Welcome to the Nonfiction November where we challenge ourselves to read nonfiction books entire month.
November is a much-awaited year for me for this very reason. I love reading non-fiction whether it is November or January. However, many of my family & friends find it difficult to read even a single of non-fiction.
So here are my top 5 nonfiction November recommendations for all those who want to try nonfiction books this month.
1) Think Again by Adam Grant
Non-fiction – Psychology
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Summary
The book is based & concentrates on the vision of re-thinking. Reevaluating our old beliefs in a new way reinforces the importance of rethinking and highlights the perils of not revisiting one’s idea.
The author elucidates the concepts and then shows us how to apply these rethinking principles to all walks of life. From dealing with prejudices, education, organizational behavior, listening and questioning, career planning, dealing with conflict and disagreements, and avoiding overconfidence.
The best part of the book was that it was the original work of the author and not some statistics and references. The author has done hundreds of experiments and has jotted down the conclusion in this book. The best chapter for me was the “Joy of being wrong” in which the author shows how being wrong is a good sign and it means you are learning.
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Conclusion
The core message of this book is to think like a scientist. Always seeking new information, challenging existing beliefs including your own, running experiments to test your hypotheses, and being a lifelong learner.
At the end of this book, you will value humility, self-doubt, curiosity, being proven wrong, healthy debate, complexity, and nuance, and the value of experiments.
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What I learned!!
I enjoyed this book. It reminded me that we should never stop learning no matter how old we are. It’s wise and healthy to keep analyzing all the things you believe are true. Life is all about flow and renewal. Nothing is fixed forever – including our strongly held opinions and beliefs. This book helps to see why. It helps us to become more authentic
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2) The Courage to be Dislike by Ichiro Kishimi
#Nonfiction– Self-help & Psychology.
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Summary
The book is based on the ideology of Alfred Adler who was the architect of the school of individual psychology. Secondly, The entire book is in the layout of a dialogue between a philosopher and a youth. It goes like
On the outskirts of the thousand-year-old city lived a philosopher who taught that the world was simple and that happiness was within the reach of every man, instantly. A young man who was dissatisfied with life went to visit this philosopher to get to the heart of the matter. This youth found the world a chaotic mass of contradictions and, in his anxious eyes, any notion of happiness was completely absurd.
After that, the philosopher explains to him how life works its pros & cons and all the various types of emotions one goes with. In total the youth came 5 times which is termed as 5 nights in the book to seek the guidance of the philosopher. However he was not the one who easily get convinced by the theory of the philosopher and used to question him now and then, This is what makes the entire book quite interesting and at times mind-blowing.
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Conclusion
In today’s world with all the hustle and bouts we live with, it is a must-read for all of us.
It makes us view life, ourselves, and everything around and within in a much simpler manner. It isn’t the life that is complicated, but us.
A simple book that conveys complex Adlerian ideas as lucidly as it can.
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What I learned!!!
The central theme of Adler’s philosophy is life has no meaning, we assign meaning to it. Life is about living passionately & truthfully in present moments, as we have no control over the past & future. Also, the power of courage is something I learned in the book. The author rightly told that we have chosen unhappiness because we don’t dare to be happy. When I read this first it sounded weird but slowly it’s making sense.
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3) The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
Favorite line – “If you want to know who controls you, look at whom you are not allowed to criticize”
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“The four agreements” is a short self-help book that focuses on four agreements or beliefs which are as follows.
1) Be impeccable with your words
2) Don’t take anything personally
3) Don’t make assumptions.
4) Do your best.
If we make these four agreements with ourselves, it can help us in overcoming any kind of adversity in life.
It is a short book with only 100 pages, but the content is beyond one’s imagination. Each agreement is covered in detail with examples of real-life in it. The author illustrates how we are squeezed in our beliefs created by our civilization and families which destroys our creativity and originality. The author promise that exercising the above four principles will make you free from depression, jealousy, self-rejection, etc.. and will fill your life full of love and joy.
“The Four Agreements” is so simple and logical that even a child can understand them. But, you must have a very strong will, a very strong will to keep these agreements. Why? Because wherever we go we find that our path is full of obstacles. Everyone tries to sabotage our commitment to
these new agreements, and everything around us is a setup for us to break them
The writing of the author, its quotations, its anecdotes has been all rare for me. I would suggest it to every one of you…
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4) Digital Minimalist by Cal Newport
“Let’s face it, checking your “likes” is the new smoking”.
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Nonfiction- Self-help
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Summary
The book focus on social media addiction, how it is formed, there are billions of dollars spent so that you became an addict and stay addicted as long.
The starting part of the book focuses on how one becomes addicted to social media. There is two most important stuff behind that. The first is “unpredictable” and the second is “social approval”.
Social media is very unpredictable in the sense every time you open it you see something new in your feeds, new likes, comments, etc. This stuff over a long period can become very addictive. This was proven when an experiment was done on a pigeon pecking a button that unpredictably releases food pells.
Second ” social approval” We’re a social being who cant ignore what other thinks of us. This vulnerability of us was amplified by the tech company for their profit. If likes & comment start reducing it make us anxious even if it completely normal.
The book focuses on the concept of “Digital minimalist which means to focus your online time on a small number of carefully selected apps that support your value system and delete everything else.
In short words, it is a philosophy of working backward from your deeply held values when deciding how to live your life.
It’s a must-read book for everyone since we all are addicted to some extend.
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Conclusion
There’s an old saying, “You must be using the tool, the tool mustn’t be using you”. The same thing applies to a smartphone. It must be used just as a tool, but if you find yourself reaching for it every minute, you must realize that it is using you.
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What I learned?!
Reading this book helped me better understand the forces behind addictive technologies, exposed me to pragmatic ideas to implement the minimalism philosophy, and supported my previous thoughts on how we can better handle digital overexposure.
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5) “Educated “by Tara Westover
#Nonfiction – Autobiography & memoir
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Quote to start with👇
“True ignorance is not the absence of knowledge but the refusal to acquire it”
“Be close enough to understand;
Be far enough to differentiate”⚖️
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Review 👇
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“Educated” is a memoir of Tara Westover. In the book, she shares her life journey in a strict Mormon family and the struggles she has to go through to get herself in a proper school and for education.
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Her life started in the mountain of Idaho (a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. ) with her nine siblings. From an early age, Tara wanted to join a school but her father refused it citing that schools are run by the government who will brainwash you. All such negative and fake stories were told to her about the country, government, and world. The only thing she was expected to do was worship God and read the bible. However slowly things began to change when her elder brother Tyler left the home. She was soon started getting physically abused by his other brother Shawn after she began to grow close to Charles, a boy she met while performing in theatre. At that time she decided to leave the home and started her journey. His brother Tyler encourage her to do so and lastly, she left the home in search of a better life. However, the struggle was not over and she faces a lot of trouble and challenges that are beautifully and interestingly written in the book.
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What’s special about the book ⭐
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The courage and determination of the author come out very boldly and is an inspiration to many who are caught in similar situations of having to live in two contradicting worlds, unable to make a decision. It is truly an inspiring biography and that too written at such a young age.
Conclusion
Non-fiction is an amzaing genere which will open your ees to reality of the world. If you are interested in knowimng how the world works then i highly recooded you all the above 5 books.
If interested in reading more such books, check out my another blog ” 50 Best Books To Read Before You Die.
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