The Best of Non-Fiction 2018 (complete list)

Hey folks

This is a complete list of the two posts The Best Non-Fiction of 2018 Part I and The Best Non-Fiction of 2018 Part II combined and sorted by best book in each category (also sorted by best category) for your convenience.

Top Tier:

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.


Second Tier:

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 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).

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).

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.

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 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 Runner-Ups:

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. 

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 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.

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).

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.
As you might notice there is one book (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F****) that I left out. This is intentional. I did not like this book and found it useless. That's why it doesn't even get a spot on the runner-ups.

WriteBot.

The Best of Non-Fiction 2018 (Part II)

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.

The Best Fiction of 2018

Hey everyone!

Today's blog post will be a smart recap of the best books I've read this past year and the volume of the books I've read.

I'll start with Part I: fiction.

I read fifty fiction novels this year. They ranged from about 50.000 words to 170.000 words. I believed the longest must have been Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff. The shortest was The Chrysalids by John Wyndham.

Let's go into the actual reviews!

What were my favourites this year and why? (A warning: there aren't a whole lot despite the volume of books I've actually read. This is because I have very high standards when it comes to my reading for enjoyment.)

1. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley
This is just a beautiful book. In a lot of alternative Victorian era fantasy fiction there is a huge focus on magic and yada yada and the hero is all special because he can do the magic better than others. This isn't the case with the Watchmaker. There is magic, yes, but a) the main character doesn't wield it, and b) it is only a tiny part of the happenings in the novel (although it is a huge part of WHY everything happens). There are no overt shows of fireballs being thrown or demons being sent off to harass some twelve-year old (I greatly enjoyed the Bartimaeus series though!). The magic in Watchmaker is gentle and subtle (just like the romance!) and I definitely loved this book best of all the fiction I've read this year.

2. Shadowblack, Charmcaster, and Soulbinder by Sebastien de Castell
I started to read the Spellslinger series in 2017 if I remember correctly. It's a fun YA series about a boy (Kellen) who wanted to be a mage and turned into an outlaw instead. It's a fantasy western with a cool magic system (or should I say cool magic systems? The world de Castell has created is really huge!) and despite being a lot YA doesn't have an annoying romance in it. The romance is actually... well. I'm not sure how to explain it. Let's just say it's a lot more realistic and less destined than other YA romances. The focus of the book concerns Kellen's journey from being exiled by his rather fascist clan to... I'm not yet sure what. He definitely still has some journey ahead of him after the 4th book (Soulbinder) but nonetheless I definitely recommend it!

3. Medusa Uploaded by Emily Devenport
This was a fun read especially because one of the main concepts of it. In the not too far but far enough future there are certain sentient robot suits (not like mechas... but more like Cthulhu) and they are supposed to link with humans in order to help them survive in space/their new community. The main character is quite decent (It's hard to have an opinion on her as she's sort of a 'blank slate' in terms of emotions/inner world) and leans towards the bad-ass rather than weak but supposedly powerful YA girl. Oichi is cunning and calm and quite cool (or should I say 'emotionally frozen') all in all. The plot is average as far as a novel goes but decent for YA. All in all it was enjoyable enough to earn a place on my favourites list.

4. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
This was so beautiful! I had to take a while to decide whether to include this one or The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivy which are both amazing works of Russian-ish folklore art. They are at their cores somewhat similar although The Bear and the Nightingale builds much more of a world then The Snow Child. This is ultimately why I chose it above The Snow Child. The Bear and the Nightingale then is a riveting story with a slower pace than what I normally read. It's the story of little wild girl turning into a wild young woman - in a traditional world where she is shunned for being as she is. It also involves magic and demons and the King of Winter.

5.  The Tangled Lands by Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias S. Buckell
I don't actually have a lot to say about this novel. The most important thing to know when you go into it is that it's actually a compilation of short stories set in the same world that all build upon each other. There are two male storylines and two female (with Bacigalupi writing the male and Buckell the female). The second female storyline of a blacksmith girl was IMO the best of the book. This character was the most amazing of all four of them.

6. Witchmark by C.L. Polk
Another Victorian(ish) era book set in an alternate London-ish city. This one was not as great as the Watchmaker even though it was somewhat similar. It involves a romance between two men (yeeeeesssss!) and a veritable TON of magic when compared with the Watchmaker. It's a wild ride as well! A lot of things happen and the protagonist is often in trouble and it's generally fast-paced. I did not like it as much as the Watchmaker but it was still a lot of fun.

7. Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh
This is one of the few YA books with a romance that I enjoyed. It follows a Japanese girl in a magical feudal Japan and it's just... It sucked me in and didn't let me go with both the action and its slower but high-tension scenes. It's an awesome read. I don't want to admit it but even the romance was great. This was the first book in which I actually rooted for the two main characters to get together. The book left on a cliffhanger however and I'm worried the second installment (which begins with very high tension already) might ruin the first so I haven't read it yet.

A few others I liked but do not want to discuss in as much detail in order to keep the post from becoming a wall of text:

The Wrong Stars by Tim Pratt: A cool space adventure! I read this at the beginning of the year and it's fun!

Planetfall by Emma Newman: Weird. Weird. Weird. The main character is creepy but at the same time her quest is so exciting you just have to follow her into the City of God.

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill: A lovely story about a robot (called Brittle) who dismantles failing robots in order to herself alive but doesn't feel great about it. All humans have died and technology to save Brit is slowly running out. There's another robot who has the tech she needs - but he's not about to fail soon and Brit shies away from actually destroying robots that still have a bit of a life before them.

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham: This one deserves it's own review to be honest. The premise is somewhat silly (I mean - walking plants that kill humans?) but the execution was neat!

Thoraiya Dyer's Giant's Forest books: There's currently two and they're fun and action! They're admittedly not very 'deep' in theme or the events that happen (except perhaps the tidbit about children falling down to Understorey) but still worth a read. They were fun!

Semiosis by Sue Burke: This is a science fiction novel without any magic. The plot follows a group of people (and successive generations) as they land on a new planet and make connection with the inhabitants. Plot twist and minor spoiler: the inhabitants are plants. These plants are very sophisticated (although most of them not as much as the Triffids!) and over time alliances are made and dangers are battled. It's a strange book but it deserves to be listed simply because of its ideas. I'd never read anything quite like it before and it's stayed in my mind.

All right. That's it about Part I of this review of the year. I read a lot more books than are listed (obviously) but had to restrict this post to a few that stood out against the rest. I do hope you enjoyed this post and perhaps you'll read some of these books yourself! I definitely recommend them!

Have a good New Year's Eve and a Happy New Year!

PS: Here are some questionable but still funny fireworks available in the Netherlands:

WriteBot.