Something useful being something that will help me practically, emotionally or give a skill that will apply to real life. Self help, stoicism, books that teach skills, emotional maturity or motivational are all welcome. What’s a skill that is going to be useful to learn? Suggest it. Even if it’s a book on learning language. (I currently study computer science so bonus points for that)
To be clear with an example: learning about Egypt is fun but very very little practical knowledge is derived from it so it doesn’t count. Even if it goes into very detailed instruction about the construction of the pyramids it still wouldn’t count, as it’s not a relevant skill that can be used today.
by KingLordship
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*Mindset* by Caroline Dweck may be useful, depending on what your current mindset is like (though I found it useful even when reviewing it).The book itself isn’t going to all of a sudden teach you how to change your mindset, but it’ll give you the starting point to go and consider and apply the idea to your own life. There was an updated version in 2019.
Maybe a bit out of pocket but
Sexed Up by Julia Serano will teach you about the way society interacts with gender and how you can better yourself, but also how it negatively (and positively) affects your daily life. If you’re a guy it’ll also give you a new perspective into women’s lives.
Wordslut by Amanda Montel is honestly aimed at people who identify as women, and it’s unapologetic about it which can feel a bit aggressive potentially. Regardless it has some great info on linguistics as well as feminism. How language works, grows, adapts, and how we as people feel and react to language.
I think these could be potentially mind expanding books for someone not used to this kind of information, and still interesting to someone with general knowledge. Books about social sciences may not seem like a tangibly useful skill, bit social sciences will give you immediate insight into how people function and how you function, which I’ve always found very useful.
*The Comfort Crisis* –Michael Easter
*Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It* –Chris Voss
*Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes Too Far* –Paul Offit