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Cover of The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life by David BrooksThe Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life
Modern · Nonfiction, Self Help, Philosophy

The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life

by David Brooks
2019 · 385 pages · Nonfiction
Reserve shelf
≈ 10 hours to read · about 3 weeks at 30 minutes a day

By the numbers

54.9Must-Read Score
  • Readers8 out of 100 · counts 42%
  • Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%
  • Bestseller40 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
  • Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%

Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.

On our reserve shelf: it's well reviewed, but isn't currently a prize winner, a lifetime bestseller or a book everyone's talking about, so we don't rank it. We check again every month, and it can still turn up in your 50 once you've read most of our ranked books.

Why it made the list

Bestseller
18 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2019

Reads as

Thought-provoking, Practical

How we rank

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