This week, we’ve been exploring secular spirituality, defined as being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material things.
Unless, of course, those things are books. People often turn to them to answer life’s big questions: How can I be a better person? How can I find joy? How can I process grief?
Host Robin Young talks to editor and author William Schwalbe (@WillSch) about his favorite secular spiritual choices.
Schwalbe’s Recommendations
- “The Importance of Living” by Lin Yutang, 1937
- “Stuart Little” by E.B. White, 1945
- “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio, 2012
- “A Better Man” by Louise Penny, 2019
- “Gift from the Sea” by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1955
- “Bartleby, The Scrivener A Story of Wall-Street” by Herman Melville, 1853
- “A Taste of Country Cooking” by Edna Lewis, 1976
Books By Schwalbe
- “Books for Living“
- “The End of Your Life Book Club“
- “SEND: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better“
Host Robin Young’s Recommendation
- “The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are” by Alan Watts, 1989
More from the show: HuffPost’s “26 Books Every ‘Spiritual But Not Religious’ Seeker Should Read“
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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