HACKER Q&A
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Non-Business Books for Business?


I've read many of the popular business books. No doubt, there is a lot of great information in there. But sometimes I like to get a broader perspective since business isn't everything.

Things like Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and even Fight Club have helped shape my world view and probably my view of running a startup.

Are there any books you would recommend? Looking for "not business" books that you find yourself referring back to a lot in your day to day. Movies/blogs/etc might be acceptable too, but that's kind of cheating.

  👤 mcph Accepted Answer ✓
A recent work challenge for me is my decreased productivity and that of my coworkers during COVID. I'm experiencing a lot of frustration with myself for not being inured to the general weight of this time and being able to focus better (a frustration I don't apply to coworkers, for whom I have a lot more compassion than myself).

I've found myself referring back to The Plague fairly frequently and reread it last month. It may sound dark, but I find the sameness Camus describes in humans' reaction to difficult, at-scale problems comforting. It improves my ability to take it easy on myself (I'm not unique in feeling ennui/despair), which in turn has dramatically improved my focus. I also feel like it's given me a bit more context on and empathy for the widely varied reactions I experience with different folks in my business sphere - investors, customers, etc.

Business books for unique times :)