Kafka’s haunting novella opens with Gregor Samsa awakening as an insect, turning a family breadwinner into an unrecognizable burden.

A concise portrait of Russia on the cusp of change, Fathers and Sons explores the clash between generations through the nihilist Bazarov and the more traditional Arkady.

This book helped me cultivate a steadier character—resilient when provoked and calm under pressure.

A provocative exploration of rare, high-impact events that lie outside regular expectations, The Black Swan argues that we systematically underestimate uncertainty and overfit tidy narratives to randomness.

Mistakes to avoid when conquering a country include expelling minor rulers who could serve as buffers and allies, strengthening a powerful state within Italy and creating a future rival, inviting an external great power of equal strength into the theater, failing to relocate and rule from Italy to secure control, and neglecting to establish colonies to cement presence and loyalty.

Often published as The Royal Game, Chess Story follows a World War II detainee who, isolated in a cell with only a chess manual, teaches himself to play by sheer force of will—splitting his mind between opponents to survive.