I think it’s amazing how some of the books we read can give us an insight into new possibilities and ways of thinking that were not even possible. From fiction and fantasy to non-fiction, you can glean so many useful things to take with you in your own life. It could be as simple as just a heartfelt feeling you get after finishing a good story or the rapid neuron-firings you have going off in your head when you read a book that gets you to open up to new ways of thinking. Maybe you learned about heirloom tomatoes for the first time and it completely changes the way you now see tomatoes, or even being inspired by a story that includes a musical instrument you want to play.
Books have been something I’ve consciously tried to consume more and more of the past couple years after graduating because they have an interesting way of giving us information that I don’t see as much online or in tv/movies. When you sit down to read, you’re comitting a quieter time and focus to what you’re doing. A lot of times if you choose to even read long blog posts or long articles/newspapers on the internet, the smallest thing can distract you. Similarly, because tv/movies are cutting between so many scenes and visual images so fast, you get a story so much faster than reading, but the depth is what ends up lacking.
Here are some books I’m reading or have read in the past year:
Books I plan on reading in 2012 so far:
- A Life Worth Breathing by Max Strong
- Made to Stick by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
- 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
- Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson
- Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences
- Daemon by Daniel Suarez
- Think on These Things by J. Krishnamurti
December 2011
- How Yoga Works by Michael Roach
- Designing for Emotion by Aarron Walter
November 2011
- Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
- War of the Worldviews: Science Vs. Spirituality by Deepak Chopra and Leonard Miodinow
October 2011
- Mindset by Carol Dweck
September 2011
- The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
August 2011
- Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
July 2011
- The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
- How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success by Janine Driver
- Reality is Broken: Why Games Make us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal
- Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
- Linchpin by Seth Godin
- Tribes by Seth Godin
- The Power of Less by Leo Babauta
- You Don’t Need a Job, You Need Guts by Ashley Ambirge
- The Soul of Money: Transforming your Relationship with Money and Life by Lynne Twist
- Poke the Box by Seth Godin
- Everyone Loves you When You’re Dead by Neil Strauss
- Re-inventing the body, Resurrecting the Soul: How to Create a New You by Deepak Chopra
- The Last Living Slut:Born in Iran, Bred Backstage by Roxana Shirazi
- Anthem by Ayn Rand
- Never Get a Real Job by Scott Gerber
- The Radical Minimalist by Nina Yau
- Getting Real by 37signals
