What exactly makes a book “thought-provoking”? Modernist works, such as Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons, are thought-provoking in their opacity. Archaic language can add to the thought-provoking nature of a book; William Blake’s poetry is an excellent example of works that are thought-provoking for their content, syntax, and age. Thought-provoking books can also be labelled as such due to their intricate plots or large number of characters. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle practically requires a bulletin board and red string to read. For the purposes of this list, the books chosen are thought-provoking for their content, rather than their style of prose or intellectual difficulty (in other words: read Ulysses on your own time). From a reclusive heiress to a pair of twins whose lives take shockingly divergent paths, you’ll be ruminating on these thought-provoking books long after you finish them.
Thought-Provoking Books: Nonfiction
Thought-Provoking Books: Memoir/Biography
Thought-Provoking Books: Fiction
Many of these books contain controversial views or opinions. Many of the questions posed may not ever come up in your day-to-day life (how likely are you to be the hospice nurse for an eccentric widow who leaves you tens of millions of dollars?). But that’s what makes them thought-provoking books. The ones that touch all of us have skillfully tackled the wild, wonderful, wearying and wacky in such a way that they never leave. Kate Moore’s breathtaking retelling of the women’s stories is perhaps the most personal book on the subject. Replete with testimony from the women themselves, this chapter of history provides one of the most thought-provoking books on worker’s rights, and scientific advancements. You can also find more suggestions for books on racism here. You can find other thought-provoking books of horror here.
