Hey folks!
Today's entry is an addition to my recent The Best Non-Fiction Books of 2018 post. I wrote the other on December 20 so there was still plenty of time to read more - which I did. This one is supposed to simply serve as an update to highlight the last three non-fiction books I managed to finish in 2018 still.
Here we go - starting with the most useful book first.
(Note: the key to this list is as before the colour. Red = good. Light red = amazing. Black = don't bother with this one.)
Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy: This one was great and definitely deserves the light red colour. In fact it should probably be pink to do it justice.
The title of the book refers to its content: Do your most important task (the biggest frog) first. I wrote a full blog post about it here: Review of Eat That Frog but for the sake of this list the gist of why it is so impactful is that:
a.) Brian Tracy does not waste words. He starts with relevant information and sticks to it. He does not add any fluff to his text and stays fully on course throughout. This is why the book is only 100 pages long (depending of course on your format) but it's so densely packed with information on how to get started and finish your most important projects it's 100+% worth the money spent on it.
b.) Tracy's tips are practical and can be used immediately. Do you want to become more productive in your most important work (your biggest frog)? Then read this book.
The Hungry Brain by Stephan J. Guyenet: This is a bit more in the health niche - specifically how the brain regulates how hungry we feel at any given point and what drives people to overeat. About 60% of it are incredibly useful and highly informative but the last three or so chapters drag. Here's a complete Review of The Hungry Brain. I personally read this book because I tend to stuff my face if there's something tasty around. It's gotten much better in recent years (after I started focusing on my health) but I notice that when there's something really tasty it's often very difficult to stop myself eating more than my stomach feels comfortable with. This book then was a way for me to understand why this happens (when consciously I don't want/need any more food but I still feel the urge to eat) and it did it's job! Recommended also if you're trying to lose weight!
The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F**** by Mark Manson: I'm not going to say much about this. I already did a whole review and my opinion hasn't changed. This book is definitely overrated. It's not 'cool' or useful simply because it has a swear word in the title and foul language throughout. It simply re-chews and re-chews what other people have said much better already. Don't buy it. (Or do if you think you'll like it. It's your money!)
These three books about sum up my reading in the last two weeks of 2018 (good bye good year!). I read a fourth non-fiction book actually but it's even less worth talking about than The Subtle Art. It was so generic and yada yada (with the author actually recommending things like neurolinguistic programming (which is not scientifically backed to be effective at all) and psychosynthesis (which deals with personality and the human soul - the soul as if it's a scientific thing one can measure)).
Anyway! That about sums up my experience with non-fiction in 2018. I've recently read another non-fiction (my first this year!) which was Seth Godin's This is Marketing (The colour key doesn't count for this one!). It's not as good as The Dip but there will be a blog post about it on Monday where I'll be explaining my opinion on it in more detail.
What have you been reading so far? Do you have any suggestions as to books I might like considering what I've read in the last year? I'm always happy to receive suggestions! (Although my reading list is already chock-full.)
I hope you had a great first week of 2019!
WriteBot.
Showing posts with label non-fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label non-fiction. Show all posts
Saturday, January 5, 2019
Thursday, December 20, 2018
The Best Non-Fiction Books of 2018
Hey folks!
I've returned. The holiday was stressful (as visiting family is) and the food superb. All I did was eat food the whole day, in different locations, at different prices, and from different countries (although most of it was British, for some reason. I had fish and chips twice).
Today let's go over the list of best non-fiction books of 2018! I had a lot of questions about this lately from random people on Reddit and wanted to see if I can make one comprehensive list of favourites to hand out. It'll make it easier and look prettier than a Reddit post!
So. I read a lot of non-fiction. Below is a list of every book I've read with a comment. The best ones are captured in red (light red meaning it's even better than dark red). All of these books are about productivity, self-improvement, leadership, writing, and all other kinds of things.
Non-Fiction 2018:
A Handbook for the Productive Writer by Bryan Collins: Meh. I wouldn't recommend this. It's just a whole lot of blabla you can actually get for free on the Internet (and concisely from my writing tips page: http://jasmingelinck.com/resources).
Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker: This one is actually good! It looks at what successful people do different than most (spoiler: the most important difference as Simon Sinek says: They have a WHY that affects other people) that leads to them being successful in the first place. It shows you how many of your learned mantras about success (just imagine yourself being successful already!) are wrong and do not help you in any way. You should rather look at your own skills and/or weaknesses to find things you excel at.
Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande: This book is great! It talks a lot about the day-to-day business of writing and the fears you might encounter (and how to conquer them!). I recommend this for anyone who wants to be an artist.
Wake Up and Live by Dorothea Brande: The same as above but not focused on writing alone. It's a great book for everyone who feels slightly lost in life (I know I do...)
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron: This book was very hyped... but I found it mediocre at best. It has some good ideas but isn't in any way exceptional. It's a good read, still, and I do recommend at least looking at it to see if the content speaks to you, but don't force it if you don't like it.
Give and Take by Adam Grant: A great book about leadership and becoming successful. The most important message of this book is (obviously) the importance of giving - not just in order to get, but simply to enhance your life. The book attempts to give you a blueprint on how much giving you should do and when/how to expect something back (to take).
12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson: This was the first non-fiction of 2018 I actually LOVED. You can say what you want about JP as a person (and I'll not join that particular debate) but 12 Rules is highly relevant to everyone who wants to improve themselves/their outlook on life and the world. Of course, not all Peterson writes is Holy Grail material, and I would argue not much actually is, BUT in every chapter, there are nuggets you can pick up to improve your life and relationships. You can pick and choose what you wish to incorporate in your life or not. As such, the book is definitely worth a read.
Undoing Depression by Richard O'Connor: Highly useful/relevant if you struggle with mental health issues. You'll have to read it yourself to see the value of it. I simply can't sum it up well enough. Suffice to say it shows you how to deal with your dark thoughts and how to improve your life even if your depression cannot be entirely cured.
The Science of Rapid Skill Acquisition by Peter Hollins: I don't actually remember this book at all. I think it's just one of those publish-as-many-as-you-can-to-make-money life-advice craps. Not recommended.
The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi: I love this book. There has been no better book in my life ever before. I actually loved it enough to buy a paper copy after reading it on my Kindle just to have it on my shelf (and that doesn't happen very often at all). This book (not 12 Rules) IS the Holy Grail of learning to live with yourself and working through/DESPITE your past traumas in a non-pretentious way. It refers heavily to the philosophy of Alfred Adler and I promise you it is impactful. If you read any book from my list at all then it should be this one.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: It took me a long time to get to this book. I knew it existed for almost a decade but couldn't bring myself to read it because the title sounds pretentious and fake as all heck. However... after hundreds and hundreds of recommendations I decided to give it a try... and it's great! It truly is an amazing book and not in the least pretentious or fake. A lot of people think 'But it will teach me to be false in order to make friends' but FAR FROM IT! The main body of the books deals with no-brainer tips everyone knows (such as smiling at people to lift both of your spirits and taking care of yourself) but needs to be reminded of because they are so easily overlooked. It also teaches you that when you are fake people will know and they won't respond to you at all - so it's the opposite of what a lot of people fear the book will try to make them do. I'll add my voice to this particular book's value: It's definitely worth it.
The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone: I've written a longer post about this one here. It's quite good if you want to have an overview of how much work you will be required to do in order to get ahead. It tells you basically to multiply every effort by 10 if you truly want to succeed. If you plan to contact 10 customers in order to sell your product, instead make it 100. If you plan to make 100,000 extra money the next year, plan to make 1,000,000 instead. In essence, it is better to fall short of HUGE goals than small goals. I believe this should be read once simply so you get the concept (and possibly change your working style for the better).
The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz: Another book right up there with The Courage to be Disliked and How to Win Friends and Influence People. It's on an entirely different topic (The 10X Rule was inspired by it) but so so worth it! If you read two books from my list it should be The Courage to be Disliked and this one. It's so much more accessible than the somewhat reckless airy-fairy tips of The 10X Rule and written so much more humanly relatable. In essence it's a simple guide on how to improve your life by dreaming well (however without any affirmation or visualization crap like you find in some of the more etheric self-help books) and by working on bigger and more fulfilling projects than you believed yourself capable of/could even conceive of.
Atomic Habits by James Clear: A long review can be found here. This book is definitely worth the buy and read. It will reach you to REALLY improve your life - and in a sustainable way rather than all those 'just change/just do it' books. Any change happens gradually and in increments. Atomic Habits drives home that point and shows you how you can make habit changes permanent. It's really a useful book!
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy: On the coattails of James Clear's Atomic Habits. A longer review again here. I would not read The Compound Effect without having first read Atomic Habits. All the concepts of TCE are related to (and mostly the same as) Atomic Habits - but it's not explained or written as well by Darren Hardy as by James Clear. This book is best read to deepen your understanding of atomic habits after you've read James Clear. I sort-of recommend it but it's not a necessary read if you've read Atomic Habits.
The rest of the non-fiction list is more science oriented. I read a lot about the human mind and prehistory. I also read a biography called Wild Swans. Let me just show you two of these books.
Wild Swans - Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang: definitely recommended. The best and most gripping biography I've ever read. It's exciting, terrible, and beautiful all at once, and it's written in a style almost like a novel. It definitely grabbed and held my attention throughout the whole 500+ pages.
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari: Basically a vendetta against the human race. The book zeroes in on how bad humanity is and yada yada by giving (mostly unproven) examples of prehistory where humanity allegedly disturbed the peace of Paradise/the Garden of Eden by extinguishing other species (again, this is not proven through any records, and Harari simply makes the jump from coincidence to 'must be true'). The writing itself is also horribly boring and only the first part of the book (30%) are actual science and somewhat worth reading. The rest is conjecture into the future and scientifically weak assumptions pulled out of thin air.
All right! This about sums up the post.Good lord - what a wall of text! I hope you find something useful to read in my list. If you do feel free to leave a comment or even send me a message through my website!
WriteBot.
I've returned. The holiday was stressful (as visiting family is) and the food superb. All I did was eat food the whole day, in different locations, at different prices, and from different countries (although most of it was British, for some reason. I had fish and chips twice).
Today let's go over the list of best non-fiction books of 2018! I had a lot of questions about this lately from random people on Reddit and wanted to see if I can make one comprehensive list of favourites to hand out. It'll make it easier and look prettier than a Reddit post!
So. I read a lot of non-fiction. Below is a list of every book I've read with a comment. The best ones are captured in red (light red meaning it's even better than dark red). All of these books are about productivity, self-improvement, leadership, writing, and all other kinds of things.
Non-Fiction 2018:
A Handbook for the Productive Writer by Bryan Collins: Meh. I wouldn't recommend this. It's just a whole lot of blabla you can actually get for free on the Internet (and concisely from my writing tips page: http://jasmingelinck.com/resources).
Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker: This one is actually good! It looks at what successful people do different than most (spoiler: the most important difference as Simon Sinek says: They have a WHY that affects other people) that leads to them being successful in the first place. It shows you how many of your learned mantras about success (just imagine yourself being successful already!) are wrong and do not help you in any way. You should rather look at your own skills and/or weaknesses to find things you excel at.
Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande: This book is great! It talks a lot about the day-to-day business of writing and the fears you might encounter (and how to conquer them!). I recommend this for anyone who wants to be an artist.
Wake Up and Live by Dorothea Brande: The same as above but not focused on writing alone. It's a great book for everyone who feels slightly lost in life (I know I do...)
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron: This book was very hyped... but I found it mediocre at best. It has some good ideas but isn't in any way exceptional. It's a good read, still, and I do recommend at least looking at it to see if the content speaks to you, but don't force it if you don't like it.
Give and Take by Adam Grant: A great book about leadership and becoming successful. The most important message of this book is (obviously) the importance of giving - not just in order to get, but simply to enhance your life. The book attempts to give you a blueprint on how much giving you should do and when/how to expect something back (to take).
12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson: This was the first non-fiction of 2018 I actually LOVED. You can say what you want about JP as a person (and I'll not join that particular debate) but 12 Rules is highly relevant to everyone who wants to improve themselves/their outlook on life and the world. Of course, not all Peterson writes is Holy Grail material, and I would argue not much actually is, BUT in every chapter, there are nuggets you can pick up to improve your life and relationships. You can pick and choose what you wish to incorporate in your life or not. As such, the book is definitely worth a read.
Undoing Depression by Richard O'Connor: Highly useful/relevant if you struggle with mental health issues. You'll have to read it yourself to see the value of it. I simply can't sum it up well enough. Suffice to say it shows you how to deal with your dark thoughts and how to improve your life even if your depression cannot be entirely cured.
The Science of Rapid Skill Acquisition by Peter Hollins: I don't actually remember this book at all. I think it's just one of those publish-as-many-as-you-can-to-make-money life-advice craps. Not recommended.
The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi: I love this book. There has been no better book in my life ever before. I actually loved it enough to buy a paper copy after reading it on my Kindle just to have it on my shelf (and that doesn't happen very often at all). This book (not 12 Rules) IS the Holy Grail of learning to live with yourself and working through/DESPITE your past traumas in a non-pretentious way. It refers heavily to the philosophy of Alfred Adler and I promise you it is impactful. If you read any book from my list at all then it should be this one.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: It took me a long time to get to this book. I knew it existed for almost a decade but couldn't bring myself to read it because the title sounds pretentious and fake as all heck. However... after hundreds and hundreds of recommendations I decided to give it a try... and it's great! It truly is an amazing book and not in the least pretentious or fake. A lot of people think 'But it will teach me to be false in order to make friends' but FAR FROM IT! The main body of the books deals with no-brainer tips everyone knows (such as smiling at people to lift both of your spirits and taking care of yourself) but needs to be reminded of because they are so easily overlooked. It also teaches you that when you are fake people will know and they won't respond to you at all - so it's the opposite of what a lot of people fear the book will try to make them do. I'll add my voice to this particular book's value: It's definitely worth it.
The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone: I've written a longer post about this one here. It's quite good if you want to have an overview of how much work you will be required to do in order to get ahead. It tells you basically to multiply every effort by 10 if you truly want to succeed. If you plan to contact 10 customers in order to sell your product, instead make it 100. If you plan to make 100,000 extra money the next year, plan to make 1,000,000 instead. In essence, it is better to fall short of HUGE goals than small goals. I believe this should be read once simply so you get the concept (and possibly change your working style for the better).
The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz: Another book right up there with The Courage to be Disliked and How to Win Friends and Influence People. It's on an entirely different topic (The 10X Rule was inspired by it) but so so worth it! If you read two books from my list it should be The Courage to be Disliked and this one. It's so much more accessible than the somewhat reckless airy-fairy tips of The 10X Rule and written so much more humanly relatable. In essence it's a simple guide on how to improve your life by dreaming well (however without any affirmation or visualization crap like you find in some of the more etheric self-help books) and by working on bigger and more fulfilling projects than you believed yourself capable of/could even conceive of.
Atomic Habits by James Clear: A long review can be found here. This book is definitely worth the buy and read. It will reach you to REALLY improve your life - and in a sustainable way rather than all those 'just change/just do it' books. Any change happens gradually and in increments. Atomic Habits drives home that point and shows you how you can make habit changes permanent. It's really a useful book!
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy: On the coattails of James Clear's Atomic Habits. A longer review again here. I would not read The Compound Effect without having first read Atomic Habits. All the concepts of TCE are related to (and mostly the same as) Atomic Habits - but it's not explained or written as well by Darren Hardy as by James Clear. This book is best read to deepen your understanding of atomic habits after you've read James Clear. I sort-of recommend it but it's not a necessary read if you've read Atomic Habits.
The rest of the non-fiction list is more science oriented. I read a lot about the human mind and prehistory. I also read a biography called Wild Swans. Let me just show you two of these books.
Wild Swans - Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang: definitely recommended. The best and most gripping biography I've ever read. It's exciting, terrible, and beautiful all at once, and it's written in a style almost like a novel. It definitely grabbed and held my attention throughout the whole 500+ pages.
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari: Basically a vendetta against the human race. The book zeroes in on how bad humanity is and yada yada by giving (mostly unproven) examples of prehistory where humanity allegedly disturbed the peace of Paradise/the Garden of Eden by extinguishing other species (again, this is not proven through any records, and Harari simply makes the jump from coincidence to 'must be true'). The writing itself is also horribly boring and only the first part of the book (30%) are actual science and somewhat worth reading. The rest is conjecture into the future and scientifically weak assumptions pulled out of thin air.
All right! This about sums up the post.
WriteBot.
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