We’re over halfway into the second half of the year which means it’s time for another reading list.
During lockdown here in the UK, I’ve read more books during the past year, than I thought humanly possible. I love reading, but it’s kicked into overdrive since last March.
One reason was because of the situation we found ourselves in. A pandemic, the likes of which we hadn’t seen since the Spanish Flu in 1918. An explanation for the severity of the pandemic was the failure to learn the lessons of the past.
A key reason why reading is so important. Books are the best portal to the past we have. The words we read were written hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of years ago. Through these words, we are transported back in time to the inner thoughts of some of the most accomplished figures of the past.
Here are my recommendations for the month:
Soccernomics - As the title suggests, this is a book about football, or to some, soccer. I’m a big football fan and I’ve wanted to read this book for a while. It didn’t disappoint. The book is a kind of Moneyball for football, it looks at common myths and current trends and uses data to determine whether they have any basis or not.
For example, an illuminating chapter is spent discussing why football clubs rarely go out of business, but normal businesses are much more susceptible. The answer may seem straightforward, loyalty. But, as always, there’s more to it than meets the eye.
If you’re not a football fan it’s unlikely you’ll enjoy the book. If you are, you’ll find it fascinating and worthwhile.
Deep Work - This is a book I’ve been meaning to read for a while now and I finished it during the first part of the month. The past few months have been tricky for me workwise. Finding the motivation to work has been hard with repeated lockdowns. I’ve found it a struggle to work for more than a few hours a day without my mind drifting towards something else.
Deep Work was a huge help in helping me to rectify this. The book looks at strategies you can adopt to leverage the benefits of working in-depth. That is spending a certain amount of time, say two to four hours, working intensely on a certain issue. Cal Newport goes into detail about the benefits of this kind of work in the book and makes a compelling case for why we need to do more of it.
The Beach - As travel is a thing of the past for me at the moment, I thought I’d delve into one of my favourite novels again, The Beach. I first read this while I was backpacking in Australia while on my first solo trip. I was immediately gripped by the story and devoured the book in a few days.
The novel is told from the perspective of Richard, a gap year student in Thailand who finds a map to an island-based community of fellow travellers. After locating the island, Richard integrates himself with the group but soon finds out the island is not the paradise he imagined.
I love the story, and as a traveller, it resonates. I think the key message you’ll take away from the book is the grass is not always greener on the other side. And no matter how far you travel, you can’t get away from your problems. They come with you wherever you go.
Siddhartha - I read Siddhartha a couple of months ago and had to include it on this list as it’s a phenomenal book. It’s another one of those that’s been on my list for ages which I finally got around to checking out.
It’s a spiritual book that follows the story of the titular character as he tries to find enlightenment in the time of the Buddha in India. It’s a short read, but a brilliant one. There are some timeless lessons we can learn from the book. Especially in these strange times we live in.
I hope you get around to reading a few of these selections. Whether you read them in the next month or year, I’m not bothered. The idea of my reading lists is to encourage you, the reader, to read more.
If more of us read, and read books outside of our comfort zone, the world would be a better place. You don’t know what you don’t know. Reading is one of the best ways to fill in those gaps in your knowledge.
If you have any comments about the books, maybe you’ve read one before. Or if you have some recommendations for me, I’m all ears. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Until next time,
Tom