A little while ago I wrote about change and what that means to your comfort zone. One of my creature comforts, and claudia’s for that matter, is being surrounded by plenty of books. We have a lot of them!
As we plan our forthcoming year abroad the obvious question that springs to mind is which books to leave behind? We can’t take them all! In fact, we will probably be limited to three or four each. Now for a person that has worked (me) and is currently working (claudia) for a publishing house that is like asking Mariah Carey to reduce the number of her entourage to single figures or John Travolta his fleet of planes. It’s all very unsettling!!
Surely I could get by with only using the internet? Yes, I could get by but LIPliving is not about getting by. I want to feel something tangible in my hands. I prefer to flick through rather than click and scroll down sometimes. Don’t you feel the same?
So, in effect this exercise will be one of distilling the quantity down to the very best quality that will suit my needs, which are factual reference for my business and a bit of light-hearted fiction for my down time. As I think I’ve got a lot of very good books this is a difficult task!
So far, I’ve whittled the list down to 15 books:
You can have what you want – Michael Neill
Authentic Happiness – Martin EP Seligman
E Myth Revisited – Michael E Gerber
The Fungus Link – Doug A Kaufman
Northern Lights – Philip Pullman
The Subtle Knife – Philip Pullman
The Amber Spyglass – Philip Pullman
Conversations with God – Neale Donald Walsh
How to Eat, Move and be Healthy – Paul Chek
A whole new mind: How to thrive in a new conceptual age – Daniel H Pink
You Squared – Price Pritchett
Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar and Survival – T.S Wiley and Bent Formby
The Book of Chakra Healing – Liz Simpson
Non Violent Communication – Marshall B Rosenberg
Seven Habits of Highly Successful People – Stephen R Covey
Which books do you think I should take with? I can only take four! Or perhaps you know of an “absolute must read” to swap into my list? Post a comment and let me know!! :-)
Having learned from the first time (when I lugged several very heavy books with me and ended up looking at them all, oh about once each), here’s what I’d take from your list…
1) Northern Lights (or the whole series) – fantastic books, you can swap them on the road for other fiction if you like or give them away (individually or as a set) as a gift to a local.
2) You Squared – you know I love this book. Gets me right back on track every time I stray off it.
3) Either 7 Habits or You Can Have What You Want – both great for getting you into the right mindset. Probably 7 Habits, you can sign up for MN’s daily tips instead of YCHWYW.
The information from many of the others, I suspect you already have lodged either in your head or you can find it relatively easily on the net.
I just found your blog via Plonkee @ English Major… and I’m a modern nomad too! :)
But as for the book recommendations – I cannot say.. I just wish I had brought my personal finance “bible” – The Millionaire Next Door – with me, because I miss it.