The monthly Book recommendation is a short blog post/ newsletter I write to you on what books I read in the previous month and what I’ll be reading next. This month I could read only 4 books as I had a lot of things going on, A Collab project (which is still on and will probably be released on the first week of August), a live concert in my studio(accompaniment), a client’s project of two songs in progress.
Books I read in July 2021:
- The Theory of everything by Stephen Hawking. Good book but not for everyone. If you are a science bud then probably you’ve already read this, if not this is for you. Hawking explains everything from what is a singularity, black holes, big bang to the quest to make a theory of everything which unifies quantum and Newtonian physics. Not so interesting for you if you’re not into all these, how the universe works, Chandrashekhar’s limit is the maximum mass of a stable white dwarf star, named after Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, how time is obsolete in singularity, the role of god in the making of the universe in the scientific view, etc
- On Writing by Stephen King. Aah! What a writer! I need not say more about him, he wrote the It and The Shawshank Redemption! In this book On Writing, he starts writing from his childhood memories and how that shaped him as a writer. Then the next section is all about writing itself, then he adds a postscript of an accident where a truck hit him leaving him with dozens of bones fractured in his legs and spine. He also emphasizes the love and support of his wife Tabitha King in his creative journey. This was a huge book actually, huge in the sense, I mean it felt lengthy, probably because I read less of stories, I read more non-fiction. But I didn’t want to abandon reading this book, it was so good. And of course, I wanted to learn to write better from the legend himself. If you’re an aspiring wanna-be writer, this is for you.
- Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott. This is probably the second favorite book of the month. This is book is a must for aspiring writers. A clean, simple, and inspiring guide on writing. The Author covers almost all aspects of writing – Short Assignments, shitty first drafts, plot, dialogue, perfectionism, jealousy, index cards, writing groups, finding your voice, etc.
- The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. This is my favorite book of the month. Everyone must read this book which will help you understand and bring out the artist child in you. Creativity is a choice. Reading books on creativity has helped a lot in overcoming self-doubts, perfectionism, procrastination, other problems every creator experiences. And it feels so comforting to know that all these problems are inevitable side effects of the creative process, no matter how established an artist is. This book specifically helped me realize how grateful I should be to have been receiving ideas and executing consistently. The Author says you must say to god – ” I’ll take care of the quantity, you take care of the quality”.
Enjoyed reading all of them. Now let’s come to my book list for next month.
Books I plan on reading next:
- The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
- Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon
- Karma: A Yogi’s guide to crafting your destiny by Sadhguru
- High-Performance Habits by Burchard, Brendon
- Psycho-Cybernetics by Maltz, Maxwell.
My Book Update:
- Haven’t been writing anything actually, but there is still progress.
- Had to change an aspect of a major mental model I’m sharing in the book.
- Have been taking notes, accumulating various insights, reflections, and of course thinking a lot, all of which I believe will lead to a better manuscript.
- Probably in the next month, I’ll be writing a lot, as I’ve accumulated a lot to say.
Let me know what are you reading currently and what are your favorite books of all time!
Thank You,
Yours Loving,
Sanath Kumar Naibhi
