50 books in 2022 discussion

i wanna talk about reading for personal growth. when people think of personal growth, the mind first goes to self-help books which have content specifically designed for a specific topic, but what about reading fiction for personal growth?

self-help is good for when you know what exactly about yourself you want to improve on. books like how to win friends by dale carnegie is a good example if your goal is to be more likable. the cons of self-help is that they try to teach you how to think, but they don’t always allow the opportunity for deep self-reflection.

fiction has more potential than self-help, in my opinion. fiction has the ability to exemplify certain human characteristics more than in real-life, allowing for more intense reaction and if analyzed, an introspective opportunity. perhaps this is because self-help books come more from an place of authority whereas fiction can be more easily criticized. personally, fiction has helped me realize myself better than any self-help book has but i’m curious about others’ thoughts on this. do you read fiction for personal growth? have you experienced a similar dissatisfaction towards self-help??

I typically hate self help books, except for ones that use stories to help illustrate the issue at hand. Like women who run with the wolves.

I think all reading expands your mind. Fiction is definitely my favorite genre especially historical fiction. I definitely feel connected to the characters but I’m not sure if it would help me to get my finances together or be a better student. I have found some self help books helpful, and take from them what I want. But more spiritual growth has come from Memoirs like Crying in H mart.

I think it’s important to understand and learn from other peoples experiences and I think the best way to do that is to read about real peoples experiences. Like Black is the Body or that book about Pluto Mississippi I just read.

I’ve noticed that the “self help” books I’ve gravitated towards more are psychology books, and surrounding myself with that content in school and work in addition to reading also gives a byproduct of being more knowledgeable in how I treat myself and the people around me. Lots of trauma informed/why we are the way we are content, and it does give me space to really consider myself and ask deeper questions about what my day to day life looks like and navigating the connections around me. I tend to find topics outside of psych and economics a little lacking in the self help realm, those have also come off a bit shallow to me but still have their place. Fiction feels easier to be introspective with because it’s not always a super conscious reflective effort thats needed. More organic to me. You connect to the characters and usually see yourself reflected in some way or another, so you think about how you’d navigate their situations or be passionate about when you don’t agree with how somethings going.