25 Books That Will Make You a Better Person

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Author: Pablo Neruda
Released: 1973
Guaranteed to improve: Your inquisitive nature (without annoying everyone around you).

While cultivating an appreciation of any poetry beyond the level of limerick will make you a better person, Neruda's Book of Questions stimulates thought in a way few books can. The text is, you guessed it, composed entirely of questions. These are not questions like you would put into a search engine or even the sort of rhetorical questions you are posed by your patronizing professor.

It is selling them short to say they are not meant to be answered. Perhaps it is more accurate to say they are meant to be answered and answered and answered again. We'll start you off with three of our favorites: "When the convict ponders the light is it the same light that shines on you?" "Who hears the regrets of the thieving automobile?" "In what language does rain fall over tormented cities?"

Author: J.D. Salinger
Released: 1961
Guaranteed to improve: Your sibling skills (so you can finally stop being a dick to your brother).

Much has been made of the aspects of Eastern thought in Franny and Zooey. The book has been read as "a modern Zen tale, with the main character Franny progressing over the course of the short story and novella from a state of ignorance to the deep wisdom of enlightenment." Salinger is a bit less direct in his own assessment of the book. He begins the "Zooey" novella by introducing the debate of whether the book is a "mystical story" or a "love story."

The philosophical questions of the book may stick with you, but the simple moments of a brother and sister trying to relate with and comfort each other might hit you with equal or greater force. The book is a reminder of the unique position of the closeness of family in the face of an alienating society. In short, it may just prompt you to give your brother a call.

Author: Stephen R. Covey
Released: 1989
Guaranteed to improve: Your effectiveness (because currently your shit is weak).

This book, along with Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, seems to be on the must-read list of every golf-clubbing boardroom exec. Covey's work comes up again and again when successful people are prompted to mention books that have influenced them.

When you are at a party and one guy in the corner is spinning yarns of his recent successes (and they aren't made up in hopes of getting laid), odds are he has read this book. Bill Clinton asked Covey for a private meeting to strategize ways that the book could be integrated into his presidency.

We were hesitant to include a book that seems to be sold at every Wal-Mart and is perched on the bookshelf of every suburban dad's study, but when everyone and their dad has read a book, there is usually a reason.

Author: Charles Duhigg
Released: 2012
Guaranteed to improve: Your bad habits (because we know you're nasty).

Much of the self-help genre is filled with tips on what to change. There are far fewer books out there on how to change. Duhigg's book sets out to help you with just that. By analyzing habits of all sorts, from those of Olympians to Fortune 500 companies, he not only identifies what types of habits are helpful, but how to re-shape habits for the better.

Whether your goal is to stop eating so many snacks or to train for a marathon, Duhigg's research can get you on your way. Now, if you've got a bad habit you don't want to change...that's something no book can help you with.

Author: Seth Godin
Released: 2008
Guaranteed to improve: Your use of the Internet (outside of cat memes).

Those of you familiar with Godin's thoughtful, pithy blog won't be surprised to see his work on this list. In Tribes, Godin discusses how we are in an era that is about "finding and connecting like-minded people and leading them to a place they want to go." Godin argues that the Internet has eliminated the previously insurmountable barriers of geography, cost, and time. All that remains is for leaders to emerge and take advantage of this new, open space.

Godin's advice is not idealistic, though; it's sharp and sensible. He offers a word of warning for this environment of boundless opportunity: "Change is made by asking forgiveness, later. That may be true, but in this economy and in certain corporations, it may also be a good way to lose a job."

Author: Vātsyāyana
Released: Sometime 400-200 B.C.
Guaranteed to improve: Your sex life (and other, less exciting stuff).

We imagine that there is plenty of snickering going on in front of your computer screens and smart phones right now. And with good reason. We likely wouldn't have thought to include the Kama Sutra if not for its erotic reputation.

The text is far more than ancient guide to the kinky, however. The Kama Sutra in its entirety is a guide to gracious living and to the pleasures of life, and though sex is a major pleasure, it is also just one of many. In fact, the text advocates moving from a life of pleasure in your youth to a life of virtuousness in old age.

There are even warnings against overindulgence in the text: "Just as a horse in full gallop, blinded by the energy of his own speed, pays no attention to any post or hole or ditch on the path, so two lovers, blinded by passion, in the friction of sexual battle, are caught up in their fierce energy and pay no attention to danger."

Author: Gretchen Rubin
Released: 2011
Guaranteed to improve: Your happiness (outside of the bedroom).

Over the last several years we have been inundated with books about doing this or that thing for a year. Whether it be living like Jesus, living like a caveman, or living like an infant, dozens of aspiring authors seem to be making their bones living like something else. A year of living happily? That's something we can get behind.

What differentiates Rubin's book from most self-help books is that rather than telling you what to do you, you watch her try to help herself. Rubin spends the year trying to incorporate prescriptions for happiness from sources as varied as positive psychologist Martin Seligman to stoic philosopher Seneca into her daily life.

Will the book make you happier? Maybe, but it will certainly make you think about what it means to be happy, which is probably the first step towards happiness. One word of warning: The book claims that self-centered hedonism is not a path to true happiness, which your boys at Complex have spent years attempting to disprove.

Author: Joseph L. Sax
Released: 1980
Guaranteed to improve: Your perspective on nature (beyond your local park).

We understand that much of the focus at Complex skews towards the urban. Style, design, and nightlife are the province of densely populated areas. Nightlife outside of cities is pretty much Applebee's and bingo. That being said, even the most bohemian among us can use a reminder of the importance of nature from time to time.

Sax's book provides this, but also examines the importance of how nature is used. We are a country of people who like to turn natural beauty into theme parks with express lane highways and swimming pools. In making the argument against the American commercialized vision of a "park," Sax prompts readers to think about the purpose, meaning, and value of having natural beauty to retreat to. It's enough to make you dust off that tent from when your parents made you join the Boy Scouts and Zip Car out into the great (often perilous) unknown. 

Author: Laurence Gonzales
Released: 2004
Guaranteed to improve: Your survival skills (cue Beyoncé/Gloria Gaynor)

If you are anything like us, your definition of a survivor is largely shaped by that Beyoncé song and the reality show. Laurence Gonzales advocates a far better researched vision of exactly what it takes to be a survivor.

"Only 10 to 20 percent of people can stay calm and think in the midst of a survival emergency," Gonzales tells us. There are few external indicators, if any, of who they will be. After a plane crash in Peru, an entire group of adults died, while a lone 17-year-old girl survived 11 days in the jungle alone. Gonzales delves into what makes a survivor, and while you can't necessarily will yourself into one, you can improve your chances when faced with harsh wilderness, life-threatening disease, failing businesses, or a crazy ex-girlfriend.

Author: Ernest Hemingway
Released: 1964
Guaranteed to improve: Your starving artist game (O.G. style).

It's not that all of Hemingway's actions are admirable in this book, nor is it even that the events of this book are necessarily true (many critics feel that Hemingway's poverty is quite overstated here, for example). What is striking about Hemingway's memoirs of his young life in Paris is that what he went through feels so much like the life of any aspiring 20-something.

So often, we imagine luminaries of the previous generations sitting at their desks from age 18, wholly devoted to their craft, untouched by the evils of everyday life, from landlords to awful dates. To read of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, and Gertrude Stein dealing with day jobs, troubled romances, and drinking problems reminds us that giants of the past were human. Furthermore, it reminds us that our problems, while they often seem insurmountable, are not unique to us.

Author: Patti Smith
Released: 2010
Guaranteed to improve: Your starving artist game (slightly less O.G. but still O.G. style).

One can't help but wonder if Just Kids will stand along side A Moveable Feast as an inspirational text of the young artist's struggle, doled out by "the cool English teacher" to high school kids who want nothing more than to ditch their one-horse town.

Instead of literary luminaries, the world of Just Kids is populated with giants of '60s counter-culture and rock 'n' roll. This is the New York of Andy Warhol, Jimi Hendrix, and Allen Ginsberg. What makes this book great and deeply relevant is similar to what makes A Moveable Feast endure. This is not a book caught up in a self-important time warp. This is a story of celebration and love between two young artists who knew each other's talent before anyone knew their names.

Author: C.S. Lewis
Released: 1960
Guaranteed to improve: Your ability to deal with grief (because we know you never got over your goldfish dying).

While many of you know Lewis as the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis's talent as a writer and theologian who spoke deeply to complex emotion is often understated. Lewis lost his wife after three years of marriage. The resulting book is comprised of scattered, heartfelt musings and expressions of loss.

The feeling behind Lewis' writing here is felt even more deeply if you are familiar with his other work, which alternates between thoughtful theology (as in Mere Christianity) and playful whimsy (Narnia and The Screwtape Letters). Longtime fans were taken aback by the naked despair Lewis lays bare in this book. Even if this is your first foray into Lewis, a Grief Observed is a lovely exploration into the pain of loss.

Author: Joan Didion
Released: 2005
Guaranteed to improve: Your ability to handle loss (like when you someday lose your virginity, for example).

Joan Didion chronicles the year after her husband's death in The Year of Magical Thinking. There is humor and hope among the despair that you would imagine accompanies the book; more powerfully, though, there is also clear-eyed analysis and research that she ably introduces in the midst of describing the absurdity of her pain.

One memorable moment is Didion's confession that she could not give away her husband's shoes, as she couldn't shake the feeling that he would need them when he returned. It might feel strange to include this alongside A Grief Observed, as it might appear that they work toward the same purpose, but the two books in tandem illustrate that grief and pain can stir myriad, valid responses. Perhaps, even, the two texts grow in importance when paired.

Author: Douglas Adams
Released: 1979-1992
Guaranteed to improve: Your need to take shit so damn seriously (i.e. next time someone steps on your kicks).

If you ever find yourself starting to take life too seriously, it might be time for some Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. There are actually five books in Adams's sci-fi comedy Hitchhiker's Guide series and they are all essential reading. The five books in the "inaccurately named" Hitchhiker's Trilogy (derived from earlier radio plays) take on everything from the meaning of life to the the destruction of the universe.

The whole thing is delivered with a whimsical lightness that can't help but yield at least some perspective. At the very least, The Hitchhiker's Guide will serve to remind you that things aren't that bad, because even if Earth is destroyed, we might just be given another one by dolphins as part of their "Save the Human's Campaign."

Author: Randy Pausch
Released: 2008
Guaranteed to improve: Your realization of goals (Note: "Banging bitches" is not an acceptable goal.).

There are plenty of works of art out there imploring you to "live like you were dying," but Randy Pausch took that sentiment to the next level in The Last Lecture. After he discovered he was dying of pancreatic cancer, he decided to deliver his "Last Lecture" about how he achieved (and in some cases, humorously didn't achieve) his childhood dreams and how others might expect to do the same. Pausch's dreams ranged from becoming an Imagineer at Disney, to going into zero gravity, to "being one of the guys who won the big stuffed animals in the amusement park."

With the exception of his dream of becoming an NFL player, he achieved every one of his goals. He also discusses how he has enabled the dreams of others, which he felt was an experience just a rewarding as achieving his own dreams. If you want to cry like a bitch, feel free to watch Randy explain how his lecture and the book that followed were for an audience of three: his children, who he would not live to teach the lessons to in person.

Author: Malcolm X and Alex Haley
Released: 1965
Guaranteed to improve: Your commitment to what you believe in (outside of your favorite sports teams).

There is much debate surrounding the tone, content, and even authorship of The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Regardless of the truth (or which truth you choose to believe), the work of Malcolm X and Alex Haley illustrates the power of a conversion of principle, of the way a life can change when driven by purpose. Malcolm X underwent two radical conversions in his life, breaking drastically from the life he had known previously. Regardless of the truth about the man or this book, it is undeniably true that most of us never manage one.

Author: Gabriel García Márquez
Released: 1985
Guaranteed to improve: Your capacity for love (without being a pussy).

After her husband's sudden and unfortunate death, Fermina Diaz finds an unexpected guest at her door. It is Florentino Ariza, the man with whom she had a relationship that ended 51 years, nine months, and four days prior. He has returned to proclaim his unending devotion. The book then takes us back 51 years and marches us forward again to present day.

The novel is not merely about the love between Florentino and Fermina, but about love in all it's forms. From the love one can feel for a mistress, to the love one feels for their mother, to the love one feels for a flower, Márquez covers love in all of its forms in his masterpiece. There is also the requisite amount of lust in there as well, in case you were worried.

Author: Bill Waterson
Released: 2005
Guaranteed to improve: Your friendship game (because, face it, you're kind of a dick).

We are in awe of television shows like Friday Night Lights and Mad Men because they show us the multi-dimensional evolution of relationships. While these shows, at best get something like 7 seasons, Bill Waterson inked 3,160 strips of Calvin and Hobbes before hanging up his pen in 1995. There perhaps has never been a fuller exploration of a friendship anywhere in art—even if that friendship is between a boy and his stuffed tiger. Calvin and Hobbes gets extra points in our book for elevating the form of Cathy and Ziggy to the level of not only something we enjoy, but also something that moves us.

Author: Frederick Douglass
Released: 1881
Guaranteed to improve: Your ability to overcome the odds (because no matter how bad you have it, you weren't a slave).

While all of us resent being compared to our older silbings, at least be thankful that Frederick Douglass wasn't your older brother. This, the third autobiography published by Douglass, not only delves deeply into Douglass's time as a slave, but also works through the laundry list of accomplishments in Douglass's life afterwards.

The events that Douglass had a hand in during the years surrounding the Civil War read like a history of the period, as he was involved in the Underground Railroad, he had a relationship with John Brown, he assisted in recruiting the 54th and 55th Massachusetts regiments, and was appointed as a U.S. Marshall, just to name a few.

Author: Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Released: 1962
Guaranteed to improve: Your need to complain about how bad you have it (because nobody wants to hear that shit, particularly prison camp survivors).

Alexander Solzhenitsyn was a prisoner of Soviet work camps for 10 years. He landed there after referring to Stalin in personal letters to friends by terms like "the master" and "the boss." Though Solzhenitsyn would write much more about the gulags, perhaps most memorably in The Gulag Archipelago, there is something indelible about being provided only the experiences of one "typical" day in the gulags.

We can be assured that the depth of inhumanity that was reached in these camps is far worse than anything that happened to Denisovich on this day, but the human relationships formed in the camp and the persistence of the prisoners in the context of one day's forced labor make for an invaluable reading experience.

Author: Viktor Frankl
Released: 1946
Guaranteed to improve: Your sense of purpose (outside of playing Call of Duty and masturbating).

If you aren't bummed out enough by Solzhenitsyn's book, then maybe it is time to read Man's Search for Meaning. Frankl first sets out to outline what life is like for a prisoner in a concentration camp. He should know, as he did time in Auschwitz. Frankl next takes a look at the meaning of existence. He concludes that meaning is to be found in every moment of living. Most of us will never experience something even one percent as traumatic as what Frankl went through, but there are lessons in his worldview that could benefit even the most fortunate among us.

Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Released: 2008
Guaranteed to improve: Your need to make terrible excuses (just ask your girl).

Sometimes the best self-help is administered not by optimistic platitudes, but a swift kick in the ass. Gladwell sets out with the premise ("It's not enough to ask what successful people are like. [...] It is only by asking where they are from that we can unravel the logic behind who succeeds and who doesn't.") and delivers some hard truths.

You may not be able to control being brought up in an environment with the right computers in your high school like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs or being born in the right month like Canadian professional hockey players, but you can control one major factor in success. One consistent finding in Gladwell's research is that it takes 10,000 hours of honing your craft to become a true professional. There is no shortcut, just hustle.

While putting yourself around the right people, places, and things is essential, and your parents putting you in the right circumstances certainly helps, Gladwell is clear about this point: nothing can substitute for putting in that work.

Author: Howard Zinn
Released: 1980
Guaranteed to improve: Your tolerance for the b.s. that teachers feed you (which was already probably very low).

"Thus, in that inevitable taking of sides which comes from selection and emphasis in history, I prefer to try to tell the story of the discovery of America from the viewpoint of the Arawaks, of the Constitution from the standpoint of the slaves, of Andrew Jackson as seen by the Cherokees, of the Civil War as seen by the New York Irish, of the Mexican war as seen by the deserting soldiers of Scott's army, of the rise of industrialism as seen by the young women in the Lowell textile mills, of the Spanish-American war as seen by the Cubans, the conquest of the Philippines as seen by black soldiers on Luzon, the Gilded Age as seen by southern farmers, the First World War as seen by socialists, the Second World War as seen by pacifists, the New Deal as seen by blacks in Harlem, the postwar American empire as seen by peons in Latin America. And so on, to the limited extent that any one person, however he or she strains, can 'see' history from the standpoint of others." —Howard Zinn

Odds are, if you read Complex, you are a grown-ass man, or getting close to it. As such, it is time to hear about some shit as it really went down. Howard Zinn's account of U.S. history isn't pleasant; he presents many of our history's perceived "heroes" as cowardly, bigoted, and even tyrannical.

In his book, Zinn exposes the systematic manipulation of the poor and minorities in the interest of the rich that has been part of the fabric of the U.S. from Columbus's landing to this day. Zinn's book reminds you that history is written by the winners, and that the suffering of the losers is often swept under the rug.

Author: Hermann Hesse
Released: 1922
Guaranteed to improve: Your journey (even if you don't know where the hell you're going).

First he is an ascetic, then he spends times in the arms of a courtesan, then he becomes a successful businessman, then he is a father. None of these roles ease the restless heart of Siddhartha. No possessions bring him peace. No one thing can bring him fulfillment. Siddhartha ultimately finds the tranquility he had sought in the place he least expected to find it. While many books provide a path to self-improvement or solutions to life's problems, perhaps the most instructive books are those like Siddhartha, which remind us that there is no clear path.

Author: Shel Silverstein
Released: 1964
Guaranteed to improve: Your ability not to be a dick (Even if you've read the book before, trust us, you need a reminder.).

While making this list, we asked a number of different people what books they thought made them a better person. Shel Silverstein's book came up over and over again. Sometimes in life the simple lessons are most important.

There are few lessons more fundamental than the one Silverstein presents here: If you take advantage of someone's generosity, eventually they may have nothing left to give. While we are moved by the tree's sacrifice, the book remains a reminder that we want to avoid being the boy of the story, as well as the tree. For the masses of you who have already read that book and somehow haven't seen this, you're welcome.