Books let you walk in the shoes of ANYONE. I would argue allowing yourself to open up and find life lessons in any book is an exceedingly valuable life skill for anyone, regardless of age or gender.

Grab a book, any book. Read it. There will be life lessons hidden in it if you allow yourself to think deeply on it after.

Murderbot Diaries. It’s about a self-emancipated cyborg who tries to figure out who he is. Most are short novelas and the most recent 2 are novels. It deals a lot with understanding repressed emotions and reaching out to people when you’ve spent your whole life hiding.

It’s also fun to watch Murderbot beat corporate ass. Also he tries hard not to actually hurt people and his name is self-ascribed and self-deprecating.

Replay by Ken Grimwood.

A man dies in 1988 and wakes back up as himself in the 60s, but with current memories.

I think people can probably take different things from this book, but one thing I got out of it was an appreciation for the fact that I very likely wouldn’t have any of the things I treasure in life, had some of my tragedies not adjusted my course.

Even if you could go back and “do things right”, you’re a different person with all your future experiences. What if in trying to fix the past, you lost something you couldn’t live without?

Not fiction, but holy fuck, it was eye opening: Humankind, by Rutger Bregman.

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Some more information could help.

Self reflection on personal failings?

Insights into other perspectives?

Learning self acceptance or to appreciate how one fits into the world?

Something else I may have missed?

I try to learn lessons from everything I read, but if I had to choose some that are tied to, like, emotional hurdles one may face during this period in their life, it’d still be difficult without knowing that person’s ability to, uh, metaphoricize.

I know people who could learn a thing or two from The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and a few folks who need to read more nonfiction history.

I guess what you’re really asking is “Are there any books from this particular point in your life from which you took special meaning?” And if that’s the case, I’d have to say not really because everything I’ve read for the past decade or more has been to distract me from everything else.

I really like Hugh Howey, and I refuse to watch the Silo show based on his series because I don’t want to tarnish the book series for myself. It is my Game of Thrones. As are the several spinoff novels from various authors - Michael Bunker being the most notable. Check out the Pennsylvania Omnibus.

Justin Cronin is another good author. His Passage series is pretty cool.

S.M. Reine if you’re into YA angel/demon/werewolf stuff.

And of course Mr. Patrick Rothfuss, my doppelganger. I want so badly to recommend his Kingkiller Chronicles series, but he can’t finish the third book. I love the first two almost as much as my first-born son, though.

If you can’t learn a lesson from any of these, then you’re not ready to be a manotaur.

Reading The Anthropocene Reviewed right now, and there’s some stuff in there that honestly hits pretty deep.

[off topic]

The movie, 'The Flight Of The Phoenix" [original with Jimmy Stewart]

A plane crashes in the middle of the desert. The men have to reach into themselves to find the courage to survive.

I get a lot more out of reading history than fiction, and there are so many greats choc full of life lessons. A few that really stand out:

Nicolas and Alexandra - ignore the little people at your own peril

The Guns of August - political leaders have no idea what they’re doing

The Right Stuff - some people are willing to do anything to get that sensation of living on the edge

Do you mean the audience or the subject matter?