Great books that help you to reflect on life

Connecting with a book is up there with some of the greatest feelings you can have. When it happens it’s hard not to want to recommend it to everyone you see. It’s my goal to have at least a handful of books that I can pop in my ‘toolbelt’ to help me navigate through life. So far I have three (follow us on Facebook to find out what they are). I love a book that stops me in my tracks and forces me to assess my life. Finding a book that helps to shape you, helps to cement your values and offer a little perspective when you need it most is a bit of a gem and needs to be held onto.

Here are a few of our team’s favourites that may just become a gem to you.

The Richest Man In Babylon by George S. Clason

Hailed as the greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift and financial planning Clason delivers classic insights into wealth accumulation through a series of parables set in ancient Babylon. The Richest Man in Babylon is a book you will want to read yourself, recommend to friends, and give to young people just starting out in life.

A Brief History Of Time: From Big Bang To Black Holes by Stephen Hawking

Was there a beginning of time? Could time run backwards? Is the universe infinite or does it have boundaries? These are just some of the questions considered in an internationally acclaimed masterpiece by one of the world’s greatest thinkers. It begins by reviewing the great theories of the cosmos from Newton to Einstein, before delving into the secrets which still lie at the heart of space and time, from the Big Bang to black holes, via spiral galaxies and strong theory. To this day A Brief History of Time remains a staple of the scientific canon, and its succinct and clear language continues to introduce millions to the universe and its wonders.

A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela

The riveting memoirs of the outstanding moral and political leader of our time, A Long Walk To Freedom brilliantly re-creates the drama of the experiences that helped shape Nelson Mandela’s destiny. Emotive, compelling and uplifting, it is the exhilarating story of an epic life; a story of hardship, resilience and ultimate triumph told with the clarity and eloquence of a born leader.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity, the brain, and finally into a patient and a new father. What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when when life is catastrophically interrupted? What does it mean to have a child as your own life fades away? Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.

…and because it’s nearly Christmas…

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A cruel and bitter old miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, has no time for festivities or goodwill toward his fellow men and is only interested in money. Then, on the night of Christmas Eve, his life is changed by a series of ghostly visitations that show him some bitter truths about his choices and help him reflect on his past, present, and future in one of the most widely read and frequently adapted holiday classics.

Happy Reading.