Mind Expanding Books To Read

This list was suggested by a user in quora.com

Rookie Smarts by Liz Wiseman

Every entrepreneur is at some point a rookie, an upstart, an  inexperienced person with a dream... and fortunately experience isn't  everything. In Rookie Smarts,  Wiseman shows how rookies can outperform veterans, experience can cause  us to ignore new ideas, and how sometimes the perfect person to hire is  the person who doesn't "know" everything.

Twitter Is Not a Strategy by Tom Doctoroff

If you're trying to build a brand (and if you're not, why aren't you?), social media is just a tool.  Creativity, execution, and positioning are the foundation of great  brands -- social media is just one way to execute that strategy. Twitter Is Not a Strategy takes you back to basics... and back to ensuring you're actually creating a brand and not just a lot of one-way propaganda.

The Innovators by Walter Isaacson

The stories of Gates, Wozniak, Jobs, Page, Berners-Lee, Turing... plus  some people you've probably never heard of that helped create the  digital revolution starting in the 1840s. (Seriously.) And if that's not  enough, The Innovators is  written by Walter Isaacson, the dean of business biographies (and an  outstanding speaker to boot.) If you love being inspired by stories of  how other people did it, this is your book.

Crazy Is a Compliment by Linda Rottenberg

Contrarians take note: the subtitle of Crazy Is a Compliment is "The Power of Zigging When Everyone Else Zags." Rottenberg claims  that if people don't think you're crazy when you launch something new,  then you aren't thinking big enough. At the same time she doesn't  advocate taking huge risks; instead your goal should be to risk just  enough to get in the game. Sounds like the approach every smart  successful entrepreneur I know took.

Intelligent Leadership by John Mattone

I'm normally not a fan of labeling people (as the Pythons would say, "We're all individuals!") but the sections in Intelligent Leadership on identifying your predominant leadership trait -- and the predominant  traits of the people who work for you -- are outstanding. Hoping to  become an even better version of the leader you already are? With  Mattone's help, you can.

The Upside of Your Dark Side by Kashdan & Biswas-Diener

The Upside of Your Dark Side shows how some, um, less positive aspects of your personality can  actually lead to success and fulfillment. Anger can fuel creativity.  Selfishness can increase courage. Guilt fosters improvement.  Mindlessness can lead to better decisions. (Hey, a great reason to zone  out!) Tap the sum of your emotional parts and be more successful... and  surprisingly happier.

Every Idea is a Good Idea by Tom Sturges

Ideas are the lifeblood of every business. But ideas don't just have to come to you. Every Idea is a Good Idea is full of dependable, repeatable ways to be creative almost on cue.  While most of the examples come from musicians and artists, that's okay  -- they're easily applied to any field. Plus that makes for an  entertaining read. (Did you know that Rembrandt painted a lot of  selfies? Or that Paul McCartney used the words "scrambled eggs" as a  placeholder for lyrics that eventually became "Yesterday"?)  Informative  and entertaining. Can't beat that.

Scaling Up Excellence by Sutton & Rao

Every startup hopes to scale. But  how do you scale when your business is, largely, an extension of you?  How do you spread your beliefs and foster the right behaviors so your  company not only grows but improves? Scaling Up Excellence shows that scaling isn't an art, it's a quantifiable, repeatable  science -- and one that every business trying to grow needs to learn.

Zero to One by Peter Thiel

You won't agree with everything in Zero to One.  Some of it might even piss you off. That's okay. No matter what, Thiel,  a co-founder of PayPal and early investor in Facebook, LinkedIn, and  Yelp, will definitely make you think. And he'll make you question some  of your assumptions about business, innovation, and different paths to  success. Thiel wonders, "What valuable company is nobody building?"  Hopefully that company will be yours.

Winners Dream by Bill McDermott

Since every person's journey is  different and lessons learned are often less than broadly applicable,  I'm usually not a fan of "how I did it" books. Winners Dream is an exception. McDermott rose through the ranks at Xerox, Siebel  Systems, Gartner, and is now the CEO of SAP. (Not too shabby, eh?) It's a  great book for anyone who dreams of building and leading a global  company... or who just wants to live vicariously through someone that  has.

Smartcuts by Shane Snow

Snow thinks it's easier to build a huge business than a small one. (Sounds good, right?) Smartcuts shows how to use lateral thinking to break rules and achieve success  quickly. Want to know more about strategies like hacking the ladder,  training with masters, rapid feedback, platforms, catching waves,  superconnecting, momentum, simplicity, and 10X thinking? Shane is your  guy.

Mark Cuban - How to Win at the Sport of Business

Description

Mark Cuban shares his wealth of experience and business savvy in his first published book, How to Win at the Sport of Business.
One of the world’s wealthiest entrepreneurs, Mark Cuban has collected and updated the greatest material from his popular blog, “blog maverick,” to provide a handbook of insider knowledge on what it takes to become a thriving entrepreneur.

Cuban’s story is a stunning tale of rags-to-riches, as he went from selling powdered milk and sleeping on friends’ couches to owning his own company and becoming a multi-billion dollar success story. Cuban’s business tips will be inspirational to entrepreneurs at any stage of their careers. His ideas may be unconventional, but Cuban shares why and how they’ve worked for him and will work for you.

This week we are reading this book in VORACIOUS READERS. To join voracious readers click the highlighted texts.

How To Read More — A Lot More

When you read a lot of books people inevitably assume you speed read. In fact, that’s probably the most common email I get. They want to know my trick for reading so fast. They see all the books I recommend every month in my reading newsletter and assume I must have some secret. So they ask me to teach them how to speed read.

That’s when I tell them I don’t have a secret. Even though I read hundreds of books every single year, I actually read quite slow. In fact, I read deliberately slow, so that I can take notes (and then whenever I finish a book, I go back through and transcribe these notes for my version of a commonplace book.

So where do I get the time? (Well for starters I don’t waste any of it asking dumb questions).

Look, where do you get the time to eat three meals a day? How do you have time to do all that sleeping? How do you manage to spend all those hours with your kids or wife or a girlfriend or boyfriend?

You don’t get that time anywhere, do you? You just make it because it’s really important. It’s a non-negotiable part of your life.

I think there are three main barriers that hold people back from making this happen and I want to disassemble them right now so you can start reading way, way more.

Time

The key to reading lots of book begins with stop thinking of it as some activity that you do. Reading must become as natural as eating and breathing to you. It’s not something you do because you feel like it, but because it’s a reflex, a default.

Carry a book with you at all times. Every time you get a second, crack it open. Don’t install games on your phone–that’s time you could be reading. When you’re eating, read. When you’re on the train, in the waiting room, at the office–read. It’s work, really important work. Don’t let anyone ever let you feel like it’s not.

Do you know how much time you waste during the day? Conference calls, meetings, TV shows that you don’t really like but watch anyway. Well, if you can make time for that you can make time for reading. (Or better, just swap those activities for books)

Money

If I had to steal books to support my reading habit, I would. Thankfully you can buy some of the best literature ever published for pennies on Amazon.

But forget money entirely when it comes to books. Reading is not a luxury. It’s not something you splurge on. It’s a necessity.

As Erasmus, the 16th century scholar once put it, “When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.”

On top of that, books are an investment. I hear from people all the time who tell me they plan to buy this book or that book. Plan? Just buy it. I promised myself a long time ago that if I saw a book that interested me I’d never let time or money or anything else prevent me from having it. Not money, not time, not my own laziness. Don’t wait around for some book you want to read to come out in paperback–trying to save $2 or $3 is the wrong mindset. If it’s a book you’ll read, then read it now, not in a year.

(One related note: I don’t check books out from the library and haven’t since I was a child. This isn’t like renting a mindless movie. You should be keeping the books you read for reference and for re-reading. If you are OK giving the books back after two weeks you might want to examine what you are reading).

Purpose

Perhaps the reason you having trouble is you forgot the purpose of reading. It’s not just for fun. Human beings have been recording their knowledge in book form for more than 5,000 years. That means that whatever you’re working on right now, whatever problem you’re struggling with, is probably addressed in some book somewhere by someone a lot smarter than you. Save yourself the trouble of learning from trial and error–find that point. Benefit from that perspective.

The walls of my house are covered in books from floor to ceiling. The last time I moved, I had to rent a U-Haul exclusively for books. At first that frustrated me, and then I remembered that books paid the rent on both those houses. They kept me sane, they made me a lot of money.

The purpose of reading is not just raw knowledge. It’s that it is part of the human experience. It helps you find meaning, understand yourself, and make your life better.

There is very little else that you can say that about. Very little else like that under $20 too.

-

Look, you either get this or you don’t. Reading is something you know is important and want to do more of. Or you’re someone who just doesn’t read. If you’re the latter, you’re on your own (you’re also probably not that smart).

Think of someone like Frederick Douglass, who brought himself up out of slavery by sneaking out and teaching himself to read. Books weren’t some idle pursuit or pastime to him, they were survival itself. And despite this dire situation, he managed to read  and, as the writer Thomas Sowell once put it, “educate himself to the point where his words now have to be explained to today’s expensively under-educated generation.”

What excuse do you have?

If you want to read more, there’s no real secret. It’s about adjusting your priorities and your perception so that reading becomes an extension of who you are and what you do.

When that happens, you’ll be the person that people now ask: How do you do it? And the answer will be: I just do.

This post originally ran on ThoughtCatalog.com. For more comments, view it there.

BOOK; The Magic of Thinking Big

Millions of readers have acquired the secrets of success through The Magic of Thinking Big. Achieve everything you always wanted: financial security, power and influence, the ideal job, satisfying relationships, and a rewarding, happy life.
Set your goals high...then exceed them!

Millions of people throughout the world have improved their lives using The Magic of Thinking Big. Dr. David J. Schwartz, long regarded as one of the foremost experts on motivation, will help you sell better, manage better, earn more money, and—most important of all—find greater happiness and peace of mind.
The Magic of Thinking Big gives you useful methods, not empty promises. Dr. Schwartz presents a carefully designed program for getting the most out of your job, your marriage and family life, and your community. He proves that you don’t need to be an intellectual or have innate talent to attain great success and satisfaction—but you do need to learn and understand the habit of thinking and behaving in ways that will get you there. This book gives you those secrets!
Believe you can succeed and you will
Cure yourself of the fear of failure
Think and dream creatively
You are what you think you are
Make your attitudes your allies
Learn how to think positively
Turn defeat into victory
Use goals to help you grow
Think like a leader
Biography
Dr. David J. Schwartz was a professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta and the president of Creative Educational Services, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in leadership development.

How to Read More: The Simple System I’m Using to Read 30+ Books Per Year

Warren Buffett, the man commonly referred to as the greatest investor of the 20th century, was standing in front of 165 wide-eyed students from Columbia University.

One of the students raised his hand and asked Buffett for his thoughts on the best way to prepare for an investing career. After thinking for a moment, Buffett pulled out a stack of papers and trade reports he had brought with him and said, “Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.” [1]

Buffett estimates that 80 percent of his working hours are spent reading or thinking. It’s enough to make you ask, “Am I reading enough books?”

When I asked myself that question recently, I realized that there were some simple reasons I wasn’t reading as much as I would like to, and I developed a reasonable system that is helping me read more than 30 books per year.

Let me explain…

How to Read More Books

If you know how to read, then reading books is relatively easy. You simply have to make time to read. Easier said than done, of course.

When I looked at my own reading habits, I realized that my reading habits were mostly reactive, not proactive. If an interesting link flashed across my screen on Facebook or Twitter, then I would read it as a reaction. I wasn’t proactively making time to read books each day. I was simply reading interesting ideas that were pushed in front of me.

As a result, most of my reading was done online. Now, there are plenty of excellent articles on the web, but generally speaking, the quality of good books is better. Books typically have better writing (more tightly edited) and higher quality information (better fact-checking and more extensive research). From a learning perspective, it’s probably a better use of my time to read books than to read online content.

So, I had to figure out a strategy that would allow me to read more books without letting typical distractions get in the way.

How do you that?

20 Pages Per Day

Here’s the only pattern I’ve been able to stick with consistently:

Read 20 pages to start the day.

I usually wake up, drink a glass of water, write down 3 things I’m grateful for, and read 20 pages of a book. For the last 10 weeks, I have followed this new habit. As of today, I’m 100 pages into my 7th book. At that pace (7 books per 10 weeks) I’ll read about 36 books in the next year. Not bad.

Here’s why I think this pattern works: 20 pages is small enough that it’s not intimidating. Most people can finish reading 20 pages within 30 minutes. And if you do it first thing in the morning, then the urgencies of the day don’t get in the way.

Finally, 20 pages seems small but adds up fast. It’s a great average speed.

If time allows, I’ll read at other times as well. After the research I did for my article on how to get better sleep, I have added reading to my “prepare for bed” routine as well. But regardless of what happens during the rest of the day, I still get my 20 pages in each morning.

The First Hour

How do you spend the first hour of your day?

Most people spend it getting dressed, getting ready, and rushing out the door. What if that time was spent making yourself a better person? What if you woke up an hour before you needed to each day and worked on yourself? How much better would you be at work, in your relationships, and as a person?

That’s essentially what this reading strategy is asking you to do. Before you move on to the normal bustle of the day, invest in yourself. Before your life turns into a whirlwind of activity, read a book that will make you better. As with most habits that can greatly impact your life, this will never feel urgent, but it is important.

20 pages per day. That’s all you need.

James Clear writes about using behavioral science to master your habits and improve your mental and physical health. If you enjoyed this article, join his free newsletter.

Time Management Tamplate From 168 Hours Book

This is weekly time management which you can lodge every hour of your week.
You can download this template at www.my168hours.com

30 Things We Learned From The Book 168 Hours; You Have More Time Than You Think

1. If you love what you do u will have more energy to do it for the rest of your life
2. Most of the activities/task we do are repetitive in every 168hours, this means u can plan and manage time efficiently.
3. Get Rid of non core competency work
4. Control your calendar
5. You can spend time with your children doing things you love together
6. Its better to do one thing at a time
7. We spend a lot of our 168 hours working, so being in the right job matters. To find out if you’re in the right job, ask yourself these questions:
Does my job tap into my intrinsic motivations (things I loved as a kid or would do for free)?
Does my job give me a reasonable amount of autonomy?
Am I chalenged regularly to the extent of my abilities?
Do my work environment, organization, and coworkers encourage my best work?
If the answer is “no” to any of these four questions, what can I change? In the next week? In the next year? Can I create the right job within my organization? Another organization? Or wil I need to go out on my own?
8. To know you are in the right job you should ask yourself if someone propositions you millions of dollars in exchange for your job will you take it?
9. If you don’t have the space for something, then be honest about it and either don’t make the commitment or agree to a more reasonable time frame
10. You can compress time spent on non-core-competency activities with a three-part strategy:
Ignore it,
Minimize it, or
Outsource it
11. Life  management and productivity depends much on time management.
12. One thing to keep in mind is that entrepreneurship need not mean borrowing huge sums of money to start a high-tech giant.
13. Regardless your a woman or a man you can be the best at your career and the best parent at the same time only by managing your 168hrs.
14. Everything that I do, every minute I spend is my choice. When you focus on what you do best, on what brings you the most satisfaction, there is plenty of space for everything. You can build a big career, you can build a big family. You can fill your life with more abundance than most people think is possible.
15. All of us ,we all have 24hrs in our days and 7 days in our weeks.That comes out 168hrs each week to create the lives we want.
16. Most of people claim that they are busy,overworked or under rested but we don't think about how we want to spend our time and so we spend massive amounts of time on things like Tv, web surfing, house work that give a slight amount of pleasure but do little for our career .   
17. 168hrs these hrs still have to be care full  budgeted  in order to turn the life you have into the life you want.
18. The chances are minimal that some one else will create the perfect job for you, you'll have to invest the hours to design it in an entrepreneurial fashion,whether you're working for someone else or for yourself.
19. Creating the right job is the first step to using the hours for work in the most effective way possible
20. When you say “I don’t have time,” this puts the responsibility on someone else: a boss, a client, your family. Or else it puts the responsibility on some nebulous force: capitalism, society, etc
21. The majority of people who claim to be overworkedwork less than they think they do, and many of the ways people work are extraordinarily inefficient. Calling something “work” does not make it important or necessary
22. "You should do what you love"means finding work that matches with with your expertise, your creative thinking skills and your strongest intrinsic motivations.
23. "You should love what you do" means finding environment that will allow you to retain that intrisic motivational focus,while supporting your exploration of new ideas.
24. If you love what you do ,you'll have more energy for the rest of your life too. There is much happiness to be gained by throwing yourself into a meaningful professional pursuit.
25. When make decisions about ur work hours, keep in mind that any work that is not advancing you toward the professional life you want should not count as work. It is wasted time.
26. Changing the work component of your 168hrs into something that looks closer to the ideal than it currently does. There is four parts Process for doing this: seize control of your schedule, do not mistake things that look like work for actual work, get rid of non-core competency task by ignoring, minimizing or out sourcing them, boost efficiency by getting better at what you do.
27. Part of being effective during the hrs you choose to work is developing the discipline to spend real time on whats important.
28. If you want to use your 168hrs effectively,once you make a commitment to urself to spend a certain number of hours on task, keep it. Never miss a deadline.
29.  The truth is that any existing job description has been conceived of by someone else. Expecting someone else to have conceived of your perfect job is roughly similar to expecting someone else to read your mind. It’s better to build your career with the idea that you will always be responsible for creating the right job for each stage of your life, whether you work for someone else or on your own.
30. If you want to use your 168 hours effectivelly and productive, start behaving the best you can, think of your time as a wealthiest thing in life. Much of life is how you frame it. DO WHAT U LOVE AND MONEY WILL FOLLOW.

9 Books Bill Gates Thinks Everyone Should Read.

While Bill Gates has a schedule that's planned down to the minute, the entrepreneur-turned-billionaire-humanitarian still gobbles up about a book a week.

Aside from a handful of novels, they're mostly nonfiction books covering his and his foundation's broad range of interests. A lot of them are about transforming systems: how nations can intelligently develop, how to lead an organization, and how social change can fruitfully happen.

We went through the past four years of his book criticism to find the ones that he gave glowing reviews and that changed his perspective.

'Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012' by Carol Loomis

Warren Buffett and Gates have a famously epic bromance, what with their recommending books to each other and spearheading philanthropic campaigns together.

So it's no surprise that Gates enjoyed "Tap Dancing To Work," a collection of articles and essays about and by Buffett, compiled by Fortune magazine journalist Carol Loomis.

Gates says that anyone who reads the book cover-to-cover will walk away with two main impressions:

First, how Warren's been incredibly consistent in applying his vision and investment principles over the duration of his career;

... [S]econdly, that his analysis and understanding of business and markets remains unparalleled. I wrote in 1996 that I'd never met anyone who thought about business in such a clear way. That is certainly still the case.

Getting into the mind of Buffett is "an extremely worthwhile use of time," Gates concludes.

Buy it here >>

'Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization' by Vaclav Smil

Gates says his favorite author is Vaclav Smil, an environmental sciences professor who writes big histories of things like energy and innovation.

His latest is "Making the Modern World." It got Gates thinking.

"It might seem mundane, but the issue of materials — how much we use and how much we need — is key to helping the world’s poorest people improve their lives," he writes. "Think of the amazing increase in quality of life that we saw in the United States and other rich countries in the past 100 years. We want most of that miracle to take place for all of humanity over the next 50 years."

To know where we're going, Gates says, we need to know where we've been — and Smil is one of his favorite sources for learning that.

Buy it here >>

'The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History' by Elizabeth Kolbert

It can be easy to forget that our present day is a part of world history. Gates says that New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert's new book "The Sixth Extinction" helps correct that.

"Humans are putting down massive amounts of pavement, moving species around the planet, over-fishing and acidifying the oceans, changing the chemical composition of rivers, and more," Gates writes, echoing a concern that he voices in many of his reviews. 

"Natural scientists posit that there have been five extinction events in the Earth’s history (think of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs)," he continues, "and Kolbert makes a compelling case that human activity is leading to the sixth."

To get a hint of Kolbert's reporting, check out the series of stories that preceded the book's publication. 

Buy it here >>

'Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises' by Tim Geithner

Gates stood at the center of an enormously complex system as the CEO of Microsoft. Timothy Geithner did much the same as US Treasury Secretary — and saw the structure fall down around him during the financial crisis. 

"Geithner paints a compelling human portrait of what it was like to be fighting a global financial meltdown while at the same time fighting critics inside and outside the Administration as well as his own severe guilt over his near-total absence from his family," Gates says. "The politics of fighting financial crises will always be ugly. But it helps if the public knows a little more about the subject."

"Stress Test" provides that knowledge.

Buy it here >>

'The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined' by Steven Pinker

In "Better Angels," Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker branches out into the history of the most contentious of subjects: violence.

Gates says it's one of the most important books he's ever read.

"Pinker presents a tremendous amount of evidence that humans have gradually become much less violent and much more humane," he says, in a trend that started thousands of years ago and continued until this day.

This isn't just ivory-tower theory. Gates says the book has affected his humanitarian work.

"As I'm someone who’s fairly optimistic in general," he says, "the book struck a chord with me and got me to thinking about some of our foundation's strategies."

Buy it here >>

'The Man Who Fed the World' by Leon Hesser

Even though Gates can get a meeting with almost anyone, he can't land a sit-down with Norman Borlaug, the late biologist and humanitarian who led the "Green Revolution" — a series of innovations that kept a huge chunk of humanity from starving.

"Although a lot of people have never heard of Borlaug, he probably saved more lives than anyone else in history," Gates says. "It's estimated that his new seed varieties saved a billion people from starvation," many of whom were in India and Pakistan.

Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal for his efforts — and is one of only seven people to do so.

For Gates, Borlaug is a model in getting important work done in the world.

"Borlaug was one-of-a-kind," he says, "equally skilled in the laboratory, mentoring young scientists, and cajoling reluctant bureaucrats and government officials."

Hesser's "The Man Who Fed the World" lets you peer into the personality that saved a billion lives.

Buy it here >>

'Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street' by John Brooks

Amazon

Back in 1991, Gates asked Buffett what his favorite book was.

To reply, Buffett sent the Microsoft founder his personal copy of "Business Adventures," a collection of New Yorker stories by John Brooks.

Though the anecdotes are from half a century ago, the book remains Gates' favorite.

Gates says that the book serves as a reminder that the principles for building a winning business stay constant. He writes:

For one thing, there's an essential human factor in every business endeavor. It doesn't matter if you have a perfect product, production plan and marketing pitch; you'll still need the right people to lead and implement those plans.

Learning of the affections that Gates and Buffett have for this title, the business press has fallen similarly in love with the book. We put together a list of takeaways, while Slate quipped that "Business Adventures" is "catnip for billionaires."

Buy it here >>

'The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism' by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Amazon

Like us, Gates is fascinated by the way Theodore Roosevelt was able to affect his society — busting trusts, setting up a park system, and the like.

For this reason, Gates appreciates how Goodwin's biography uses the presidency as a lens for understanding the shift of society.

"How does social change happen?" Gates asks in his review. "Can it be driven by a single inspirational leader, or do other factors have to lay the groundwork first?"

He says that TR shows how many stakeholders need to be involved.

"Although he tried to push through a number of political reforms earlier in his career," Gates says, "[Roosevelt] wasn't really successful until journalists at 'McClure's' and other publications had rallied public support for change."

Buy it here >>

'The Rosie Project: A Novel' by Graeme Simsion

amazon

Gates doesn't review a lot of fiction, but "The Rosie Project," which came on the recommendation of his wife Melinda, is an oddly perfect fit.

"Anyone who occasionally gets overly logical will identify with the hero, a genetics professor with Asperger’s Syndrome who goes looking for a wife," he writes. "(Melinda thought I would appreciate the parts where he’s a little too obsessed with optimizing his schedule. She was right.)"

The book is funny, clever, and moving, Gates says, to the point that he read it in one sitting.

Buy it here >>

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-favorite-books-2014-10?op=1#ixzz3Gu5Mv4Wp

What is it like to be a voracious reader?

I found this question in Quora and picked few answers to help us as voracious readers.

• Your reading list is never ending - the more books you read, the more books you realize you should read. Recently I read a biography which recommended seven books that I realized I simply have to read, and when I eventually read those seven books they will also recommend numerous book that I will have to read; continuing the process ad infinitum.

• Friends expect you to have read everything - 'how could you not have read Book X or Book Y, I thought you read a lot', is a question you get asked all the time, neglecting the fact that there are thousands and thousands of books that have to be ignored in favor of the books you do eventually read. Just because you are a voracious reader does not mean you have read every 'major' book written in the last two hundred years.

• Re-reading is more important than the initial reading - I am consistently humbled by how much I miss spotting in my first reading of almost any text. It is only after numerous re-readings of numerous passages and chapters that important themes and ideas start to click. I now even mark certain sections with the comment 'return to later' in the knowledge that I will need to come back to that section.

• There are two types of voracious readers - there are those who will chew up anything in a particular genre or field and there are those who read expansively as well as in areas that they are uncomfortable with. I used to belong to the former category (I would only read a certain type of literary fiction), but ever since I switched to the latter, I have become a better reader and a deeper thinker.

• You continually discover gems of ideas that expand your consciousness - I am currently reading a fascinating book called Why Does The World Exist?, and on two occasions I have stumbled upon ideas that have given me eureka moments that will stay with me for a long time to come as well as altering my present state of thinking. It is for these moments that I continually read and read and read..

BOOK; 168 Hours - You Have More Time Than You Think By Laura Vanderkam

This week 20/10 – 26/10/2014 we are going to read a book 168 Hours - You Have More Time Than You Think By Laura Vanderkam.

There are 168 hours in a week. This is your guide to getting the most out of them.
It's an unquestioned truth of modern life: we are starved for time. We tell ourselves we'd like to read more, get to the gym regularly, try new hobbies, and accomplish all kinds of goals. But then we give up because there just aren't enough hours to do it all. Or if we don't make excuses, we make sacrifices- taking time out from other things in order to fit it all in.

There has to be a better way...and Laura Vanderkam has found one. After interviewing dozens of successful, happy people, she realized that they allocate their time differently than most of us. Instead of letting the daily grind crowd out the important stuff, they start by making sure there's time for the important stuff. When plans go wrong and they run out of time, only their lesser priorities suffer.
Vanderkam shows that with a little examination and prioritizing, you'll find it is possible to sleep eight hours a night, exercise five days a week, take piano lessons, and write a novel without giving up quality time for work, family, and other things that really matter.

To get the book and participate in discussion join voracious readers.

A Simple Guide to Becoming a Voracious Reader

The more I learn about the lives of great people, the more I know that many of them are voracious readers. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are two contemporary examples. My favorite example, though, is Theodore Roosevelt (TR).

While he was at the White House, TR read at least one book a day, even when he was busy. If he had no event at night, he could read one or two more books. Not only that, he had a strong memory of what he had read. Often he could quote passages.

With TR, reading had become a habit since his youth. Whether he was with the cowboys or soldiers, his favorite pastime was reading. This habit gave him an immense knowledge and a broad perspective. It helped him become the effective person he was.

Why You Should Become a Voracious Reader

There are many benefits you can get by being an avid reader. Here are some of them (I focus on non-fiction books here):

• It broadens your perspective.
  Reading helps you see the world from a new perspective. Among other things, it helps you foresee new opportunities and threats. You will also be able to assess a situation more accurately.
• It helps you be more creative.
  By feeding your mind with many different ideas, there is a good chance that your various thoughts will cross-pollinate and produce fresh ideas. You will become more creative as a result.
• It relaxes your mind.
  TR said that reading is “a pure imaginative therapy.” Immersing yourself in a good book is like watching a good movie. It can take you to new worlds. Such an experience is entertaining and relaxing for your mind.
• It gives you a deeper appreciation of the world.
  Sometimes we don’t appreciate something because we don’t know how wonderful it actually is. Reading can give you a deeper understanding of the world around you which, in turn, will grow your appreciation of it.
• It enriches your conversational repertoire.
  Knowing more about the world around you means having more topics to converse with. That will help you connect with different kinds of people.

How to Become a Voracious Reader

Now that we have seen the benefits of becoming an avid reader, here are some ways to become one:

• Build your curiosity.
  If you are curious, you don’t need to push yourself to read. Instead, you will want to read because it will satisfy your curiosity. To build your curiosity, be aware that there are many interesting things in this world that you don’t know. Your life will be much more exciting if you find them. Even seemingly boring things have interesting sides if you dig deep enough.
• Teach yourself to read in small sips as well as in long swallows.
  This advice comes from Stephen King in On Writing. Whenever you have idle time, whether long or short, fill it with reading. Waiting in the doctor’s office could be a good time to read, so is waiting to board your plane. It means that you should always take a book with you. Fortunately, that’s easy to do these days: simply put e-books into your tablet or smartphone and you are set.
• Read diversely.
  Reading diversely prevents you from getting bored because you constantly enter new worlds. The sense of wonder will motivate you to read more.
• Immerse yourself in your reading.
  When you are reading, visualize what you read. Imagine being in the world. TR was so immersed in his reading that he couldn’t even hear his name being called. When you achieve this level, reading will become a flow. It will become a “pure imaginative therapy.” You will end up wanting more of it.

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Do you have tips on becoming a voracious reader?

This Guide was copied from LIFE OPTIMIZER

100 Essential Sites for Voracious Readers

The advent of e-readers has allowed people to carry a lifetime of books in their backpack for convenient, backlit reading anywhere.

This proliferation of reading gadgets has not only been a boon for passionate readers, but for writers as well. It is easier and less expensive than ever for independent authors to publish their works to a possible audience of millions.

This is a huge benefit to both writers and readers, and has led to an outpouring of independently published e-books for lovers of all genres. This list is a celebration of reading and writing for both academic and general audiences.

Read the list here

Welcome To Voracious Readers.

Voracious Readers is a group of avid readers who believe that knowledge is power and the best thing to do is to have a lot of it.
Our main objective is to read 500 books in 5 years, which equal to 100 books in a year and two books in a week. 

In voracious reader we read two books per week one according to profession and another one for general knowledge for example personal development, time management, leadership e.t.c 
The book we read in general category we discuss it during book discussion session which is help once a week.
Time for book discussion is every Saturday at 18:00hrs to 20:00hours East Africa Time(GMT +3)
It is important for every member to participate in book discussion, failure to do so without notice will lead to termination of membership.

How to join Voracious Readers?

Book sharing and book discussion take place through TELEGRAM MESSENGER.
To join the group install TELEGRAM MESSENGER in your device and send text message  to this number +255 717 396 253 asking to join Voracious Readers group.
You are welcome.