Books Recommended by Maria Popova
Maria Popova is a Bulgarian-born writer and author, known for founding Brain Pickings, a website where she writes about culture, books, and philosophy.
When she was a little child, Maria’s grandmother often read to her from a collection of encyclopedias, which influenced Maria to be curious about the world.
Popova moved to the USA and studied Communications at the University of Pennsylvania. She worked 4 part-time jobs while studying, in order to pay her tuition.
In 2005, she joined an advertising agency and noticed that her colleagues were sending each other info for inspiration. That’s how Maria started regularly sending emails to a few friends with five things that had nothing to do with advertising, but were interesting.
Because of the popularity of the weekly emails, Popova felt that there was an “intellectual hunger for that sort of cross-disciplinary curiosity and self-directed learning.”
That’s how Brain Pickings was born in 2006, which is included in the Library of Congress permanent digital archive of culturally valuable materials.
Maria has several side projects, such as two newsletters, a sub-site where she matches quotes from books with songs called “Literary Jukebox”, serves as the editorial director at the higher education social network Lore, and hosts The Universe in Verse – an annual celebration of science through poetry. She’s previously written for The New York Times, Wired, The Atlantic.
In February 2019, her book came out: ‘Figuring‘ explores “the complexities of love and the human search for truth and meaning through the interconnected lives of several historical figures across four centuries”.
Books recommended by Maria Popova:
6 books recommended by Maria Popova
On the Shortness of Life
by Seneca
To remind ourselves of this profound failure, Maria, I, and at least six other guests in this book read and recommend On the Shortness of Life by Seneca.
Stumbling on Happiness
Dan Gilbert "Stumbling Unhappiness" should be required reading for every human being.
The Republic
by Plato
Tim Ferriss: "If you could guarantee that every public official or leader read one book, what would it be?" Maria Popova: "The book would be, rather obviously, Plato's The Republic. I'm actually gobsmacked that this isn't required in order to be sworn into office, like… Read the full quote
Tim Ferriss: "If you could guarantee that every public official or leader read one book, what would it be?"
Maria Popova: "The book would be, rather obviously, Plato's The Republic. I'm actually gobsmacked that this isn't required in order to be sworn into office, like the Constitution is required for us American immigrants when it comes time to gain American citizenship."
Art, Inc.: The Essential Guide for Building Your Career as an Artist
by Lisa Congdon
Lisa Congdon has managed to debunk the outdated and toxic notion that making money and making art are diametrically opposed outcomes, attaining one of which invariably compromises the other-a primary source of crippling self-consciousness. She equips emerging artists with the necessary tools-from the psychological to the practical-for defining success by their own standards, then attaining it on their own terms.
Ernest Hemingway on Writing
Ernest Hemingway famously maintained that it was bad luck to talk about writing. Yet, over the course of his career, he frequently wrote about writing in his novels and short stories, his letters to editors, friends, critics, and lovers, in interviews, and even in articles… Read the full quote
Ernest Hemingway famously maintained that it was bad luck to talk about writing. Yet, over the course of his career, he frequently wrote about writing in his novels and short stories, his letters to editors, friends, critics, and lovers, in interviews, and even in articles specifically commissioned on the subject. In Ernest Hemingway on Writing, editor Larry W. Phillips culls the finest, wittiest, most profound of Hemingway’s reflections on writing, the nature of the writer, and the elements of the writer’s life. The slender volume packs insights on everything from work habits to mood management to discipline to knowing what to leave out, delivered with Hemingway’s unmistakable personality and his signature zeal for integrity.
Zen in the Art of Writing
by Ray Bradbury
In Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You, Ray Bradbury — acclaimed author, dystopian novelist, hater of symbolism — shares not only his wisdom and experience in writing, but also his contagious excitement for the craft. Blending practical how-to’s on… Read the full quote
In Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You, Ray Bradbury — acclaimed author, dystopian novelist, hater of symbolism — shares not only his wisdom and experience in writing, but also his contagious excitement for the craft. Blending practical how-to’s on everything from finding your voice to negotiating with editors with snippets and glimpses of the author’s own career, the book is at once a manual and a manifesto, imbued with equal parts insight and enthusiasm.
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