Last year, a friend of mine suggested that I should have a “Book Collection” in my blog, and I wasn’t very keen and kinda pushed back immediately hahaha I can be very direct sometimes!
Part of the reason is that… I didn’t see the need to do it. Also, books to me are quite private and I am just too lazy to write proper reviews.
But slowly, I started to come around to the idea as there were a few books I LOVE a lot that I wanted to share with people too. But more than that, writing about them became a way for me to reflect and the more I did it, the more it became a habit. So, it went from reading a book, finishing it, putting it back on the shelf to reading a book, feeling something, writing a quick recommendation, and continuing reading.
This blog includes almost all the books I currently have – unfiltered. None of them are e-books – maybe I can list my e-books one day, just not today 😌
You will find some of them a bit controversial because I read from everyone – sometimes it’s very interesting to read about things that challenge or even contradict my own beliefs. Because to me, the best way to understand people (including people whose ideas I disagree with) is to get inside how they think.
So, welcome to my current book collection!
P.s. I read simultaneously which means I can read 2-3 books (or more) at the same time. And most of the time, I don’t have to finish the whole book before starting another. Sometimes, if I hit something interesting, I stop and just sit with it – so obviously, some books below I only read a few pages but they do have long lasting impact on me. Reading should be fun and should never be about completion 😉
I read these for fun and fun is so important, so it has to be right on top!
When I want to slow down, challenge myself and contemplate life, I read these
I love reading memoirs or similar… a lot!
True stories, real people
Very close to memoirs for some but I love to list them separately because these bring out a different feeling in me… a mix of sadness, awe, and tears of happiness!
Business books? (I guess so, but can be much more than that!!!) and everything related
I personally think business, at the end of the day, is mainly about finding solutions to meaningful problems. To do that well, we learn how to interact with people more effectively by first understanding their emotions, needs, and stories.
The world – popular opinions, controversial ideas, how we connect, the brain, the mind and everything in between
This is probably the most interesting section of my collection. What I have learned from reading these books is that I don’t have to believe everything immediately. Ideas can be true and not true at the same time, depending on perspective, context, and the questions we ask. That’s why staying curious is so important.
As Amanda Gorman said “Read everything three times” – the first time is for fun, the second time is to learn what the book, author, or writer can teach us, and the third time is to think about what we would improve if we had written it ourselves.
This is the section where I usually read three times. 😉
Communications, Public Speaking, Presentations – well, my profession 🙂
Challenging and unexpectedly good!
Linguistics, psychology and similar
This is where I question my own thinking and do a lot of inner work. I also include linguistics-related books here, because I have found that language can shape the way we think, feel, and behave.
Books I have read many many times and will continue doing so
Let’s get rich!
Books I was given
Look at the books people give you, and you will understand a little more about how they see you. 😉 More importantly, you also get a small glimpse into their soul. People rarely gift books they don’t like, so this section feels like a little window into what matters to my people.
Poetry
This year I have found myself particularly interested in poetry!
Relationships
People say everything can be improved by learning and practicing! So here I am reading books about how to relationship better hahaha
I guess every collection has a section called ‘miscellaneous’
Books I bought at airports, random bookstores, books I picked up because of interesting titles or beautiful covers, books I forgot to return to my ex or friends, books I found in zu verschenken boxes, books I gave to my partner that somehow ended up back at my place 😏, and books I don’t even remember where, when, or why I got them. 🫣
And YOU, what do you normally read and what are you reading? Would you like to share your book collection?
If you are looking for a quick review of one of these books, you can find it in my Book I recommend archives 🤓
Save the best for last, so of course the best part is that I wrote a book. I finished the editing in February 2026 and was quite happy with it. I have even sent it to some friends and people whose feedback I value. However, I am not adding it to the collection yet because the past few months with several events that happened, which changed the way to look at life, not entirely but yeaah they changed me. So, I have decided that I will rewrite my book and add these lessons I learned to it. If you are interested in reading some of the early / raw chapters of my Choose Yourself book, you can find them here. Hmmm I might even change the title but let’s see. I can be very spontaneous 🤯