My Book Tips – From Self-Development to Novels

I don’t know about you. But I basically have a reading list a mile long that just won’t get any shorter. When I was a teenager I was a real bookworm and people almost always found me with a book in my hand. But later as I started writing books myself, I read less and less. Nevertheless, I try to absorb as much as possible – be it through physical books, e-books or audio books. So I have now put together a few reading tips for this difficult time. I hope there is something for you too!

Non-Fiction

I must admit, it took me a long time to become friends with non-fiction books. In my youth I read mainly fiction and only picked up non-fiction books when I had to read them for school or university. My love for non-fiction only began in the year I became a nomad. I got my first non-fiction book from someone I didn’t really know. A friend of a friend who took me to a city festival, since I was only staying at home at that time because of heartache. The book, which probably even changed my life in the following, has never been translated into English, unfortunately. So it’s only listed in the German version of this post. The title – literally translated – is: The decision is yours.

So, little by little other genres have found their way into my life and into my e-book and audio book media library. And I am very happy about that today. Because they have taught me a lot and accompanied me a lot in my thoughts.

Travel Books

As Barbaralicious is and will remain mainly a travel blog, I start with travel books. As you can imagine, I love to travel around the world through authors and either to travel to places I know through their eyes again or to discover new places. I like both equally. Although I have to say that now I prefer to read about places that I already know. So my bucket list won’t get longer than it already is…

• Wild*
• Eat, Pray, Love*
• Into the Wild*
• My Trip Around the World – A Dream Come True *
• Shantaram*

Mindfulness & Law of Attraction

I strated reading about mindfulness quite late. Consciously, I have only done this since my stay in the Buddhist monastery Wat Pa Tam Wua. The Law of Attraction, on the other hand, came into my life a little earlier. I will explain more about this in the next paragraph.

• Everything by the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh*
• The Secret*
• The Power*
• The Magic*
• Hero*
• The Power of Now*
• Ask and it is given*

Self-Development

Also with the topic of self-development or personal development I started late. Three years ago I did a life coaching with Nik from Life Athletics, which was the starting point for me to think about self-development. I started to work on myself and to analyze myself more. The highlight of this process so far was my participation in the event Unleash the Power Within by Tony Robbins.

• Secret Thoughts of Successful Women*
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck*
• Unf*ck Yourself*
• The Big Five For Life*
• Awaken the Giant Within*
• On the Shortness of Life*

Business

If you need a round of motivation or even a kick in the butt – especially if you’re self-employed – the following books are gold. Apart from The 4-Hour Work Week that every digital nomad knows, of course, The 10X Rule and Expert Secrets have had a strong influence on me. I also read both of them while I was in Singapore – a place where money and professional success play a central role. This has pushed me a lot.

• Strat With Why*
• The 10X Rule*
• Expert Secrets*
• Dotcom Secrets*
• Sell or Be Sold*
• Crushing it!*
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad*
• The 4 Hour Work Week*
• Tools of Titans*
• Think and grow rich*

Biographies

Biographies can be a real inspiration and are a great alternation between the other non-fiction books. My favourites are these:

• Becoming*
• Dreams From My Father*
• The Long Walk to Freedom*
• Total Recall*
• Finding My Virginity*
• Steve Jobs*
• Elon Musk*

Other Non-Fiction Books

Here are some non-fiction books that I didn’t know how to categorize:

• Everything by Yuval Noah Harari*
• A Brief History of Time*
• The Ethical Slut*

Fiction

As I mentioned before, I have spent more than two-thirds of my life reading almost exclusively fiction. And to this day, I still love novels and often prefer them over non-fiction. Depending on my mood…

Historical Novel

Stories that make me travel through time have always been particularly appealing to me. Pompeii, Aztecs, Titanic… I devoured books that let me witness historical events through the eyes of the protagonists who took me on their adventures.

• All historical novels by Ken Follett*
• All historical novels by Luca di Fulvio*
• All historical novels by Ildefonso Falcones*
• All historical novels by Noah Gordon*
• The House of Spirits* and Isabel Allende in general

Romance

And sometimes, I like to have a book that makes me (almost) cry. The first one is my favorite author in this genre:

• Everything by Jojo Moyes*
• Everything by Kevin Kwan*
• The Island of Eternal Love*
• One Day*

Comedy

• Everything by David Safier*
• Everything by Jonas Jonasson* 

Mystery, Action & Thriller

• Everything by Nele Neuhaus*
• The Name of the Rose*
• Everything by Dan Brown*
• Alles von Ken Follett*
• Frank Schätzing*

Fantasy

Vampires, dragons, sorcerers and such are not for everyone. Personally, I have always liked to get lost in these strange worlds, even though I am more choosy in this genre than in others.

• Game of Thrones*
• Twilight Series*
• Eragon Series*
• Harry Potter*
• Everything by Walter Moers*

My Final Thoughts

As you can see, when it comes to the genre of books, I’m not too picky. But when I like a writer, I like to read everything he or she has written.

What about you? Are you an avid reader? Do you like to read different genres or do you stick to one? Do you read everything you can find or are you more loyal to your favourite author?

I look forward to your comment!