8 Books You Need In Your Life
Stephen's Geeky Stoic recommendations for 2025
So many books, so little time. A few of you requested reading recommendations and the source material for Geeky Stoics emails and videos. So here it is: eight books you need to read in 2025 that will entertain, inform, and provide actionable philosophy you can apply to daily life.
Book 1: George Lucas: A Life by Brian Jay Jones
This biography chronicles the life of the legend, George Lucas. He gave us Star Wars, and this book details how he did it, smashing through countless industry barriers to make Star Wars a reality. On Geeky Stoics, we explore philosophical lessons from the stories and lives of great storytellers, and Lucas's life is a cautionary tale. His wild imagination and obsessive need for control supercharged his success but also doomed many of his relationships and creative endeavors. This biography highlights the pros and cons of being a control freak while sharing fascinating insights about one of our generation's most important modern mythmakers.
My takeaway: Caring about public opinion can seriously hold you back from your potential. Don’t be overly concerned with feedback from every person in your life. However — decide on a few people whose values reflect your own, and let them into your thought process. Keep the feedback circle small.
Book 2: Letters From a Stoic by Seneca
Of the "big three" in Stoic philosophy—Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca—I find Seneca’s writing the most engaging. Seneca, a Roman statesman and advisor to the infamously cruel emperor Nero, was forced to take his own life at the end of his career. Letters From a Stoic compiles his letters to a friend named Lucilius and covers topics like materialism, managing friendships, productivity, public speaking, and the pitfalls of moral relativism. My favorite tidbit is Seneca’s advice that public speaking should vary in speed—sometimes quick, sometimes slow—to maintain the listener's attention. These letters are practical, accessible, and more directly applicable than Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations. A must-read that can change your life.
My takeaway: Stoicism is a very applicable philosophy to the ups and downs of daily life. Don’t get sucked into the sinkhole of existentialist and abstract philosophy. It leads you to betray your duties to others while you think endlessly about “the meaning of life”. Get out in the world and make people your occupation.
Book 3: The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers
Based on a 1985 PBS interview conducted at Skywalker Ranch, this book explores myths, their cultural significance, and the lessons they offer about past and future societies. It dives into symbols like snakes, the spiritual meaning of the gender binary, and the connection between gender ideology and utopian thinking. Campbell also tackles societal issues like why young men turn to crime and how to counter nihilism by fostering meaning. This book deeply influences works like Star Wars, Dune, and Nietzschean philosophy while shedding light on why modern political agendas sometimes target fictional heroes and seek to tear them down.
My takeaway: We all exist in the myths and narratives set for us by past generations. It turns out, people need these things to function and be productive. Without them, new ones will be erected in their place. Consider this simple insight from author G.K Chesterton, “Do not remove a fence until you know why it was put up in the first place.” Myths, heroes, and history are fences. Try to understand why they are there in the first place.
Book 4: The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
You’ve heard of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, but have you read its prequel? The Magician’s Nephew, the first book in the Narnia series, will soon be adapted into a Netflix film by Greta Gerwig. This adaptation is a big deal for 2025. While the early 2000s saw the success of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, the franchise fizzled with poorly received sequels. Gerwig, however, is a thoughtful filmmaker and a reverent storyteller. The book, just 100 pages long, is charming, funny, and perhaps even better than Wardrobe. It’s a profound exploration of rules, natural law, and why some figures rebel against them. Fun fact: Dave Filoni drew inspiration from Lewis for Star Wars Rebels' and Ahsoka to create "The World Between Worlds". Read it before the film release!
My takeaway: The world is mostly led by people who think they are above the rules. Rest assured, they will be put in their place.
Book 5: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
What more needs to be said about Meditations besides that you, a commoner in 2025, can read the personal diary of a Roman Emperor? Meditations is Aurelius struggling with depression, anxiety, and fear in his role as a military leader and politician, writing notes to himself and reminders about how to deal with people and be a decent person. America's most hardcore President, Theodore Roosevelt, took Meditations with him on an expedition in the Amazon. Its main idea is that we as people have a duty to live according to our nature. Build things. Raise families. Manage systems. Be a human being! We’re not animals, we’re something higher, but animals can teach us something about doing what needs to be done. I was delighted to see Meditations referenced very openly in Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order when Cal Kestis is training under Master Jaro Tapal who instructs him on how to move objects. The Achievement you unlock is called The Obstacle Is The Way, the title of a book on stoicism by Ryan Holiday, which is a summation of Aurelius’s words on how to deal with difficult people. Challenges are opportunities. Without challenges, we never learn what we’re made of. Read this book.
My takeaway: I think I’ve covered it at this point, but get out of bed no matter how comfortable those sheets are. What you are meant for is out there in the world, beyond the safety of a cozy bed.
Book 6: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
God, I love this book. CS Lewis is famous for The Chronicles of Narnia books and was a close friend of J.R.R. Tolkien for many years while they taught at Oxford. The cool thing about Narnia is that it is a fiction book series based on the arguments and ideas Lewis floated first in Mere Christianity. The book is half composed of content CS Lewis broadcast on the BBC to the British people during the bombing raids of London in World War II. Back then, Britain still appreciated Christian scholarship, not Oxford, but at least the BBC tolerated it. The BBC thought Lewis could bring hope to Brits about the state of the war. And he did. Those broadcasts were reformulated into this book on what Christian belief is, at its core, without care for Protestantism vs. Catholicism or denominational hairsplitting. He is so clever with analogy and colorful in how he illustrates complex ideas, and like Letters From a Stoic, it really changed and improved my life. It’s also painfully relevant on issues related to socialism and fascism, gender roles and relationships, and the role Christianity should or should not play in society.
My takeaway: Stop waiting for God to reveal himself to you and change your heart. Begin by changing your behaviors, and acting in accordance with what you think God might demand of you, and you’ll begin to see Him in your life. “Play dress up”.
Book 7: Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
There are many books by Holocaust survivors but none of them get to the heart of the matter better than Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. Frankl was a practicing psychologist before he landed in the Nazi camps and while he was there trying to survive, he was observing the nature of hope vs despair. It’s not about why some people died and others didn’t, it’s about how anyone could survive at all. Frankl dissects how meaning and purpose keep people alive and what it looks like when people or systems are trying to crush your sense of meaning. It’s considered to be a modern stoicism text in the same way that Epictetus’ stoic lectures on suffering have withstood the test of time. And it’s because Frankl makes the ultimate case for rejecting a victimhood mentality, in a death camp, and argues that in the most impossible situation…you still have the power to choose how to react and behave. We all need this.
My takeaway: “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how”
Book 8: How The Force Can Fix The World by… Me
Star Wars fans, this one’s for you. In this book, I explore seven virtues from Star Wars—humility, empathy, courage, choice, redemption, balance, and hope—and how they can guide us as adults. Writing this book helped me rediscover why Star Wars matters, even when Disney’s sequels felt like a betrayal of George Lucas’s mythology. It’s a reminder that the core truths Lucas gave us cannot be erased. This book, with original artwork and thoughtful analysis, is available on Amazon at a great discount. Grab your copy today.
My takeaway: Ok one sentence on my own book…here we go. If Star Wars fans acted out the virtues and principles of Episodes I-VI in their daily lives, the world would be a vastly better place.
And there you have it—eight books that inspire much of the content on Geeky Stoics. Happy reading!
More to add to the reading list. Just when I've cleared out, as well. :D May I add another for curious Stoics: 'All About Love' by bell hooks.
Gonna need to read a few of these!