Looking for a selection of books to read this year? Look no further, I’ve got you covered.
Do you class yourself as a big reader? I don’t, but I do read almost every day, albeit a small amount.
I only started reading consistently around 2014 when I went to university. Before then, I think I read a few horrible history books along with some captain underpants whilst in primary school.
Still both great selections in my opinion.
Some people read for pleasure while others read for insight. I like to be somewhere in the middle. I rarely read fiction books, but I do enjoy reading books that are entertaining to read but you can learn something from also. I feel autobiographies are somewhere in this category.
I have a range of books on my shelf from a plethora of genres, but mainly they fall under the ‘self-help’ category, but to be honest I don’t like categorising them all in this genre as they vary so much.
Or maybe I am a self proclaimed self-help junkie after all.
The books I recommend for you today are in no particular order and some of them I have read or either listened to on Audible.
Okay I’m going to be honest with you here. This may be a little biased because I am a massive Arnold Schwarzenegger fan and grew up watching his movies.
But no matter how you feel about the man, there is no denying that his life story is one of the most extraordinary life stories there is.
He went from growing up in a small village in rural Austria to becoming Mr Olympia, a record breaking 8 times, as well as becoming the highest paid actor in Hollywood.
Arnold has a great business mind and the work ethic to match as he was already a millionaire before his acting career took off.
Arnold goes through his ups and downs and is so transparent about his whole journey. I literally couldn’t keep this book down!
One of my all time favourite books and definitely up there with the top books to read this year.
After hearing about this book for a while, I finally decided to buy it on audible and listen to it as an audio book. I am now on my fourth time listening to it!
I love the story but I love the meaning behind the story even more. Or maybe I just like the sound of Jeremy Iron’s voice reading it. Either way you have to read this book!
The story itself is fictional but the meaning behind it is what’s important.
The book is about a Shepard boy named Santiago who embarks on an adventure to find is personal legend (destiny) after having a recurring dream.
Hard to believe that the author Paulo Coelho wrote the book in 2 weeks and it has sold over 65 million copies and is translated into 80 different languages!
65 million people couldn’t be wrong, surely.
Again, its easy to see why this has to be on your list of books to read this year.
Hal Elrod’s book The Miracle Morning was recommended to me by a friend and I must say I don’t think a book has had more of an impact on me than this book has. I say this because I truly believe in what the book preaches and I enjoy implementing the concepts into my life.
I am a morning person, and this book talks about how you can incorporate a morning routine that can help set up the rest of the day for you.
You may not be a morning person yourself, that is fine. If having a morning routine is something you are interested in then get this book without hesitation. I believe anyone can become a morning person and this book is a great place to start.
I must admit I have been slacking off my morning routine slightly, but I still get up around 5am every morning and my body is just use to it now. Long gone are the days of waking up 20 minutes before I need to get out the door, or snoozing my alarm 17 times.
Do I still enjoy a lie in every once in a while? Of course I do.
But I genuinely do enjoy getting up early and having that hour or so to myself so I can start the day off in a positive way.
It is for these reasons I’m putting The Miracle Morning in my top books to read this year.
Sapiens is a completely different book to what I usually read. I had never heard of it before I bought it, nor did I get it recommended to me.
I just happened to randomly spot it in Waterstones one day and decided to buy it as the synopsis was an interesting read.
To my surprise I took the book with me on holiday and couldn’t put it down. It is quite a big book and I devoured it within a week!
Sapiens is about exactly what the title suggests.
A brief history of humankind.
If you can call a few million years brief. I suppose in the context of the universe then it is brief.
Anyway, I feel like I am digressing from the fact that this book is insanely detailed about how we have developed into the society we are today.
It talks about how there were a few different species of human on earth at one stage and that our ancestors (Homo-sapiens) wiped out the rest and basically took over the world.
It talks about how the agricultural revolution was the birth of civilisation as we know it and how we have developed since then.
Trust me, you will learn things in this book that will leave your head spinning.
Yeonmi Park escaped from North Korea when she was just 15 years old.
Her story is that crazy that I struggle to understand how someone could endure such hardship before they even turned 16. The book talks about Yeonmi’s reasons for leaving North Korea and why she became a human rights speaker and advocate.
I listened to the book on audible and at times, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Yeonmi talks about being sold and trafficked as a young girl and crossing the Gobi desert to seek asylum in Mongolia so she can be sent to South Korea.
I found this book insightful and eye-opening, which is why I think it’s one of the best books to read this year.