Five Books

“Dare to be wise”— Horace, Immanuel Kant At the ancient library of Alexandria, an inscription above the shelves of papyrus rolls read, “The Place of the Cure of the Soul.” Today, our knowledge goes well beyond anything imaginable in those days — if anything there is too much to read, rather than too little. <a href="http://www.fivebooks.com" target="_blank">Five Books</a> is building a comprehensive library of knowledge, curating recommendations on any topic you might want to read books about. We have covered 1,200 topics so far and aim to add at least two new ones every week. We ask leaders in a field to make book recommendations in their area of work and explain their choices in an interview. Our interviews range from engaging introductions to specialist subjects—such as the <a href="http://fivebooks.com/interview/adam-eaker-best-books-dutch-masters/" target="_blank">Dutch Masters</a>, <a href="http://fivebooks.com/interview/larry-summers-globalization/" target="_blank">Globalization</a>, “<a href="http://fivebooks.com/interview/anti-memoirs-yiyun-li/" target="_blank">Anti-memoirs</a>”, <a href="http://fivebooks.com/interview/sarah-bakewell-on-existentialism/" target="_blank">Existentialism</a>, <a href="http://fivebooks.com/interview/steven-pinker-on-the-decline-of-violence/" target="_blank">Violence (or its decline)</a>—to in-depth explorations of more personal themes and inspirations, from the likes of <a href="https://fivebooks.com/best-books/mia-farrow-on-changing-the-world-for-good/" target="_blank">Mia Farrow</a>, <a href="http://fivebooks.com/interview/ian-mcewan-on-books-that-have-helped-shape-his-novels/" target="_blank">Ian McEwan</a>, <a href="http://fivebooks.com/interview/margaret-drabble-ageing-literature/" target="_blank">Margaret Drabble</a> and <a href="http://fivebooks.com/interview/elif-shafak-on-turkey/" target="_blank">Elif Shafak</a>. We cover nonfiction such as <a href="https://fivebooks.com/category/philosophy/" target="_blank">philosophy books</a>, <a href="https://fivebooks.com/category/psychology/" target="_blank">psychology books</a>, <a href="https://fivebooks.com/category/mathematics-and-science/" target="_blank">science books</a> as well as fiction such as <a href="https://fivebooks.com/category/fiction/historical-fiction/" target="_blank">historical fiction</a> and <a href="https://fivebooks.com/category/fiction/science-fiction/" target="_blank">sci-fi books</a>.

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With this tier, you'll be able to commission the topic of a new interview each year!

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With this tier, you'll be able to commission the topic of a new interview two times a year!

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Become a sponsor on a specific subject and have your name/photo/logo appear at the bottom of the page of all that subject's interviews! Your subject could be narrow (bee-keeping) or wide (the Meaning of Life). 