Today is World Book Day, which gives me the perfect excuse to dig into one of my favourite hobbies – reading. I’ve always spent a lot of time with my head in a book, and I try to read a wide range of styles…although I am guilty of often returning back to my favourites over and over again. I think reading is such an important thing for everyone to do as much as they can, which is why I wanted to share some of my favourites and recommendations to you today. I also always love getting book recommendations from people, so please get involved and comment your favourite books and authors!
I’m very lucky in that I can read pretty much anywhere, so when I am travelling that is basically my go to activity. When I was a kid and we’d go on holiday in the car to France, I would spend the whole journey reading which is something I know a lot of people struggle with in terms of making them car sick…I’m very grateful I don’t suffer from this! In this Covid-19 remote world we are living in, I am trying to spend a considerable amount of my old commuting time (3 hours per day) with my head in a book to make the most of this ‘free’ time.
My Favourite Author – Stephen King
The best place to start has to be my favourite author, and for me it’s a very easy decision. I first discovered Stephen King when I was a curious child asking a family friend why he had no other authors on his bookshelf…and I subsequently went home with a list of the ‘must read’ Stephen King books to get started on. I can’t exactly remember which was my first, but I remember reading the big hitters through my teenage years (Misery, IT, The Shining, Carrie).
I have over 25 Stephen King books in my collection, and he is always my go-to for introducing people to a new fiction author if they haven’t read any of his books. I love the way he tells stories, every one of his books is gripping from start to finish and in totally different ways. He doesn’t recycle the same general storyline or characters, and if I’m honest I’ve never been disappointed with one of his books. He has branched out more from straight-up horror books into writing thrillers and crime fiction books too, which opens up his stories to an even larger audience.
A lot of people have heard of Stephen King because of the movie adaptations of his books, and may well have written off reading them because they’ve seen the films. My advice would be to either pick one up cheap off Amazon, or keep an eye out in the charity shops when they re-open and just give it a chance! I’ve always been very disciplined with books vs movies, and I made sure when I was working through reading his books originally that I didn’t see the film until I’d read it. This has always been my favourite way around, I like to form my own images and worlds in my head before having a movie director show me what I should have been imagining!
My Favourite Fiction Book – Christine by Stephen King
My favourite fiction book is probably an unsurprising choice after what you’ve just read – this was one I had to think about for a while as it’s so hard to just pick one! However, if I was going to be stuck on an remote island and was only allowed to take one book, Christine by Stephen King would have to be my choice. This amazing story tells the tale of a 1958 Plymouth Fury which is possessed by malevolent forces….of course the combination of classic muscle cars and my favourite author is going to be a hit!
The story is about a high school student who buys ‘Christine’ (the car) from an elderly man, in a completely unroadworthy state. He starts restoring the car, and as he makes improvements to the car’s physical appearance he himself also starts to have an improved appearance. As the story goes on, more of the car’s dark history is uncovered and strange events start happening around the town.
This is one of his classic books which has been made into a film, but there is so much more to the book which is often the case! I would highly recommend reading this book, especially if you’re curious about Stephen King, or enjoyed the film and haven’t got around to reading the book.
Click here to get hold of a copy of this amazing book:
Stephen King: ChristineMy Favourite Non-Fiction Book – The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss
Many of you may not have heard of Tim Ferriss before, and if you haven’t then you’re in for a treat! He is a non-fiction author, along with being a podcast host (https://tim.blog/podcast/) and early-stage technology investor/advisor. I was introduced to him by a work colleague who recommended his podcasts for my commute, and I’ve been hooked every since.
This book genuinely changed my outlook on life and what we’ve come to expect as the ‘norm’ when I read it last summer. In all honestly, it sparked a fire in me which has made me question the status-quo, and aim for a life that has a much better balance of work-play in it. The overarching theme in the book is how you can become locationally and financially independent, and not spend your life saving money for your retirement that you might not be able to enjoy anyway.
It’s a pretty bold book, and it isn’t something that will appeal to everyone depending on your career and your overall ambitions for your life. However, if you feel like you’re at a crossroads and you want more out of life than a 9-5 until you retire, then you should definitely check this book out!
It is loaded with practical tips and advice – I made around 10 A4 pages of notes from this book when I was reading it (you can see in the photo below what my copy looks like!). It’s not something you can read half-heartedly before you go to bed, it’s something you have to pick the right time so you can properly digest the information and learnings in it. It was sat on my shelf since for around 18 months until my head was in the right place to receive the information contained on the pages.
I think a great place to start would be to check out a few episodes of Tim’s podcast and see what you think – personally I find his interviews fascinating and incredibly insightful. He asks questions that really get the best answers out of people, so you feel like you’re getting real-deal from his interviewees. If you like his style but you don’t like the sound of this particular book, then another great read of his is ‘Tribe of Mentors’ which contains loads of interview excerpts with a huge range of successful people.
I heard an interview he did with the founder of AirBnB after I’d heard him being interviewed on another show, and I couldn’t believe he was talking to the same person. He clearly does a lot of research on his guests, which really comes out because he gets so in-depth with his discussions. This does mean most of his episodes are 2-3 hours long, but the time commitment is definitely worth it! I have picked up so many book recommendations, inspiring people to follow on social media and a huge amount of life hacks/tips over the last few years.
Get hold of your copy of this brilliant book here:
The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New RichKindle vs Hard Copy: The Great Debate
Until Christmas 2018 I was a firm advocate for a ‘proper’ hard copy of a book as opposed to reading on a Kindle/e-reader….however I got a Kindle that Christmas, and I have to say it’s definitely increased my reading by a huge amount.
Whereas before I wouldn’t necessarily take a book everywhere, now my Kindle is so light it’s always in my bag so I read so much more than I used to. It really is a game changer when it comes to travelling as you have a whole selection of books at your fingertips instead of worrying about how many books to take away! Or at least that’s what I used to worry about…
I still prefer a ‘proper’ book for some things though, so I still buy Stephen King books and most non-fiction as a physical copy, but for other fiction I read them through my Kindle. And I have to say I do enjoy a physical copy more, but the convenience of my Kindle has been a game changer for my reading.
What is your view on this debate? Are you a Kindle fan or a passionate ‘real book’ reader?
Ultimate Nerd Points: Tracking my Reading
I started tracking how much I read as an insight but also to keep track of authors I’ve really enjoyed, as I find with the Kindle a lot of the time I don’t actually remember the title or the name of the author of the books I’m reading as I’m not carrying a book around with this on the front. Is this something that other Kindle users also find or is it just me?!
In 2019 I read 21 books which I was really pleased with, but only 3 of these were non-fiction. For 2020 my target was to hit over 20 books again but to have a much greater proportion of non-fiction books…I finished up the year with 17 books overall, with 5 of these being non-fiction. This year I’m aiming for the same overall total but a better balance again between fiction and non-fiction.
Who is your favourite author? Do you have an outstanding favourite book of all time? I would love to hear your reading recommendations, as spending money on books is always my favourite thing!
Please get in touch via the comments or email me at thefemaleengineerblog@gmail.com
Emilie
The Female Engineer
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