4 Books that will positively impact your life
Last year my reading goal was to read a new book every two weeks. Which was great but I think on reflection meant that I didn’t really implement anything from the books I read or have enough time to reflect on them.
This year, I am focusing on reading fewer books more slowly with the aim to be able to articulate how they have impacted my life/way of thinking. Here are four books I have read recently and enjoyed!
Homo Deus — Yuval Noah Harari
‘Homo Deus will shock you. It will entertain you. It will make you think in ways you had not thought before’ — review by Nobel Prize-winning Psychologist Daniel Kahneman.
I couldn’t describe this book better. It is literally incredible. If you love thinking about the future and you are interested in human behaviour and technology trends, this book is definitely for you. It is incredible and I couldn’t stop highlighting every other paragraph whilst reading it.
Homegoing — Yaa Gyasi
I don’t want to write any words encouraging you to read this book as anything I say won’t do it justice. You are going to have to trust me that this book is truly beautiful. If every piece of fiction was as beautiful as this book I wouldn’t read non-fiction anymore. The book is about generational trauma as seen through the ancestry of a Ghanaian family from slavery to Modern day. It is both historical and deeply moving and emotional. You will love it, but don’t blame me if you cry.
Becoming — Michelle Obama
I have written a whole blog post on this incredible book so you could just read that here.
Otherwise, I would say it’s a great read as it covers not only Michelle Obama’s journey to the woman she is today but also detail on her career path, her personal challenges including finding her dream job, having a miscarriage and going through couple’s counselling with Barack. Becoming is such an apt title for the book as you really see that the book is all about self-development and remembering that life is a marathon and not a sprint and that sometimes you have to be let go and live.
Above all, I value the book’s honesty and authenticity, as she opens up about their fertility issues, her hesitancy about Barack running for office and her self-confidence battles.
Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need To Know About Global Politics — Tim Marshall
One of my new year’s resolutions is to learn more about global politics and this book definitely helped me to leap forward to achieve that goal. Each chapter includes a map of the section of the world it covers and I found it fascinating to understand how global politics is so related to geography and how many country alliances or trade policies can be traced back to natural resources (not just oil). It is a great book!
Thanks for reading! Next week I will be sharing my favourite newsletters!
Last week I shared my favourite podcasts. You can read that post below.
