100 Books Like Everything Matters!

Have you ever read a book that grabbed you with a character challenged by circumstances you’d never considered? Imagine being blind and trying to survive WWII! I was intrigued by this essentially two-person novel set during World War II, which had a ‘cast’ of millions.

Again, the characters! Marie-Laure LaBlanc is a young blind French woman hiding in her great-uncle’s house in Saint-Malo after the Nazis invade Paris. I found Doerr’s lyrical sensory descriptions of Marie-Laure’s efforts to make her way around town as she’s pulled into the French resistance thrilling. I loved the depth of characterization when I met the second main character, Werner Pfennig, a radio repair savant, and his journey from a Nazi soldier tracking down illicit resistance radio operators to a young man repulsed by the Nazi brutalization of civilians.

The characters and intrigue pulled me through this book; mixed in with the eventual connection of… show more.

Each book in this series is about the illusions we create and live with, depicted through a team of rejected British spies.

When a M15 spy screws up an assignment they are transfer to the Slough House to waste away until they retire. That’s the premise, but it’s led by a master spy, who is entrenched in the highest levels of the spy world. You don’t know what is real or what is an illusion, as situations evolve.

It’s at times insane, the characters are unusual, and the situations are full of twists and turns, from the illogical to the unheard of. I loved every minute of each book.

I loved this book because Antonia Scott might just be my favorite protagonist of all time.

She’s literally the most intelligent person in the world, with an I.Q. of over 200. She’s plagued by guilt and awkward social skills, but she has more crime-solving abilities than an entire police force. She’s Sherlock Holmes on steroids, with a hyper-intelligent sense of humor!

Author I.S. Berry’s debut is perfect for people like me who love a realistic spy story.

Her protagonist, Shane Collins, is straight out of a John le Carré novel, and his superpower is a dogged determination to end his long, questionable career by doing something right. This jaded spook is in Bahrain, caught up in the Arab Spring.

I adored how Berry captured the reality on the ground and the complexity of the modern world, and I loved the complexity of Shane Collins, a man on his way out who finds real love and something to fight for, maybe for the first time in his life. 

At first, reading this book felt like Jen Sincero was reading me! I had the pleasure of interviewing her a few years ago, and she was just as funny and bold in person as she is in the book. Her no-nonsense approach to financial abundance is delightfully triggering.

This book helped me tackle my own financial blocks and embrace a mindset of wealth and prosperity. Jen Sincero doesn’t sugarcoat anything. Her tough-love advice felt like a much-needed wake-up reminder of what I already knew but hadn’t fully acted on.

My favorite thing is her relatable stories and in-your-face guidance. Her writing cuts through the fluff and makes complex money mindset concepts feel totally doable.

This is a very recent addition to my list. It will take you on an incredible journey with a man (the author) from a career with multi-billion-dollar businesses (Aramark) to being the CEO of Homeboy Industries, the most successful gang rehabilitation program in the world.

It is his journey from one world to the next as he shares the need for us to radically change the way we do business in this country. In my opinion, “The Great Resignation” and “Quiet Quitting” are just symptoms of why we need to desperately change. You may ask yourself, “What do gangs and business have in common? Read this book and find out!  

Here is a book that strongly focuses on self-motivation, not team or organisational motivation. It’s highly practical and useful, giving 36 drivers of successful motivation with cautionary information to help you avoid falling into delusions.

For example, the first driver is “visionary thinking,’ but of course we can all imagine we are practising visionary thinking when in fact what we are indulging in is ‘idle dreaming.’

The book includes, along the way, loads of wonderful snippets of wisdom from profound thinkers: e.g., “You’ve got to think about ‘big things’ while you are doing small things, so that the small things go in the right direction.” – Alvin Toffler.

Excellent advice. 

There’s no end of books out there on mindfulness and meditation. What I love about meditation teacher, writer, and thinker Sebene Selassie’s book is how funny, personal, awkward, and honest she is about her journey. Each chapter delivers a new perspective on how you—how we all—are connected, how disconnection is at the core of our suffering, and how the one way to get back to a sense of belonging is through the body, the breath, and presence. Selassie is that friend who gently leads you to look inward and understand the power and joy of connection.  

I love the stories. Author Robert Greene’s stories about Semmelweis and William Harvey show the nasty consequences of ‘not suffering fools gladly.’

His notion of 10,000 hours to achieve mastery cuts through the challenges I face with each new book: I hate the feeling of not knowing what I’m doing, dislike feeling out of control, and get antsy when something I’m working on doesn’t fall into place easily.

Suck it up because that’s precisely how I feel each time I think about my new book on the early life of King David.

Have you ever had someone mentor you that you’ve never met? The brilliant Hitha Palepu - author, CEO, and investor - certainly has. Throughout Hitha's career and life, she has captured quotes and “Kamala-isms” in a notebook that served as strength and motivation when she needed it most. We're Speaking weaves together wonderful lessons from Kamala's groundbreaking accomplishments along with Hitha's insights from actualizing these lessons herself.

While there is so much to learn from Kamala, Hitha is a star in her own right. She’s the ultimate multi-hyphenate. She’s the CEO of a pharmaceutical company, author, speaker, investor, social media influencer, and more. Just as Kamala has been a mentor from afar to many women around the globe, I suspect that there is a long list of women who would say the same about Hitha. 

This is the perfct book for anyone who is looking to step into their power,… show more.