21 | 📚 My best books of 2021 so far (and to come)

August 31, 2021

Hello,

In 2021 I set out to read 24 books across the year. Pretty punchy - I'm behind schedule slightly, but I reckon I'll be able to catch up in time.

Nevertheless, I just finished my 12th book and have hit the halfway point, so here's the 3 best books I've read so far, as well as 3 that I'm looking forward to the most.

I genuinely believe that reading widely is the fastest and easiest way to learn and be intelligent, and I reckon a book every 2 weeks is easily done - hence the 24 book target.

Hopefully, 1 or 2 of these books might be for you!

Best 3 books of 2021

Raised in a survivalist family, Tara spends her whole childhood at home in the Idaho mountains. There, her family lived off the grid, forbidden from hospitals by her suspicious father.

Tara doesn't enter a classroom until 17, and Educated is her version of events as she educates herself. It takes her from stockpiling food in case the government came for her family, to salvaging in her father's scrapyard rather than attending school, and surviving the enduring abuse of her older brother.

An amazing memoir that shows the strength and determination of Tara throughout. At points it's a tough read, but fascinating at the same time.

I haven't read a memoir before, but this was a great place to start. I first saw this on Barack Obama's summer reading list, so if it's good enough for him, I figured it's worth a read.

This is kind of cheating. I first read Show Your Work! in November 2020, rereading it a few months ago.

I wrote a review/summary of this book on my website - here are the 3 key points:

  1. By sharing your work, you'll attract like minded people who care about what you're doing, and this can change your life massively in the long run.

  2. It doesn't matter if you're a beginner - just start. You'll benefit from having a different view.

  3. The end product isn't the be all and end all. Show your process and your working - most of the time, this is as interesting and important as what you're creating.

This book was the main reason I decided to start writing online and putting my thoughts and ideas 'out there'.

It made me realise that starting somewhere is better than not at all. And that by sharing what I've worked on, I can interact more easily with others that share the same interests and ideas.

Amateurs know that contributing something is better than contributing nothing.

Happy is a phenomenal book that gave me an entry point in Stoicism, as well as an eye opening history into the development of Ancient Greek philosophy.

It also touches on the Ancient Greek threads of philosophical thinking that hold Christianity together, and argues against the fear of death and growing old.

It shows us that reframing our thoughts - and realising that things that happen are mostly out of our control - allows us to avoid anger and irrationality.

Our feelings are our choice. It's up to us to recognise how an event (My car won't start...), which is neither morally good nor bad, is interpreted in our mind (...this is the worst thing that could happen).

More importantly, it's up to us to control how we react to it (I'm so annoyed, this always happens to me vs It's fine - what can I do to fix it?).

We tell ourselves our own story about events we see in the world, and it's up to us to control what the voice tells us.

Lower your expectations - to lower our expectations is to greatly reduce our anger: if we don't expect things to work out brilliantly, we'll be less frustrated when they don't.

Happy is an absolute must read - I genuinely believe that we all have a lot to gain from this book, and my aim is to read it every year.

Honorary mentions:

Books I'm looking forward to reading

  • The Power of Geography - Tim Marshall - a sister book to the brilliant Prisoners of Geography that looks forward, rather than backwards, at the future of geopolitics. I read the paperback version of Prisoners of Geography as the reading experience is much better when you can flick back to the map at the start of each chapter and reference the places that are mentioned. The book is out now on hardback and Kindle, but the paperback comes out in October. Can't wait!

  • Human kind - Rutger Bregman - 'Human kind makes the case for a new argument: that it is realistic, as well as revolutionary, to assume that people are good. When we think the worst of others, it brings out the worst in our politics and economics too. In this major new history, internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman shows how believing in human kindness and altruism can be a new way to think – and act as the foundation for achieving true change in our society.' Lovely stuff.

Thanks! 😎

If you’re new here - thanks for joining ✌🏻

I think you should share things online if it can help or entertain at least one other person. If that’s you - consider sharing this with a friend 🤝

How will I be 1% better this week? 📈

I will stick with my half marathon training - this wee I've got a 7 mile, 8 mile and 6 mile (fast) run. Easily doable!

This Week’s Recommendation 🔝

TV 📺 - Vigil (BBC)

Anything with Suranne Jones in it is bound to be good. The 1st and 2nd episode of this series are on BBC iPlayer and so far it's brilliant. A mix of The Bodyguard and Line of Duty.

This Week I’m: ⬇️

  • Reading 📚 - Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens

  • Listening to 🎧 - I listen to the Guardian's Today in Focus podcast every now and again, but on a recent car journey with Mills, we realised we knew nothing about the goings on in Afghanistan. So, we listened to 'How the Taliban Took Afghanistan' (Spotify link but the podcast is free and available everywhere) - fascinating and a brilliant entry point that summarises the last 40 years right up to the past few weeks, and how the country has come to where it is today. Essential listening.

  • Learning 🤔 - Lifestyle design

  • Working on 📹 - 4 videos!

  • Planning on 🚴🏻‍♀️ - Buying a bike

  • Looking forward to 🤩 - upcoming week in Wales with friends

This Week’s Quote 💬

Don’t feel qualified? Nobody does. You can only be qualified to do that which you have already accomplished or trained for. Anything new is accomplished by unqualified people." James Clear

There we have it!

Looking forward to catching up next week.

In the meantime, find me on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and have a look at what I’m reading on Goodreads. Ciao!