I love to read books but I don’t take the time to read nearly as many as I would like to. As I was sitting on an airplane end of April I decided that in the next 12 months I’m going read at least 52 books. I’m hoping this challenge will keep me on track.
I love the feel of a real book in my hand but recently a friend gave me an old Kindle and let me tell you, I love it! Before my trip to Sweden and Scotland (you can read more on my travel blog The Traveling Swede) I added a variety of books including some free ones (always take advantage of the free downloads).
With long flights overseas and plenty of long layovers I got a nice head start. Of course having a Kindle allowed me to read a lot more than what I could have had I brought physical books.
During my trip and the month of May I read the following books:
1. The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World (Perigee Book.)
This book is right up my alley. I wanted to read it to be inspired by someone who left the hamster wheel. Chris Guillebeau decided on a cold, icy night to just walk back inside instead of going to work and never looked back. He became an entrepreneur and has a lot of great tips on how to challenge the status quo and go live your life the way you want to.
2. Ready Aim Fire!: A Practical Guide To Setting And Achieving Goals
My friends Erik Fisher and Jim Woods wrote this book. If you are new to goal-setting or you need a little help along the way this is a great book for that. It shows you some concrete steps on succeeding setting and achieving goals.
3. 25 Tips for Productivity
I heard an interview on Beyond The To Do List podcast with Augusto Pinaud and this author is energetic. If you listen to the podcast episode (No. 19) before reading the book you can almost hear Mr. Pinaud read it to you. The book has 25 very useful tips for productivity and several of them were new to me. I highly recommend this for anyone on the hunt for productivity tips.
4. You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One)
If you want to be a writer or like to be you should read this book written by Jeff Goins. This book gives you great advice on what to do, how to do it and how to succeed as a writer without being a boring, technical book. Great book that I will refer back to as I’m working on improving as a writer.
5. The Productive Person: A how-to guide book filled with productivity hacks & daily schedules for entrepreneurs, students or anyone struggling with work-life balance.
If you have never read a single productivity book or have no concept of the ‘traditional’ ways of being productive there are a few things in here that are useful. However, nothing in this book is new or revolutionary. I downloaded this book for free and I’m glad I did. Save your money.
6. No Brand Is an Island
This book, written by Robert D. Smith is for anyone managing artists, musicians and alike. However, it does have some good tips and ideas that you can use if you are starting or running a business. It was a free download and I enjoyed it and learned a few things.
7. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Most of you have probably read this book written by Malcolm Gladwell since it came out many years ago but I hadn’t. It’s a long book but it is super interesting! I highly recommend this book if you haven’t read it. Explains how crime, fashion trends, diseases and more has a tipping point and what can cause one to take off while another one doesn’t. Fascinating read for sure.
8. Be A People Person: Effective Leadership Through Effective Relationships
Having heard of John C. Maxwell but not knowing who he was I decided to read one of his books. It was a free download. There are great tips in this book that are applicable to both personal and business relationships. The book has several long references to biblical scripture but they are comprised into a page or two within each chapter. The book, I learned as I was reading it, is intended for church leaders. However, the concepts in the book are spot on for anyone.
9. No More Mondays: Fire Yourself — and Other Revolutionary Ways to Discover Your True Calling at Work
This book changed my life and since its been a few years since I read it I felt it was time to read it again. The original version was called No More Dreaded Mondays but the revision was renamed No More Mondays. I’m a huge fan of Dan Miller and I recommend his products to everyone I talk to. If I could buy everyone that hate their job this book I would.
Dan also has a book called 48 Days to the Work You Love
With 9 books read I did pretty well during my trip and the month of May. Some of these books are quite short but it’s not about length, it’s about what the book teaches you and that’s exactly what I’m after. I want to continue to grow and learn as a person and a great and inexpensive way to do so is to read a book.
Disclosure: All book links takes you to Amazon so that you can learn more about the book. Should you decide to purchase the book or anything else through that link Amazon pays me a small commission but it does not cost you a dime. In a couple of months I have made almost ten dollars from them so I’m not fully able to quit my day job yet and help people off the hamster wheel full-time but it does help me buy a book or two. If you already shop on Amazon going through these links and also the side-banner is a great way to support me without it costing you a dime. I personally shop at Amazon and love them, or I would not participate in their affiliate program. Thank you, I truly appreciate your support.
I would love to add more books to my reading list. Please tell me in the comment section below what book or books have made a huge difference in your life and that you recommend me read.
Great post. I’m a bit behind in my own 52 Book Challenge. This motivates me to dive back in.
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Thanks! I’m glad you’re getting back into it. We can keep each other accountable on our book challenge 🙂
I can’t imagine being able to read 52 books in a year. I’m struggling to hit my goal of 24 – I’m way behind the pace already. How do people do this?
I’m not sure either, yet. My problem is that I often wait to read until it’s bedtime and I get about two pages done. I’ve learned that people that read an insane amount of books read one chapter a day in multiple books, so they read for example 6-8 books at the same time. I don’t have that kind of time to dedicate right now but I think many just read every single chance they get. In a waiting room, lunch, 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there. 24 books in a year is still awesome! Keep it up. That’s double of what I read last year btw 🙂
Great post a couple great books that I have read would be “Who Moved my Cheese” & “The Fred Factor” both which are short reads but packed with great motivation. “The Fred Factor” had some less then stellar reviews but I have to say personally I took so good from it as well as some great quotes scattered throughout. A few great relationship books are “The 5 love Languages”, “The Love Dare” & “Your Speaking My Language” (follow up to 5 love languages). All of those were packed with great advice & points to follow. I’m not big on fiction books but I’m sure there are some great ones out there. I set my goal for the year at 12 but if I can do more I definitely will. I will increase it to 24 next year. Good luck.
Thanks! Oh, I’m so glad you mentioned “Who Moved my Cheese” as I keep forgetting to add that one to my reading list. I’ve heard great things about it. I’ll check out the Fred Factor too and your other book suggestions. I’m not a big fiction book reader so I think most of them this year will be books related to personal development. Love that you’re challenging yourself to read more next year. One book a month is still awesome!
Does audiobooks count? I usually listen to more books then read, but I love to read too. Mowing the lawn have become so much more fun listning to something inspirational! Right now I am reading “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek and I just re-listened to “The willpower instinct” by Kelly McGonigal. I don’t think I’ll be able to do 52, but maybe I will get to 12 books this year.
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Audio books definitely counts. They are a great way to ‘read’ books. What a great idea to listen to one while doing yard work! Thanks. I need to read the “Start with Why” too. I haven’t heard of the “The Willpower Instinct” but will check it out. Title is intriguing. So many books, so little time.
I love books and I love to read, too. But, like you, I’ve found that I am reading more with my e-reader {nook} in this particular season of life; and yet, I am still not reading as much as I thought I would. I started strong on Jon Acuff’s Empty Shelf Challenge, but have tapered off in the past two months. With two little girls {ages 6 and 4}, I may need to lower my goal and enjoy the books I am able to read right now.
Thanks for this post. I think I’d at least like to re-ignite my Empty Shelf Challenge reading. Will you be writing follow-up posts in the future on this challenge?
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Thanks, glad I could re-ignite your own personal challenge to read more. I didn’t take the time to join Jon Acuff’s challenge when he started it but that is a great challenge. Getting the time to read with two younger children is not easy. The e-readers are definitely a great way to read more as it’s easy to bring with you everywhere. I will do a new ’52 book challenge’ post every month listing the books I have read. I love to connect so feel free to chime in anytime.
I miss reading. I listen to books mostly now or read chapter books and picture books for my kids, but perhaps if I could listen to some of the productivity focused ones I might find more time to read again.
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I like the idea of your challenge, it’s a great way to great way to get breadth of knowledge. I would consider looking for a way to go deep in 1 space as well, like taking 1 book and reading it every week until you’re living all its lessons.
My book suggestion: Predictable Irrational by Dan Ariely
Good luck with the challenge!
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Great idea about taking one book until you truly live its lessons. I heard that on a podcast (can’t remember which now) where the person called it the “3 Book Diet” which was to only read 3 books in one year but re-read them until you lived all the principles in the book. Thanks for the book suggestion!
You Are A Writer is the only e-book I’ve read. Good stuff. Not sure if you’re an introvert, but Quiet by Susan Cain has good stuff even for extroverts. I’m reading it now. I’ve read 8 this year & started lots more. Another one you might be interested in is Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. I can’t read his fiction because I’m a scaredy cat, but he has some good stuff to say & obviously experience in getting to where he is. Also, I don’t normally re-read books, but I want to read Phil Vischer’s Me, Myself, & Bob again because it talks about how God loves us more than He loves the dreams He gave us. As I hustle towards my dreams, I can see how Vischer learned that lesson the hard way. Anyway, I love books & was so excited to see this post. I’ve been realizing I should read more since I want to do some serious writing. 🙂 I hope to check out one of Dan Miller’s books. Thanks for the suggestions!
This book challenge is definitely getting me to read more books. I love reading but it’s hard to take the time when there’s so much writing to do too! I’m more of an extrovert but I think it’s important to understand where the opposites come from so reading a book about introverts should be for everyone. I will check it out. I’m a bit of a scaredy cat too so fiction, not so much but I have heard of the A Memoir of the Craft. After all, a book writers should read. Stephen King certainly knows how to write a book. And you will love Dan Miller’s books. Right up your alley 🙂