By There’s a popular saying that goes something like, “a room without books is like a body without a soul.” Books nourish the soul in every way – they entertain and educate it; make it laugh and make it cry. The right book can almost feel like a living, breathing companion, full of characters that you can almost hear and smell. Fiction aside, there are plenty of books out there to help get you where you want to be in life. There’s a common consensus that self help books are full of fluff, and nothing that actually, truly helpful. We disagree! Self help books are often written by people that have already been in your shoes, and experienced your struggle – people that have come out the other end in one piece. These books are records of their journeys and the lessons they taught them. You can read about how to communicate better, make yourself more positive, quit your job to start from scratch, or up and start a new degree completely. Books about career help and education are some of the most useful, easy to read things available. We asked you for the best recommendations: as always, you delivered. In this months book club, these are your submissions. Scroll down to see which books you need to get your hands on next!
Books That Have Shaped And Inspired Mashion Readers Education And Career
Urva Shafquat: ‘How To Stop Worrying And Start Living’ – Dale Carnegie
“Discover how to:
- Eliminate fifty percent of business worries immediately
- Reduce financial worries
- Avoid fatigue—and keep looking you
- Add one hour a day to your waking life
- Find yourself and be yourself—remember there is no one else on earth like you!
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living deals with fundamental emotions and ideas. It is fascinating to read and easy to apply. Let it change and improve you. There’s no need to live with worry and anxiety that keep you from enjoying a full, active and happy life!”
Sabba Mirza: ‘Lean In’ – Sheryl Sandberg
“Sandberg is chief operating officer of Facebook and coauthor of Option B with Adam Grant. In 2010, she gave an electrifying TED talk in which she described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk, which has been viewed more than six million times, encouraged women to “sit at the table,” seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto.
Lean In continues that conversation, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what they can. Sandberg provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship, and building a satisfying career. She describes specific steps women can take to combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment, and demonstrates how men can benefit by supporting women both in the workplace and at home.”
Urva Shafquat: ‘The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F***’ – Mark Manson
“In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be “positive” all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.
For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. “F**k positivity,” Mark Manson says. “Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it.” In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.
Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—”not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault.” Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.”
Sabba Mirza: ‘The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People’ – Stephen R. Covey
“In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity–principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.”
Raqqia Bano: ‘Mindset: Changing The Way You think To Fulfil Your Potential’ – Carol Dweck
“Dweck explains why it’s not just our abilities and talent that bring us success-but whether we approach them with a fixed or growth mindset. She makes clear why praising intelligence and ability doesn’t foster self-esteem and lead to accomplishment, but may actually jeopardize success. With the right mindset, we can motivate our kids and help them to raise their grades, as well as reach our own goals-personal and professional. Dweck reveals what all great parents, teachers, CEOs, and athletes already know: how a simple idea about the brain can create a love of learning and a resilience that is the basis of great accomplishment in every area.”
Iqra Bhatti: ‘Tuesdays With Morrie’ – Mitch Albom
“Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.
For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.
Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn’t you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger?
Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man’s life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final “class”: lessons in how to live.
Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie’s lasting gift with the world.”
Qudsia Aamer: ‘How To Win Friends And Influence People’ – Dale Carnegie
“This book will teach you how to:
● Think new thoughts, get out of a mental rut, acquire new visions and discover new ambitions
● Increase your popularity and make friends quickly and easily
● Increase your influence, prestige and the ability to get things done
● Become a better speaker and a more effective conversationalist
● Avoid arguments and keep your communication smooth and pleasant
Carnegie illustrates his points with anecdotes of historical figures, leaders of the business world and everyday folks. One of the world’s best-known self-made billionaire, Warren Buffett, has said that this is the book that changed his life.”
Shanzae Shehzad Khan: ‘Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man’ – John Perkins
“Former Economic Hit Man John Perkins goes behind the scenes of the current geopolitical crisis and offers bold solutions to our most pressing problems. Drawing on interviews with other EHMs, jackals, CIA operatives, reporters, businessmen, and activists, Perkins reveals the secret history of events that have created the current American Empire, including:
- How the defeats in Vietnam and Iraq have benefited big business
- The role of Israel as Fortress America in the Middle East
- Tragic repercussions of the IMF’s Asian Economic Collapse
- The current Latin American revolution and its lessons for democracy
- U.S. blunders in Tibet, Congo, Lebanon, and Venezuela
From the U.S. military in Iraq to infrastructure development in Indonesia, from Peace Corps volunteers in Africa to jackals in Venezuela, Perkins exposes a conspiracy of corruption that has fueled instability and anti-Americanism around the globe, with consequences reflected in our daily headlines. Having raised the alarm, Perkins passionately addresses how Americans can work to create a more peaceful and stable world for future generations.”
Sumbul Aftab: ‘Zero To One’ – Blake Masters And Peter Thiel
“If you want to build a better future, you must believe in secrets.
The great secret of our time is that there are still uncharted frontiers to explore and new inventions to create. In Zero to One, legendary entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel shows how we can find singular ways to create those new things.
Thiel begins with the contrarian premise that we live in an age of technological stagnation, even if we’re too distracted by shiny mobile devices to notice. Information technology has improved rapidly, but there is no reason why progress should be limited to computers or Silicon Valley. Progress can be achieved in any industry or area of business. It comes from the most important skill that every leader must master: learning to think for yourself.
Doing what someone else already knows how to do takes the world from 1 to n, adding more of something familiar. But when you do something new, you go from 0 to 1. The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won’t make a search engine. Tomorrow’s champions will not win by competing ruthlessly in today’s marketplace. They will escape competition altogether, because their businesses will be unique.”
Hira Hyder: ‘Karachi, You’re Killing Me’ – Saba Imtiaz
“Ayesha is a twenty-something reporter in one of the world’s most dangerous cities. Her assignments range from showing up at bomb sites and picking her way through scattered body parts to interviewing her boss’s niece, the couture-cupcake designer. In between dicing with death and absurdity, Ayesha despairs over the likelihood of ever meeting a nice guy, someone like her old friend Saad, whose shoulder she cries on after every romantic misadventure. Her choices seem limited to narcissistic, adrenaline-chasing reporters who’ll do anything to get their next story, to the spoilt offspring of the Karachi elite who’ll do anything to cure their boredom. Her most pressing problem, however, is how to straighten her hair during the chronic power outages. Karachi, You’re Killing Me! is Bridget Jones’s Diary meets the Diary of a Social Butterfly, a comedy of manners in a city with none.”
Sumbul Aftab: ‘The Power Of Habit’ – Charles Duhigg
“In The Power of Habit, award-winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. Distilling vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives that take us from the boardrooms of Procter & Gamble to the sidelines of the NFL to the front lines of the civil rights movement, Duhigg presents a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential. At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, being more productive, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. As Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.”
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