Books You Should Read

THE DAILY STOIC

Ryan Holiday

This is the stuff Admiral James Stockdale read. It lines up with the calendar for daily reading. It will take you 60 seconds to read and puts your head in a good place to start the day. I start my day each day with this book.

MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING

Viktor Frankl

Frankl’s class book was originally published in 1946. The first part is about his life before the war and his concentration camp experiences; the second part of the book is about his life after the war and his development of the idea that man’s primary search is for purpose in life, and you can even find it in your traumatic experiences.

THE OBSTACLE IS THE WAY

Ryan Holiday

“The Timeless art of turning trials into triumphs” sounds a lot like “trauma to joy.” Holiday is awesome and tells the truth… more of the “wisdom” that Admiral Stockdale took into the Hanoi Hilton Prison Camp in North Vietnam.​

THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE

Bellel van der Kolk, MD

Dr. van der Kolk takes you on his journey treating mental health patients, beginning with the invention of the MRI – now that we can see into brains, we just have to give them the right medications to “balance” the “chemical imbalance” that is depression – but it doesn’t work out like that. He comes to very different conclusions about how the body and mind react to trauma.

WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE

Harold Kushner

If you are a person of faith, trauma can certainly shake your faith. Rabbi Kushner’s book changed my life. The book was inspired by the death of Rabbi Kushner’s son Aaron, who was born with a genetic disorder and died at the age of 13 as a ninety-year-old man. Kushner questions God: the book is outstanding.