Reading can be one of the most fruitful activities. You develop a deeper understanding of the world and form your own opinion on things. Many read only non-fiction, while many find it daunting or boring. Personally, I go for books that have an element of uniqueness in them. Something that makes the writers different from others.
Here is a shortlist of five books that are interesting and well written.
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Becoming is a memoir written by the former first lady of the United States of America. Hers is a journey of a black girl from southside Chicago to the White House. She writes about her experience of being black and poor, the struggle of her parents to ensure that the kids get the best education, her life in Princeton, her years as a lawyer, her meeting Barak Obama, and their lives together. Read this book to know that through hard work one can achieve the impossible.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks
The complexity of the human brain remains unparalleled. Each minute part of the brain is responsible for tasks that we generally take for granted. So, when there is an issue with even a single cell, people start to behave differently. Dr Oliver Sacks writes about some of his patients with the most unique problems pertaining to neurology: so, we have a man who literally mistakes his wife for a hat and the man who forgets things that happened minutes ago but remembers everything that happened before world war 2. Read this book to start admiring how your brain works.
Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This is a short book that has been adapted from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk. In this book, she provides tips on how to raise strong and independent girls. She provides fifteen suggestions on how to empower girls and provide the skills they would need to become women of tomorrow. This book takes all issues faced by girls on face value and provides practical ideas and suggestions on how to deal with them. Read this to understand how to empower and talk to young girls to ensure they grow up to be confident young women.
Through The Window by Jane Goodall
Thirty years chronicling the lives of a few families living together. Love, friendships, sorrow, deaths, births, heartbreaks, power struggle… all this and more are included in the book. While the book reads like an interesting work of fiction, it is also the most important scientific work ever published. The families in question are the Chimpanzees of Gombe. A true account of their life has been written by Dame Jane Goodall and her work has been instrumental in animal behaviour. Read this to know that animals have lives and emotions, just like humans.
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
A true account of an all-girls literature class in Tehran during the 1978 – 1981 revolution. The girls meet and discuss various books, and through these discussions understand and experience a world that is so unlike their own. The contrasts of thoughts, ideas, and the impact of the revolution are all discussed by these girls. Read to know how books can help people in real life.
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Each of these books is unique in their own way. Reading words written by inspiring people is as good as having a detailed discussion with them, and who would want to pass the opportunity to have such wonderful mentors!
What are you reading now? Tell us in the comments section.
