As someone who isn’t big on novels for light entertainment, I tend to lean more to the silver screen for that but that’s not to say I don’t like a good read.
I prefer to read books of a more factual nature, books that inform or inspire me and these three books that I’ve had the pleasure of reading recently, do just that.
First up we have the man himself, Malcolm Gladwell, who owns this genre hands down, and his book David and Goliath does inform and certainly inspires.
This international best seller tells us the stories of those you haven’t had it their own way and that sometimes a disadvantage can be the biggest advantage one ever needs.
These stories range from WW2 to present day and describe how people in tricky situations rose above what others couldn’t even imagine or how people can surprise us in the most unlikely of ways. This book had me gripped from start to finish, and gives you a mental kick up the butt at the same time.
Next up we have Daily Rituals by Mason Currey.
This book is a compilation of the greatest minds known to history and how they achieved what they did through ritual. It doesn’t sound like much but this book is full of interesting quirks and time schedules of people like Benjamin Franklin, Mozart and Freud.
If you have ever wondered how they fit in all that they achieved into their lives.
I guess the message with this book is not that there is a universal answer for greatness but if you want to write that screenplay then it is about planning a schedule and sticking to it, however that my work for you. A fascinating little book, full of interesting facts and bizarre personal quirks of these great minds.
Finally, we have Unthink by Chris Paley.
Chris tells us that much of what we experience as our own free, conscious decision making is in fact largely determined by unconscious impulses. If that is true then this book gives us the tools to understand the unconscious roots of these decisions and teach us to think more successfully. For example when someone taking your order at a restaurant repeats your order back to you they are more likely to receive a bigger tip. This book is full of fun and useful psychological life hacks which makes it a great read.
Sometimes we need a bit of motivation or to feed the brain rather than to escape through a good piece of fiction and sometimes it comes through books. I hope these books are as of much use to you as they were for me. Enjoy.
To bring this all back around to what we do, dating, I’d like to let you know that we’re currently planning a new series of our famous Literary Speed Dating events.
These speed dating events are designed to bring toghether people that love to read books and talk about them.
We put on a series of these events last year and they we’re a big success. Keep an eye on our homepage for the new dates coming out later this month (Oct 2017)
If you can’t wait, check out what’s coming up. We’re organising more dating events than we’ve ever done before so there’s bound to be one that’s right up your alley.
WORDS BY STUART GRAHAME
Stuart is one of our regular hosts and over the years has become something of an expert in dating. Watch out for his regular posts full of dating tips and advice.