Category Archives: Uncategorized

6 books that will change how you see the world

August 4, 2016Non-fiction, Uncategorized#Nonfiction, #Reading, #readingtipsTeam Booko

Consider what words of advice, experiences or books you have read that have made a lasting impact on your life. The best thing about reading when you are going through a challenging time or even just a period of change, is that someone who has been there before can help, if only in a small way. Here are our recommendations of books that have changed our lives for the better, or tipped our perspective on its head for a moment in time.

The Invisible Gorilla and Other Ways our Intuitions Deceive Us by Christopher Chabris & Daniel Simons

The funny thing is, we feel like we have a reasonable understanding of how our mind works. The authors of ‘The Invisible Gorilla’ challenge this when they show just how our mind plays tricks on us and why people succumb to everyday illusions. The Invisible Gorilla shows how our intuition deceives us and how we can ‘train our brain’ to withstand it’s effects.

Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert

Why are lovers quicker to forgive their partners for infidelity than for leaving dirty dishes in the sink? Why does the line at the grocery store always slow down when we join it? In this book, Harvard psychologist Gilbert argues that our ability to remember past happiness is flawed. Added to this is that our ability to predict what will make us happy is not well developed. The net result is that our human minds are working against our own happiness. This book explores how we can best challenge ourselves to seek happiness.

Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin

The premise of this book is that every day you go to work to trade the hours of your life for money. If you spend that money on things you don’t need, you are essentially trading your life for material possessions that don’t add value to your life. This is a classic financial self-help book that offers a nine-step program for how to live a more meaningful life, showing readers how to get out of debt, save money, reorder priorities, and convert problems into opportunities.

As a Man Thinketh by James Allen

“A person is limited only by the thoughts that he chooses.” A classic book that has helped thousands for over a century, “As a Man Thinketh” is based on the premise of ‘you are your thoughts’ and provides a guide on how to use your thoughts to the betterment of your life.

The Shallows by Nicholas Carr

This book explores the thinking that the internet, for all its instantaneous information, is making us stupid. We are losing the ability to think deeply due to the ease with which we can easily source the answers to just about any question we can think of. “The Net’s interactivity gives us powerful new tools for finding information, expressing ourselves, and conversing with others. It also turns us into lab rats constantly pressing levers to get tiny pellets of social or intellectual nourishment.”

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicolas Taleb

From the author of international bestseller The Black Swan, Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Fooled by Randomness is the bestselling account of the hidden role of chance in life and the markets.Everyone wants to succeed in life. But what causes some of us to be more successful than others? Is it really down to skill and strategy – or something altogether more unpredictable? This book is the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about business and the world.

Take 5: Favourite Children’s Books

July 27, 2016Children, Fiction, Uncategorized#Childrensbooks, #ChildrensLiterature, #Fiction, #ReadingKaren Seligman

What are your favourite children’s books? This is the sort of question that leads to passionate debate – because childhood favourites can leave such strong impressions on young, uncrowded minds; they may even inspire or shape the young reader’s identity. Here are five critically acclaimed and hugely popular books that may already be part of your Favourites List; they certainly deserve to be the catalysts that trigger a lifelong love of reading:

Matilda by Roald Dahl

It’s hard to single out just one Roald Dahl book, but as a booklover-turned-librarian, I have a soft spot for Matilda. Matilda is a story that celebrates intelligence and the transformative power of reading; there is sympathetic portrayal of libraries and librarians (the best ones are always welcoming and non-judgmental), and there is a good-versus-evil battle that makes you want to shout and cheer! The success of the recent musical adaptation has renewed awareness for this well-known and well-loved book. What better way to relive the show than to revisit the original book, in this theatre tie-in edition?

The Jolly Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

The Jolly Postman has everything that will delight little children – rollicking rhymes, fairytale mashups, cute drawings, things to spot in the detailed illustrations, and little cards, letters and a mini-book to take out of dainty envelopes! On one busy day, this Jolly Postman rides his red bicycle delivering mail to villagers including Goldilocks, a Giant and the Big Bad Wolf. Can he avoid being eaten and get home in time for dinner? Books by the Ahlbergs feature regularly in “Best of” Lists, and The Jolly Postman is a classic example of their affectionate and whimsical style. There’s lots of laugh-out-loud humour for both adults and children too.

Mirror by Jeannie Baker

Mirror is a brilliant picture book for all ages, because it is not only beautifully crafted, but inspiring and thought-provoking as well. It has a creative dual-book format that shows the stories of two families – one in Australia, one in Morocco – unfolding simultaneously. The visually stunning spreads, in Jeannie Baker’s distinctive, meticulous collage, show that despite external differences such as landscape and clothing, the two families are essentially the same, in their need for connection and belonging. Winner of awards in both Australia and the UK for its technical excellence and humanitarian message, Mirror is worth revisiting now, when foreignness is creating much fear and doubt.

The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

The Phantom Tollbooth may be better known in the US than in the UK and Australia; but with fans including Maurice Sendak and Philip Pullman, think of it as the choice of Those in the Know. The Phantom Tollbooth is about Milo, a bored boy who goes on a fantastical quest after driving through a magical tollbooth. Norton Juster has huge fun with words in the Phantom Tollbooth, where much of the action is linked to wordplay (for example, Milo’s watchdog companion is half-dog, half-watch; to reach an island called Conclusions, they have to jump). This annotated edition celebrates the incredible richness in Norton Juster’s language, which references mathematics, philosophy, and science besides the extensive wordplay. The Phantom Tollbooth reminds us of the power of learning, and has been described as a modern-day Alice in Wonderland.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling

With over 450 million copies sold, the Harry Potter series is probably the most popular children’s books of all time. Although the original books and films concluded years ago, Potter mania shows no sign of waning – with a thriving fandom developing its own traditions including a Quidditch World Cup (which recently attracted 21 teams from countries worldwide). The story of the Boy Wizard has classic themes of friendship, adventure quest and personal growth that doubtless will continue to engage and resonate with readers. In anticipation of the soon-to-come Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, relive the original story with this beautiful full-colour illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

How to set up a reading space for kids

July 25, 2016Children, Uncategorized#Children, #Childrensbooks, #ChildrensLiterature, #Reading, #readingtipsTeam Booko

There’s nothing like having a comfy, quiet space to enjoy reading a good book. In order to spark an interest and engagement in reading with our kids, the same idea applies. When it comes to teaching your child to read, finding a special reading space promotes quiet and calm and is particularly good for children who struggle to concentrate.

A reading nook doesn’t need to cost hundreds of dollars or follow the latest design trends, but we’ve looked into some of the recommendations from My Little Bookcase and Creatingalearningenvironment.com to firm up our ideas. Here are our tips on setting up a reading space for kids:

Light – Set up a space in a light-filled room. Use lamps when required to create a warm, ambient glow. There should be enough light to be able to read the books easily but also create a lovely atmosphere.

Enclose a space – Children love the idea of a ‘cubby’ or a secret space just for them. It’s also nice to enclose a space within a larger room, so their reading nook is easy to identify. Different ways to do this are to set up a tent over a few floor cushions. Other ideas are to take the doors off a cupboard and deck out the shelves with books, adding seating into the bottom. We love this version by Playtivities.com

Make it cosy – By adding floor cushions, soft toys and throw rugs, the reading nook will become a favourite place to ‘chill out’ and relax after a day at daycare or school. Adding comfy elements will also allow the child to ‘make it their own’.

Add some books – Make sure that books are at your child’s eye level. Find different ways of storing the books, such as in baskets and bins. Mix up the books so that a selection of their book collection are sitting in the reading nook. A great idea is to ask your child to select which books are brought into the reading nook at a time and when they should be swapped for new ones. This promotes ownership of the space. Other ways to store books is to create a reading bench, such as that featured in Creatingalearningenvironment.com. A simple idea of turning a bookshelf on it’s side, adding a padded top and filling it with books creates a beautiful and cost effective DIY reading bench. We love this!

So that’s it! A reading nook doesn’t need to be over-engineered, it just needs a few basic elements to become part of your child’s learning journey.

Looking through the ideas on Pinterest there are amazing and intricate reading nooks and spaces that clever people have created for their children. Here are some of our favourites.

The Best Young Adult (YA) Books

July 20, 2016Fiction, Uncategorized, Young Adult#BookReview, #Fiction, #YAKaren Seligman

Young Adult (YA) fiction is the most exciting book category right now, with booming sales leading to a proliferation of genres and topics. The YA fan-base is also broadening, with a significant and growing proportion of adult readers (who are loud and proud, and fast destroying any stigma about preferring YA over “grown up” books. With strong narratives, intense feelings and the poignancy of coming-of-age, what’s not to love? Here are some of the best YA, past and present:

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

The Outsiders is iconic YA, being one of the first stories written by, for and about teenagers. (The Catcher in the Rye may be better known, but was written as adult fiction.) The Outsiders follows the conflict between the Socs and the Greasers, rival teen groups distinguished by their socioeconomic status. Its gritty realism and depictions of violence and delinquency revolutionised the genre by creating a demand for authentic, un-moralistic stories, although it continues to be controversial to this day. The Outsiders is also one of the best YA books turned into movies, with director Francis Ford Coppola, and a cast of emerging superstars including Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Another YA bestseller with an acclaimed movie adaptation is John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. Named as Time Magazine’s #1 fiction book in 2012, The Fault in Our Stars cemented John Green’s reputation as a top YA author. The Fault in Our Stars is about Gus and Hazel, teens who meet and fall in love through a cancer patients’ support group. John Green has achieved a skilful balance of tragedy, comedy, romance and sentimentality, and the cancer setting makes this classic doomed-romance fresh and bold. The Fault in Our Stars is moving and romantic without being saccharine; Gus, Hazel and their friends, worldly-wise beyond their years, are witty and irreverent without sounding annoying. A contender for best YA of all time, The Fault in Our Stars can make grown men (and women) laugh and cry – sometimes all at once.

Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden

The recent popularity of dystopian YA might make you think it’s a new trend – but not so! A generation before The Hunger Games readers were gripped by Tomorrow, When the War Began. This 7-novel series starts with Ellie and her friends going bush camping. When they return several days later, their town is eerily quiet – their families captured by foreign military in a “peaceful invasion”. Ellie and her friends must use all their wits and strength to adapt, survive and to fight against the invaders. Classic coming-of-age themes are given urgency by the war scenario. A live-action film and a new 6-part TV drama offer to bring new fans to this hugely beloved and acclaimed series.

My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier

My Sister Rosa is shaping up to be one of the best YA in 2016. It is a deeply unsettling story about 17-year-old Che and his younger sister Rosa. Che realises that, behind her charming facade, Rosa is a psychopath – manipulative and devoid of empathy. Their parents are oblivious to Rosa’s true nature, so Che becomes her self-appointed minder – monitoring her behaviour and preventing her from hurting others. Following the success of Liar and Razorhurst, Justine Larbalestier shows her prowess in psychological thrillers once more. My Sister Rosa is a tense and absorbing read, supported by brilliant characterisation.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Carry On is the latest hit by Rainbow Rowell, whose popularity and critical acclaim have been snowballing since her YA debut in Eleanor & Park. Carry On is about Simon Snow, a magical Chosen One in his final year of wizarding school, as he comes to terms with his destiny, juggles relationships, solves mysteries and fights evil. It is a story-within-a-story, with Simon and his friends first appearing as the book-obsession of the titular Fangirl of Rainbow Rowell’s previous novel. Carry On is one of the best YA of 2015, richly-layered with magic, ghosts, vampires, friendships, romance, humour and teen angst; it is also a loving tribute to fandom and the Harry Potter universe (which shares similarities with Simon Snow’s world).

What are the most popular E-Books of all time?

July 14, 2016Fiction, Uncategorized#Ebook #Bookreview, #FictionTeam Booko

The E-Book is a publishing phenomenon that continues to increase in popularity. Each month 3 million E-Books are downloaded. The versatility of the E-book is that you can download hundreds of books to one device (E-Reader or Kindle) and have the books in your hands in a matter of minutes. Writing and selling E-books is now one of the fastest growing businesses enterprises globally: the concept appeals to society’s expectation of instant gratification.

Looking at Amazon’s best-selling Kindle books of all time, there is a certain colour that dominates (I’m going all punny here) the list and it’s ahem…grey. E.L. James’ series has taken out the first, second and fourth spots on the list. I guess it makes sense reading these books on the kindle, much less conspicuous than taking a paperback on the train. Not to make light of James’ success, the author has obviously hit (there it goes again) a chord with a huge amount of readers, but for the purposes of ease, I’ll group these books together. The other E-Books making their way onto the list are modern classics.

Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed by E. L. James

James’ series is hugely controversial and seems to attract criticism from a vast range of social groups: literary enthusiasts and writers despise the fact that it’s poorly written, feminists hate the weak lead female character, B&D fanatics criticise the way the sex is depicted and domestic abuse advocates protest the stalking, threats and manipulation in the books. Despite all this, the series has outsold any other and has inspired a similarly panned movie. Suggested theories for why the books have been incredibly popular are that due to the way the female character, Ana Steele, is written almost as a blank slate, readers can project their own personalities onto her. Regardless, this series is the first pornographic novel (soft or otherwise) to make it into mainstream bookshelves with such a following.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favours with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge . An action-packed thriller with a fantastic twist at the end.

The One Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

Commencing with the one hundred year old birthday of Allan Karlsson, he is facing a huge party that he didn’t want anyway. Deciding to have no part in it, he decides to climb out of his window. Thus begins a huge adventure involving criminals, murders, a suitcase of cash and police. As the story unfolds, we learn about Allan’s earlier life which involved him helping to make the atom bomb, befriend American Presidents, Russian and Chinese Leaders and participate in many key events of 20th Century history. A warm, feel-good read.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, one solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra with a broken leg, a female orang-utan – and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. Since it was first published in 2002, Life of Pi has entered mainstream consciousness and remains one of the most extraordinary works of fiction in recent years.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder – and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. Published posthumously and going on to become an International Best Seller, this novel is evocative, incredibly well written and contains some great insights into the criminal mind.

What are the best books of all time?

July 11, 2016Fiction, Non-fiction, Uncategorized#BookReview, #Fiction, #Nonfiction, #PopularbooksTeam Booko

If you’re going to write a blog about the best books of all time, you’re not going to satisfy everyone, right? It’s also pretty important to separate out your personal favourites and get some perspective on how to calculate the ‘importance’ or significance of a book to a group of people. The other considerations are, of course, how the perceived importance of a book might change over time – many books and other creative outputs have become of increased significance after their creator has passed away. There are other things to bear in mind: Fiction/Non-Fiction? So finding the best books of all time is a bit of a challenge.

Based on all of this, I decided that I needed a bit of help in order to put this list together. A quick online search helped me discover a clever site called thegreatestbooks.org. This site feeds in 107 ‘Best of’ book lists from a range of trusted sources. Then, an algorithm (smacks of legitimacy!) is used to calculate a list based on how many lists a book might appear on. In the interests of fairness, I’ve decided to feature the top 3 books from both the Fiction and Non-Fiction categories.

So here it is…the most popular fiction book of all time is….

In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust.

Was that on your list? Nope, me neither. The significance of this book is both its length (it is a novel in seven volumes) and also its theme of involuntary memory. Involuntary memory is a subcomponent of your memory which means that everyday activities or ‘cues’ can evoke recollections of the past without actively trying to. The novel has had a significant impact on 20th Century literature with many writers seeking to emulate it. Edmund White said “[Proust] has supplied for the first time in literature an equivalent in the full scale for the new theory of modern physics.”

The second most popular fiction book is:

Ulysses by James Joyce

Now, I’m not going to claim to have read this book but I did start it like so many other people. I did lug it around my Uni campus trying to look intelligent from time to time. Finish it? No, no I did not. Ulysses was written between 1914 to 1921 and has survived legal action and bitter controversy. An undisputed modernist classic, its verbal inventiveness and wide-ranging allusions confirm its standing as a monument to the human condition. Ulysses is the Latinised name of Odysseus, the hero of Homer’s poem ‘Odyssey’. The novel establishes a series of parallels between the poem and the novel. Its stream of consciousness technique, careful structuring and experimental prose make this book a testament to the Modernist movement.

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Don Quixote is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. It is considered to be one of the most influential novels of the Spanish Golden Age. It features Mr Alonso Quixano, a member of the Spanish nobility. Alonso reads so many romance novels that he loses his sanity and sets out to revive chivalry and right wrongs, bringing justice to the world. Using the name Don Quixote de la Mancha, he recruits a farmer as his squire. The beauty of this novel is its use of humour and literary techniques of realism, metatheatre and intertextuality. Again, this work is hugely influential and is referenced in the works of ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ by Mark Twain and Alexandre Dumas’ ‘The Three Musketeers’, amongst others.

The most popular Non-Fiction book is:

Essays by Michel de Montaigne

In 1572 Montaigne retired to his estates in order to devote himself to leisure, reading and reflection. There he wrote his constantly expanding ‘essays’, inspired by the ideas he found in books from his library and his own experience. He discusses subjects as diverse as war-horses and cannibals, poetry and politics, sex and religion, love and friendship, ecstasy and experience. Above all, Montaigne studied himself to find his own inner nature and that of humanity.

Confessions by St. Augustine

The son of a pagan father and a Christian mother, Saint Augustine spent his early years torn between conflicting faiths and world views. His Confessions , written when he was in his forties, recount how, slowly and painfully, he came to turn away from his youthful ideas and licentious lifestyle, to become instead a stanch advocate of Christianity and one of its most influential thinkers.

The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud

References to ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’ abound in modern life. Written in 1899 by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the book was first published in an edition of 600 copies which did not sell out for 8 years. Later gaining in popularity, seven more editions were published in Freud’s lifetime. The premise of the book is Freud’s theory of the unconscious with respect to dream interpretation. In it, he discusses what would later become the Oedipus complex. Freud said of this work, “Insight such as this falls to one’s lot but once in a lifetime.”

To see what other books made the list, visit thegreatestbooks.org.

How to buy cheap books online

July 6, 2016Booko, Hacks, Uncategorized#BookoalertsTeam Booko

If you’re shopping for books or DVD’s online and want to snap up a bargain, searching through Booko is a great place to start. The best way to buy cheap books online is to search through Booko.

In its infancy, Booko was a web page with a series of small programs collecting prices and calculating delivery costs for a handful of online book shops, to find the cheapest supplier of books. The overarching objective was to find both new and second hand books online as cheaply as possible. When shops which offered free shipping could be added, even better.

The Booko alert function is a useful tool that allows you to set the maximum price you would like to pay for an item. If you are purchasing in advance (such as textbooks or gifts), multiple alerts on books can be set up and be running while you wait for the price to drop.

Here’s how to set up an alert:

Go to the search box on the Booko homepage and type in the name of the book.

From here, you will be presented with a range of results. These might be different books or the same book with different cover art etc. From here, click on the version you would like. The page you are taken to looks a little bit like this:

Underneath the book cover art (the image of the book), there are two options: Add an alert or Add to a list. Choose ‘Add an alert’.

A box will appear which shows the current best price. You can delete this and instead type in your preferred price. After that, add your email address and click “Add”.

No one wants to miss out on a sale. Booko checks the prices of up to 60 online bookstores globally on a daily basis and will email you when the price drops below your specified price. I’ve already set up alerts for books I want to purchase as Christmas gifts for family members. If you are planning on setting up multiple alerts, it makes sense to set up an account to manage them.

To do this, simply choose the ‘Register‘ option in the footer. You can complete the form or choose to log in using one of your existing social media sites.

So that’s it: If you are wanting to take advantage of price reductions on books (either new or second hand), getting organised by setting up price alerts makes for smarter shopping!

Understanding our minds, understanding ourselves

June 22, 2016Personal development, Uncategorized#neuroscience, #Nonfiction, #psychology, #SelfhelpKaren Seligman

Have you ever wondered why we do things the way we do, or why other people behave differently? Human and societal behaviour can be endlessly fascinating because we still don’t fully understand how the human brains work. Luckily, there are now many popular titles that explain the latest scientific findings. Enjoy these engaging (and useful!) books, that discuss a mix of psychology, sociology, neuroscience, and even offer some self-help tips.

The Tipping Point: How Little Things can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

The Tipping Point is about social epidemics – previously little-known items or actions that suddenly attract enormous, inexplicable attention. Malcolm Gladwell suggests how even small events can develop into an epidemic if they reach a “tipping point” – a threshold for exponential propagation, a moment when everything can change at once. The Tipping Point presents engaging explanations of the sociology and psychology behind social epidemics and tipping points, illustrated by examples including Sesame Street, “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game, and the fall in New York City’s crime rate. Although The Tipping Point was first published in 2000, the use of virus and epidemic analogies make this book even more relevant now, in our social-media-dominated, hyper-connected society.

The Teenage Brain: a Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults by Frances E. Jensen and Amy Ellis Nutt

Teenagers: they might look like adults, but they sure don’t behave like them. Recent research points to neurological reasons – the teenage brain is not fully developed, and not the “adult brain with less miles on it” that it was previously assumed to be. The last areas to become fully developed are those that control judgment, decision making, and empathy – explaining why teens seem such impulsive risk-takers. Neurologist Frances E. Jensen and science writer Amy Ellis Nutt bring both scientific expertise and parenting experience to The Teenage Brain, a book that translates an understanding of brain development into parenting strategies. This very readable book is worth including in everyone’s parenting toolkit.

Flourish: a Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being by Martin Seligman

Martin Seligman is a psychologist and educator who is both respected by fellow researchers and popular with readers. He is a pioneer of positive psychology, which focusses on improving mental health and thus preventing mental illness. His work on resilience and happiness – including the bestselling Authentic Happiness – continues to spearhead societal interest in wellbeing. In Flourish, his latest book, Martin Seligman zooms out from a focus on happiness, to look at the broader concept of wellbeing. His extensive research points to five key elements to wellbeing – positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning and achievement – that allow both individuals and societies to flourish.

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change by Charles Duhigg

Booko featured The Power of Habit earlier this year, in our blog entry on developing great habits. However, The Power of Habit is not only a self-help book, it is also an engaging example of popular science, and of business literature. The Power of Habit explains how and why habits occur, based on research in psychology and neuroscience, and illustrated by a collection of interesting and often surprising case histories. Award-winning journalist Charles Duhigg also explains how understanding habit formation can help both people and companies to change and improve unwanted behaviours, unlocking many potential benefits.

When to Rob a Bank: the Freakopedia by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Kudos to Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, who have turned economics – a topic that may seem dry, the domain of politicians and bankers – into something witty and compulsively readable. When to Rob a Bank is a “best-of” collection from the Freakonomics blog, published to mark the 10th anniversary of the original book. You will find economic analyses on diverse and quirky topics such as what people lie about, reintroducing conscription, and when to rob a bank (short answer: never, the ROI is terrible). The pieces are shorter than the essays in the earlier books, so When to Rob a Bank makes a great introduction to the world of Freakonomics (if you are not already a fan).

Life Skills 101: The best books to teach you everything

June 20, 2016Personal development, Uncategorized#Howtoguides, #Nonfiction, #SelfhelpTeam Booko

Want to get fitter? Learn that language? Learn how to do your tax yourself or even just think smarter? One of the most interesting genres of books is the ‘Self Help’ category. Agreed, it’s not as sexy as glossy coffee table books about architecture and fashion or as socially accepted as the latest James Patterson mystery. But damn, are they useful?!? If you are in a rut or just have New Year’s Resolutions that you want to nail, here are our recommended reads for the best books to teach you everything:

Tax for Australians for Dummies by Jimmy B Prince

If you want to tackle your tax with confidence, this is a great resource. Designed to help you take advantage of the rebates related to investments, having children or business, ‘Tax for Australians For Dummies’ tells you everything you need to know to maximise your tax refund. Whether you’re an employee, investor, small business owner, retiree, or even student, this easy-to-follow guide answers all your tax questions. All changes to tax legislation are incorporated.

The First 20 Minutes by Gretchen Reynolds

Tired muscles? Use chocolate milk! Think it’s a good idea to stretch before a run? Think again! This New York Times Bestseller is an innovative guide to getting fit using cutting-edge science. Perfect for optimising your workout, this workout ‘bible’ is the perfect guide for making the most of your exercise regime. Even better news is how even just 20 minutes of regular exercise can transform your health.

Love Yourself like your Life depends on it by Kamal Ravikant

The premise of this book is simple: love yourself and your life will love you back. During a particularly dark time in his life involving a great deal of stress and depression, the author kept repeating to himself “I love myself.” The beauty of the book is its simplicity and that the single premise of loving yourself can unlock freedom and clarity of thought that can have hugely beneficial effects in our busy lives. A great book for anyone feeling anxious or overwhelmed.

Think Like a Freak: How to Think Smarter than almost Everyone by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner

The Freakonomics books have come to stand for challenging conventional wisdom; using data rather than emotion to answer questions. Now Levitt and Dubner have turned what they’ve learned into a readable and practical toolkit for thinking smarter, harder, and different – thinking, that is, like a Freak. Think Like a Freak offers rules like ‘Put Your Moral Compass in Your Pocket,’ ‘The Upside of Quitting,’ ‘Just Because You’re Great at Something Doesn’t Mean You’re Good at Everything,’ and ‘If You Have No Talent, Follow Levitt’s Path to Success.’

Philosophy for Life by Jules Evans

In his engaging new book, Jules Evans explains how philosophy quite literally saved his life and shows how we can make use of it everyday in our own. Co-founder of the London Philosophy Club, visiting research fellow at Queen Mary University, columnist for the School of Life and journalist and blogger, Jules imagines his dream school, with a rowdy faculty that includes 15 of the greatest and most colourful philosophers the world has ever known. Each of them teaches a technique we can use to transform ourselves and live better lives. These practical techniques are animated by the extraordinary stories of real people who are using them today; from soldiers and firemen, to gangsters and astronauts. This is philosophy for the street, for the workplace, for the battlefield, for love, for life.

Fluent in 3 Months by Benny Lewis

Upon leaving College at 21, Benny only knew how to speak English and found learning languages challenging. Through discovering a system to quickly master languages, it’s possible to have confident conversations in your new language in a matter of weeks. Now fluent in 7 languages, Benny is a full-time globe-trotter who makes the mission of learning any language possible.

How to save money on your tax and get your finances in shape

June 9, 2016Personal development, Uncategorized#Finance, #Nonfiction, #SelfhelpTeam Booko

Making the most of your personal finances is something you don’t need a degree for. Some of the world’s best and brightest (and most successful) have never been to University. Once you have a clear financial goal, it’s possible to greatly improve your financial situation with the help of a book that can give you practical, first-hand knowledge of how to make the most of your savings, investment strategy and making the most of tax time. Here are our recommended reads on books to improve your financial literacy:

101 Ways to Save Money on your Tax – Legally by Adrian Raftery

Raftery has featured on a range of media as this topic is of interest to anyone earning a wage. Updated each year, Rafferty’s book is a guide to making the most of your money at tax time. Known as Mr Taxman, Raftery is one of Australia’s leading Taxation experts and his guides provide tips and tricks that enable you to get the deductions you are entitled to. Also included is information related to tax-effective investments, tax planning and tips on how to find a great accountant.

The Richest man in Babylon by George C. Classon

Read by millions, this timeless book holds that the key to success lies in the secrets of the ancients. Based on the famous “Babylonian principles,” it’s been hailed as the greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift and financial planning. In a nutshell, the lessons in the book could be summarised as the following:

1. Save 10% of everything you earn
2. Be smart with your money
3. Invest the money you save.

Think and Grow Rich! by Napoleon Hill

In the early 1900s Napoleon Hill wanted to find out how successful people became…successful. After interviewing 500 of the most successful people of the time (such as Henry Ford, Edison and Andrew Carnegie), he wrote ‘Think and Grow Rich!’. One of the most influential books on self development, “Think and Grow Rich!” has sold 20 million copies. This edition restores Napoleon Hill’s masterpiece to its original form and intent. While Hill hints at the secret to success in the book, it is not made explicit, nor are instructions provided on how to achieve success, which would increase the usability of the book.

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

In this book, Kiyosaki compares the financial philosophies of the author’s two fathers: his biological father – the poor dad – and the father of his childhood best friend, Mike – the rich dad. Throughout the book the author compares both fathers, and how his real father, the poor and struggling but highly educated man, paled against his rich dad in terms of asset building and business acumen. The ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ series is incredibly popular but it’s philosophy isn’t readily available to everyone. If you want to become financially free, you need passive sources of income that are greater than your living expenses. These strategies are not always feasible and can require serious capital. The parable-nature of the story, however, is entertaining and easy to follow.

The Millionaire Next Door: Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy by Thomas Stanley and William Danko

What sort of life does your average millionaire live? How did they become wealthy? How do they shop? In most cases, the millionaires that are studied by Stanley and Danko are self employed, first generation millionaires who spend wisely and are committed to leading a frugal lifestyle. This is a lot less glamorous than the imagined variety but offers readers some insights on what it takes to become financially free.

Creating Real Wealth by Mike Kemp

Mike Kemp is one of the financial advisors that the ‘Barefoot Investor’ Scott Pape calls on to analyse investments. Author Michael Kemp encourages readers to first define their perception of wealth before they set out on their journey to achieve financial security. The vague goal of “becoming wealthy” is unachievable if the more you earn the more you spend. He warns against measuring financial goals and achievements against those of the Joneses’ or the stars of the screen and entertainment worlds. A well-researched and practical guide to planning your wealth.

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