My reading list is always growing instead of shrinking, even though I average reading a book per week. I wish it weren’t the case, but every day it seems like a stumble on another great read.

I’ve recently discovered a list of the best books to read in 2020. The article includes key learnings from books like:


• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert 

Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Gilbert offers insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy. 

• Finding Your Element by Ken Robbinson 


A book that is as relevant and imperative for the parents of a 12-year-old as it is for the CEO of a behemoth corporation. And with luck it will help you to find yours. Fans may glean some insight about understanding who we are as individuals and how we can have a better life that communicates our uniqueness to the world. Finding Your Element is an accessible, actionable guide for discovering what most matters.

• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell 

Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant-in the blink of an eye-that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error?

How do our brains really work-in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others? In Blink we meet the psychologist who has learned to predict whether a marriage will last, based on a few minutes of observing a couple; the tennis coach who knows when a player will double-fault before the racket even makes contact with the ball; the antiquities experts who recognize a fake at a glance. Here, too, are great failures of "blink": the election of Warren Harding; "New Coke"; and the shooting of Amadou Diallo by police. 

Blink reveals that great decision makers aren't those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of "thin-slicing"-filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables. 



• 21 Lessons For The 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari 

Yuval Noah Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a probing and visionary investigation into today’s most urgent issues as we move into the uncharted territory of the future. As technology advances faster than our understanding of it, hacking becomes a tactic of war, and the world feels more polarized than ever, Harari addresses the challenge of navigating life in the face of constant and disorienting change and raises the important questions we need to ask ourselves in order to survive. 

In twenty-one accessible chapters that are both provocative and profound, Harari builds on the ideas explored in his previous books, untangling political, technological, social, and existential issues and offering advice on how to prepare for a very different future from the world we now live in: How can we retain freedom of choice when Big Data is watching us? What will the future workforce look like, and how should we ready ourselves for it? How should we deal with the threat of terrorism? 

Why is liberal democracy in crisis? Harari’s unique ability to make sense of where we have come from and where we are going has captured the imaginations of millions of readers. Here he invites us to consider values, meaning, and personal engagement in a world full of noise and uncertainty. When we are deluged with irrelevant information, clarity is power. Presenting complex contemporary challenges clearly and accessibly, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is essential reading.

• High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard 

After extensive original research and a decade as the world's leading high performance coach, Burchard found the answers. It turns out that just six deliberate habits give you the edge. Anyone can practice these habits and, when they do, extraordinary things happen in their lives, relationships, and careers. Which habits can help you achieve long-term success and vibrant well-being no matter your age, career, strengths, or personality? To become a high performer, you must seek clarity, generate energy, raise necessity, increase productivity, develop influence, and demonstrate courage. This book is about the art and science of how to cultivate and practice these proven habits. 

Whether you want to get more done, lead others better, develop skill faster, or dramatically increase your sense of joy and confidence, the habits in this book will help you achieve it. Each of the six habits is illustrated by powerful vignettes, cutting-edge science, thought-provoking exercises, and real-world daily practices you can implement right now. If you've ever wanted a science-backed, heart-centered plan to living a better quality of life, it's in your hands. Best of all, you can measure your progress. A link to a free professional assessment is included in the book.

• What I Know For Sure by Oprah 

As a creative force, student of the human heart and soul, and champion of living the life you want, Oprah Winfrey stands alone. Over the years, she has made history with a legendary talk show (the highest-rated program of its kind), launched her own television network, become the USA's only African-American billionaire, and been awarded both an honorary degree by Harvard University and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. From all her experiences, she has gleaned life lessons – which, for fourteen years, she's shared in O, The Oprah Magazine's widely popular 'What I Know For Sure' column, a monthly source of inspiration and revelation. Now, for the first time, these thoughtful gems have been revised, updated, and collected in What I Know For Sure, a beautiful book with a ribbon marker, packed with insight and revelation from Oprah Winfrey. Organized by theme – joy, resilience, connection, gratitude, possibility, awe, clarity, and power – these essays offer a rare, powerful and intimate glimpse into the heart and mind of one of the world's most extraordinary women, while providing readers a guide to becoming their best selves. 

 • You Were Born Rich by Bob Proctor 
Zig Ziglar may be the master motivator, Mark Victor Hansen of Chicken Soup For the Soul, the master storyteller; Anthony Robbins may be the guru of personal development, but Bob Proctor is the master thinker. When it comes to systematizing life, no oneelse can touch him. He is simply the best. Bob Proctor collects thoughts like Imelda Marcos used to collect shoes. He strings them together in exquisite arrays; one thought leading logically to the next until a whole method has been constructed. In You Were Born Rich, Bob Proctor has done it again, this time taking you step by step to the surprising discovery that success is not always reaching out for something that you don't have but rather only reaching over and rearranging the pieces already there. The great value of this book is that you can instantly apply the conclusions to your own life. It will begin to impact you long before you reach the last chapter.

• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin 


Award-winning author Gretchen Rubin is back with a bang, with The Happiness Project. The author of the bestselling 40 Ways to Look at Winston Churchill has produced a work that is “a cross between the Dalai Lama’s The Art of Happiness and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love.” (Sonya Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want) In the vein of Julie and Julia, The Happiness Project describes one person’s year-long attempt to discover what leads to true contentment. Drawing at once on cutting-edge science, classical philosophy, and real-world applicability, Rubin has written an engaging, eminently relatable chronicle of transformation.

• You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero 

YOU ARE A BADASS AT MAKING MONEY is the book you need if you've spent too much time watching money land in your bank account and then roll through your fingers. 

Jen Sincero went from living in a converted garage to traveling the world in 5-star luxury in a matter of years, and knows all too well the layers of BS one can get wrapped up in around money, as well as what it takes to dig your way out. In this funny, fascinating and practical book she goes in-depth on how powerful our thoughts are and how our bank accounts are mirrors for our beliefs about money. 

YOU ARE A BADASS AT MAKING MONEY combines laugh out loud comedy with life-changing concepts, all boiled down into manageable, bite-sized tips so that YOU can put them into practice and get life changing results.


• Keep Going by Austin Kleon
The world is crazy. Creative work is hard. And nothing is getting any easier! In his previous books - Steal Like an Artistand Show Your Work!, New York Times bestsellers with over a million copies in print combined - Austin Kleon gave readers the key to unlock their creativity and then showed them how to share it. Now he completes his trilogy with his most inspiring work yet. Keep Going gives the reader life-changing, illustrated advice and encouragement on how to stay creative, focused, and true to yourself in the face of personal burnout or external distractions. 

Here is how to Build a Bliss Station - a place or fixed period where you can disconnect from the world. How to see that Every Day Is Groundhog Day - yesterday's over, tomorrow may never come, so just do what you can do today. How to Forget the Noun, Do the Verb - stop worrying about being a "painter" and just paint. Keep working. Keep playing. Keep searching. Keep giving. Keep living. Keep Going. It's exactly the message all of us need, at exactly the right time.

• Echoes of the Getaway: Behind the dark shadows of the Valley by Ravindra Prabhat

I have some books that have been my favorite so far this year but I absolutely love the story line of the novel "Echoes of the getaway" and that’s what really made me love this book. I loved how throughout the story Latika stayed true to herself and didn’t let herself by swayed by anyone or anything. She stuck to her morals and was self respecting. I also love her development throughout the story. 

Driver Sudesh didn’t act rashly in his duty. Mr. & Mrs. Kaul instead planned it out carefully and set up events. This is the best book of the year on the story of the dark shadows of the Valley. 

This is fact that the new generation in Kashmir has grown up in the long shadow of Pandits' exodus in 1990. And both Muslims and Hindus have gained memories from a generation that is slowly losing them. 


Now, I don’t say writers are in any way better or smarter than non-writers, but I believe most great minds in history left us with books and even today, the majority of successful people in any field, may it be sports, entrepreneurship, nutrition, cooking or whatsoever, are writing books.

By Nazia Rizvi

2 comments:

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