I don't like to think of reading as brain training, even though that is what happens. It does feel more like a cheat code like you say, and that's backed up by science.

By far the craziest scientific finding on reading to me (I still struggle to believe it), is that, to your brain, reading about an experience is almost the same as living them.

As an introvert, this makes so much sense and places the phrase "having a rich inner life" in an entirely new light. Just because I prefer alone time, doesn't mean I don't live a rich, fulfilling, even adventurous life. Very few people, places, activities, works of art ... make me feel things as hard and as clearly as a book that I get completely immersed in. And I do wish more people would give it an honest go, but that's a tall order in a society where we have dopamine machines in our pocket 24/7.

A third of self-help books are written by women. While sure, that means men write most of them, it also means it's not exactly difficult to find self-help written by women. Seems like a very silly reason to ignore a genre. A better reason would be the amount of hucksters that write these books.

I've read several self-help books that changed my lifestyle and perspective (also many that were drivel, it comes with the genre). If you're looking for books by women, these two in particular come to mind:

- The Willpower Instinct by Kelly Mcgonigal

- Dopamine Nation by dr. Anna Lembke

I think it would absolutely help to learn a bit about Camus' philosophy first. To me, reading it through this lens, the stranger is an exercise in absurdism. And without this absurdist background, this would just be a book about a sociopath. But it's not.

Mersault is simply fully aware of the meaninglessness of life and the complete and utter indifference of the universe towards him. So he lives indifferent to it. He's not excited about a job in Paris, because that doesn't matter to him. This is also why he isn't sad about his mother's death. He seems to be perpetually living in the now, focusing on the tangible world around him rather than emotions. At least, that's what I get from it.

I liked it a lot. I'm guessing most guys don't ever experience grooming, including myself. I rationally knew that it must be a particularly nefarious practice, but this book gave me real insight into what it actually is and its dreadful psychological ramifications.

This book and Catch and kill by Ronan Farrow really impacted me in terms of realizing what women deal with on a daily basis, that I've not even have had to think about once.

I've only read Dark Matter, but I really enjoyed it for what it is: the book equivalent of a well made, fast-paced, turn your brain off, popcorn film.

I read it after reading Tolstoy, and as such, it was a fun, fast and easy read. If you don't go into it expecting something it's not, you'll enjoy his work.