One of the things that allows me to disconnect for a while is reading books. Can you recommend some books that you have enjoyed or have inspired you?
They can be both fiction and non-fiction.
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Mr Nice by Howard Marks
Train spotting - Irvine Welsh
I cant make this up - Kevin Hart
Can’t hurt me - David Goggins (audiobook even better)
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- Augustus - John Williams (intimate historical novel about a Roman emperor)
- Sapiens - Yuval Harari
- You are the placebo - Joe Dispenza
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lol i cant even read books since pfs
Hasn’t this improved for you?
How long have you been off Finasteride (?)
no still the same 
its been over a year !
It took me a year or so before I could read again.
It was after I changed my diet to very low-carb that i noticed a difference in that area.
Are you on a special diet?
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Literature student here!
Hermann Hesse- Rosshalde
Dostoyevsky- The Double
Neil Gaimann- Neverwhere
I will check out my library at home for more, but the first two books are pretty good and emotionally intense.
P.S You can also watch the tv show Twin Peaks for coping and helping yourself. It has done a lot for me. As you can see from my pp.
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ok i will try, thank you !
no im not. low carb diet helped you with your reading struggle? that would be very nice if that helps me. thanks !
I’m very pleased to hear you’re able to have that outlet, @Kan. I was an avid reader before this, sadly not since.
My favourite book is Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, which I think is incredible. It has a lot of poignant and thoughtful things to say that you might well find appropriate to our situation. I have read more than one translation and Pevear and Volokhonsky’s was my favourite.
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The subtle art of not giving a fuck - Mark Manson
The Dali Lama also talks about dealing with worry - links in with the above.
Crash the Chatterbox by Pastor Steven Furtick - focuses on four key areas in which negative thoughts are most debilitating: insecurity, fear, condemnation, and discouragement.
Have to join @Cooper and @axolotl in saying Dostoevsky is amazing, though I haven’t actually read Crime and Punishment or The Double. Been meaning to read C&P for a while though, and axolotl saying it’s his favourite book just nudged it up my list…
Of the ones I have read, though, I have to say a word for Brothers Karamazov. Holy hell, what a book. Philosophically, theologically, I don’t think literature goes much deeper. I feel like Dostoevsky is wrestling with his soul through his characters. Definitely a good one for people in a predicament like ours, also likely wrestling with our souls and the big existential questions… at least, speaking for myself…
Right now I’m reading a book called The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. I probably shouldn’t recommend it before I get to the end (still about a third of the way to go) but assuming it doesn’t massively drop off towards the end, it’s one of the remarkable novels I’ve read in a long time. It’s about Jesuits who go on a mission to an alien planet, but everything goes wrong - nightmarishly wrong. Not dissimilar to Brothers Karamazov, actually, in that it deals with the loss of faith. I suspect the author might be a Christian, but you don’t have to be to enjoy the book - I’m not. Again, like Dostoevsky’s work, it’s a philosophical treatise that transcends any particular religious affiliation. An impressively sober examination of some of the most disturbing truths and possibilities. With brilliant characters, humour and lots of nerdy sci-fi fun.
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Anything by Emil Cioran.
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Interesting, think I will look out for some Cioran. I enjoy nihilist philosophy from time to time - helps keep me honest. I feel like it requires a certain level of emotional resilience, though. I read this one book a few years back when I was in a very fragile state and it nearly tipped me over the edge.
The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness - Mark Williams
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Would avoid Emil Cioran. He is a 100% totally depressing author and extreme nihilist. I started reading A Short History of Decay, then dropped it. We all have enough to fix without having additional depressing thoughts loaded in.
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I think that’s a good point, I used to love dark, depressing things but self preservation makes me think avoiding at least some of that stuff might be for the best.
Yeah same here. I was very into the dark things and thought real love didn’t exist. (Even there was a girl who fall in love with me that time) I was anti-humanist and nihilist. (I was a teenager)
Now, my life is the opposite, i fell in love with a girl so hard and she has mixed feelings with me and lives in another city. I had very bad experiences in human relationships due to my bad luck. I still get depressed time to time but in contary to this situation, i believe true love and happines exists now. This is hope i guess.
Educated by Tara Westover. I mean it was the first book I’ve read in ages and managed to finish it, so I think it’s a decent read.