Books I’ve loved
Books I’ve loved
I have read hundreds of books about how to have a nice life. My first idea was that if I could read as much as possible, that would give me all the knowledge needed to have a good quality of life. I pushed it really hard, to the point that many times I woke up in the middle of the night with a pen and notebook under my head realizing I had felt asleep summarizing a book. One day, after having read my fifth book on nutrition -and still eating half a bag of potato chips every night - I figured out that information without action is not so useful at all.
Here below I share the top five books that have had a huge impact on my life.
TRIBE – SEBASTIAN JUNGER
This book describes the importance of belonging to a group, say tribe. The most impressive example presented in the book is that, while US captured soldiers could adapt to live among the Indians during the colonial battles, captured Indians returned to their Indian tribes as soon as possible or as soon as they were released. This shows how important belonging to a group is. I always take this book along with me to my travels.
TALES OF A SHAMAN’S APPRENTICE – MARK J. PLOTKIN
This book presents Mark Plotkin’s travel stories, the Co-founder and Director of the Amazon Conservation Team. He has done a lot of fieldwork in the Amazon rainforest, working with indigenous people and looking for medicinal plants. In this book, you will see the beauty of the Amazon region, its inhabitants, dangerous animals, and the struggles of a daily life in its entrails. It is a must-read for all those who want to have an insight of this incredible rainforest.
PAIN FREE – PETE EGOSCUE
That is the revolutionary message of this breakthrough system for eliminating chronic pain without drugs, surgery, or expensive physical therapy. Developed by Pete Egoscue, a nationally renowned Physiologist and Sports Injury Consultant to some of today's top athletes. The Egoscue’s Method has an astounding 95% success rate. The key is a series of gentle exercises and carefully constructed stretches called E-cises. Inside its pages, you will find detailed photographs and step-by-step instructions for dozens of e-cizes specifically designed to provide quick and lasting relief of: pain in the knees, legs, hips, shoulders and back.
365 DAGEN SUCCESVOL – DAVID DE KOCK & ARJAN VERGEER
This is a book that can only be found in Dutch. It is a book full of exercises and is a great way to give structure to your life. Even if you cannot read Dutch, you still can buy the book and use Google Translate to discover its message. I did it once, and it took a day!
LAZY: A MANIFESTO – TIM KREIDER
This is an impressive three-page article about raising kids, the important things in life, and how we may lose focus by overfilling our agenda with all kind of activities. An insightful article to re-think your career and see if your busyness is really the most important thing in your life or it is just a way to fill the void. It makes you question yourself: at the end of your life, are you really going to remember how busy you were, or will you remember that one great moment of an afternoon party with friends?
