Happy 2024 everyone! It is a great time to set new goals, and after having managed to read 32 books in 2023, I was thinking to myself that it might be a good idea to aim for 42 books in 2024. In recent years, my „personal best“ was 30 books in 2020, when the world came to some sort of a standstill, and I lost myself in books. My passion for books was rekindled, and I made it a priority again to read every day, first thing in the morning.
If I had to narrow it down, what made the biggest positive difference in my life after I had graduated from uni back in 2013, then it was certainly reading good books, apart from meeting my wife Bea and starting a couple of businesses with my brother Mel, Bea, Angel, and other people, as well as developing an awesome team. But without constantly feeding my brain with good thoughts, it would have been much more difficult, if at all possible.
My top 5 books in 2023
Out of the 32 books that I have (re-)read in 2023, I would like to mention 5 outstanding ones. Number one would have to be Viktor Frankl’s „Man’s Search for Meaning“ that I had shortly covered a few months ago in this article (in German). Paired with Eckhart Tolle’s „A New Earth“, those two books would certainly make a huge difference in everybody’s life. I am convinced that if every human being read these books, the world would be a better place.
The next book would be Mitch Albom’s „Tuesdays with Morrie“. Like so many times before, Bea had gifted me this wonderful book for Christmas, so it is one of the latest additions to my book shelf. It reminded me of the „Five Regrets of the Dying“ by Bronnie Ware that Martin had told me about some 11 years ago on New Year’s Eve or New Years Day which finally made me decide to say goodbye to Munich after my studies and make a move to the Philippines.
Finally, I want to mention „Somewhere in the Middle“ by Deborah Douglas and „Unverkäuflich“ (full titles further down) that portraits the very interesting and inspiring life and approach of Bobby Dekeyser. Being a „halo-halo“ myself, the two books helped me even more to further define my identity (if this is possible at all), and to find out what I truly want to achieve in life.
The full list of the 32 books I’ve read (or listened to) in 2023:
[Find in bold more great books to complete the „top 10“ for this year]
- Albom, Mitch: Tuesdays with Morrie. An old man, a young man, & life’s greatest lesson
- Attia, Peter: Outlive. The Science & Art of Longevity
- Belz, Frank-Martin: Challenge Ironman. Auf der Suche nach Sinn
- Böhm, Jasmin: Hallo Glück, dich gibt’s ja doch!: Wie ich mich nach einer Lebenskrise zusammen mit meinem Sohn in ein großes Abenteuer stürzte
- Cervantes, Carl Lorenz: Deep Roots
- Clear, James: Atomic Habits
- Douglas, Deborah Francisco: Somewhere in the Middle: A journey to the Philippines in search of roots, belonging, and identity
- Fitzgerald, Matt: How Bad Do You Want It?
- Frankl, Viktor: Man’s Search for Meaning
- Friel, Joe: The Triathlete’s Training Bible. The World’s Most Comprehensive Training Guide
- Garcia, Hector and Francesc Miralles: Ikiga. The Japanese secret to a long and happy life
- Gladwell, Malcolm: Outliers
- Hoffmann, Florian: Die Neue Welt. Meine Expeditionen zu den aufregendsten Orten und Menschen, die bereits in der Zukunft angekommen sind
- Honda, Ken: Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace with Your Money
- Kahneman, Daniel: Thinking, Fast and Slow
- Karnazes, Dean: Runner’s High
- Keller, Gary: The One Thing
- Kruecken, Stefan: Unverkäuflich!: Schulabbrecher, Fussballprofi, Weltunternehmer – Die völlig verrückte Geschichte von Bobby Dekeyser
- Precht, Richard David: Künstliche Intelligenz und der Sinn des Lebens. Ein Essay
- Robinson Judy: 1521, Rediscovering the History of the Philippine
- Rudd, Richard: The Art of Contemplation. Gentle path to wholeness and prosperity
- Salinger, J.D.: Catcher in the Rye
- Schnurrenberger, Bernd: Online-Marketing & E-Commerce für KMU. Das ultimative Briefing für Geschäftsleitung und Gründer
- Schwarzenegger Arnold: Be Useful. Seven Tools for Life
- Stahl, Stefanie: Das Kind in dir muss Heimat finden. Der Schlüssel zur Lösung (fast) aller Probleme
- Strelecky, John: The Big 5 for Life
- Strelecky, John: The Café on the Edge of the World
- Subi, Sabry: Sell Like Crazy
- Tolle, Eckhart: A New Earth. Create A Better Life
- Tracy, Brian: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life. How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement (audio)
- Voss, Chris: Never Split the Difference
- Ziglar, Zig: Born to Win (audio).
42 books in 2024
Amongst the books that I am going to read this year (actually, some of them I had started to read in 2023 already) are
- Bergreen Laurence: Over the Edge of the World
- Erikson, Thomas: Surrounded by Idiots. The Four Types of Human Behavior and How to Effectively Communicate with Each in Business (and in Life)
- Feldman, Deborah: Unorthodox
- Grant, Adam: Originals
- Hyatt, Michael: Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals
- Murray, Douglas: The Strange Death of Europe
- Sharma, Robin: The Monk who sold his Ferrari
- Strelecky, John: The Big 5 for Life Continued. Exciting Times
- Wetzlmaier, Marina: Die Linke auf den Philippinen
- Yunus, Muhammad: Building Social Business. The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity’s Most Pressing Needs.
In case you have a good suggestion for me, then please do not hesitate and write a comment, and I will happily add the title to my list after reviewing it;)