27 Best Books to Read That will Enrich your Life in 2023
The best books to read in 2023 are based on what you loved in 2022. Best books to read before you die: All the Books Worth Reading This Year.
Hello everybody welcome back happy 2023. Today we will share The 27 Best Books to Read That will Enrich your Life in 2023.
I hope you have been having a nice few days and a nice week, today's article is very excitingly all about the best books of all time.
one of my big goals for 2023 was to read the best books to read in life and I feel like this is a goal that is very common that I have set myself very often like year after year.
and I feel like last year was the first time I actually followed through with it to some extent and actually read a decent amount of the best books to read ever I'm really proud of myself because I love buying books.
27 Best Books to Read That will Enrich your Life in 2023
Today I would share with you some good books to read in 2023. I've read most of these I read in the last year and if your goal in 2023 is to read more books then I would recommend the 27 best books to read once in a lifetime.
I was just excited and really loved the story. there's a decent amount of variety as well because obviously everybody likes different things.
these are the 27 best books to read in life that I would recommend to get you back into reading also don't have too much imposter syndrome.
I feel like this is what held me back for ages was that I was like I'm just not really like a literature English kind of gals like maths and that sort of thing is probably what makes more sense to me.
so I was always just like there's no point in me reading all these life-changing books like I won't get it.
I personally think good books to read in 2023 will be able to have an impact on a reader of many different standards I guess like how good is a book if only English students are able to take something away from it not that good right let's just get into it.
today we are going to do a little bit of an annual roundup of the 27 best books to read before you die that I read this year that have had some sort of impact on me.
We're going to go over 20 books that had an impact on my personal life in terms of dating relationships, mindset productivity, and general good vibes about reliving a happy healthy life and 5 books that had a big impact on the business, and 2 fiction books as a whole let's get into it.
Here are the 27 best books to read in 2023 to add to your reading list.
1. Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use it
Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use it by Oliver Burkeman
the first one is 4 000 weeks by Oliver Berkman now this is subtitled time and how to use it and it's sort of like a productivity book about time management.
but it's not really it's like a philosophical approach to time management and really his whole vibe is that life is finite we're all going to die someday and therefore the way that we choose to manage our time and be intentional with the small time we have on this earth is like really important.
but also he rails against the classic productivity guru stuff about how you can do everything if you manage your to-do list properly his vibe is more like look let's just accept that we're never going to actually make the time for all the things that we actually want to do and let's be okay with that and let's keep that in mind as we figure out what to do with our time so it's really good it was very uh heartwarming.
2. Unconditional Parenting
Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason by Alfie Kohn
next on the list, we have unconditional parenting by Alfie Kohn. Alfie Kohn is a child psychologist also it might be weird that I'm reading a book about parenting but genuinely I think this book is really interesting if you're a parent but also if you're not a parent because if you've ever been a kid and ever had parents who parented you in a particular way or another it'll be interesting to hear what the evidence is around some of these practices.
and basically, the whole vibe of unconditional parenting is that there is a type of parenting conditional parenting kind of which is where a child feels as if they are loved for the things that they do rather than for who they are and so things like praise apparently praise is problematic and one of the things that Alfie talks about is how when we praise children like
well done johnny you did really well in that math test
johnny starts to associate his own self-worth with him doing well on the math test
well done johnny you played with someone else and you shared
and they start to associate like they start to stop feeling as if their love for who they are but instead feel as if they're loved for what they do and that's like super interesting it's like praise is bad apparently punishment is bad apparently rewards are bad as well and it's just like a really really engaging read I listen to an audible like with most of these books and he kind of talks about loving children without strings attached and talks about how it's kind of weird the way that we treat children as being kind of an extension of their parents not really having any autonomy not really having any rights.
and so the book hasn't really changed anything about the way I'm approaching my life right now although it will be interesting when I hopefully come to be a parent at some point it has been very interesting in giving me another perspective on kind of the challenges of being a parent and how much of a sort of psychological minefield.
it can be a really good book I've been recommending it to everyone and everyone I've recommended it to who's read it has said oh this is actually really good um so yeah check it out.
3. Models: Attract Women Through Honesty
Models: Attract Women Through Honesty by Mark Manson
the next is a book that I re-read this year called models by Mark Manson. Mark Manson is a famous author at this point famous for the subtle art of not giving and another new york times bestseller he's like this very mainstream author who actually co-wrote will smith's autobiography which is kind of interesting but not many people know that in an in a previous life mark, Manson was like a dating coach for men and this book came out I think around 2011 it's all.
it's basically all about how you attract women but do it through honesty so like before this book came out the whole pickup artist movement the books around that thing also I've heard what was all about kind of techniques and strategies and hacks and tricks to kind of trick women into sleeping with you and all that kind of stuff then mark Manson comes along.
and basically, his whole spiel is that look if you want to attract the woman of your dreams or if you want to get a decent life partner you should become the sort of person who a good person would be attracted to and so you should work on yourself and become more authentic and become like open you know to show your vulnerability and maybe like go to the gym a bit and like the dress a bit better and like you know to be authentic in conversation and be more vulnerable and open up a bit more.
and I recently reread this because I first read this many many years ago it's just really really really good it's not like what you would think it's it's very mainstream acceptable he talks about female and LGBT readers as well at the start and yeah it's just actually sick and I think in the past I've definitely been guilty of feeling like I had to kind of change myself to when I was on dates and in relationships and stuff to become more like I don't know some caricature of what I thought as an alpha male looked like and stuff but recently I realized I've come around to the idea that actually just being yourself and being your authentic self and being open and vulnerable and honest and stuff is by far a better approach.
so thank you models by mark Manson for being a guide into those waters in an interesting way so yeah if you are a dude looking to find a life partner would recommend models if you're not a dude looking for a life partner it's still kind of interesting but it's kind of more applied to dudes looking for life partners so yeah check it out.
4. Never Split the Difference
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It by Chris Voss
next, we have the book never split the difference Negotiation as if your life depended on it by Chris Voss he was apparently an FBI hostage negotiator for like 15 years before he wrote this book.
so most of these non-fiction books are like big idea books where they have one central big idea and then the rest of the book just sort of justifies that idea this is not one of those books it does have a central thesis and that central thesis is that when we're negotiating.
and actually, he talks about how it's not just about negotiating hostages but like about lots of different conversations in life on negotiations like when you negotiate with you know someone to buy a car when you negotiate with a spouse when you negotiate with your kids to get them to bed on time these are all negotiations and in fact, the best way to negotiate is recognizing that the decisions people make are emotional rather than logical.
and so you want to appeal to the emotional side of their brains into their hearts and rather than there being just one big idea that he explains a bunch of times there are nine different chapters and each of them has nine fairly counter-intuitive interesting methods or techniques or tricks or principles you can apply when negotiating with people to more likely get what you want.
and there's a bunch of really interesting tactics like mirroring and calculated empathy and why actually instead of about trying to get to yes you know like make them say yes multiple times you actually want to make them say no because it makes people feel more comfortable
this is a book that I've written I've listened to twice already on audible and every time I do I get more and more insights from it so this is definitely one that I'm going to reread but yeah never split the difference negotiating as if your life depending on it.
5. Die With Zero
Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life by Bill Perkins
next, we have the book die with Xero getting all you can from your money and your life by bill Perkins this is also really good this has kind of changed the way that I approach thinking about money and the central idea of the book is that we want to aim to die with zero in our bank accounts and if we die with anything more than zero in our bank accounts then we have done something wrong.
its core model is that like in an ideal world, we have this life energy you know the energy that we have in our lives and we would ideally like to trade that life energy for fulfilling and meaningful experiences with our friends and family but we can't do this direct one for one trade because mostly fulfilling experiences do cost some amount of money maybe they don't have to cost the world but they do cost some amount of money.
and so we often have to do this intermediate step like we have life energy we convert it into money by working a job and then we convert that money into life experiences and this point isn't that we should just convert all of our money into life experiences.
because that's the only thing that matters but his point is that most of us especially if we're successful in whatever way we wanted to find get to a point where we are so focused on saving and accumulating wealth that we failed to realize that actual money has literally zero benefits when you are dead and this is a thing that people on the death bed realize that you know you could have 10 million quid at that point like 100 million or a billion like it wouldn't make any difference to your life.
because you can no longer enjoy that money and so you know what if you waited until 70 to start spending money hmm probably not ideal what about 60 what about 50 what about 40 his kind of point in the book is that we shouldn't just like make loads of money and wait until we're retired when our bodies are kind of breaking down to then spend the money and enjoy it we should try and enjoy life as we're going through it.
and I really liked how the message of the book is this idea of the journey before destination that yes there is value in saving for a rainy day and all that stuff and putting stuff in investments and working hard right now so you can enjoy the rewards later but it's also a balance between making sure we're also enjoying ourselves in the here and now because what we don't want to do is get to our death beds and think oh damn I wish I hadn't worked so hard maybe I could have quit my job 10 years earlier because I actually had enough money in the bank for five years earlier because I actually had enough money to do well and I actually could have taken that trip that I really wanted to take.
I mentioned this to a few friends this thing of dying with zero two things always what about the kids like well if you die with zero then you're not gonna leave any money to your kids he answers this there's a whole chapter called what about the kids basically his vibe is that if you actually want to give money to your kids as a form of inheritance don't give it when you are dead because when you're dead your kids are probably in their 50s or 60s and they can't actually use the money as well as they could when they were in their 20s or 30s and it's weird because like in America the average age of inheritance is like 60 something it's just this weird societal thing that we do where it's like oh when I'm dead then I will give my money to my kids he's like no you should plea please give the money when they're young and they can actually use it for a deposit on a house or their first car or anything like that.
Similar to charity charities need money right now they will also probably need money 50 years from now but if you have money to give to charities right now you should give it because plenty of people are dying in the world and could benefit from that money don't wait until your deathbed to suddenly decide you're going to donate to a charity that is not a virtuous thing to do given that your charities need the money now and so once you've given to charity once you've given to your kids while you're alive the point is you should end up with zero in your bank account by the time that you die.
Similar to charity charities need money right now they will also probably need money 50 years from now but if you have money to give to charities right now you should give it because plenty of people are dying in the world and could benefit from that money don't wait until your deathbed to suddenly decide you're going to donate to a charity that is not a virtuous thing to do given that your charities need the money now and so once you've given to charity once you've given to your kids while you're alive the point is you should end up with zero in your bank account by the time that you die.
and so what I learned from the book is that I should be more okay with enjoying life not feeling like I have to work at 120 miles per hour every single day to make even more money but actually that I can take the time to enjoy life with friends and family and things like that so really really enjoyed the book fantastic message.
6. Happy Sexy Millionaire
Happy Sexy Millionaire: Unexpected Truths about Fulfillment, Love, and Success by Steven Bartlett
next, we have the book happy sexy millionaire by Stephen bartlett. Stephen Baldwin is a chat he fantastic chat he interviewed me on his podcast really really friendly guy it's ridiculously successful sold this company for like 300 million or something and became the youngest dragon in the UK's dragon's den which is like the UK version of shark tank apparently that's the thing but the book is really good I'll read out an exit from the back...
"as an 18-year-old black broke lonely insecure university dropout from a bankrupt family I wrote in my diary that I wanted to be a happy sexy millionaire by the age of 25 by 25 I was a multi-millionaire having created a business worth over 300 million dollars ironically in achieving everything I set out to I learned that I was wrong about almost everything the world had lied to me it lied to me about how you attain fulfillment love and success why those things matter and what those words actually mean".
It is genuine like a really good book with a bunch of interesting it's also like really nicely designed there are a bunch of these bits where there's like quotes and diagrams and stuff we talk about social media we talk about figuring out what you want from life finding your values you are not what happened to you you are how you chose to handle it
and there's a really good metaphor never trade your happiness for a career money external validation popularity or status the ultimate goal is happiness your wealth success fame and accomplishments will only be worthwhile if they serve that goal
yeah, fantastic messages message all around and there's really there's a really good model towards the end of the book where he talks about thinking about time in terms of chips like we have 112 hours each week of waking time and we have 112 chips every week that we can choose to deploy and every hour we have to choose what we do with a chip of time kind of like being in the poker table or whatever you have to play a chip every hour although that's how it works.
yeah just thinking about the time in that very concrete way has helped me be a little bit more intentional with how I'm spending my time but yeah fantastic book overall love it I'm gonna definitely rereading this um really good stuff well done Stephen.
7. Can't Hurt Me
Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds - Clean Edition by David Goggins
next, we have a book by David Goggins called can't hurt me master your mind and defy the odds this is like David Goggins's sort of memoir he's like a navy seal guy who's famous for doing ridiculous like iron man Ultraman those sorts of athletic things but he talks about kind of how like his childhood of like poverty and physical abuse and racism in America and a bunch of other really messed up stuff.
and it's such an inspiring and heart-wrenching story and I hadn't really seen much of David Goggins's stuff I sort of seen a few parodies about him apparently you know he apparently does talks while doing pull-ups and stuff and I've sort of seen a few parodies of that but then I listened to the audiobook I was like this is actually so sick.
and I was like so inspired by the story and you know a big part of his message is that we can you know sounds a bit cliche but like we can set out to achieve anything if we want it enough if our mind you know suitably embraces discomfort and embraces the pain and the more we push through the pain the more we embrace it the more we love it the more likely we are to succeed at whatever we want to do.
and I don't quite agree with the entire message which is that like they suffer now and live your life as a champion kind of stuff but because I'm less about that suffering narrative personally and I'm kind of soft so like you know I don't really like going for runs when it's cold or going for runs at all but it was just like a really really really inspiring read.
and again everyone I've recommended this to has read it and been like okay this is actually really sick so yeah check it out can't hurt me by David Goggins.
8. Educated: A Memoir
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
next, we have the book educated by Tara Westover. this is really interesting it's not fiction but it's a memoir and it's not really like a self-help book you don't like to learn any practical take actionable takeaways from it but it's still really interesting.
it's like the story of this girl called tara who grew up in a Mormon family in Utah I think where they're living on this mountain and the family is preparing for the end of days because they think in like the year 2012 or something the world is going to end.
and so they're like preparing for that and you know she doesn't have a birth certificate she doesn't go to school she like you know the father doesn't believe in hospitals and so the family gets ill and no one ever goes to a hospital because they think hospitals are evil and as she grows older like her father becomes really radical her brother becomes like really really violent.
and then it's like the story of how she ends up going to school and ends up going to university and just the struggles along the way and again like really hot wrenching and rending in places heartwarming and others really good book um yeah great stuff.
9. How to Not Die Alone
How to Not Die Alone: The Surprising Science That Will Help You Find Love by Logan Ury
The name makes people feel that there are a lot of gimmicks, but the content is quite simple:
1. Unexpectedly cited detailed behavioral and psychological experimental research to eliminate the wrong impression in the process of establishing intimate relationships.
2. the structure is also clear:
- the first part is to prepare first, from the current situation of difficult love to three types of marriage and love tendencies (romantic, perfect, self-doubt), and then add the attachment type to judge by myself, it looks like Seriously preparing.
- The second part is action-oriented. It really gives a lot of inspiring tips and ideas. At least the "Dating Ideas List" is very useful for reference.
- The third part teaches you how to make a commitment to a relationship, nothing more than how to break up with dignity and how to rationally consider marriage.
3. The book written by a feminist female author mentions that LGBT is also applicable at the beginning, and occasionally cites some examples of anti-gender stereotypes in the middle, and there is no sense of preaching at all.
Many people are resistant to using thinking to face love, thinking that it is not love if it is too rational. However, love is just a synonym, intimacy is a kind of interpersonal relationship, no one can create a good interpersonal relationship without thinking, let alone this kind of relationship that cannot be faked, our good and bad are exposed, which means, You can't get long-term happiness with a few handsome moments, you must have brains and action.
Many people think that the hardest thing is to find the right person, but the real difficulty is how to go on. Genghis Khan could conquer all the way to Europe, but not achieve domination, the reason is the same. Long-term relationships never exist at the physical, material, and cultural levels, especially when neither person fully possesses a certain comparative advantage. A long-term relationship is about making choices that are conducive to the growth of the relationship when we get along every day.
10. The Millionaire Fastlane
The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime by MJ DeMarco
and we have the millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco. it's a bit of a clickbaity title I'll be honest the millionaire fast lane but generally it's probably the best book I've ever read on how to kind of grow wealth and how to get rich by building a business.
so he distinguishes between the slow lane and the fast lane and the slow lane approach to wealth building is the whole it's probably the thing that your parents would have told you you know to go to college get a good job save up a lot of money get a house, get on the property ladder maybe put some money in stocks and overtime when you're 65 then you'll be rich that's the very slow lane approach to wealth building.
whereas what he talks about is the Fastlane which talks about how you can build a business that works for you rather than you necessarily working for the business and how you can become quite rich quickly and by quickly he means within five to ten years rather than within 50 years.
11. Norwegian Wood
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
The next book I'm going to recommend is Norwegian wood. this is the last book I read in 2021 I read this I finished about like a week two weeks ago and this was on my list for so long I've had an infinite number of people talk about this and I also know so many people who have this is their favorite book and I'm definitely going to recommend it to you.
I found this to be extremely gripping it's about a student living in Tokyo and it's about kind of like love and just like student life I love that it's set in Tokyo you do get quite a cool insight into the culture which I really enjoyed as an aspect of this book the protagonist is actually reflecting back on his time as a student so it's quite like nostalgic which I love nostalgia is like one of my favorite feelings and you definitely like this book radiates that.
so obviously the book is named after the Beatle's song Norwegian Wood and the protagonist hears the song and it makes him think back to his days as a student and then you kind of get that story around it I would say the reason this is so gripping is that the characters are just so almost complicated I'd say this book is very character-driven I guess there's the plot as well but like I would say the character development is very very intense there are also themes of like mental health suicide is a huge theme in this book so be careful if that's like something you don't want to read about I'd definitely avoid this.
I think the main reason I'd say this could get you back into reading is that this is not like anything I've really ever read, it's also um was originally written in Japanese so this is the translation um I would love to read the original Japanese version but I just do not think I'll ever be fluent in Japanese.
I really really enjoyed this book and it gave me a new kind of I've never read anything like it which I love when I read a book that isn't quite unique however there is just one side note that I want to say about this book and that is the way that women are written about is really unenjoyable I like I haven't analyzed it like too far or done much research I don't know if that is intentional or if that is just how the author thinks.
I think I have heard that that's like a theme within Murakami books but I would be wary of that I think that cut from me personally did taint the book a little bit but I'm still going to recommend it because I read this so quickly and I like would definitely recommend it to a friend.
12. Normal People
Normal People by Sally Rooney
next up I have two Sally Rooney books. The first is 'Normal people' second is a 'Conversation with friends. I'm not gonna go on and on about these because probably a lot of people have read them already sally Rooney is again another author who is extremely character-driven these stories are bad even stories there's just character-driven writing.
'Normal people' follow Marianne and Connell who are, so it starts when they're in school and then they progress into like uni and it ends with them like graduating they grow up in Ireland and then they go to university in Dublin in my head I think that books with not much going on or less a plot would be less gripping and days shining.
but I actually found both of these to be extremely page-turning and I just love the style of her writing you really do stay for her writing that is what carries these books I think there are some really interesting ideas within these books so I'd say, normal people.
13. Conversations with Friends: A Novel
Conversations with Friends: A Novel by Sally Rooney
'Conversations with friends' are our stories about love and relationships and friendship I think. I've said this before but sally Rooney gets knocked sometimes for making books or writing books about topics that aren't necessarily super deep or world-changing I guess but I personally love that.
she writes about more mundane and simple storylines and love and relationships and things like that because that at the end of the day is the stuff that is most relatable what I also love about them is that they are realistic it's not just like a soppy love story where it ends with the couple you know getting married and having kids and stuff like that.
so I like that about these books and conversations with friends is students living in Dublin um and then they make friends with this like an older couple and it's kind of a story about friendship and relationships I love sex and I think the main reason these books are good is just sally Rooney like her writing is just unbelievable.
I have also read her other more recent book which is a beautiful world where are you, I'd also recommend that I wouldn't put it at the top if you haven't ever read Sally Rooney. I personally recommend these over that but I do also really love that book so I'd also recommend the BBC series normal people I loved it.
14. Never Let Me Go
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
next, we have 'never let me go by Ishiguro which is hands down my favorite book maybe ever okay no it's gonna be top five this book is amazing this is a dystopian novel which dystopian writing is probably my favorite I find that to be just like really gripping really page-turning.
I don't really know how much to say because the beauty of this book is that you're kind of thrown in at the deep end and have no idea what this world is about and it's really amazingly written reflected in like the protagonist is also kind of figuring out you know the systems in place in this world.
I read this book extremely quickly like in like two or three days, I think because the first almost half of the book you honestly don't really know what's going on and that's what made me want to keep reading because I was like okay I need to figure it out like where are all these pieces flossing together that's definitely what kept me hooked.
I will say if you're only going to read like 10 pages a day this would be a tougher read because there's not too much instant gratification at the start of the book there are a lot of questions and you just need to keep going so I would say if you find the start of this book a little bit of a challenge like please push through because this is like genuinely my favorite book.
I bought this for my dad for Christmas because he was like I want to read more and I was like you should read this he's read it already and he loved it as well so um I'll just read what it says on the back because I don't really know how to sum this up without giving up too much giving too much away.
"narrated by Kathy now 31 'never let me go' dramatizes her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at a seat at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world a story of love friendship and memory never let me go is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life".
There's also a movie I wouldn't say it's the best movie I've ever seen at all but I quite liked watching it I definitely don't watch it before you read the book through okay.
15. The Flatshare: A Novel
The Flatshare: A Novel by Beth O'Leary
next up we have 'the flatshare'. this book is extremely easy to read page-turning and light-hearted it's a lovely storyline this fits more into the category of those books where it's like you know the happy love story.
I really love the kind of uniqueness of the storyline it's about two strangers who occupy the same flat so one of them has it through the day and then one of them has it through the night because they work night shifts and one of them works day shifts you know obviously you can kind of guess what happens but I really really liked just how simple this is.
I love reading books like this in-between more serious emotional books I find that reading back-to-back really hard-hitting emotional stuff just does not sit well with me and it's I find it really good for my brain to like switch the pace up and this is one of my favorite books of this genre I read this I think in the first lockdown I remember it being just a really lovely summer read for me.
16. Ghosts
Ghosts by Dolly Alderton
staying in the same sort of genre we have 'ghosts' by Dolly Alderton. I also really recommend her book her other book which is everything I know about love.
that's also an amazing book but this is her more recent fiction story it's about a woman called Nina I think she's in her early 30s again it's just about a love career growing up.
I think it's a lot about you know comparing yourself to others and seeing your friends and comparing your lifestyle to theirs and you know maybe feeling like you're behind in life I think it does a good job of kind of making you feel like it's okay to just be wherever you're at is like where you're meant to be I also really love that it's it is a love story and it's about like a couple in a relationship.
but that isn't the focus of the book which I find sometimes kind of frustrating when a lot of storylines have the kind of oh girl mixed boy and then her like whole life is perfect and happy because now she has a boyfriend that's like the goal in life and like this book isn't like that which is much better and I feel like a lot more realistic.
and so it's called ghosts because she ends up getting ghosted kind of what it's about it's also about like family and just how like relationships in life set in London another easier like a page-turning book to recommend okay.
17. The Midnight Library: A Novel
The Midnight Library: A Novel by Matt Haig
the next book I am going to recommend I don't actually have with me sadly it's in Edinburgh but it is 'the midnight library by Matt Haig.
this was a long-awaited book for me I've heard so many good things about it I think this might actually be my top recommendation from this video because it is the perfect balance of something new and different it's not just the classic love story but it is also gripping and page-turning I do think it's good if you haven't read a book in a while like it's one of those that will really like get you back into reading.
so the story starts with the protagonist Nora taking her own life and then she kind of wakes up in this library and there's a librarian and all of the books are different lives that she could have taken I guess life paths so you know what if I never dated that person what if I'd moved to Australia.
what if I'd done this and then you get to kind of see all the different lives that she could have lived that alone is interesting but I really just love the overall arching of the overarching message of the book and liked the ending.
I also find it to be really nice one of those books where you close the last page and you're like oh life is good you know like life is good so I really recommend that for that especially if you're looking for something a bit more uplifting, obviously it does feature like mental health and like suicide issues and stuff like that but I'd say that overall it's like an uplifting book.
18. This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor
This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay
next, I have 'this is going to hurt by adam kay'. this book is very different from most of the other recommendations this is what is described as the secret diaries of a junior doctor.
so he has like these little encounters and like stories that he's written about just his experience as a junior doctor and you'd think like okay like I could read like an article about that but I don't want to read like 300 pages on that this is actually extremely funny.
he is a comedian and so it's written really really well it is just kind of hilarious I actually really loved this book which is interesting because it's not like anything else I've really ever read um another one of my lockdown ones reads it's described as hilarious horrifying and heartbreaking this is everything you wanted to know and more than a few things you didn't about life on and off the hospital board.
I don't really know how else to describe it other than that but you have to just take my word for it with this one um this is really really good.
19. A Thousand Splendid Suns
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Next, we have a thousand splendid sons. this is another book that is in my running for the top like top three top five books I've ever read
this book is very heartbreaking and sad so if that's not what you're looking for I wouldn't recommend it however I do think because of just the incredible story and how emotionally invested you become I would recommend it as a book to get you back into reading because it is it played on my emotions so much that like I just had to keep reading it this is a reasonably painful book though so beware of that so it's set in Afghanistan.
and it follows two well first one follows a young girl and basically, just her experience being a woman in I think it starts in like the 60s um it covers a huge time range so the girl at the beginning is 15 and then I think the end of the book is like over 20 years later maybe even like 40 years later so you get to sort of like see the way she's treated the way her life progresses
and I think what's most painful about it is that the ending isn't just happy which I think sends a more powerful message guess so it's definitely worth that I also think the author has amazing storytelling skills like the storytelling in this book is one of the things I think that keeps you reading it's just like really it's just genuinely so sad my mom recommended me all of his books and she wasn't wrong this is like probably my favorite book ever I think no book I've read has made me feel like as intensely as this has.
"Mariam is only 15 when she spent a cowboy to marry Rasheed nearly two decades later a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager Leila as strong as the ties between mother and daughter when the Taliban take over life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation brutality and fear yet love can move people to act in unexpected ways and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with startling heroism".
20. Such a Fun Age
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
and I believe the next book is 'such a fun age' which I did leave in Edinburgh again sorry.
such a fun age follows a girl who is in her mid-20s she was book starts with her being mistreated because of her race and then as the story continues you see more aspects of her life so you get to see kind of like her relationships her friendships her work career.
I think this book again is about being in your 20s not really sure what you want to do like you know what career do I won't like who do I want to date like you know what kind of friends do I want to have
but it also has that added aspect of looking at things like microaggressions racism fetishes privilege and it's worked really well into the fictional story which I really enjoyed so I definitely recommend it.
so those were 20 books that had an effect on my personal life let's talk about five books that had an impact on my business and the main one for this year is...
5 Business Books You Need to Read in 2023
1. Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman
traction by Gino Wickman get a grip on your business I and the team stumbled across this about six months ago and it's just completely changed the game for our business before I feel like I didn't really know anything about running the business and I kind of making up as I went along and it was quite chaotic and you know at one point we had like four of us maybe this like this time last year there were three and a half members of the team and everything worked all right.
because we know it was all a bit chaotic but there were only three of us and Elizabeth was working part-time so like stuff was getting done because they were we were small enough that we could make things happen then we started hiring some more people and then very quickly found that we actually didn't have a way of running like just didn't know how to run a business and then I came across this book because a few friends recommended it and it just like immediately everything that I was reading and listening to the book it's like you know.
the guy who wrote it could see read my mind and everything he was saying he was like you know you're probably having this problem in your business oh my god gino you're right how did you know it lays out a very practical systematic step-by-step way of running a business in terms of these six key structures and, to be honest like I don't know a couple of years ago I'd never have imagined that I'd be the sort of person who would read a business book which is all about structuring your business.
and we're also working with one of their official coaches who charges like a two thousand pound like to twenty-five hundred dollars per day for like a day of coaching but it's really really really good and he has like a money-back guarantee that he's like look if you ever feel that this is not valuable you just don't have to pay me but we've obviously it's just gotten so much value out of the system out of the book out of the coaches so I'm very very very bullish on this.
and this is the book that I recommend to anyone I know who has a business that has more than like three employees or three team members because I think this will transform the way that you think about it the only problem with traction is that it's a very like rigid hierarchical way of running a business which is totally fine because it works.
2. It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work
It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work by Jason Fried
There is another book and that's the next one on the list called it doesn't have to be crazy at work by Jason Fried. this guy and David run a company in us called base camp which is like this project management software.
"it doesn't have to be crazy at work" is much more kind of like the way that I would want to run a business which is about basically the whole thing is that look your business is not your life all of this thing about like hustling and like you know working on like stupid hours like it's all just bs you know you can do a lot of good work for 40 hours a week you don't have to put in 80 hours a week just.
I don't know to make the shareholders happy you don't have to try and get the investment you don't have to have meetings all the time you don't have to be busy all around the clock you can build a business that's a bit calmer that doesn't have to be crazy and I really vibe with this because the way that I want to build my business is less about like you know metrics and targets and KPIs and we've got to grow every year.
this is all about building a cool lifestyle this is about helping people while being profitable while having fun let's not go overboard on the whole metricization of life where admittedly traction is very like pro metrics like everything everyone should have a number everyone should be tracked how you hire and fire people is based on whether they hit the numbers I think that has its place but there's like a really nice kind of vibe which is a bit calmer and I kind of prefer the vibe.
If "It doesn't have to be crazy" at work so we're trying to do some kind of middle ground these days between a hierarchical systematic approach which is helpful for things like accountability and clarity for team members but also trying to bear in mind that you know just a job at the end of the day like it's not anyone's life except mine and it shouldn't be anyone's life maybe except mine and that's yeah we should just be a bit more chill about the whole thing.
3. The Great CEO Within
The Great CEO Within The Tactical Guide to Company Building by Matt Mochary
next, we have a great title "the great CEO within". the tactical guide to company building broadly seems to be aimed at tech CEOs.
but there was a bunch of stuff in this that was genuinely really helpful in terms of what a CEO should do with their time and how they should manage their calendar and how they should think about firing and building a team and building a culture and a bunch of stuff that I just never knew before.
I read this talks about decision-making and transparency and like how to be a good leader and I need to re-read slash and listen to this multiple times because there's just so much really good stuff in it.
and it's such a small book and very very readable so yeah this will be next on my re-listening list.
4. The New One Minute Manager
The New One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard
next, we have this book "the new one minute manager" which is again a really really tiny book all about how to be a manager.
basically boils it down to three things one-minute goals one-minute praisings, and one-minute redirects I knew nothing about how to be a manager before I read this and a couple of other books and I'm like okay this manager thing isn't so bad I'm still learning I still suck at it like, to be honest, and I'm trying to do less of it as the business grows so I can focus on the content so that other team members like Angus can focus on like the team management each side of things
but yeah new one-minute manager is probably completely game-changing in terms of how short it was to read and how much value it had in helping me develop as a manager.
5. The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive
The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni
And finally, we have another leadership book loved "the four obsessions of an extraordinary executive" a leadership fable by Patrick Lencioni.
and if you told me a few years ago I'd be reading a book called the four obsessions of an extraordinary executive I'd been thinking what the hell are you on like why the hell would I ever read a book called that that just sounds like dry and boring as hell but genuinely is really good again it's very short like these business books they tend to be quite short and they tend to be they tend to speak in stories.
and it basically talks about how to be a really good team leader there are basically only four things you have to do and most of them are around just like giving people clarity of what's expected of them and over-communicating that over and over.
and one of the main challenges and learnings I've had growing this business over the last year is the fact that really so many problems stem from a lack of clarity and a lack of communication and I thought I thought I knew this I was like oh yeah communication is important everyone says that and then you hire people and you have a team and you're like damn no one told me how important this communication stuff was and how like it's really important just over-communicate all of the things.
and the more you over-communicate all the things like where the business is going and what the values are and all that jazz the more things start to align and so you know for the last six months I feel like I've been sort of all over the place with running this business but now that I've read all the stuff now that we've started to apply it now that we have the right team around us.
I feel like my personal life is much more chill and much happier because everything in the business is kind of streamlined and moving in the same direction so yeah four obsessions extraordinary executive definitely recommend if you are a leader or a manager of any kind.
now as I was going through my list of books for this year I realized I actually did not read a lot of fiction this year. normally I read a ton of fiction but I wasn't commuting anywhere because we were in lockdown for most of the year.
Best Fiction Books to Read in 2023
1. Mistborn: The Final Empire
Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson that's one of my favorite series of all time 100 recommended everyone on the friction front starts with the book the final empire it looks really thick.
2. The Way of Kings: The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings: The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
and I also finished listening to the rhythm of war which is the fourth book of the storm light archive series that starts with "the way of kings" by Brandon Sanderson is my favorite author of all time.
so if you haven't checked him out and if you're interested in maybe dabbling in fiction check out Mistborn. it's like you know avatar the last Airbender it's like that but on steroids.
I might even do another third re-listening to it because it's just so good and then I'm gonna do a reread of "the storm light archive" as well I know there are all these other books out there but these ones are just so sick that I just absolutely love them.
Conclusion of The 27 Best books to Read in 2023
anyway, that's a wrap-up of my annual review of the 27 best books to read before you die that I read in 2023 and those are my recommendations for your next reading list.
I believe hopefully this article was helpful and happy reading I guess have a nice week I'll see your next article that's why don't forget to subscribe to my site to notify you of my future posts.
