I’m playing literary catch up and working through the great Existential/angsty novels and realizing most of them probably would’ve hit harder in my teens/20s. What are some good books for your 30s?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m in my mid 30s, still angsty and still don’t have my sh\*t together but the protagonists of The Stranger, The Bell Jar, Notes from the Underground, Nausea, etc. \*really\* remind of where my head was in my early 20s when I should’ve read this stuff to begin with. Whats worse is my suggestion app keeps feeding me more of this stuff so I’m like stuck in an algorithmic feedback loop of anxiety.

I’m not looking for breezy Oprah book club fare but also no longer keen to live in a world of self-imposed Absurdist paralysis. I still love intelligent/philosopgical books that delve deep into life but themes like love, gratitude and the beauty of the everyday are bigger with me nowadays, themes I find more in Buddhism than Western philosophy. For reference, I read “Franny and Zooey” recently and quite liked it for its mix of thoughtful yet life affirming message.

by zzzzzzzzzra