Books that Support Critical Thinking and Personal Development

  • [T]=Link to free text
  • [A]=Link to free audio recording

Young adult/children

  • The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupery
  • Complete Winnie the Pooh–A.A. Milne [A]
  • Where the Sidewalk Ends, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
  • Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
  • Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
  • The Great Good Thing by Roderick Townley
  • The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling [A]
  • Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
  • The Westing Game by Ellen Rasking
  • Lilies of the Field by William Barrett
  • The Wrinkle in Time Series(Wrinkle In Time, Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet)  by Madeleine L’Engle
  • The Dark is Rising Series by Susan Cooper
  • The Tripod Trilogy by John Christopher
  • The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • Coraline, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
  • Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King
  • The Original Shanara Trilogy (Sword, Elfstones, Wishsong) and Landover (Magic Kingdom for Sale, SOLD!, The Black Unicorn, Wizard at Large, The Tangle Box) by Terry Brooks
  • The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
  • Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain [A]
  • Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
  • Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter [A]
  • The Wave by Todd Strasser

Literature 

  • Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  • Frankenstein by Mary Shelley [A]
  • The Portrait of Dorian Gray [A] by Oscar Wilde
  • The Time Machine by H.G. Wells [A]
  • Night by Elie Wiesel
  • Dracula by Bram Stoker [A]
  • Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas
  • Silas Marner by George Eliot [A]
  • The Decameron –Giovanni Boccaccio [A]
  • Mystic River, Live by Night--Dennis Lehane
  • The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
  • Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
  • The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
  • Roots by Alex Haley
  • The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
  • Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan
  • The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
  • Gone Girl, Dark Places, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
  • Erasure, Trees, James by Percival Everett

Drama

  • Complete works of William Shakespeare (Especially Othello, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Tempest, Henry IV parts 1 & 2, Henry V, Romeo & Juliet sonnets) [A]
  • Holiday, The Philadelphia Story, Hotel Universe by Philip Barry
  • A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt
  • Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmund Ronstad (unless you speak French, only the Hooker translation)
  • A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
  • Inherit the Wind by Lawrence and Lee
  • Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet
  • The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman
  • Rosenkcrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
  • A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen

Education

  • How to Read A Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
  • A Mind for Numbers by Barbara Oakley
  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey
  • How to Write A Thesis by Umberto Eco
  • Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to All Students by Colin Seale 

Philosophy

History

  • History of the Ancient World, Medieval World, Renaissance World, The Story of Western Science by Susan Wise Bauer
  • History of the Peloponnesian Wars by Thucydides[A]
  • Plato and the Tyrant by James Romm
  • The Storm Before the Storm by Mike Duncan
  • Plutarch’s Lives [A]
  • Cicero, Augustus by Anthony Everitt
  • In the Shadow of the Sword by Tom Holland
  • The Closing of the Muslim Mind by Robert R. Reilly
  • Lost Enlightenment by S. Frederick Starr
  • History of the English Speaking People by Winston Churchill
  • From Dawn to Decadence by Jaques Barzun
  • The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto
  • How the Scots Invented the Modern World by Arthur Herman
  • Letters of John and Abigail Adams
  • Washington, Hamilton by Ron Chernow
  • The Glorious Cause by Robert Middlekauff
  • An Empire on the Edge by Nick Bunker
  • The Great Divide by Thomas Fleming
  • Faiths of the Founding Fathers by David L. Holmes
  • Patriot’s History of the United States by Schweikart and Allen
  • 1775 by Kevin Phillips
  • The Pursuit of Happiness in the Founding Era by Carli N. Conklin
  • Empire of Liberty, Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different, The American Revolution, The Purpose of the Past by Gordon S. Wood
  • Realistic Visionary by Peter Henriques
  • Occult America by Mitch Horowitz
  • Without Precedent: Chief Justice John Marshall and his Times by Joel Richard Paul
  • Passionate Sage, First Family: Abigail & John Adams by Joseph Ellis
  • The Return of George Washington by Edward J. Larson
  • America’s Revolutionary Mind by C. Bradley Thompson
  • Abigail Adams by Woody Holton
  • The First Congress by Fergus M. Bordewich
  • The Great Upheaval by Jay Wink
  • John Adams by David McCullough
  • The Holocaust: A New History by Laurence Rees
  • The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer
  • Schindler’s Ark by Keneally
  • The Last Lion by William Manchester and Paul Reid
  • Freedom’s Forge by Arthur Herman
  • The Forgotten Man, Coolidge by Amnity Shlaes
  • New Deal or Raw Deal? by Burton Folsom Jr.
  • Eyes on the Prize by Julian Bond, Juan Williams
  • Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley
  • The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
  • Reagan’s War by Peter Schweizer
  • Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
  • Invisible Hands by Kim Phillips-Fein
  • Coming Apart by Charles Murray
  • Inside Terrorism by Bruce Hoffman
  • The Right by Matthew Continetti
  • Romney: A Reckoning by McKay Coppins

Economics/Politics

  • Who Really Cares, The Conservative Heart, and The Road to Freedom by Arthur Brooks
  • The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
  • Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway by Dave Barry
  • Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson
  • Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville [A]
  • The Law by Bastiat [A]
  • The Upside of Down by Megan McArdle
  • Spirit of the Laws [A] by Montesquieu
  • The Federalist Papers [A] by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay
  •  Theory of Moral Development [A], Wealth of Nations [A] by Adam Smith

  • Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration by Bryan Caplan, Zach Weinersmith

  • The Myth of the Rational Voter by Bryan Caplan
  • My Journey by Tony Blair
  • The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater
  • Second Treatise of Government [A], A Letter Concerning Tolerance [A] by John Locke
  • Parliament of Whores, Eat the Rich, On Wealth, Peace Kills by P.J. O’Rourke
  • In Defense of Globalization, Why Growth Matters by Jagdish Bhagwati
  • Novus Ordo Seclorum by Forest McDonald
  • Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell
  • The Next 100 Years by George Friedman*
  • The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto
  • Soft Power by Joseph Nye Jr.
  • The Road to Serfdom, The Constitution of Liberty by F.A. Hayek
  • Capitalism and Freedom and Free to Choose by Milton Friedman
  • New Threats To Freedom edited by Adam Bellow
  • Progress: Ten Reasons to the Look Forward to the Future, The Capitalist Manifesto: Why the Global Free Market Will Save the World by Johan Norberg
  • Reflections on the Revolution in France [A] by Edmund Burke
  • The General Theory by Keynes*
  • The Fabric of Civilization by Virginia I. Postrel
  • The End of History and the Last Man,The Origins of Political Order, Political Order and Decay, Identity by Francis Fukuyama
  • Streets of Gold by Ran Abramitzky, Leah Boustan
  • Bourgeois Virtues, Bourgeois Equality, Bourgeois Dignity, Leave me Alone and I’ll Make You Rich by Deirdre McCloskey
  • Capital by Karl Marx [A]*
  • The Conservative Mind by Russel Kirk*
  • Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think by Steven Kotler
  • The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
  • The Prosperity Paradox by Clayton Christensen and Efosa Ojomo
  • Maslow on Management by Abraham Maslow
  • Capitalism in America by Alan Greenspan and Adrian Woldridge
  • Liberalism in the Classical Tradition by Ludwig von Mises
  • Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker
  • Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
  • Things That Matter by Charles Krauthammer
  • Not Accountable–Philip K. Howard
  • Ur-Facsism by Umberto Eco
  • The Wealth of a Nation: A History of Trae Politics in America by C. Donald Johnson
  • Milton Friedman by Jennifer Burns
      • *Don’t really agree with them, but they are important to read

Other nonfiction

  • Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
  • The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking
  • Freakanomics. Super Freakanomics, Think Like a Freak, When to Rob a Bank by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner
  • The Art of War by Sun Tzu
  • A Theory of Human Motivation by Abraham Maslow
  • Scratch Beginnings by Adam Shepard
  • The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra
  • Shadowplay, Shakespeare and the Resistance by Clare Asquith
  • Human Excellence, Losing Ground, by Charles Murray
  • The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker
  • 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
  • Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson
  • The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston
  • Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics by Stephen Greenblatt
  • Shakespeare Saved My Life by Laura Bates
  • Shakespeare’s Twenty-First Century Economics by Frederick Turner
  • Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

Pleasure reading

  • Beat to Quarters, Ship of the Line, Flying Colours, The African Queen by C.S. Forester
  • The Road to Gandolfo, Bourne Trilogy by Robert Ludlum
  • Big Trouble by Dave Barry
  • Eaters of the Dead, State of Fear by Michael Crichton
  • Red Storm Rising, The Hunt for Red October, Sum of All Fears, Executive Orders by Tom Clancy
  • I, Claudius by Graves
  • The Walking Drum, How the West was Won by L’Amour
  • The Alienist by Caleb Carr
  • A Study in Scarlet Women (and other Lady Sherlock novels) by Sherry Thomas
  • Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield
  • The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Ozcry [A]
  • It, The Stand, The Green Mile, The Shining, Doctor Sleep, “Rita Haywood and the Shawshank Redemption” by Stephen King
  • The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
  • Pillars of the Earth, The Evening and the Morning, World Without End by Ken Follett
  • The Historian by Kostova
  • Grail Quest, The Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwall
  • The Thirteenth Tale by Setterfield
  • Lamb, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, Vampire Trilogy, The Stupidest Angel, and Fool by Christopher Moore
  • Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope [A]
  • Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
  • Murder on Black Swan Lane (and other Wrexford & Sloane novels) by Andrea Penrose
  • The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel
  • Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake
  • Slow Horses (all of Slough House series) by Mick Herron
  • Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman
  • Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  • The Godfather by Mario Puzo
  • Pendergast novels (The Relic to White Fire) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
  • A Drink Before the War (and other Kenzie & Gennaro books) by Dennis Lehane

Sci fi/Fantasy 

  • Mists of Avalon, The Forest House by Marion Zimmer Bradley
  • Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
  • Eye of the World and all of The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (et al.) (you can skim books 8-10)
  • Direct Descent, Helstrom’s Hive, Dune Series by Frank Herbert (et al.)
  • The Sword of Truth Series (stop after Confessor) by Terry Goodkind
  • Stranger in a Strange Land, Puppet Master, Starship Troopers, Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Beyond this Horizon, Sixth Column and Double Star by Robert Heinlein
  • Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
  • The Princess Bride by William Golding
  • Watership Down by Richard Adams
  • Rhapsody, Prophecy, Destiny  by Elizabeth Haydon
  • Ender’s Game, Enchantment by Card
  • The Last Wish, The Sword of Destiny by Andrezej Saplowski
  • American Gods, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
  • Anthem, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
  • I am Legend, Steel, What Dreams May Come–Richard Matheson
  • Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  • 1984 by George Orwell
  • 2001 by Arthur C.Clarke
  • World War Z by Max Brooks
  • The Emperor’s Soul, A Perfect State, Legion, Elantris, Warbreaker, Mistborn and Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson
  • The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester
  • The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
  • The Thrawn Trilogy (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command) by Timothy Zahn
  • A Stitch in Time by Andrew J. Robinson
  • The Orville: Sympathy for the Devil by Seth McFarlane

Spiritual 

  • Real Magic: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science, and a Guide to the Secret Power of the Universe by Dean Radin
  • Autobiography of a Yogi by Yogananda
  • Evidence of the Afterlife by Jeffrey Long
  • The Messengers by Julia Ingram
  • The Mind Illuminated by John Yates
  • Life before Life by Jim B. Tucker
  • The Dark Night of the Soul by Gerald G. Mary MD
  • The Miracle Club, Cosmic Habit Force by Mitch Horowitz
  • The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
  • As a Man Thinketh, Eight Pillars of Porsperity by James Allen
  • Varieties of Religious Experience by William James [A]
  • The Artists’s Way by Julia Cameron
  • There is a River by Thomas Sugrue
  • Life After Death by Deepak Chopra

Central Religious Texts

  • A Course in Miracles
  • God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita by (Translated and Commentary) by Yogananda
  • The Tao Te Ching (best to read at least two translations)
  • Holy Bible (Tanakh and NRSV are the recommended translations)
  • The Second Coming of Christ by Yogananda

Spiritual Fiction

  • The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas
  • Lost Horizon by James Hilton
  • The Alchemist, Veronica Decides to Die, Warrior of Light, Brida, The Pilgrimage, The Witch of Portobello, The Fifth Mountain, Manuscript Found in Accra, by Paulo Coelho
  • The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
  • Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions by Richard Bach
  • Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

Poetry

Short Stories

  • Ted Chiang: Stories of Your Life, Understand
  • Oscar Wilde: The Carterville Ghost [T][A], The Model Millionaire [T][A], The Nightingale and the Rose  [T][A], The Selfish Giant, The Happy Prince
  • Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton
  • Edgar Allan Poe: (Masque of the Red Death [T][A]. Telltale Heart [T][A], Cask of Amontillado [T][A], Fall of the House if of Usher [T][A], The Purloined Letter [T][A],The Thousand and Second Tale of Scheherazade  [T][A], Pit and the Pendulum [T][A], Mertzengerstein [T], The Duc De L’omlette [T][A], The Black Cat [T][A], The Murders of the Rue Morgue [T][A], Van Kempelen and his Discovery [T], Mesmeric Revelation [T][A]
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne: My Kinsman Major Molineux [T][A], Young Goodman Brown [T][A],  Rappacini’s Daughter [T][A], Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment [T][A], The Snow Image [T][A], The Minister’s Black Veil [T], The Maypole of Merry Mount [T][A], The Celestial Railroad [T][A], Sister Years  [T][A], The New Adam and Eve [T][A], The Artist of the Beautiful [T][A]
  • O. Henry: Lickpenny Lover [T][A], The Gift of the Magi [T][A],After Twenty Years [T][A], The Last Leaf [T][A], The Cop and the Anthem  [T], The Clarion Call [T], The Skylight Room [T][A], The Buyer from Cactus City [T][A], The Duplicity of the Hargraves [T][A], The Furnished Room [T][A], Witches loaves [T][A], The Third Ingredient  [T][A], Spring time a la Carte  [T][A], The Green Door [T][A], By Courier, The Romance of the Busy Broker, One Thousand Dollars, Tobin’s Pal, Fourth in Salvador, A Retrieved Reformation, The enchanted kiss
  • H.P. Lovecraft: The Cats of Ultar [T][A], The Outsider [T], Beyond the wall of sleep [T][A], Hypnos [T][A], The call of Cthuthulu  [T], Dunwich horror [T][A], Dagon)
  • EM Forrester: The Other side of the Hedge [T][A], The Machine Stops [T][A])
  • Edith Wharton –The fullness of life [T][A]
  • Collins–Mr. Lismore and the Widow [T][A]
  • Bradbury—Exiles, Sound of Thunder
  • Hans Christian Anderson –( In a thousand years  [T][A], Little mermaid [T][A])
  • Ambrose Bierce–Occurrence at owl creek bridge[T][A]
  • Connell–The most dangerous game [T]
  • Thousand and One nights–Aladdin and his magic lamp [T][A]
  • The Necklace, Useless Beauty by Maupassant [T][A]
  • Anthony Hope–The Philosopher in the Apple Orchard [T][A]
  • Doyle– The Red-Headed League [T][A], Scandal in Bohemia[T][A], The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, The Final Solution, The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual, Silver Blaze, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, The Adventure of the Charles Augustus Milverton
  • Gilman–The Yellow Wallpaper [T][A]
  • Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut
  • Before the Law by Kafka
  • The story of an hour by Kate Chopin [T][A]
  • The Lottery by Shirley Jackson [T]
  • Rikki-tiki-tavi by Kipling
  • Pigs is Pigs by Ellis Parker Butler
  • The ones who walk away from Omelas by Le Guin  [T]
  • Bartley the Scrivener by Melville[T][A]
  • The lady or the tiger by Frank Stockton [T][A]
  • Abbot–Flatland[T][A]
  • Afterward by Edith Wharton
  • Jericho Road by Henry van dyke [T][A]
  • Heinlein: The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag, Magic INC.,  All you zombies, By his bootstraps, Waldo, Beyond this horizon)
  • Philip K. Dick (We can remember it for you wholesale, Paycheck, Second Variety, The Minority Report, The Golden Man, Variable Man, James P. Crow, Human is, The Hood Maker, War Veteran, The Hanging Stranger, The Mold of Yancy, If There Were No Cemoli, Waterspider
  • William Faulkner: A Rose for Emily, The Tall Men, Shingles for the Lord, Shall not Perish, Elly, Uncle Willy, That will be Fine, That Evening Sun, Red Leaves, A Justice, A Courtship, Lo!, Ad Astra, All the Dead Pilots, Wash, Mountain Victory,  Beyond)
  • Mark Twain (The celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County[T][A],  Diary of Adam and Eve[TT][A]
  • Washington Irving: Sleepy Hollow, [T][A],  The Devil and Tom Walker  [T][A]
  • Gelett Burgess–The number Thirteen [A], The MacDougal street affair  [A]
  • Lord Dunsany– The bureau d’exchange de Maux [T][A], The Exiles club [T][A], The Sword of Walleran  [T][A], The Ghosts
  • The mortal immortal  by Mary Shelly [T][A]
  • The Adventure of the Snowing Globe By F. Anstey[A]
  • The Sleeper and Spindle, A Study in Emerald by Gaiman
  • Mark Helprin: Katrina,Katrina; Shooting the Bar, The Home Front, Elizabeth Ridinoure, The Silver Bracelet, A Dove of the East, Katherine comes to yellow sky, Monday, Ellis Island, Perfection, IlColore Ritrovato, Vandevere’s House, Prelude, Tamar[T]
  • Battle Royale—Ellison

Speeches

  • Blood, Sweat and Tears; Their Finest Hour, We shall fight on the beaches, Iron Curtain –Churchill
  • The Third Philippic—Demosthenes
  • First Inaugural, Decision to go to the moon—John F.Kennedy
  • Abolition Speech—William Wilberforce
  • First Oration against Catiline—Cicero
  • First Inaugural, Fifth State of the Union, 40th Anniversary D-Day, Brandenburg Gate, A Time for Choosing,Crisis of Communism—Ronald Reagan
  • Funeral Oration—Pericles
  • What to the slave is the fourth of July—Fredrick Douglas
  • I have a dream—Martin Luther King Jr
  • Perils of Indifference—Elie Wiesel
  • “Doctrine of the International Community”, Speech to US Congress–Tony Blair
  • The Need to Expand speech—Adolf Hitler (obviously for historical purposes not because it’s good)
  • Margaret Thatcher first speech as PM, ‘Orwellian nightmare’ if Tories fail
  • Fire Sermon—Buddha
  • Empress Theodora’s refusal to run
  • Sermon on the Birds—St. Francis
  • Thomas Moore on Charges of Treason
  • Queen Elizabeth on the Spanish Armada
  • Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God—Johnathan Edwards
  • Give me Liberty or Give me Death!—Patrick Henry
  • Washington to Troops on Insurrection
  • Washington’s Farewell Address
  • First and Second Inaugural, Gettysburg—Lincoln
  • Barry Goldwater Convention Speech
  • William Faulkner Nobel Speech
  • Ain’t I a Woman–Sojourner Truth
  • Age of Liberty—George W. Bush

Short Non-Fiction

  • What Good the Classics—Jaques Barzun
  • Letters from a Birmingham Jail–Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Police and the English Language, Notes on Nationalism by George Orwell
  • A Letter for Garcia by Elbert Hubbard
  • A Modest Proposal—Jonathan Swift [T][A]
  • Self-Reliance [A][T], The American Scholar[A], Experience[A], The Oversoul—Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • Up from Slavery[A][T], Character Building [A]—Booker T. Washington

Podcasts

  • The History of Rome, Revolutions–Mike Duncan
  • Econtalk
  • New liberal Podcast
  • Freakanomics
  • Emergent Order
  • Conversations with Bill Kristol
  • Bitchy History
  • Welcome to Nightvale
  • The Bulwark
  • Lawfare
  • George Conway Explains it All
  • Shield of the Republic
  • Bound by Oath

Lectures

  • Redefining Reality—Great Courses
  • The Odyssey of Homer–Great Courses
  • Practicing Mindfulness–Great Courses
  • The Conservative Tradition–Great Courses
  • Machiavelli in Context–Great Courses
  • Masters of Mindfulness—Great Courses
  • Shakespeare and Politics—Paul Cantor
  • Building Great Sentences–Great Courses
  • European Thought and Culture in the 20th Century–Great Courses
  • Foundations of Economic Prosperity–Great Courses
  • The Brontes: Romantic Passion and Social Justice–Great Courses
  • The Joy of Science–Great Courses
  • Legacies of Great Economists–Great Courses
  • Understanding Complexity–Great Courses
  • Walt Whitman and the Birth of Modern Poetry–The Modern Scholar

Movies (alphabetical by director, actor, then just movies)

Affleck: (Dir) Gone, Baby Gone; Argo; The Town; Live by Night, (Writer) Good Will Hunting (Actor) The Accountant, Paycheck

Badham: The Hard Way, Short Circuit

Besson: Leon: The Professional, The Fifth Element, Valerian

Bird: The Incredibles 1 & 2, Tomorrowland

Black: (Dir) Nice Guys, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, (writ) Long Kiss Goodnight, Lethal Weapon

Branagh: Murder on the Orient Express, Thor, Dead Again, Cinderella, Henry V, Hamlet, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, (actor) Othello

Brest: Meet Joe Black, Scent of a Woman

Brooks: Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs,

Burton: Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Dumbo, Sleepy Hollow

Cameron: True Lies, The Abyss, Aliens, Terminator I & II

Campbell: The Mask of Zorro, Goldeneye, Casino Royale

Capra: It’s A Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Arsenic and Old Lace, Lost Horizon, It Happened One Night, Meet John Doe

Carpenter: Big Trouble in Little China, Starman

Coens: O Brother Where Art Though, Hudsucker Proxy, No Country For Old Men

Cooper (dir) A Star is Born (2018) (actor)The Hangover

Coppala: Godfather I & II, Dracula

Costner: Postman, Dances with Wolves, (actor) Silverado, Horizon

Crowe: Vanilla Sky, Jerry Maguire

Cukor: Philadelphia Story, My Fair Lady, Holiday, Born Yesterday

Curtiz: Captain Blood, Casablanca, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Seahawks, We’re No Angels, White Christmas, King Creole, The Comancheros, Yankee Doodle Dandy

Darabont: The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption

Dieterle: Hunchback of Notre Dame, Portrait of Jennie

Donen: Singin’ In the Rain, Charade,The Grass is Greener, Indiscreet

Eastwood:(Dir) The Outlaw Josse Wale, Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino, Invictus, High Plains Drifter, Pale Rider, Hereafter, Flag of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima, (Actor) Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, Two Mules for Sister Sara

Edwards: A Shot in the Dark, Blind Date, Return Pink Panther, Operation Petticoat

Emmerich: ID4, Stargate

Fincher: Gone Girl, Seven

Fleming: Joan of Arc, Captains Courageous, Gone with the Wind, A Guy Named Joe, The Good Earth

Ford: Stagecoach, The Quiet Man, Three Godfathers, How the West was Won, Two Rode Together, Mister Roberts, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, Searchers

Gilliam: 12 Monkeys, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Brazil

Goddard: Cabin in the Woods, Bad Times at the El Royal

Hawks: Rio Bravo, His Girl Friday, To Have and Have Not, Red River, O. Henry’s Full House, I was a Male War Bride, Bringing Up Baby, The Big Sleep

Hitchcock: North by Northwest, Rope, Torn Curtain, To Catch a Theif, Notorious, Lifeboat, Psycho, Vertigo, Birds, Marnie, Rear Window, Man Who Knew Too Much, Dial M for Murder

Hooper: Les Miserables, The King’s Speech, John Adams

Howard: Far and Away, Cinderella Man, Backdraft, The Paper, Willow

Huston: Matlese Falcon, Key Largo, African Queen

Ivan Reitman: Ghostbuster, Dave

J. Reitman: Juno, Thank you for Smoking, Tully

Jewison: Fiddler on the Roof, In the Heat of the Night, Other People’s Money

Johnson: The Brothers Bloom, Knives Out, Glass Onion

Joyce: Patriot Games, The Saint

Kasdan: Zero Effect, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Jumanji: The Next Level

King: Song of Bernadette, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing

Koster: Harvey, The Bishop’s Wife

Kramer: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Judgement at  Nuremberg, Inherit the Wind, The Defiant One’s

Kurosawa: Yojimbo, Seven Samurai

Leitch: John Wick, Atomic Blonde

Leone: A Fistful Of Dollars, The Good The Bad and The Ugly

Levinson: Good Morning Vietnam, Wag the Dog, Rain Man

Logan: Paint Your Wagon, Sayonara

Lumet: 12 Angry Men, The Verdict

Lynn: Clue, The Distinguished Gentleman, Greedy, The Whole the Nine Yards, My Cousin Vinny

Marx Brothers: Animal Crackers, A Night at the Opera, Duck Soup

McCarey: An Affair to Remember, The Bells of St. Marry’s

McTiernan: Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October, The 13th Warrior

Minnelli: Brigadoon, Meet Me in St. Louis

Nelson: Father Goose, Lillies of the Field, Charlie

Nichols: Charlie Wilsons War, Regarding Henry

Nolan: Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Dark Knight Trilogy, Tenet, Oppenheimer

Norton: (dir) Motherless Brooklyn, (actor) The Illusionist, Primal Fear, American History X

Pal: 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, Time Machine

Potter: Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, Mr. Lucky,

Raimi: Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, For Love of the Game

Ramis: Groundhog Day, Bedazzled

Reiner: A Few Good Men, The Princess Bride, Ghosts of Mississippi, The American President

Richie: The Gentlemen, Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Man from UNCLE, Aladdin, Revolver, Operation Fortune, Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Robinson: Field of Dreams, Sum of All Fears, Sneakers

Scott: Blade Runner (Final Cut), Gladiator, Exodus, Kingdom of Heaven (dir cut), American Gangster, Alien, The Last Duel

Scott: Crimson Tide, Top Gun, Enemy of the State

Seaton:Miracle on 34th St., Teacher’s Pet

Segal: 50 first dates, My Fellow Americans

Shyamalan: Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Split, Glass, Lady in the Water, Signs, The Village

Singer: Usual Suspects, Xmen

Snyder: Watchmen (dir cut), Man of Steel, Dawn of Justice (dir cut). Sucker Punch (Dir cut), Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Legend of the Guardians, Snow Steam Iron, Rebel Moon (Dir cut)

Soderberg: Ocean’s 11, Logan Lucky

Sonnenfeld: Men in Black, For Love or Money, Big Trouble, Get Shorty

Spielberg: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Minority Report, Schindler’s List

Stanton: John Carter, Wall-E

Stevens: Penny Serenade, Diary of Anne Frank

Sturges: The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven

Tarantino: Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs, Inglorious Basterds, Pulp Fiction

Turteltaub: While You Were Sleeping, National Treasure, Phenomenon

Underwood: Speechless, Heart And Souls

Vaughn: Kingsman, Stardust

Vileeneuve: Arrival, Dune (Parts I & II)

Weir: Dead Poet’s Society, Master and Commander

Whedon: Avengers, Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog, Much Ado

Wilder: Stalag 17, Witness for the Prosecution, Sabrina

Wyler: Ben Hur, Mrs. Miniver,

Zucker: Airplane!, First Knight, Ghost

Zwick: The Last Samurai, Defiance, Legends of the Fall, Glory, The Siege

Actors:

Cage: City of Angels, It Could Happen To You, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Family Man

Ford: The Fugitive, Presumed Innocent

Grant: Houseboat, Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer, People will Talk

Hepburn: The Rainmaker, Lion in Winter

Heston: The Agony and the Ecstasy, The Ten Commandments

Hopkins: Howard’s End, The Silence of the Lambs

Lively: Age of Adaline, A Simple Favor, Another Simple Favor

Newman: The Hustler, The Sting

Peck: To Kill A Mockingbird, Gentleman’s Agreement, The Boys from Brazil

Powell: The Thin Man, My Man Godfrey

Reeves: The Matrix, The Lake House, Destination Wedding, Constantine

Reynolds: Deadpool 1 & 2, The Hitman’s Bodyguard

Seleck: Her Alibi, Quigley Down Under

Smith: Collateral Beauty, Pursuit of Happyness, Hancock

Stoppard (writ) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, Shakespeare in Love

Tom Cruise: Edge of Tomorrow, Interview with the Vampire, All Mission Impossibles (except 1,3-6), Top Gun Marverick

Tracey & Hepburn: Adam’s Rib, Desk Set, State of the Union, Keeper of the Flame

Wayne: Angel and the Bad Man, North to Alaska, Green Berets, Sands of Iwo Jima

Williams: Bicentennial Man, What Dreams May Come

Willis: Tears of the Sun, Lucky Number Slevin

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Star Treks II, IV, VI, First Contact

That’s Entertainment I & II

Bond films: Dr. No, Goldfinger, From Russia with Love, Skyfall, Tomorrow Never Dies, No Time To Die

Shakespeare: The Hollow Crown (all seven parts), King Lear (2018), Merchant of Venice (2004), Romeo and Juliet (1968), Shakespeare Reimagined: The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night

Sci Fi: Alien Nation, Equilibrium, Flatliners, Galaxy Quest, Gattaca, Pitch Black, V for Vendetta, Westworld (1973)

Fantasy: Colossal, Enchanted, Mr. Destiny, The Fountain, The Mummy (1998), The Seventh Seal, The Shadow, Wonder Woman, Barbie, Pirates of the Caribbean

Rom-Com:Cash McCall, Christmas in Connecticut, Grosse Pointe Blank; He Said, She Said; I.Q., LoveActually, Pretty Woman, Shotgun Wedding, The Holiday, Failure to Launch, Music and Lyrics, Just Like Heaven

Comedy: Cheap Detective, Dr. Strangelove, Easy A, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Game Night,Hot Fuzz, MASH, Ocean’s Eight, Office Space, Real Genius, Tag, The Great Dictator, The Other Woman, The Ref, Undercover Blues

Historical: 1776, A Man for All Seasons, Darkest Hour, Gettysburg, Hotel Rwanda,Molly’s Game, The Killing Fields, Tombstone, Walking with the Enemy, Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

Horror:It (Parts I & II), Scream, Sinners

Musical: Chicago,Man of La Mancha, The Music Man

Boys Town

Caine Mutiny

Children of a Lesser God

Count of Monte Cristo (2002)

Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)

Finding Forrester

First Blood

Glenngary Glen Ross

Inn of the Sixth Happiness

Inside Man

L.A. Confidential

Magnificent Obsession

Miracle Worker

Miss Petrigrew Lives for a Day

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

P.S. I love You

Red Dawn (1984)

Shining Through

Stand and Deliver

The Air I Breathe

The Big Short

The Book of Henry

The Cutting Edge

The Fountainhead

The Lives of Others

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

The Mark of Zorro(1940)

The Three Musketeers (1948 & 1992)

The Trouble with Angels

Waitress

Widows

Wind River

Disney—Fantasia, Snow White, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Emperor’s New Groove, Tangled, Frozen (I & II), Moana, Robin Hood, Mulan, The Nightmare Before Christmas

TV

Bad Robot: Alias, Lost, Fringe

Mutant Enemy: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse

Sitcoms: Arrested Development, Brooklyn 99, Scrubs, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Procedural:Bones (Seasons 1-6), Bosch, Broadchurch, Castle, Law & Order (1990-1999), The Fall, The Inside, The Killing, The Wire

Star Trek: TOS, Star Trek: TNG, Star Trek: DS9

Fantasy: Carnival Row, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Galavant, Good Omens, Once Upon A Time (Seasons 1-6), Wonderfalls, Twilight Zone (original)

Sci-Fi: Babylon 5, Man in the High Castle, The Orville, X-Files

Mystery: House MD (Seasons 1-5), Nero Wolfe, Sherlock, Veronica Mars

Horror: Penny Dreadful, Lovecraft Country, The Fall of the House of Usher, Midnight Mass

24

Burn Notice

I, Claudius

Fleabag

Horatio Hornblower

Rome

Scarlet Pimpernel

Chernobyl

The Last Kingdom

Slow Horses

The Gentlemen

Documentaries

Eyes on the Prize

The Secret

Poverty Inc.

The Pursuit

Waiting for Superman

3 responses to “Books that Support Critical Thinking and Personal Development”

  1. Pingback: Reflections on the Election: Why I was wrong, Why Obama Won, and what the GOP needs to do. Part III | The Conservative New Ager

  2. Yeshaya Rotbard's avatar Yeshaya Rotbard
    October 25, 2013 at 7:21 am

    I just came upon this site now – and thank you. It’s good to know you’re out there. I just had this thought regarding books and movies that have conservative values. I am a film buff and there are films out there that can also clearly show what happens to people or to a society when Leftist or Liberal ideas take over, and it may be of value to utilize those in the discussion and sharing of ideas as well. For me, some examples of these are Invasion of the Body Snatchers (but only the original 1956 film). There is also a made for TV film called Harrison Bergeron (it’s on youtube) based on a story by Kurt Vonnegut. And move recently, a film like V for Vendetta. These are just a few. I’m sure there are more, but they do depict what happens when the opposite of conservative values take over. Just a thought, and thanks again.

    Reply
  3. Yeshaya Rotbard's avatar Yeshaya Rotbard
    October 25, 2013 at 7:51 am

    I just posted a comment listing some film titles. I would be remiss if I did not add one more title to that comment by mentioning the great German film – The Lives of Others.

    Reply

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