Hello Aluxers and welcome back to a special Sunday
motivational video and since we haven’t done this in a while, why not do a book video today.
A good book costs between 10 and $20, and good books can change your life,
so to this day books are one of the best investments you can make.
We strongly recommend you add these to your reading list
and take the time to ponder each one as you go through them.
These books aren’t meant to be perused or speed read.
Actually,
The smarter you are, the slower you read!
Allow yourself the luxury to read these books slowly,
to put them down if needed and come back to them when life tells you to come find them again.
Links to every single title are available in the description!
Here are 15 powerful books to change your view on life and make you wiser!
Number 1: Animal Farm We’re big fans of Orwell
in general and although 1984 is a way more popular book than Animal farm,
we think this one develivers a highly valuable lesson that will forever stick with you.
Growing up in the former communism bloc,
we experienced the underlying ideas of animal farm first hand.
It’s a very easy read with a lot of depth behind it. You will find your government,
your politicians, your friends and your family in this fabula.
If your country is struggling with corruption,
there’s no better book to get your thinking about the issue at hand.
Number 2: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius In our opinion, the stoics were,
and to this day are, some of the most valuable reads anyone can undertake.
Every problem you have in your life right now, has been pondered by the richest and most developed
society of ancient Greece for centuries until they figured out verifiable-in truth answers.
The way they thought about life, the way they figured out answers to problems we
still deal with today so long ago, is just a testament that we are quick in our arrogance.
Your life is split into two parts: before and after you discover the stoics.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is probably the most popular book of the bunch.
If you’re unable to find answers to the problems you’re dealing with right now,
ask the stoics, they figured it out before anyone else.
Number 3: The Alchemist Honestly, the alchemist is one of
those books we quickly brushed off the first time we read it. It was a decent read, nothing special.
A few years go by and we re-read it again… and then again a couple of years later.
Paulo Coelho has a way of writing that molds on your reality in a way you rarely find.
We recommend this book as long as you’re willing to overlay your life on top of
what you’re reading, only then you will find the true value buried inside of it.
If you did read it, we encourage you to go through it again and
see what kind of value you missed the first time.
Number 4: A gentleman in Moscow A Gentleman in Moscow is probably
one of our personal favorite books of all time. It’s not a business book, it’s not a philosophical
book - although we love looking for underlying value even when it’s not the intent of the author.
The reason why A Gentleman in Moscow is on our recommended list,
is that Amor Towles writes in an incredible fashion,
a style of writing and storytelling that is incredibly close to our heart and soul.
It is probably the most enjoyable read we’ve had in years, even more so in the context of
the pandemic we’re living through. Get the book and you’ll understand why that makes sense.
Number 5: The little prince Here we are blowing your minds
with a children’s book. But how many of you have actually read The Little Prince?
Even more so than Cohelio’s Alchemist, we believe the little prince should be
read 3 times in your life: when you’re young, when you start a family and when you’re old.
It will prove to be a fascinating read, especially since it doesn’t overcomplicate things.
It’s short; it’s easy to read; you can get through it on a plane or anywhere at any time
and by the end something will click inside of you that that changes the way you look at life,
which is precisely the point of this entire list.
Number 6: The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner does something no other book on this list does as well.. It makes you question
yourself in a way we’ve rarely experienced. It’s a phenomenal read and you’ll be really
glad you picked it up. Once you do, you will binge read everything else by Khaled Hosseini.
It’s a brutal way of storytelling that sticks with you; it takes over your mind and your soul,
very much like an emotional rollercoaster. Hosseini is an emotional puppet master.
His books will make you FEEL SOMETHING! And through that experience, it adds
dimension to the way we look at life. Pick it up and you won’t be able to put the book down.
Number 7: Ikigai Ikigai has been one of
those little books that had a big impact on us. There are these groups of people around
the world that have managed to figure out how to live longer, be healthier,
keep their libido going way longer than everyone else and find happiness through the process.
This sounds like the dream scenario for us, so we devoured everything we could about Ikigai
and the other places around the world where people have cracked the code.
Immediately after the book we made some changes to the way we structure our days and look at life.
It’s a super easy read, straight to the point. If you’re like us and looking to
understand what it would take to make the most out of being alive, this book is a no-brainer.
Number 8: The richest man in babylon We promised we won’t include business books,
but the richest man in babylon goes beyond the financial crowd.
This is the first book we recommend our non financial friends read,
immediately followed by Rich Dad Poor Dad.
The richest man in Babylon does something incredible. It’s not a book about money,
it’s a book about freedom and finding out ways to get it for yourself.
It’s the type of timeless advice every single generation will find useful
and as long as you live you’ll benefit from reading this book.
Number 9: Sapiens
We are willing to bet that most of you were expecting the Bible,
the Quran or other religious books to show up on this list. You’re not gonna find them here.
Initially we wanted to include Mircea Eliade’s History of Religious Ideas,
but since it’s harder to digest we encourage you to pick up Sapiens by Yuval Harrari instead.
It will help educate you on how we evolved as humans,
where our beliefs come from, how we organise in society and what’s waiting for us ahead.
Sapiens is a highly valuable read in terms of understanding the world you live in and
through it, you will look at the world differently.
By the way, almost every book in this list is available in audiobook format
on audible. If you go to alux.com/freebook right now and this is the first time you sign up,
you can get one of these as an audiobook for free, thanks to our friends at Audible!
Number 10: My Vision Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum’s [Mac-toom] book changed the way we look at society in terms of social and
infrastructure development. We’ve spend some time in Dubai and were
amazed by the speed at which it’s shifting, building and evolving.
The United Arab Emirates & Singapore are mindblowing to us. These are fairly
new projects that organize their government as a technology company.
Smart iterations coupled with long term thinking executed at lightning speeds.
30 years ago, Dubai was an empty desert.
Now it’s one of the most booming commercial hubs in the world.
It’s the same with Singapore.
Once you see these new-commers optimize for speed and progress the way they’re doing,
everything your government back home does feels like slow-motion.
Don’t get us wrong, they’ve still got plenty of things to solve and figure
out, but we’ve never seen progress like this at a governmental level anywhere in the world.
My Vision describes the way the sheikh of Dubai thinks about the projects they’re undertaking.
We recommend it be read together with The Sheikh CEO.
Number 11: Factfulness We loved factfulness, because unlike Sapiens where
the story is told across millenia, Hans Rosling’s book deals with the time we’re living in.
Just when you think the world is getting worse and worse by the day,
this book forces you to take a step back and look at the big picture… and the big
picture has never looked better, despite what you might be thinking.
Every book in this list will change the way you look at Life and it will do it in subtle ways.
Factfulness offers the reader the gift of understanding in
easy-to-follow terms the progress we’re making on a planetary level.
It explains why overpopulation isn’t actually an issue, how we’re slowly solving
poverty throughout the world and just how out of touch governments are with reality.
It’s fun, enjoyable and tremendously valuable.
Number 12: Man’s Search for Meaning Out of all the introspective books out there,
Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning is by far the one you’ll hear most people talk about.
If you’re interested in understanding why people are able to achieve incredible things
and how to overcome any obstacle life might throw at you,
this is the book to pick up. You won’t be the same after you do.
Although a slightly difficult read it transports you to one of the worst periods of time in
history: in the prisoner encampments at Auschwitz, where neurologist Viktor Frankl was a prisoner
himself. An expert in his field got a front row seat to one of the most traumatizing moments in
human history. The book is a series of timeless takeaways that are universally applicable.
Number 13: Everything by Murakami
Haruki Murakami is one of those writers that have the power to transport you into a different
universe created by him. You are immersed in his stories, you don’t actually read them.
Depending on where you find yourself in life, there are layers upon layers of ideas,
philosophies and alternative realities that you get to enjoy,
all in a random style that you’ve probably never met before.
If you were to start with a book, we recommend you begin with:
A Wild Sheep Chase and immediately follow it with Norwegian Wood. Once you’ve gone through these 2,
you’re either going to become addicted or you’ll never pick up one of his books ever again.
It’s a very different style of writing which we found
clicks well with us and maybe it will be the same with you.
Number 14: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy In terms of changing your view on the world,
the Russian’s do it like nobody else. Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo
Tolstoy are the absolute titans of literature.
Titles like Crime and Punishment, War and Peace, The Idiot are all brilliant pieces of art that can
easily stand their ground against the likes of the Mona Lisa or Michelangelo’s David.
Out of all the Russian titles, we’ve chosen Anna Karenina as the one recommendation.
Human nature is center stage in every chapter and soon you’ll see all the
people in the book around you. If the time is right, start reading the russians.
Number 15: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The last title on our list is a philosophical book disguised as something else.
In every one of us, there are multiple people inhabiting the same body,
nobody wants to be a single thing, we’re all multi-variats.
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance illustrates incredibly well the most effective
way to combine them with the purpose of increasing the quality of your life.
We recommend this book to those of you who are
looking to find themselves in the noise of the modern world.
These is a pristine selection of books that in our opinion shouldn’t miss from any home. Think
of it like this: 15 titles, roughly 350 bucks in total, maybe even less if you can score a good
deal. What’s 350 dollars when any one of these books can improve the way you go through life?!
Which brings up the question:
How many of these have you read already? Let us know in the comments. Hopefully,
it will help you find your next read and you’ll find it just as valuable as we did!
As for those of you who are still watching here’s your bonus:
Number 16: The Almanak of Naval Ravikant
Naval Ravikant isn’t such a well known figure, but for the past 2 years has been one of the
greatest inspirations in our life. Sort Of like a mentor figure for us here at Alux.
We’ve learned so much from him and our view on life has changed because of him.
For those of you who don’t know him, he is the founder of Angelist
and in our opinion one of the most interesting thinkers of our generation.
The Almanak of Naval Ravikant is a collection of ideas,
tweets and posts from Naval, all put together and offered for free.
Although you can physically purchase the book, if you go to navalmanack.com you can download it
in digital format for free - no email, no credit card, no nothing. Just free value.
We are super excited to introduce you, the true Aluxers, to Naval.
If you’re an Aluxer, there’s no way you won’t find this valuable.
Since we’ve been doing this for so long, maybe it’s time we finally begin working
on our first book here at Alux. Which is why we’re looking to test 3 topics and hopefully,
you, the Aluxers would helps us pick a direction.
The first title would be RICH RULES: an inside look into how the rich are able to build fortunes
- the fact that they play by different rules than everyone else and how you can do the same.
The second title would be NEW MONEY: where we look at the emerging world
and how future billionaires are creating the future we’re all going to live in.
And third one is TRUE LUXURY: a collection of the things that
most people ignore but end up being the most valuable things in life.
We’re playing around with ideas,
but it will help us a lot if you picked one of the 3 as the one you’d be most interested in reading.
So if you’re a true Aluxer, please write one of the 3 titles:
RICH RULES, NEW MONEY or TRUE LUXURY in the comments.
We will keep an eye out and who knows, maybe we’ll actually do the book.