Recs if you like Tao Te Ching...

Books from NBC's The Good Place.

"What matters isn't if people are good or bad. What matters is if they're trying to be better today than they were yesterday."

Do you believe in a certain truth of everything, that there is a all encompassing moral code we all should adhere to? Think you know how it works and what is actually right or wrong? Is it ethical to have moral beliefs? Think again! Or better yet, read these books on morality, right vs wrong, inherent truths and much more before stating your opinion as absolute!

These Diverse Baseline Challenge was created by @bookish.millennial & @themargherita.s (on instagram). In 2025, the goal is to read 1 book by a racialized author each month. This challenge is meant to encourage readers to try genres they historically don’t reach for, find new-to-them racialized authors, and to encourage reflection on our reading habits.

This is a mix of recommendations by the challenge organizers and myself.

Some books I want to read in the next couple years. I want to learn more things, especially about philosophy, the state of the world, mythology, and history.

Nonfiction to deepen your understanding of Asia (primarily China, for now)

Academia - Topics in Philosophy

Remember, traveler: the soul is dyed the color of its books. Start with Plato’s late-night dialogues, stroll past Seneca’s inbox-zero tips, then high-five Epictetus for the no-whining rule. This scroll-sized playlist toughens the mind, tickles fate, and still leaves room for afternoon naps. The universe applauds—turn the page.

1. A work of science fiction or fantasy from before 1980 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (1968)
2. A non-fiction book about science or mathematics The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
3. A novel by a Latin American author By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño or The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
4. A novel by an East Asian author Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
5. A classical drama or epic The Epic of Gilgamesh
6. A romance Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali
7. A work of 20th-century philosophy Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre
8. One of these books that was called a ‘dating red flag’ All about love by Bell Hooks
9. A book about a religion you’ve never been a part of Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu
10. A classic children’s book Winnie The Pooh by A. A. Milne
11. A memoir or biography of a woman The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen