How do I become smarter?
If this question arises in your mind as it does some time in everybody’s lives, there are several ways of getting there. Reading books, is one of them. The more you read, the more you learn. But there are some books that make a lifelong impression on you influencing and developing your personality. These may be a few self-help books, books on science and sociology or plain fiction. But they make a long lasting impact on who you are.
Here are a few books everyone should read if they want to expand their mind and open up to ideas.
1. Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
Author: Thich Nhat Hanh
A Zen master reveals the way different aspects of life affect you and explains how to find peace through the cacophony of the world.
You can get it here.
2. Mathematics for the Nonmathematician
Author: Morris Kline
Maths is everywhere. Look out of the window, look at your desk, look at the screen you are reading this on, look at the book you’re reading. It’s everywhere and has a story to tell.
You can get it here.
3. The Dance of the Photons
Author: Anton Zeilinger
Rebuttal after rebuttal, Einstein does not back down from believing in his theory about quantum physics because he believes that it has to be rooted in reality.
You can get it here.
4. The Language of Life
Author: Francis S. Collins
This book will forever change the way you think about yourself, your origins, your body, your health, your life.
You can get it here.
5. Creativity Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
Author: Ed Catmull
The story of the founder of Pixar and his dreams of making the world’s first computer animated movie.
You can get it here.
6. Pale Fire
Author: Vladimir Nabokov
If you think the world is unfair and unjust, you must read this novel which is almost a perfect work of fiction.
You can get it here.
7. Gravity’s Rainbow
Author: Thomas Pynchon
A Science Fiction novel set in World War II, questions everything that is a norm in the world and attempts to expand boundaries that divide people at such a basic level.
You can get it here.
8. On the Origin of Species
Author: Charles Darwin
What? How? Why? All these questions of biology and nature’s rules for all of us are the basis of this groundbreaking theorization by the great Charles Darwin.
You can get it here.
9. A Hundred Years of Solitude
Author: Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Imagination and empathy. Something only fiction can teach you. The story of a family emigrating towards a place they belong to is heart rendering at best.
You can get it here.
10. Moonwalking With Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
Author: Joshua Foer
What is the capacity of the mind? How much can we remember? Why do we remember? Why do we have memories? Do you have these questions in your mind too?
You can get it here.
11. SuperFreakonomics
Author: Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
A sequel to Freakonomics, explores the gray area of the purpose of life and what are we running towards so fast towards.
You can get it here.
12. Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation
Author: Steven Johnson
Ho much does innovation matter to us? And how much does it’s history matter? Why do we require innovation? Why do we need new ideas? All these questions will be answered through this book.
You can get it here.
13. Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words
Author: Randall Munroe
A simplified guide to how important things in this world work.
You can get it here.
14. The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance
Author: Josh Waitzkin
A chess prodigy explains how exactly he tackled the ways of succeeding at anything you try your hand at, and handling the fame it can bring.
You can get it here.
15. No One Understands You And What To Do About It
Author: Heidi Grant Halvorson
Do you feel nobody is really getting what you’re trying to say? Or vice versa? Here is your answer on how to tackle this difficulty.
You can get it here.
16. The Misfit Economy
Author: Alexa Clay, Kyra Maya Phillips
What makes you click? What can you create? What makes you different? What makes you indispensable? Take a few lessons from this book.
You can get it here.
17. The Eureka Factor
Author: John Kounios, Mark Beeman
A complete guide to how to make your business work and flourish. What does it take to be a successful business man? The Eureka factor. What gets the people is what makes one a successful businessman.
You can get it here.
18. What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People
Author: Joe Navarro
What does your body say about you? An FBI agent, trained to assess and scrutinize people tells you little tit-bits about how to read them as if you are reading a book.
You can get it here.
19. The Secret Life of Pronouns
Author: James W. Pennebaker
The way we talk, the way we tweet, the way we put up a status on Facebook, the things we put up on our social profiles. All this can be a tool of decoding who we are and a lot can be told by judging the virtual behavior of a person. This book explores this area with utmost beauty.
You can get it here.
20. Predictably Irrational
Author: Dan Ariely
So many things affect our decisions about everything. Circumstances, understanding, people, environment. Also assumptions. What is the nature of a decision? Why and how do we come to a decision and is it justified? That’s what this book is all about.
You can get it here.
21. Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them
Author: Joshua Greene
How do we get along? Where do our differences come from? Why do we set ourselves apart from others? This book is an attempt to understand this and simplifying the knot somewhat.
You can get it here.
22. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Author: Yuval Noah Harari
From the stone age to the digital age. How did humans come to dominate the world? Read for yourself.
You can get it here.
23. Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships
Author: Christopher Ryan, Cacilda Jetha
It’s an attempt at understanding the modern sexual behavior of humans and their prehistoric origins and how sexuality affects our lifestyle and our choices.
You can get it here.