No doubt reading a book on your phone can sometimes feel quite awkward; especially when you’re engrossed in a good story. The best way around this problem is to buy yourself a real, physical copy of the book so you can turn those pages and read it.
With a little bit of research though, you’ll find that there’s a huge range of mobile e-reader options available to suit all types of budgets and lifestyles. Whether you want something big and bold with large text, or something small but powerful for your Kindle, you should be able to find a device that suits you perfectly.
The most important thing to look out for is the screen size. Whilst many people will prefer bigger screens, if they are too big they can become unwieldy. Smaller screens are easier to hold, however, which makes them perfect for quick reads.
Many people also worry about battery life when buying a new reader, particularly because their old one has died or simply hasn’t been replaced since it broke.
Can Books Change People’s Lives?
I have read many different books throughout my life. Some of them were fiction, while others were non-fiction. The truth is that I found all of these books to be very interesting. However, I can’t say the same thing for some other books.
For example, I recently came across a book by David Brooks. This was one of his best-selling books and it told me about how he changed his life. I thought this book would be fascinating. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy reading it at all.
If you’re looking for the perfect book, then you should check out the list below. Here are some of the most popular titles that will help you to improve your own life.
1. How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
2. A Course in Miracles – Helen Schucman
3. The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle
4. Your Brain on Food: Why You Eat What You Do – Brian Wansink
5. Awaken the Giant Within – Tony Robbins
6. Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill
7. The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
8. Secrets of a Millionaire Mind – T. Harv Eker
9. Born to Run – Christopher McDougall
10. Love Is Not Enough
What’s a Life-changing Book?
You might be wondering why certain books have such an impact on the lives of so many people. After all, you’ve heard of The Bible, right? And you know that the Koran is considered to be the word of God.
But, other books have a similar effect, including the works of Shakespeare and the writings of Maya Angelou. If you want to learn more about these books, keep reading.
In addition to being influential, some of the best books can also change your perspective on things. For example, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird wrote this story to help children understand the importance of tolerance and respect.
Other examples include How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World by Frederick Douglass. This is a great read for anyone who wants to find out how a slave became free.
And, if you’re looking for inspiration, then you should check out the autobiography of Muhammad Ali. It’s one of the most popular biographies in history.
There are thousands of different kinds of books, but not every book is good for everyone. Some people may even become addicted to certain types of literature. That’s why you must choose books carefully.
Best Life-Changing Books to Read
1. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
In Sapiens, Yuval has not only told the story of the evolution of the planet and homo sapiens but he has also exposed our conduct on earth.
Sapiens will tell you all about the great grandmother we shared with chimpanzees, how our brain and body developed, the power of stories in uniting sapiens, how we made all other animals extinct, why we eat wheat, the reality of the agricultural and industrial revolution, systems behind capitalism and marital rape laws, why our religious and cultural values are hypocritical, humanity’s biggest frauds, the impact of money, the first usage of chloroform, steam engines, Buddhism, and the latest but the scariest technological advancements including the advent of cyborgs.
Sapiens is the story of everything. Read this one to know what has been happening since fourteen billion years aka day zero. (It is also a great book for new writers to understand the importance of story-telling.)
If a preserved mummy wakes up and says, “Who am I? Where am I?” Give him a copy of Sapiens and he will know everything that has happened and would be able to predict an event or two in the future, too. But he might just say, “Could you please put me back to sleep? The world of my unconscious was better than this one.”
Reading Sapiens is like going through our family’s black and white photo albums, at least if we think of the whole world as one.
2. Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor E. Frankl
“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
When I picked up Man’s Search for Meaning — a remarkable journey of an Auschwitz concentration camp survivor — the author Victor himself, life took another meaning.
I had been asking some hard and deep questions about life. Why are we here, what is space, why do we live on, why do we do the same things every day?
When I read this book I was assured humans don’t have a grand reason to live or go on despite the suffering. The author was a bit too familiar with agony; he had been in the Auschwitz concentration camp for many years. His wife died in the women’s camp. Victor’s father, mother, and brother were also captured and killed. He lost everything. But he didn’t lose hope.
“We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life — daily and hourly.”
Every sentence in the book builds towards the idea that a human’s purpose is to act upon what is in front of her. Do what the time calls for. Even the tiniest of goals can keep us going even in the darkest hour.
“What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him.”
This is a mind-opening book that would remind you of the magic in being here and breathing and living in the first place. Now we go on fulfilling what is asked of us. (This is mostly the definition of a fulfilling, happy, and healthy life.)
3. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
“We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.”
“In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.”
“Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness.”
“Those who have courage and faith shall never perish in misery.”
Perhaps I shouldn’t include another book on the holocaust. But the diary of Anne Frank, a 13-year-old girl who was in hiding in German-occupied Amsterdam and was later sent to the Auschwitz death camp where she died, is a book of hope, and one of the best books for life.
When I visited Amsterdam in July 2015, I went to see Anne Frank’s museum. It was the building where she had written her diary while hiding. But by the time I arrived, the museum was closed.
I gazed at the building from the road, thought about Anne, and went onto one of the busiest streets to eat the famous Dutch potato wedges. But as years have passed, I have started to appreciate young Anne Frank’s words more and more.
This heartbreaking diary of a young girl who seems too mature for her age is filled with the positive ideas of love, freedom of opinion, and goodness. Even if we can’t go out or meet our friends or live in abysmal conditions not knowing when death might knock at our door, we can still be present, appreciate the beauty around us at this moment, and live on.
“As long as this exists, this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?”
“There’s only one rule you need to remember: laugh at everything and forget everybody else! It sounds egotistical, but it’s actually the only cure for those suffering from self-pity.”
The next time you see a friend upset over a promotion or a sister fretting about a canceled trip, give them this book (and 46 other ideas on making someone happy). Or read it when you feel hopeless yourself. This one book will change you more than many combined.
4. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer By Mark Twain
“Tom had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it — namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.”
“Well, everybody does it that way.” — Huck.
“I am not everybody.” — Tom
“They said they would rather be outlaws a year in Sherwood Forest than President of the United States forever.”
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a classic children’s book, and I read it in ninth grade. Whether I read this book at a young age or whether the fun adventures of Tom Sawyer and his friend Huckleberry Finn (two clever orphans growing up in Missouri near river Mississippi) introduced me to classic English stories, the book impacted me deeply.
A cultural and social satire, the adventures take us through the growing-up years and minds of young boys. The book shows how we become who we are. If treated with goodness, we respond with goodness. When strangled, we try to break free. The stories illustrate how we get fitted into the system and that nothing makes sense without questioning.
“Often, the less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it.”