These books will improve your life and your stories
Hi ,
A few days ago I asked the question (in this Instagram post) of which books you recommend or gift the most. These were mine:
📚Atomic Habits by James Clear
📚Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg
📚Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
📚The Power of Ritual by Casper ter Kuile
📚Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
📚I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi
I loved seeing your responses. There was the deep and dark Bell Jar, nominated by Jess from Archley's and secondings for Atomic Habits by Katie from Flojo, and Art of Gathering by Elizabeth. And then there was Lorissa Garcia, proving why we're friends with her heavy-hitting list, including Permission to Feel by Marc Bracket, Reboot by Jerry Colonna, Burnout by Amelia and Emily Nagoski, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy, Culture Code by Dan Coyle, and Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath.
(Feeling the FOMO? You can join in the conversation here).
It was a good reminder of the power of a good book recommendation or gift. With millions or books to choose from, a bookish gift or recommendation is the chance to find something new, unexpected, or something that you may not have found otherwise. It's also a nice way to connect (or reconnect) with someone in your life.
So this is your prompt to pick up your phone, text a friend and tell them that you found a book and thought they might enjoy it. Better yet; organise a coffee with them and lend them a copy of the book.
To connecting through books,
Steph
PS. To borrow from Austin Kleon (and everyone else who borrows this from Austin Kleon), this newsletter and the podcast are 'free but not cheap'. You can support their creation by purchasing your next book through my affiliate stores with Book Depository (global) or Bookshop (US), buying me a coffee or leaving a podcast review on the website. Thanks!
March round up: What I've read this month
With a heavy self-development feel to the books this month (must be the time of year?!) here's what I've read in March...
Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (rating so far, I'm 53% of the way through)
I'm thoroughly enjoying this entertaining and novel approach to quashing the myths of life and career that many people find themselves trapped in. The career you start as a graduate doesn't have to be the one you stay in forever. You don't just have a single 'correct' path in life. And you don't need to know what the end state is in order to get started. With design thinking at the heart, the authors walk you through techniques to explore different lives, prototype and test your alternative realities and tweak as you go. The exercises and thought experiments alone are worth reading the book for, and make for great dinner table conversations.
(H/T to the awesome Anna Oakes for recommending this one to me)
Magnetic Stories by Gabrielle Dolan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Gabrielle's SEVENTH title is a bookish cornucopia of business stories. Packed with inspiring examples ("case stories") and tips on how to bring your brand to life by telling stories that connect, you will go away brimming with ideas. I had several 'oh yeah!' moments as I realised how I could be better telling stories using the simple frameworks in the book. And true to her values, it's fluff-free and not a word longer than it needed be, which I appreciated. A punchy and practical read.
Thriving Mind by Dr Jenny Brockis
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Perth-based Dr Jenny Brockis shares the evidence-based elements of good health, why they matter, and how we can easily add them into our lives through actionable habits. A good all-rounder on overall physical and mental health and wellbeing. Thriving Mind would be a useful starting point for people who know that they should be taking better care of themselves but aren't sure why it's important, what the science really says, or where to start.
The Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Now, you've probably realised by now that I'm a big fan of Tim. This book was a real mixed bag for me. I love his dedication to experimentation, focus on minimum effective dose, and the infinite geekery it covers. I picked up some new ideas, knowledge and lifestyle hacks that I've started trialing since reading it. I also found this book challenging in places due to; a) some of the language around what apparently makes an objectively 'good looking' body for women (no thank you), and b) the fact that whilst the results of his experiments are really interesting, they are mostly tested on a sample of... one. Interesting reading but proceed with caution.
Thanks to Adam and Adam over at the What You Will Learn podcast for covering this one and reminding me that I hadn't read it.
PS. if you'd like to take better book notes this year, you can enjoy a 15% discount on your very own copy of the Archley's Book of Books book journal, here^.
Ear food
Brand Builders Lab with Dr Joan Rosenberg - Suz always does a great job with guests on her podcast and this recent episode was a particular standout. Dr Joan shares her lessons from decades of working in the field of 'confidence' and her amazing definition of what it really means to be confident. (Spotify / Apple)
Cautionary Tales - Catching a Killer Doctor - Tim Harford talks about the missed opportunities to catch one of the worst serial killers in history; Dr Harold Shipman. The episode explores how he escaped unnoticed for so long because his crimes fitting into a pattern of what we expect to happen at an individual level, despite the fact that if anyone had run the numbers over the deaths of his patients, it would have rung alarm bells years earlier. (Spotify / Apple)
🎵 Music: Not Your Muse by Celeste - incredible voice coming out of the UK (of course 😉). I particularly like Ideal Woman, Strange and Stop This Flame on her latest album. It's music for a moody, rainy Sunday, plus some tracks to get you pepped up too. (Spotify)
Meanwhile, on the bookshelf
Recent Steph's Business Bookshelf podcast episodes, in case you missed them...
Thriving Mind by Dr Jenny Brockis
(Listen)
Think Like a Rocket Scientist by Ozan Varol
(Listen)