Life Changing Books
Two of my students (Rupesh and Rijwan) recently asked me on two separate occasions to name a few books that have completely transformed my life and helped to recreate my worldview. Here is the complete list of the books that changed how I view life. I have read all of these and can recommend them to anyone, any day!
- Carl Sagan's books, including The Demon-Haunted World and Cosmos
- Spirituality books: The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, A guide to a good life by William Irvine, Ryan Holiday books including Obstacle is the way, Ego is the enemy, and Stillness is the key, Letters from a Stoic by Seneca, Discourses by Epictetus, Walden by HD Thoreau and Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
- Nassim Nicholas Taleb's books, including Antifragile and Black Swan
- Bill Bryson’s Books, including A Short History of Nearly Everything
- Stephen Jay Gould’s books, including The Richness of Life and Ever since Darwin
- Robert Greene’s books, esp Laws of Human Nature, 48 Laws of Power.
- Richard Dawkins’s books, including The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion
- Psychology: Influence-Psychology of Persuasion-Robert Cialdini, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, and The Charisma Myth by Olivia Fox
- Yuval Harari’s books, including Sapiens-a brief history of humankind, Homo Deus, and 21 Lessons for 21st century
- Self Help: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, Atomic Habits by James Clear, Think Again by Adam Grant, 7 Habits of highly effective people by Stephen R Covey, and Tiny Habits by B.J. Fogg
- Personal Finance: The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
There are many more books that I can recommend, but these are a level ahead of the rest. (I promise to keep refining this list as and when I find a new book I read to be a masterclass.)
A distilled version of my own worldview with all sorts of advice, including philosophy, time management, creativity, personal finance, psychology, ethics, philosophy etc., can be found in my latest book, Life Skills.
By the way, a good heuristic before jumping to purchase these or any other book is to do the following beforehand:
- Search GoodReads to see the rating and reviews. I find GoodReads reviews trustworthy mostly.
- Listen to the author’s interviews about the book on YouTube
- Read book summaries from Blinkist
If you are an avid bibliophile, I suggest getting a Kindle, an investment that pays dividends in the long run. I switched to Kindle Paperwhite 10 years ago and two years ago, upgraded to Kindle Oasis; absolutely love it.
Before leaving, here are some of the rotten picks; the most hated self-help books which are synonymous with clichés:
- Secret by Rhonda Byrne
- Chicken soup for the soul
- The Monk who sold his Ferrari
- Quantum healing
- The Power of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale
Do you have any other books that have completely transformed your life? Please comment below.
