A lot of you have been asking us for inspirational books to read. Don’t confuse inspiration with self-help. I have come up with a list of books that will inspire you to live and believe in yourself. I haven’t read all of them some are a result of extensive research. Also, I ordered the ones I haven’t read.
Here you go:
1. Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It’s a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie’s five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his “meaningless” life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: “Why was I here?”
I loved this book. You never realize how someone changes your life. The words they say, their actions can change the course of your life. There are other books by Mitch Albom, Tuesday’s with Morrie, Have a little faith, Magic strings of Frankie Presto. You can give them a chance.
2. I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He’s pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.
That’s when the first ace arrives in the mail.
That’s when Ed becomes the messenger.
Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?
The writing style is straightforward and funny. You will fall in love with Ed and his friends. You must also read ‘The Book Thief’ by the same author. Ended up reading it twice.
3. The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown
Each day we face a barrage of images and messages from society and the media telling us who, what, and how we should be. We are led to believe that if we could only look perfect and lead perfect lives, we’d no longer feel inadequate. So most of us perform, please, and perfect, all the while thinking, what if I can’t keep all of these balls in the air? Why isn’t everyone else working harder and living up to my expectations? What will people think if I fail or give up? When can I stop proving myself?
I haven’t read this book. It came up in all my searches. And it turns out my sister has. She has the complete collection of Brene Brown books and says, she could feel the change in herself.
4. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.
Again, I haven’t read it. It’s in my to-be-read pile. It comes highly recommended from a lot of bibliophiles.
5. Many Lives, Many Masters by Dr. Brian Weiss
As a traditional psychotherapist, Dr. Brian Weiss was astonished and skeptical when one of his patients began recalling past-life traumas that seemed to hold the key to her recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks. His skepticism was eroded, however, when she began to channel messages from the space between lives, which contained remarkable revelations about Dr. Weiss’ family and his dead son. Using past-life therapy, he was able to cure the patient and embark on a new, more meaningful phase of his career.
I don’t know if it’s real or fictional story. All I know that it was an eye-opener. I felt like a part of something big.
PS: I have heard a lot about ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck’ by Mark Manson. Can give that a try too.
