, with data and stories.
The Signal and the Noise —Nate Silver (2015)
Political and sports forecaster offers guide to finding strong signals.
Against the Gods —Peter Bernstein (1996)
The remarkable story of risk. Historical and practical.
14. Business
Competitive Strategy —Michael E Porter (1998)
Classic MBA business text. Competitive analysis with 'Forces' model.
Only the Paranoid Survive —Andy Grove (1999)
Inside Intel's culture of radical paranoia. Responding to strategic inflection points.
High Growth Handbook —Elad Gil (2018)
Practical startup playbook. Insights from Airbnb, Twitter, Google, Stripe, and Square.
Crossing the Chasm —Geoffrey Moore (2014)
Business bible for transitioning from niche markets to mass markets.
Zero to One —Peter Thiel (2014)
Contrarian and optimistic take on the future and building companies.
Shoe Dog —Phil Knight (2016)
Memoir: How I built Nike.
Let My People Go Surfing —Yvonne Chouinard (2006)
Patagonia founder on learning to become a businessman.
Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind —Al Ries & Jack Trout (1980)
Pioneering text laying the foundations of brand marketing. Great case studies.
15. History
Sapiens —Yuval Noah Harari (2015)
History of humankind. Why we won, where are we heading?
Guns, Germs, and Steel —Jared Diamond(1997)
Pullitzer winning survey of why some civilizations fail and others prosper.
Civilisation —Kenneth Clark (1970)
Sweeping historical narrative about the collapse of Rome and emerging Renaissance.
The Ascent of Money —Niall Ferguson(1999)
Long financial history of crises and power.
The Lessons of History —Will and Arial Durant (1968)
Pulitzer Prize–winners, very birds-eye view on historical lessons.
Batavia —Mike Dash (2003)
True story of the mad heretic who led history's bloodiest mutiny.
16. Essays
Six Memos for the Next Millennium —Italo Calvino (1988)
Brilliant lectures on literature. Lightness, quickness, exactitude, visibility, and multiplicity
Literary Theory: An Introduction —Terry Eagleton (1983)
My bible for understanding each theory back in 1991. Still good.
Cinema Speculation —Quentin Tarantino (2022)
Infectious memoir of powerful 1970s movies. Fresh, smart takes.
A Collection of Essays —George Orwell (1970)
14 sharp, immaculate essays. Conscience of the 20th century.
Why Orwell Matters —Christopher Hitchens (2002)
Long, critical biography of Orwell, warts and all, increasingly important.
Ficciones —Jorge Luis Borges(1944)
17 playful flights of intellectual imagination. The Library of Babel!
Arguably —Christopher Hitchens (2012)
Hard-hitting and witty essays with a conscience. Dazzling intellect.
A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003-2020 —David Sedaris (2021)
Wittiest (and only?) living diarist. Profane, belly laughs.
The War against Cliché —Martin Amis (2001)
Essays 1971-2000. Witty takes on Joyce, Elvis, football, everything!
17. Creativity
Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change your Life —Wynton Marsalis (2008)
Pulitzer Prize—winning musician reveals why jazz is different and better.
The Origins of Creativity —E. O. Wilson (2017)
Biologist explores long history of storytelling, language and art.
The Practice —Seth Godin (2020)
What it takes to create.
The Sense of Style —Steven Pinker (2014)
Practical and erudite guide to writing well.
The Creative Act —Rick Rubin (2023)
Beautiful meditation on nurturing our creative well-spring.
18. Children & Teens
The Catcher in the Rye —J. D. Salinger (1951)
Cult teen first-person narrative explores alienation and anxiety.
The Jungle Book —Rudyard Kipling (1895)
Classic children's book, also reveal Kipling's unique philosophy.
Lord of the Flies —William Golding (1954)
Classic school text. Boys stranded on an island. Order collapses.
Le Grand Meaulnes —Henri Alain-Fournier (1913)
Magical coming-of-age story set in rural France.
Just William stories (BBC Audiobook) —Richmal Crompton (2017)
Well-intentioned naughty boy. 50 stories, delightful for kids and adults.
The Corfu Trilogy —Gerald Durrell (1956-78)
Eccentric family and zoology in magical 1930's Corfu.
Flying Solo —Roald Dahl (1987)
Autobiography part 2. Heroic and bizarre adventures, wartime plane accident.
Danny The Champion of the World —Roald Dahl (1975)
The perfect children's adventure! Underdog father and son outwit baddies.
19. Auto/Biography
Legionnaire —Simon Murray (2006)
True: 1960, English lad survives 5 years in French Foreign Legion.
Chronicles: Volume One —Bob Dylan (2004)
Nobel-prize winner's classy and lyrical first memoir. Folktastic.
An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth —Mohandas K. Gandhi (1927)
Gandhi's journey: early years to leading India's struggle for independence.
Montaigne —Stefan Zweig(1941)
Passionate, personal wartime biography of Montaigne, before Zweig's suicide.
I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen —Sylvie Simmons (2012)
Definitive, earthy biography of the spiritual poet and songwriter.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom —T. E. Lawrence (1926)
Source for Lawrence of Arabia. Fascinating history, complicated man.
Super-Infinite —Katherine Rundell (2022)
Exquisite biography of England's greatest love poet. Rich Elizabethan tapestry.
20. Asia
The Singapore Story —Lee Kuan Yew (2008)
LKY's memoirs: How Singapore emerged from precipice to success.
Soul of the Tiger —Jeffrey A. McNeely, Paul Spencer Wachtel (1988)
Quirky observations about South East Asian villagers living with animals.
Art of Not Being Governed —James C Scott (2010)
How upland South-East Asians resisted state powers for 2,000 years.