I thought I would list some of the books I’ve read recently and found interesting or enjoyable recently.  I won’t write a lot about them because they are Amazon links that you can follow and get a lot more information than I can provide here.

Heart Warming

I love animals and this book just made me feel good.  A Lion Called Christian: The True Story of the Remarkable Bond Between Two Friends and a Lion.

Happiness and Well-Being

Curious?: Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life – I highly recommend this book.  It doesn’t seem to be too well known but 64% of Amazon reviewers gave it 5 stars.  I agree.  The author Dr. Todd Kashdan claims the missing ingredient in much of the popularization of positive psychology is curiosity.  Very well written.

Two books by Tal Ben-Shahar The Pursuit of Perfect: How to Stop Chasing Perfection and Start Living a Richer, Happier Life and Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment.  The author has a very personable writing style and these books are full of insights that I found valuable.  They are both fairly short (200 pages) and easy to read.  I found the one on perfection to be slightly preferable because it covers less well-travelled ground.

Sonja Lyubomirsky’s The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want is outstanding.

I wrote a whole article called Positivity Leads to a Flourishing Life on this book so I won’t say anymore here other than I recommend it: Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive.

Productivity

Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less is a unique and fascinating book by Sam Carpenter. It gets an 90% 5 star rating on Amazon.

I absolutely loved Can I Have Your Attention?: How to Think Fast, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Concentration.  This book is obviously not widely read and my review on Amazon is the only one out there.  I gave it 5 stars when I was only 1/2 way through the book.  So maybe I’m crazy and maybe I liked it because it was so unique.  I really don’t know, but it is an inexpensive and short 200 page paperback so how can you lose?

I devoured The Age of Speed: Learning to Thrive in a More-Faster-Now World and now I’m trying to figure out how to use it.  It is a quick and interesting read.

OK, I read this one a long time ago but it is an idea that most people just don’t seem to apply: The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less.

Good to Great

The book gets a 94% 5 star rating on Amazon: The Leap: How 3 Simple Changes Can Propel Your Career from Good to Great. I truly enjoyed this book and it has a fairly unique thesis.  Rick Smith the author writes about how to make “the leap” without leaping and taking a lot of risk.  It’s 200 pages long and is an easy read.

Health

I bought this book the day it came out.  I noticed it has since received a 100% 5 star rating on Amazon.  It is a fascinating and unique book and I strongly recommend it.  Move into Life: The Nine Essentials for Lifelong Vitality

Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever – This is a very interesting and highly valuable book in my opinion.  The nine steps are a mnemonic for the word “transcend”: Talk with your doctor; Relaxation; Assessment; Nutrition; Supplements; Calorie reduction; Exercise; New technologies; Detoxification.  The authors have an extremely optimistic view of the future in health that may not come to pass, but this is an excellent resource.

Odd

I thoroughly enjoyed The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, but it is rather controversial and gets mixed reviews.  To a curious person like myself it was a very interesting read.

Biography

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer is a long (721 pages) biography about the father of the atomic bomb.  I found it engrossing.

True Story

Trail Of Feathers: Searching for Philip True is about a reporter who was murdered in Mexico and the subsequent search for justice.

Life in General

I thought this book was excellent but be forewarned: it is a rejoinder to the very popular The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.  Thus, it is not for everyone.  Robert M. Price writes from a humanist perspective:  The Reason Driven Life: What Am I Here on Earth For?

What do you think?  Leave a comment and join the conversation.

Tagged as: Book Reviews, Happiness, productivity, success