At Ready for People we love Sant Jordi. During 2020 and this beginning of 2021, books have been a very important companion in many moments and have helped us to escape, to travel when we couldn't and to keep growing. That's why we want to celebrate this day in a special way!
To do so, we have asked different people from the community to tell us which book has impacted them or allowed them to grow at any level and why. Ready for People community to tell us which book has impacted them or allowed them to grow at any level and why. Thus, we have created an inspirational reading list with which to celebrate Sant Jordi.
Ready to Read? you'll find lots of ideas below!
Momo, by Michael Ende: a reflection book for children and adults about what is really important: your time makes you who you are, don't let them steal it from you. Enjoy it as much as you can!
The 4 laws of opportunities, by Manel Reyes: one of the books that made me think more about my daily actions and habits. A very quick and agile book to read, through which you can identify with many of your daily actions and dare to think in another way to see and manage the opportunities that come your way.
Any book by Haruki Murakami: Murakami shows the complexity of the behaviors and personalities of human beings. Each one of his books will adventure you to discover something new from his unique way of seeing reality, I recommend you to enjoy some of his works!
Our iceberg is melting, by John: I like it for many reasons. It's short and written like a short story, so it's very easy to read and entertaining, not like certain management books where you die on page 50! I love the use of metaphor with the group of penguins: metaphors are very powerful in making us connect and understand the story.
The characters depicted through these animals may look like caricatures, but they are always close to someone you know! You can really identify with them. In addition, there is a commentary on suffering in the face of change, lost or enthusiastic people, doubts or how to motivate the troops. Finally, there is a moral in this story, easy to understand and to apply: the world is a permanent change, more and more and faster and faster. Understanding what is happening and thinking of formulas and tools that can help is always welcome.
The power of being vulnerable (Daring greatly), by Brené Brown: the change of perspective that the author exposes on how vulnerability, far from being a weakness, is a way to measure our courage was at the time an inflection and a radical change in me, both personally and professionally. Yes, Brené Brown! Now it is very clear to me: there is no course or training in which she does not talk about vulnerability as an essential aspect to communicate, lead and live. Her previous books, such as The Gifts of Imperfection, are also highly recommended!
Women Who Run with the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estés: my go-to book par excellence no matter how much time passes. It helps me connect with the most authentic woman in me.
This is a book about women. All of them, in essence, nonconformist, courageous, loyal, cyclical, intuitive. The wild woman, says Clarissa, is like a she-wolf: with a keen perception, playful spirit and a high capacity for affection. Strong and resilient, extremely intuitive and ever-changing, she cares for her own.
Clarissa talks about that wild woman and the need to recover the feminine nature in each one of us as a way to achieve a healthy and meaningful life. And she explains all this through stories: "medicine stories" with an extraordinary power. It is enough to read them (or better to listen to them) to connect with something you already know. For a long time.
Doughnut economy, by Kate Raworth: Kate Raworth is a British economist, professor at Oxford and Cambridge and collaborator of the United Nations. After spending 15 years working in Africa on cooperation and development projects, Raworth launches an interesting reflection: what if the economy, instead of growing, served to prosper?
The "Rosquilla model" proposes a new game board where the healthy and sustainable economy is articulated through respect for people and the environment, the two key concepts to understand and evolve towards a new social and organizational design of which we are all a part.
The Long Journey to an Angry Little Planet, by Becky Chambers: it's a novel. Surely, most people would choose a deep and profound work, but this science fiction novel is the best example of inclusive leadership that I have seen lately. A crew of beings from different planets, species and genders: from Sissix, the reptilian pilot, to Kizzy and Jenks, the ship's engineers, to Lovey, the ship's Artificial Intelligence, plus an alien with a parasite that endows him with strange faculties and another who serves as cook-doctor-therapist of a dying race. If you want to learn about teamwork, inclusion and respect for differences, this novel is an excellent example. It is also funny, surprising and tender.
The Holotropic Mind: The Levels of Human Consciousness, by Stanislav Grof: a book where the worlds of science and spirituality converge. Stanislav Grof is a psychiatrist who decades ago began to investigate the recently discovered LSD and its potential therapeutic effects. Through his research, he discovers and describes the different states of the human mind, beyond the usual two (sleep and wakefulness).
It is a truly revealing book where science comes face to face with scientifically unexplainable mental phenomena. It changed and broadened my understanding of life and the mysteries of existence. It has helped me personally and professionally.
Leading committed teams, by Pep Marí: the key to teams that do not stop growing. It talks about the need to put everything to pull projects forward, and not only on paper or in words, but by taking action, creating more suitable external and internal environments. Short and fast reading book.
In Watermelon Sugar, by Richard Brautigan: Richard Brautigan is able to transport you to a more poetic world: dirty but dreamy, true and, at the same time, surreal. In watermelon sugar he has not only given me some of the funniest moments of the last year: he has shown me that it is possible to write any kind of text with short, simple and direct sentences. Something like this, for those of us who dedicate ourselves to writing, is a constant learning experience and an absolute joy!
Los asquerosos, by Santiago Lorenzo: this book explains how a boy from Madrid is abruptly forced to hide in a remote village. It is a total ode to creativity and the enjoyment that comes with a simple life and the lack of unnecessary stimuli, to the advantages of letting the mind flow and stopping for a moment to rediscover what the priorities of our life are. Ah! It also has a very cynical section dedicated to those people who are supposedly aware of the importance of "enjoying life" when, really, they preach with an example of superficial hedonism that they put into practice in a very poor way and that really borders on the pleasures of life that the protagonist tells us about.
Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott: I read this book for the first time when I was about 12 years old and I remember thinking that when I grew up I wanted to be like Jo, the fearless, feisty and feminist sister. But on rereading it again, a few years later, it became increasingly clear to me that I wanted to be a woman with the dreams and qualities of the 4 sisters together and that awakened my feminist consciousness. As a woman, I can and should be anything I want to be: be a good daughter, sister and friend like Beth, enjoy motherhood like Meg, pursue my professional dreams wherever they take me like Jo and have the ambition to achieve whatever I set my mind to like Amy.
Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari: it is an account of the history of humanity and the future that awaits us, from a very different perspective that made me reflect. What struck me most is how he manages to make us see the difference between humans and the rest of the species. The author explains our ability to cooperate between individuals and, above all, our imagination and capacity for abstraction. This makes us the only species capable of believing in shared stories, which are what move humanity and make us move forward, for the good but also for the bad. The essence of the human being in its pure state.
Thank you very much for participating and sending us your recommendations: happy Sant Jordi's Day to all of you!