This article is written to share ideas on books to read during a school year. The books are insightful, imaginative, and inspiring.
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
This nonfiction examination book discusses outlier statistics, which are exceptions to trends and lie on the fringes of data sets that disrupt how someone reads data. As such, people usually toss them aside. Malcolm Gladwell studies outliers in this book and looks at why most people fail while some people succeed. Although the book sounds like a self-help book, its tone is less instructional and more observant. The author does not seek to tell everyone how to be successful but analyzes why some people have succeeded.
How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster
This nonfiction book by a University of Michigan professor offers one key insight: Most students do not understand where professors are coming from when they discuss books or other literature. Students often seem mystified that a professor can pull a connection from thin air and still tie together literature’s intricacy while making sense of it. This page-turner is a great choice for literature students.
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
This classic novel, which has been around for decades, is short and thus easy to read in a reasonable amount of time. It's also easy to pick up where one left off. The author’s sarcastic, quick wit is evident in her writing. The books by this author are a great exercise for a mind that is curious.
The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
Everyone would like to spend a little more time playing and a little less time working. The idea of a person having more time to do as he/she pleases sounds idyllic to most. Ferriss thought so too: “Why should someone not be productive anyway?” The book offers great insight into brilliant strategies for streamlining efficiency. This book shows how the author learned many valuable skills like speaking Japanese, dancing the tango, and swimming—all by observing, breaking the process down, and doing it himself. Ferris’s book is essential for anyone who needs to streamline his/her work schedule.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer
This book describes a boy who receives a mysterious package containing a tollbooth. Driving a toy through the tollbooth transports the boy into a mystical land full of adventures one is sure to remember. A person can escape into another world using this book.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
This book will certainly entrance readers for many years. The story is about a boy who is left by the graveyard gates and then raised by ghosts and a mysterious figure called Silas. The boy learns courage, love, and friendship in this heart-warming tale.
Although the last two books in this list seem intended for children, they help people to escape from adult life and reestablish what such books teach.
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
This nonfiction examination book discusses outlier statistics, which are exceptions to trends and lie on the fringes of data sets that disrupt how someone reads data. As such, people usually toss them aside. Malcolm Gladwell studies outliers in this book and looks at why most people fail while some people succeed. Although the book sounds like a self-help book, its tone is less instructional and more observant. The author does not seek to tell everyone how to be successful but analyzes why some people have succeeded.
How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster
This nonfiction book by a University of Michigan professor offers one key insight: Most students do not understand where professors are coming from when they discuss books or other literature. Students often seem mystified that a professor can pull a connection from thin air and still tie together literature’s intricacy while making sense of it. This page-turner is a great choice for literature students.
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
This classic novel, which has been around for decades, is short and thus easy to read in a reasonable amount of time. It's also easy to pick up where one left off. The author’s sarcastic, quick wit is evident in her writing. The books by this author are a great exercise for a mind that is curious.
The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
Everyone would like to spend a little more time playing and a little less time working. The idea of a person having more time to do as he/she pleases sounds idyllic to most. Ferriss thought so too: “Why should someone not be productive anyway?” The book offers great insight into brilliant strategies for streamlining efficiency. This book shows how the author learned many valuable skills like speaking Japanese, dancing the tango, and swimming—all by observing, breaking the process down, and doing it himself. Ferris’s book is essential for anyone who needs to streamline his/her work schedule.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer
This book describes a boy who receives a mysterious package containing a tollbooth. Driving a toy through the tollbooth transports the boy into a mystical land full of adventures one is sure to remember. A person can escape into another world using this book.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
This book will certainly entrance readers for many years. The story is about a boy who is left by the graveyard gates and then raised by ghosts and a mysterious figure called Silas. The boy learns courage, love, and friendship in this heart-warming tale.
Although the last two books in this list seem intended for children, they help people to escape from adult life and reestablish what such books teach.
