This is probably the year I broke record with the amount of books I read. I guess when you can't really go out, all you can do when staying at home is to read books. I love reading books. I have always been a bookworm. I'm always interested to go to book fairs to get discounted books and love browsing through bookshops. I have also gotten a hang on e-books because sometimes physical books can be expensive and e-books are way wayy cheaper with some you can buy from Lazada/Shopee for RM1 (no kidding!). Others I bought from Book Xcess. Here are my recommended book list for those interested/bored at home during CMCO haha
Let's start off with non fiction:
1. Applied Empathy by Michael Venture
This was a really good book and highly recommended (no.1 book on my list). I learnt so much about empathy. Do you really know the meaning of empathy? I didn't at first until I read this book and how to apply empathy in leadership skill. It's one word but have big meaning. From this book, I learnt how to be a better leader by understanding my people and my work/job better. How being empathic also means to be present in the moment and how he gave examples of using empathy in clients' job and it really inspired me a lot. MUST-READ!
2. Books by Anthony Robbins
I have actually finished reading all the above three books by Anthony Robbins. I love all of his books and I really connect to his words. These were really thick books with 600 over pages per book and I can finish reading one book within a week. I love his writings and he is ever so inspiring. Both Awaken The Giant Within and Unlimited Power focuses a lot on self motivation. It teaches how to improve one self and how to succeed in life basically. Actually, it's all in the mind. It's more of like the book 'The Secret'. If your mind wills it, you can do it. For Master The Money Game, it was a really good book on how to be financially wise. He teaches on how to diversify our assets and how to make more money and the common mistakes people make financially. All books are highly recommended but if you're just looking for a finance book, the Money book is highly recommended.
3. Women Who Work by Ivanka Trump
Though I don't like her father, I actually quite like Ivanka Trump. I followed her even before the Presidential days. She wrote this book before her father's inauguration so it wasn't politically linked. I love this book mainly because she inspires women to work with flexibility. In her organization, she gives time flexibility to her staff and even gives 2 months paternity leave to fathers. Because she believes in work-life integration instead of balance because you can never find a balance. If one is not at her desk by 9am or leaves sharp at 6pm but gets the job done rightly, who cares if you're not at your desk at a certain time? I totally respect employees like hers where she can give her trust to them to work with flexible hours yet they deliver.
4. Drop The Ball By Tiffany Dufu
I've written about this book before in my previous blogpost and I'm going to recommend this book again. This book is about turning around the social conditioning that women have more to do at home in terms of chores and taking care of children. It teaches women to delegate, have your partner help you and be in a team to make the household work. I totally agree with the author of this book. And sometimes, when you ask your partner to do a certain chore, trust that he will get it done(not in your timeline or not how you like it, but trust that he will get it done because he is your partner afterall). After this book, I totally had a discussion with my husband about house chores division and where he's supposed to do certain things, I will trust that he will get it done. Great book and recommended to those who are building a family and staying together.
5. Becoming by Michelle Obama
This book depicts the life of Michelle Obama, the woman behind the previous US president, Barrack Obama. This book was written by the woman herself and it was very detailed on how she comes from a normal family living a normal life, meeting Barrack then joining him campaigning all while she was working then getting pregnant to her being the First Lady. It was like a front row seat to her life and I like most of her detailing during her stint as a First Lady. How they had to travel with bodyguards and bullet proof cars, how her daughters have to be escorted everywhere and how they need to have their schedule run through wherever they go. She is also not shy in writing about her despise for Trump and how when they handed over the White House to Trump, she did not even try to be extra nice LOL. She is a strong opinioned woman and and it shows in her writing and this is quite my favourite biography book. I don't really like reading about other people's lives but this made me want to read more about other people's journey.
6. Nujeen Mustafa
I think I need to read more biography books because I'm started to like this genre. This was a really good story which is both heartbreaking and fulfilling with victory. Nujeen is a girl who is wheelchair bound and at the age of 16 took a long route to freedom where she fled from Syria with her sister and relatives during war and their journey ended in Germany where they claimed asylum. Their journey was met with so many con mans and kind hearted people, many ill treating police forces yet kind volunteers, crowded and bad condition refugee camps but at the end managed to get a proper place in Germany and so many other encounters. Her journey in a wheelchair and her sister pushing it were tough but they were resilient. The war bombings depicted in her book was out of this world with people beheaded and bombed alive and the massacre that happened in certain cities were outrageous. I thank heavens for my life here in Malaysia after reading her book. If you feel down, please read her book and you will realise how lucky you are to have a roof above you.
7. Billion Dollar Whale by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope
This book needs no introduction but yes, call me late to the party HAHA Trust CMCO to make me read different kinds of books. To be honest, I was not even interested in reading this when it first circulated but I picked this up during CMCO. But, gosh, the scam that revolved around1MDB, Jho Low and everyone in between was too juicy to put it down once I started reading it. I was so intrigued by how the scam was slowly having loopholes and people started discovering the loopholes. It was a good read to know the extent of the whole scheme.
Ok, those are the serious stuffs *laughs* Moving on to fictional books, we also need some of those fantasy and romance novels to 'deport 'us to places we can't travel these days.
1. Kevin Kwan
I finished reading the crazy rich trilogy. Initially I watched Crazy Rich Asians without reading the book. Then I saw China Rich Girlfriend on sale at Big Bad Wolf Booksale and bought it but halfway reading that, I realised the movie and the characters' development in the book did not match so I bought the first book to read to understand the books' character as the movie one differs. Then I got hooked and bought the third book haha and that's how I finished reading all three. I preferred China Rich Girlfriend out of the 3 and his writings were funny and since some were Malaysian-ised, I find it even funnier.
Then he came out with his fourth romance novel. I read this too *laughs* When I love an author's writings, I stick to them. Not all authors I can connect with so when I like one, I stick to them. I prefer the trilogy because it was more localised but this book transported its readers to Capri and New York.
2. Last Tang Standing By Lauren Ho
This is another localised book with the surroundings of Singapore and Malaysia. I quite love localised authors because I understand the book better. This is a book where it depicts the Chinese culture of older women not married getting harassed by parents and relatives with the no ending questions of, 'When are you getting married?' during festivities. Andrea Tang dreams of being made partner in her law firm instead and is probably the last Tang still single but after a whirlwind of encounters with different guys, she may or may not have found The One. The story was very captivating, funny and got me hooked and that I finished this book within a matter of days.
Those are my recommended books. I don't just buy books off the shelf. I actually read the synopsis behind and get to know what the book is about before buying it to make sure it interest me and that I really read it. I normally finish up all the books I buy so it don't go to waste. Any good books to recommend to me? CMCO is far from over so more books to read I guess *laughs*
