My book recommendations
Note: All my links are for amazon.in because that’s where I bought all these books from during my time in India. All of these are available worldwide on amazon as well.
Books I’m currently reading
Eat, Drink and Be Healthy - The Harvard Medical School Guide to Eating Healthy
Kingdom of Copper (sequel to The City of Brass, part of the Daeva Trilogy)
I’m enjoying all three of them, and the first two in those are changing my life for the better. I talk a lot about why I like them in my articles on Sleep and Health, which were both inspired by the corresponding books. The third book is a fantasy fiction trilogy that I started and am absolutely loving - helping me reignite my love for fantasy and hopefully making a better writer for the day I write another book of my own.
Favorite books in the last year
I only started reading again this year and have been trying to read an hour or two before bed every day. I’ve only made my way through a couple books.
Mistborn: Final Empire (or just get the full trilogy) - Absolute favorite book series, I listened to the audiobooks for these and plan to re-read the physical copies next year. Brandon Sanderson is now my top favorite author - for anyone who like fantasy and interesting magic systems, I highly recommend this book.
Atomic Habits - Another life-changing book to get you on your feet and get the most out of your days. A lot of what I read in this book were things I already happened to know, but explained far better than I could explain them. It was also a fun and short read.
The Housemaid - Picked this up because the sequel to this won an award on Goodreads’ Mystery section this year, and it did not disappoint. A very light, fast paced mystery with a great twist. Makes for a fun afternoon and recommend it for that, but not groundbreaking or inspirational like the other books I read.
The City of Brass - A beautiful tale inspired from Indian daevas with great young protagonists all of whom I found both relatable and compelling. A story with great characters, great lore and world-building and great mystery and action. Highly recommend to anyone who likes fantasy and fiction.
Homeland - This book got me back into reading books, and I picked it up because it’s set in Forgotten Realms, which is the default setting for Dungeons and Dragons. I wanted something that would inspire my narration in running my dnd games, and it did deliver. However, I think the writing has aged quite considerably and while I thought it was overall a decent book, it felt like a bit of a slog - definitely not a page turner.
Books on my reading list
This is the section that always gets me the most excited, and seems to be ever-growing. Below are all the books I bought that I am excited to read this year - I usually filter by a rating of 4.0 or higher on goodreads and am usually most excited by those sitting at around a 4.5. That said, the ratings don’t always correlate to how much I like a given book but do serve a general guide.
Stormlight Archive: The Way of Kings - Written by Brandon Sanderson, and claimed to be a more serious and involved epic than Mistborn, I have high expectations for this book - it will probably be my favorite book I read this year.
How Not to Die - Another great book about diet and health - I probably won’t actually read this book, but have read some chapters in it. I think it makes for a great reference to look up preventative measures on different concerns you might have like high cholestrol, heart disease, lung cancer and more, with a full chapter focused on each one.
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy - No idea what this is - looked interesting and was highly rated so I bought it.
And then there were none by Agatha Christie - Never read Agatha Christie books, and after my positive experience with The Handmaid above, decided to give another book in the mystery genre a try. This seems to be her highest rated book.
It and You like it darker by Stephen King - Never read a horror book either, and have been slowly starting to like horror games and such so decided to give Stephen King a try - “It” is his highest rated book. Also to try something different got a highly rated short story collection that I liked the rating and cover of.
Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo - A very highly rated book with an interesting theme - just based on the cover, rating and genre of this book I expect this two-book series to be in my top favorites to read this year.
The Calvin and Hobbes Portable Compendium Set 1 by Bill Watterson - Another classic and a different light genre. I used to read these as a kid and loved them, so decided to give it another try in chronological order to see if it holds up.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Another classic that I would probably like but never read. Saw parts of the movies though, so unfortunately it’s a bit spoiled for me - decided to give it a try anyway.
Asterix Omnibus Issue 1 - Another highly rated comic book that I read in my teens and loved. Wanted to revisit that experience - it does seem a bit more shallow of a story than I remember, very mildly interesting but still quite charming.
The Housemaid’s Secret - 2023’s Goodreads winner and the sequel to my favorite and only mystery book I ever read. Saving it for a 4 hour flight.
Influence: The psychology of persuasion - I like psychology and I like getting my way - this books seem to promise an insight into both of those things.
Mindset by Carol Dweck - Not sure what this is about but I’ve heard of it in passing and it’s highly rated - I always like an insight into how we think.
7 habits of highly effective people - After reading Atomic Habits and learning the power of habits, this seems like a natural followup. Intrigued by what the clickbait-y 7 habits are.
Daring Greatly: How the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love, parent and lead - The long title says it all. This is an area I’d like to improve at and as a result be better at building genuine connections with people. Showing vulnerability has served me well this part year in my relationships but it feels - vulnerable - to do so. Having a north star seems like good comfort in this.
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz - Short recommended book with a take on living life. I’ll give it shot.
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman - A book that seems to be overhyped, and according to one of my friends, doesn’t offer a lot of practical takeways to actually change how you think. Nonetheless, I have to see what the hype is about and it should at least be psychologically informative.
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie - The writer has Carnegie in their name so I’ll read it. I do already have a reputation of worrying a bit too little and living a bit too much but gaining new insights into that can’t hurt.
Think and grow rich by Napoleon Hill - Vaguely interested in this, psychology behind money and whatnot.
The gifts of imperfection by Brene Brown - A book about learning to love oneself more despite your imperfections, or rather, for your imperfections. Would like to see how and what it argues.
The Empire of Gold by Shannon Chakraborty - The third and final book in the daevabad trilogy that I’m loving so far. Currently reading the second book.
Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel - Lessons on wealth, greed and happiness. Looking to figure out the sweet spot of making money and having time. It definitely wasn’t my last job which is why I left, but now I’m on the other end of the spectrum making zero money haha.
How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie - Not a book that is unanimously liked but is very popular so I’d like to see what he argues, but will take it a grain of salt.
I buy all my books on amazon prime, and if you don’t have an account I recommend it to lower your activation cost for buying books which in turn will inspire you to read more. If you do have access to a local bookstore, however, I recommend you support them instead and try to find these books there.
