Non-Technical Books List

I’ve also made a list for technical books

Books I read partially or fully

• Bible (Sixto-Clementine Vulgate) — Translation By Fr. Matos Soares

• A Treatise On The True Devotion To The Blessed Virgin — St. Louis de Montfort. A spiritual treatise on authentic Marian devotion and consecration as a path to deeper union with Christ.

• The Republic — Plato. One of philosophy’s foundational works exploring justice, the ideal state, the nature of reality, and the philosopher’s role in society.

• On War — Carl von Clausewitz. A military theory classic exploring warfare’s nature, strategy, and the relationship between war and politics.

• Hamlet — William Shakespeare. A tragedy about a Danish prince’s struggle with revenge, madness, and mortality after his father’s mysterious death.

• Apology of Socrates — Plato. Plato’s account of Socrates’ defense at his trial, exploring his commitment to truth and philosophy over self-preservation.

• The Intellectual Life — A. G. Sertillanges. A practical guide on cultivating intellectual discipline, contemplation, and spiritual growth through intellectual pursuits.

• Treatise on Scruples — Augustine Lehmkuhl. A Catholic moral theology work addressing cases of conscience and scrupulosity in spiritual life.

• The Interior Castle — St. Teresa of Ávila. A mystical and spiritual classic describing the soul’s journey toward union with God through seven “mansions” of inner prayer and contemplation.

• Retreat of Mary — John Berchmans. A spiritual reflection on Mary’s contemplative life and her role in Christian devotion.

• Catechism of St. Pius X — St. Pius X. An official Catholic catechism presenting doctrine and moral teaching in question-and-answer format for religious instruction.

• Introduction to the Devout Life (Philothea) — St. Francis de Sales. A classic spiritual guide for lay people on developing devotion and virtue in everyday life and secular vocations.

• The Consolation of Philosophy — Boethius. A philosophical meditation written during imprisonment, blending Platonic and Stoic thought to address suffering and divine providence.

• The Demon-Haunted World — Carl Sagan. A defense of scientific thinking and critical thinking against superstition, pseudoscience, and irrational belief.

• Cosmos — Carl Sagan. An exploration of the universe’s scale, structure, and humanity’s place within it, combining astronomy, physics, and philosophy.

• The Canterbury Tales — Geoffrey Chaucer. A collection of narrative poems told by pilgrims journeying to Canterbury, exploring medieval society and human nature through diverse stories.

• 1984 — George Orwell. A dystopian novel depicting a totalitarian state’s control through propaganda, surveillance, and language manipulation.

• Animal Farm — George Orwell. An allegorical satire of the Russian Revolution using farm animals to critique totalitarianism and political corruption.

• Brave New World — Aldous Huxley. A dystopian novel depicting a future society where stability is maintained through pharmaceutical control and social conditioning rather than overt force.

• Introduction to Politics, 4th Edition — Kenneth M. Jensen. An introductory text on political science, systems of government, and political theory.

• Anthropology for Dummies, 2nd Edition — Unknown. An accessible introduction to anthropology covering culture, society, and human diversity.

• Psychology for Dummies (3rd Edition) — Adam Cash. A beginner-friendly overview of psychology covering cognition, behavior, mental health, and human development.

• Abandonment to Divine Providence — Jean-Pierre de Caussade. A spiritual classic on surrendering oneself to God’s will through trust and acceptance in all circumstances.

• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind — Yuval Noah Harari. A sweeping historical narrative examining how Homo sapiens came to dominate the world through cognitive, agricultural, and scientific revolutions.

• Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow — Yuval Noah Harari. An exploration of future humanity examining the potential trajectories of technology, consciousness, and civilization.

• Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence — Fr. Jean-Baptiste Saint-Jure. A spiritual work on abandoning fear and anxiety through faith and trust in God’s providential care.

• Summa Theologiae — Thomas Aquinas. The most comprehensive medieval synthesis of Christian theology and Aristotelian philosophy, covering God, creation, virtue, and grace.

• Spiritual Combat — Lorenzo Scupoli. A guide to spiritual warfare and virtue development addressing temptation, prayer, and interior struggle in the Christian life.

• Catechism of the Council of Trent — Pope Pius V. The official catechism following the Council of Trent presenting Catholic doctrine and sacraments for priests and educators.

• The Iliad — Homer. The ancient Greek epic poem depicting the Trojan War, exploring heroism, fate, honor, and the human condition.

• Divine Comedy — Dante Alighieri. A medieval epic poem describing a journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, combining theology, philosophy, and politics.

• The Spiritual Exercises — St. Ignatius of Loyola. A structured program of meditation and prayer designed to deepen faith and discern God’s will through guided contemplation.

• History of the Peloponnesian War — Thucydides. An ancient historical account of the conflict between Athens and Sparta, featuring political speeches and analysis of power and human nature.

• The Communist Manifesto — Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels. A foundational political text outlining historical materialism, class struggle, and communist ideology.

• Meditations — Marcus Aurelius. A personal journal of Stoic philosophy by a Roman emperor on virtue, acceptance, and inner peace amid life’s challenges.

• Nicomachean Ethics — Aristotle. A foundational ethical treatise examining virtue, happiness, friendship, and the good life through reason and moral development.

• On Loving God — St. Bernard of Clairvaux. A mystical work on the nature of divine love and the soul’s progression toward contemplative union with God.

• The Art of War — Sun Tzu. An ancient Chinese military treatise on strategy, tactics, and the principles of victory through deception and adaptation.

• Religion: The Missing Dimension of Statecraft — Douglas Johnston & Cynthia Sampson. An analysis of religion’s role in international relations and conflict resolution.

• City of God — St. Augustine. A foundational Christian theological work responding to pagan critiques, exploring divine providence, history, and the two cities of God and man.

• Code of Hammurabi — King Hammurabi. Ancient Babylonian law code establishing justice and social order through specific legal provisions and punishments.

• Designing Your Life — Bill Burnett & Dave Evans. A practical workbook applying design thinking to career and life planning, helping readers build meaningful lives.

Audiobooks I Listened to

• The Society of the Spectacle — Guy Debord. A critical analysis of mass media and consumer culture arguing social life is replaced by images and passive spectatorship, commodifying human relations.

• Diplomacy — Henry Kissinger. A historical analysis of international relations and statecraft from the Congress of Vienna to the Cold War.

• The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind — Gustave Le Bon. An early study of crowd psychology examining how individuals lose rationality and moral judgment in groups.

• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion — Robert B. Cialdini. A psychological examination of the principles that guide human behavior and persuasion in social influence.

• On Kingship — Thomas Aquinas. A medieval political treatise examining good governance, virtue in rulers, and the relationship between temporal and spiritual authority.

• Public Opinion — Walter Lippmann. A foundational work on how public opinion shapes democracy, media’s role in shaping beliefs, and the manufacture of consent.

• Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman. A psychology classic exploring cognitive biases, heuristics, and the two systems of human thought (intuitive vs. analytical).

• The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life — Richard J. Herrnstein & Charles Murray. A controversial analysis of intelligence, IQ testing, and social stratification.

• Discipline = Freedom — Jocko Willink. A motivational work on how self-discipline enables freedom, drawing on military leadership and personal resilience.

• The Now Habit — Neil Fiore. A psychological approach to overcoming procrastination through understanding underlying fears and building productive habits.

• Tavistock Institute: Social Engineering the Masses — Daniel Estulin. A critical examination of the Tavistock Institute’s influence on society, culture, and social manipulation.

• Letters from a Stoic — Seneca. A collection of philosophical letters by the Roman Stoic thinker addressing virtue, death, friendship, and inner peace.

• Manufacturing Consent — Noam Chomsky & Edward Herman. A political economy analysis of media’s role in serving state and corporate interests through propaganda and agenda-setting.

• The Age of Surveillance Capitalism — Shoshana Zuboff. A critical examination of technology companies’ extraction and use of personal data for behavioral prediction and control.

• The Ruling Class — Gaetano Mosca. A foundational elite theory work arguing that all societies are governed by a small ruling minority class.

• Politics — Aristotle. An ancient treatise on forms of government, the state’s nature, citizenship, and the conditions for stable political communities.

• Getting Things Done — David Allen. A productivity system emphasizing capturing tasks, processing them systematically, and maintaining focus on outcomes.

• Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies — Jared Diamond. A geographical and anthropological explanation of how environmental and geographical factors shaped civilizations and power imbalances.

• Nudge — Richard Thaler. An exploration of behavioral economics and how choice architecture can influence decisions toward better outcomes.

• Discipline and Punish — Michel Foucault. A critical analysis of modern power systems, surveillance, and the evolution of punishment from physical to psychological control.

• Propaganda — Edward Bernays. An early manual on mass persuasion and propaganda techniques used in marketing, politics, and social control.

• Science, Politics and Gnosticism — Eric Voegelin. A philosophical critique of political ideologies as modern gnosticism and false attempts at salvation through politics.

• Seeing Like a State — James C. Scott. An analysis of how state-imposed schemes to improve society often fail due to disregard for local knowledge and complexity.

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Interesting books for, maybe one day, reading

From list Specula Principum

Antiquity - Sumer

• Anonymous - Instructions of Shuruppak

Antiquity - Egypt

• Ptahhotep - The Maxims of Ptahhotep
• Kheti III - Teaching for King Merykara
• Kheti the Scribe - Instructions of Amenemhat
• Amenemope, Son of Kanakht - Instruction of Amenemope

Antiquity - Indian

• Vishnu Sharma - Panchatantra
• Chanakya - Arthashastra
• Narayan Pandit - Hitopdesha
• Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj - Budhbhushan

Antiquity - Greek and Roman

• Plato - Republic
• Xenophon - The Education of Cyrus
• Aristotle - Politics
• Isocrates - To Nicocles and Evagoras
• Philodemus - The Good King According to Homer
• Dio Chrysostom - The First Discourse on Kingship
• Dio Chrysostom - The Second Discourse on Kingship
• Dio Chrysostom - The Third Discourse on Kingship
• Dio Chrysostom - The Fourth Discourse on Kingship
• Cicero - De Officiis
• Seneca - De Clementia
• Plutarch - Moralia
• Pliny the Younger - Panegyric of Trajan
• Eusebius of Caesarea - Life of Constantine
• Ambrose - De officiis ministrorum
• Augustine of Hippo - The City of God (Book V, chapter 24)
• Salvian - De gubernatione Dei

Western European - Early Middle Ages

• Martin of Braga - Formula vitae honestae
• Pope Gregory the Great - The Book of Pastoral Rule
• Gregory of Tours - History of the Franks
• Isidore of Seville - The Sentenciae
• Anonymous (Pseudo-Cyprian) - De duodecim abusivis saeculi

Western European - Carolingian

• Cathwulf - Epistolae
• Paulinus of Aquileia - Liber exhortationis
• Alcuin - De virtutibus et vitiis
• Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel - Via regia
• Einhard - Vita Karoli Magni
• Jonas of Orleans - De Institutione Laicali
• Jonas of Orleans - De Institutione Regia
• Agobard of Lyons - A Comparison of Ecclesiastical and Political Government
• Agobard of Lyons - Wherein the Dignity of the Church Outshines the Majesty of Empires
• Agobard of Lyons - Liber Apologeticus
• Dhuoda - Liber manualis
• Sedulius Scottus - De rectoribus christianis
• Hincmar of Reims - De regis persona
• Hincmar of Reims - De ordine palatii

Western European - High Middle Ages

• Stephen I of Hungary - Admonitions
• Hugh of Fleury - De Regia Potestate
• Anonymous - Moralium dogma philosophorum
• Benoit de Sainte-Maure - Roman de Troie
• John of Salisbury - Policraticus
• Godfrey of Viterbo - Speculum regum
• Pseudo-Plutarch - Institutio Traiani
• Gerald of Wales - De principis instructione
• Gilles de Paris - Carolinus
• Helinand of Froidmont - De bono regimine principis
• Jean de Limoges - Somnium morale Pharaonis
• Juan de Soria - Chronica latina regum Castellae
• Anonymous - Konungs skuggsia (Speculum regale)
• Vincent of Beauvais - De eruditione filiorum nobilium
• Guibert of Tournai - Eruditio regum et principum
• Guibert of Tournai - De modo addiscendi
• Thomas Aquinas - De regno
• Vincent de Beauvais - De morali principis institutione
• William Peraldus - De eruditione principum
• Brunetto Latini - Li livres dou tresor
• Giles of Rome - De regimine principum

Western European - Late Middle Ages

• Engelbert of Admont - Speculum virtutum moralium
• Paolino Veneto - Trattato de regimine rectoris
• William of Pagula - Speculum regis
• Don Juan Manuel - Tales of Count Lucanor
• Don Juan Manuel - Libro Infinido o Libro de Castigos et de Consejos
• Alvarus Pelagius - Speculum regum
• Anonymous - Um styrilsi kununga ok hofþinga
• Anonymous - The III Consideracions Right Necesserye to the Good Governaunce of a Prince
• Philip of Leyden - De cura reipublicae et sorte principantis
• Evrart de Tremaugon - Le songe du verger
• Anonymous - Der Fursten reget
• Christine de Pizan - Epistre Othea a Hector
• Christine de Pizan - Livre du corps de policie
• Christine de Pizan - Livre de la paix
• Pierre Salmon - Dialogues
• Thomas Hoccleve - De regimine principum
• Duarte of Portugal - Leal Conselheiro
• Andreas Pannonius - Libellus de virtutibus Matthiae Corvino dedicatus
• Andreas Pannonius - Libellus de virtutibus Herculi Estensi dedicatus
• John Ireland - The Meroure of Wysedome
• Phillipus de Bergamo - Spiegel der regyrunge
• Anonymous - Eyn kurz ordenunge in gemeyne…
• Anonymous - Von der regeronge der stede

Western European - Renaissance

• John Skelton - Speculum principis
• Erasmus - Institutio principis Christiani
• Baldassare Castiglione - The Book of the Courtier
• Antonio de Guevara - Relox de principes
• Justus Menius - Oeconomia christiana
• Machiavelli - Il Principe
• George Buchanan - De iure regni apud Scotos
• Giovanni Botero - The Reason of State
• Johann Damgaard - Alithia
• Juan de Mariana - De rege et regis institutione
• James VI of Scotland - Basilikon Doron
• Tomas Fernandez de Medrano - Republica Mista
• Francisco de Quevedo - La politica de Dios, y gobierno de Cristo
• Hugo Grotius - De jure belli ac pacis
• John Gauden - Eikon Basilike
• Diego Fernandez de Medrano y Zenizeros - Mirror of Princes

Western European - Enlightenment

• John Locke - Some Thoughts Concerning Education
• Jacques-Benigne Bossuet - Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture
• Johann Gottfried Gregorii - Curieuse Affecten-Spiegel
• Frederick II of Prussia - Anti-Machiavel
• Frederick II of Prussia - Letter addressed to his nephew, Charles Eugene, Duke of Wurttemberg
• Montesquieu - The Spirit of Law

Western European - Modern

• Walter Bagehot - The English Constitution

Byzantine

• Synesius, Bishop of Cyrene - De regno
• Agapetus the deacon - speech to Emperor Justinian I
• Basil I the Macedonian - Admonitory chapters I and II
• Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos - De Administrando Imperio
• Kekaumenos - Strategikon
• Archbishop Theophylact of Ohrid - Paideia Basilike
• Anonymous - Spaneas (Didaskalia Parainetike)
• Nikephoros Blemmydes - Andrias Basilikos
• Thomas Magistros - La regalita
• Manuel II Palaiologos - Paideia Regia

Pre-Islamic Persian

• Anonymous - Ewen-Namag
• Various - Andarz literature

Islamic

• Abd al-Hamid al-Katib - letter to Abdallah son of Marwan II
• Ibn al-Muqaffa - Kalila wa Dimna
• Abu Yahya ibn al-Batriq - Sirr al-Asrar (Secretum Secretorum)
• Al-Farabi - Fusul al-Madani
• Abu’l-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Maghribi - Kitab fi’l-si’yasa
• Al-Tha’alibi - Adab al-muluk
• Al-Mubashshir ibn Fatik - Mukhtar al-Hikam wa-Mahasin al-Kalim
• Anonymous - Qabus nama
• Nizam al-Mulk - Siyaset-nameh
• Al-Imam al-Hadrami - Kitab al-Ishara
• Al-Ghazali - Nasihat al-muluk
• Al-Ghazali - Alchemy of Happiness (Book XXI, Part Three)
• Yusuf Balasaghuni - Kutadgu Bilig
• At-Turtushi - Siraj al-Muluk
• Ibn Zafar al-Siqilli - Sulwan al-Muta’
• Anonymous - Bahr Al-Fava’id
• Ibn Arabi - Divine Governance of the Human Kingdom
• Saadi - Gulistan (chapter I)
• Anonymous - Wasitat al-suluk fi siyasat al-muluk
• Hussain Vaiz Kashifi - Akhlaq i Muhsini
• Abd al-Wahhab al-Sha’rani - Advice for Callow Jurists and Gullible Mendicants
• Lutfi Pasha - Asafname
• Muhammad al-Baqir Najm-I Sani - Mau’izah-i Jahangiri

Slavonic

• Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople - letter to Boris I of Bulgaria
• Vladimir Monomakh - Poucheniye (Instruction)
• Anonymous - Izmaragd
• Patriarch Antony IV of Constantinople - letter to Vasily I of Moscow
• Anonymous - Domostroy
• Neagoe Basarab - The teachings of Neagoe Basarab to his son Theodosie
• Mikhail Lomonosov - Panegyric to the Sovereign Emperor, Peter the Great

Chinese - Ancient

• Lao Tzu - Tao Te Ching
• Mencius - Mencius
• Han Fei - Han Fei Zi
• Multiple authors - The Book of Lord Shang
• Shi Jiao - Shizi

Chinese - Han dynasty

• Lu Jia - Xin Yu
• Ban Biao - Book of Han (Volume 23)
• Ban Biao - Treatise on the Mandate of Kings

Chinese - Tang dynasty

• Ouyang Xun - Yiwen leiju
• Kong Yingda - Wujing Zhengyi
• Liu Zhi - Zhengdian

Chinese - Song dynasty

• Ouyang Xiu - New Book of Tang
• Sima Guang - Zizhi Tongjian
• Zhu Xi - Zizhi Tongjian Gangmu
• Zheng Qiao - Tongzhi

Chinese - Ming dynasty

• Zhu Yuanzhang - Huang-Ming Zuxun

Chinese - Qing dynasty

• Huang Zongxi - Waiting for the Dawn