4 Books You Should Read Right Now!
Who doesn’t love a great book? A lot of the greatest books I’ve ever been so kindly privileged to have consumed have been recommended to me by some who now occupy a special place in my heart as a result of said recommendations. If you’re a fan of consuming literary masterpieces, like I am, then these are four books that you should be reading right now!
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Sure, there’s a lot of people who, for some odd reason, have some weird thing against reading bestsellers or books that have garnered a lot of hype or attention, but Iron Widow really is a must read, and one that deserves every bit of success it’s had. The debut novel of Xiran Jay Zhao is a mecha sci-fi novel inspired by a lot of Japanese ‘anime’ elements as well as further drawing inspiration from historical figures across Chinese history. It’s a ridiculously entertaining read, exciting at every page turn and manages to maintain the excitement for all 400-ish pages of the book!
Prior to reading this book, I was in a sort of reading rut, where I wasn’t really enjoying a lot of the stuff I was reading and found it hard to complete books generally, but this was just one book I couldn’t put down halfway. Once you start reading, your eyes are just glued to the pages. It’s absolutely magical!
If you haven’t gotten around to reading this, then what are you waiting for?! Pick up a copy from a local bookstore, or grab one off Amazon or other digital retailers. Here’s a link to get a copy of the book off Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bJzfLG
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Change is hard. We’ve heard that one before. A lot. Except when we hear this phrase being used, it often means, “humans find it hard to deal with things changing around them.” I’m not talking about having to deal with something changing, I’m talking about us trying to change certain aspects of our lifestyles for the better. It’s hard, and it’s frustrating. Sure, things changing around us can be weird to deal with, but an internal change? That’s much harder.
Ridding ourselves of negative or detrimental habits can be hard, but not because the change is difficult to achieve but simply because we’re setting about achieving the process of change in an inefficient manner. Here’s an excerpt from the Goodreads description of the book: “If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you’ll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.”
Atomic Habits essentially proposes changing habits in a way that might appear minor at first, but compounds into something much greater.
I’m well aware that self-help/self-improvement books can be a bit of a bore, especially to younger readers [I should know considering I hated self-help books a couple years ago when I was in my early teenage years] but Atomic Habits is an excellent read, and one that’s not at all difficult to recommend!
You can purchase Atomic Habits from a local bookstore or from a digital retailer such as Amazon.
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
Okay, okay, I understand that there’s a misconception regarding biographies with quite a number of people perceiving them to be boring, or just propaganda pieces filled with misinformation to manipulate impressions of certain individuals. I can vouch that this biography of Elon Musk is anything but boring, but on the other bit, well, I suppose I’ll just leave that for you to decide.
I love Tesla, I love SpaceX, I love Elon Musk, and I cannot stress this enough, I absolutely love this biography. Vance is an excellent writer who’s managed to perfectly chronicle the life of the world’s richest man, a billionaire who is perhaps the world’s most important entrepeneur/innovator, after all, he does have dreams of colonizing Mars and making humanity an interplanetary civilization.
I understand biographies may not be everyone’s thing, and up until a few years ago, I wouldn’t be caught dead reading a biography but you’d be surprised what a degree in History and International Studies can do to your taste in literature.
This biography’s highly interesting (which isn’t something I could say for any other biography) and there’s definitely lessons to be learned from reading it. You can pick this up from a local bookstore near you, or order a copy of it off Amazon.
Gone by Michael Grant
We’re back in the territory of absolutely brilliant, excellently-written, somewhat dystopian science-fiction with an ensemble of lovable characters, as well as downright despicable ones. Gone, by Michael Grant is the first in a series of six, chronicling the trials endured by teenagers and children after every adult suddenly vanishes and they find themselves trapped in a dome, completely cut off from the outside world. As you’d expect, chaos ensues. When there’s no adults, who keeps the kids in check?
Things soon take a turn for the dark (really dark) when a number of teenagers discover latent superhuman abilities, and the presence of a malevolent force seemingly responsible for their new reality.
Gone is an absolutely breathtaking, suspenseful, thrilling read, filled with twists and turns sure to solicit gasps and groans from you. The world and characters are beautifully fleshed out in a way that makes the world of the FAYZ (Fallout Alley Youth Zone) feel so alive.
The rest of the books in the series are: Hunger, Lies, Plague, Fear, and Light. Small warning before you pick it up: Don’t get too attached to anyone.
You can purchase the entire saga from a bookstore near you, or off Amazon.
If you’re a fan of beautiful books, the four mentioned above are absolute must-reads. Just because it doesn’t sit right with me excluding a number of great books from the chosen four, here’s a list of FIVE honorable mentions:
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab || Fantasy, Romance
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston || LGBTQ+ Romance
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel || Self-Help, Business & Personal Finance
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson || Sci-Fi
The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig || Supernatural, Thriller, Horror
