Library

I’ve seen this book before and was immediately intrigued, but I had other books in the queue at the time so I did not buy it. However, on another occasion, I saw it in Oxfam for £3 and thought I should not miss this value. I still did not start it but put away in the queue.
Until I could no longer resist its calling. I wish I could have started on 1st of January as the book does, but started in March, still following its daily structure.
One short quote a day, and its interpretation from the author, that’s how start my day now.
This book has already changed my life, and continues to do so…

I’m behind the current issue now by a full month. Given up on trying to keep up. Too much to read, not enough time.

It is the perfect complementary read for my science studies, and highly stimulative for the mind and imagination, and good for keeping up with current scientific developments and news.

DK is one of my favourite publisher. I love their non-dry approach.
It is another complementary read for my science studies.
With each element, I write down all the questions that arise, then later I search for the answers.
Fascinating stuff.

One of the latest purchases, and instead of putting it away to the queue, I started reading it, and got hooked. Relatable, inspirational, educational and very interesting. The big size, the paper quality and the subject makes it a unique experience to study from it.

For financial studies and practice…

I love and respect Buddhism, and the same goes for Monk life (the stress of regular worker’s London life might amplify your need to seek out these oasis of tranquillity I guess 🙂 ). So the chance for this book to come home with me in the beginning of April 2026 when I saw it in Oxfam was high. One chapter per night before sleep ensured I finished it within 2 months.
I probably would not do the monk life, but this was the perfect insight into their daily life. Not just that, but into his thought process, struggles, wisdom gained, and all sorts of other interesting things. It further shaped my psyche and moral, for the better.
Very sad what happened to him. May you rest in peace.

Another one from Oxfam from end of 2025. I never thought I would read a book (and ENJOY) on how countries approach their education policies, what are their effects, why and how some countries produce the top learners etc. Super insightful, interesting, and motivational to learn!
One of my favourite bit of insight was how Finland has a welfare team in schools which discusses each student weekly, and if a student starts to fall behind, the team steps in to investigate if there is any issue at home or if something is bothering the student that causes the falling behind. I wish more countries would care this much..
On the other hand; Singapore’s dark side of high-stakes education was a bit of a shocker.. Hopefully that changed for the better, since this book came out almost a decade ago.

It was gifted to me for my liking for the Middle Ages and monastery life. I never knew it was a famous and big impact book, so it was also a catch-up. (We study different books in Hungary).
I really enjoyed it, but it was fairly difficult sometimes, English being my second language. The side effect of this book was that it made me open my eyes really hard on the 7 sins (even though the book isn’t about it and barely touches the subject), and how true that all of us carry them in some form and intensity. It ingrained in me to look at behaviours of individuals and the world through the filters of the 7 sins. Even if we are not religious, if we just try to turn down our sins a notch, the world would be a better place.

This book probably had the biggest impact on my life so far. Unbeknownst, spotted it in Oxfam last year sometime for how tiny it is and thought I’d get it for the pound they asked for it. All I knew about him at the time is that he was some big figure in America, so I thought I’d learn something about him. Oh boy he became a role model of mine since. It didn’t even occur to me that the title actually sets out to teach just what it says. It was fascinating peeking into this man’s early life and how he discovered self-improvement by himself (very relatable btw), but he also worked out a brilliant system for it, which I now implemented and follow.

Fairly recent purchase from out of the ~6 books I got from Foyles a few months ago. The reason in choosing this was to find out more about this mental disorder in order to better assess whether a family member has it. Never heard of the “A very short introduction” series, and I was pleasantly surprised how thorough it is, and packs almost 200 pages in an almost pocket size book. You can read my blog post on Richard Dadd, a famous Victorian era painter who I discovered in this book, coincidentally.

My introduction to haiku a few years ago, along with an epic travelogue through part of Japan. I love this kind of concepts: freedom, creativity, spiritual growth, adventure, exploration, harmony.