The Reflekta Book List
When people first hear about Reflekta, they often ask where the idea came from. Part of it came from late-night conversations about technology, memory, and how our legacies will live on. But the truth is, Reflekta’s roots stretch into decades of stories, some fictional and some deeply real, that explore what it means to remember, to be remembered, and to preserve the essence of a life.
If you want to immerse yourself in the worlds and ideas that shaped the spirit of Reflekta, here are a few books that we think you will love.
1. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
What would you do if you knew the date you would die? Benjamin’s sweeping novel follows four siblings who each learn their “death date” as teenagers, and then charts the way this knowledge shapes their choices, fears, and joys. It is a meditation on fate, memory, and how much of our legacy is shaped by what we choose to do with our time.
2. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
Gawande, a surgeon and gifted storyteller, tackles one of the most profound questions we face: what makes life worth living as it nears its end? It is not just a book about mortality, it is about how to live fully, how to honor dignity, and how to ensure that the stories of our lives are not defined solely by how they end.
3. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
In this quiet, haunting novel, Ishiguro imagines an Artificial Friend, a robot companion, who observes and loves her human from a distance. It is a deeply human story told through the eyes of a machine, raising the same questions we grapple with at Reflekta: can technology hold love, memory, and meaning?
4. Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman
Eagleman’s short, imaginative vignettes each present a different version of the afterlife, some funny, some poignant, and some strange. Together they remind us that there are countless ways to imagine what comes after life, and countless ways to honor what came before.
5. The Art of Losing by Kevin Young
This anthology gathers poetry from voices across centuries and cultures, all reflecting on loss. It is not just about grief, it is about beauty, resilience, and the way art keeps people alive in our hearts. A book to dip into when you need to feel less alone.
6. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
An epistolary love story across time and realities, written with language so lush it feels like poetry. While it is speculative fiction, it is also about connection that transcends the limits of time, a concept very close to our hearts at Reflekta.
7. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Kalanithi’s memoir, written in the final months of his life, is a profound meditation on meaning. It asks the same essential question that inspired Reflekta: What makes a life worth remembering?
Why These Books Matter to Us
Each of these books touches on a different thread that weaves through Reflekta’s work, including time, memory, mortality, technology, connection, and love. Together, they form a reading list that will challenge you, comfort you, and maybe even inspire you to think about the legacy you will leave.
At Reflekta, we believe what the Roman general Maximus said in Gladiator: “What we do in life echoes in eternity.” The stories we tell and preserve, our own and those of the people we love, are the echoes we send forward.
If you are curious about how these ideas come to life in technology, you can explore more at reflekta.ai. And if you pick up one of these books, let us know. We would love to hear how it shaped your own thoughts about life, legacy, and what comes next.