Hello everyone, in the previous topic we had suggested you the Top 7 movies to improve your English. Today we are going to suggest you the Top 5 Best Books to Sharp Your Mind.

We are a bibliophilic person. Yes, you heard it right. We love to read books. To be honest, books have completely changed our life, our mindset, and our knowledge. It helped us grow mentally, emotionally, and psychologically.

Here we are going to share with you some of the best books that have sharpened our minds.

Top 5 Best Books To Sharp Your Mind

1. Think Like a Freak: Secrets of the Rogue Economist

Publisher – Penguin

Author- Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

If you want to buy this book you can click on the Buy Now button.

Synopsis

The New York Times bestselling Freakeconomics changed the way we see the world, exposing the hidden side of just about everything. Levitt and Dubner have gathered up what they have learned and turned it into a readable and practical toolkit for thinking differently thinking, that is, like a Freak.

Whether we are interested in the best way to improve our odds in penalty kicks, or in major global reforms, here is a blueprint for an entirely new way to solve problems.

Some of the steps toward thinking like a Freak-

1. First, put away your moral compass– because it’s hard to see a problem clearly if you’ve already decided what to do about it.
2. Learn to say “I don’t know”– for until you can admit what you don’t yet know, it’s virtually impossible to learn what you need to.
3. Think like a child– because you’ll come up with better ideas and ask better questions.
4. Take a master class in incentives– because for better or worse, incentives rule our world.
5. Learn to persuade people who don’t want to be persuaded– because being right is rarely enough to carry the day.
6. Learn to appreciate the upside of quitting– because you can’t solve tomorrow’s problem if you aren’t willing to abandon today’s dud.

Levitt and Dubner see the world like no one else. Now we can too. Never before have such iconoclastic thinkers been so revealing – and so much fun to read.

Contents

• What does it mean to think like a freak?
• The three hardest words in the English language
• What’s your problem?
• Like a bad dye job, the truth is in the roots
• Think like a child
• Like giving candy to a baby
• What do King Solomon and David Lee Roth have in common?
• How to persuade people who don’t want to be persuaded
• The upside of quitting.

Grooming Urban Personal Review

This is one of those few books which in fact show what goes on in the brains of geniuses (or as it is termed in the book a freak). It is a simple but quite effective tactic that anyone can use. A must-read for anyone interested in how to look at the world with various layers of perspective. We will give it 5 out of 5.

Favorite quotes from this book– “The key to learning is feedback. It is nearly impossible to learn anything without it.”

2. Curious: The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends On It.

Publisher- Basic Books

Author- Ian Leslie

If you want to buy this book you can click on the Buy Now button.

Synopsis

A fun yet provocative look at the importance of staying curious in an increasingly indifferent world.

“I have no special talents,” said Albert Einstein. “I am only passionately curious.” Everyone is born curious. But only some retain the habits of exploring, learning, and discovering as they grow older. Those who do so tend to be smarter, more creative, and more successful.

But at the very moment when the curiosity has never been higher, it is misunderstood and undervalued, and increasingly monopolized by the cognitive elite. In Curious, Ian Leslie makes a passionate case for the cultivation of our “desire to know.”

Drawing on fascinating research from psychology, economics, education, and business, Curious looks at what feeds curiosity and what starves it, and finds surprising answers. Curiosity isn’t, as we’re encouraged to think, a gift that keeps on giving.

It is a mental muscle that atrophies without regular exercise and a habit that parents, schools, and workplaces need to nurture. Curious will change the way you think about your own mental life and that of those around you.

Contents

• Introduction: The Fourth Drive

Part1.  How Curiosity Works

• Three Journeys
• How Curiosity Begins
• Puzzles and Mysteries

Part2. The Curiosity Divide

• Three Ages of Curiosity
• The Curiosity Dividend
• The Power of Questions
• The Importance of Knowing

Part3. Staying Curious, Seven Ways to Stay Curious

• Stay Foolish
• Build the Database
• Forage Like a Foxhog
• Ask the Big Why
• Be a Thinkerer
• Question Your Teaspoons
• Turn Puzzles into Mysteries

Afterword: Bjarni

Acknowledgments

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Grooming Urban Personal Review

The author makes an interesting case for being curious, how to cultivate and sustain it, and discusses at length the perils of not being curious. With interesting case studies, the book traverses multiple subjects: human behavior/learning / Economics and Social Anthropology and packs it into a nifty book on how to stay curious and how being curious gives us an edge in life. He concludes that being curious is an acquired skill and continues to be practiced so that it doesn’t ossify.

He also compellingly argues that the current world of smartphones and Google might kill the need to be curious as we get satiated with instant answers without the need to persevere, do research and arrive at answers to the various why’s and how’s of life. We must say it is a very readable book. We will give it 4.2 out of 5.

Favorite quotes from this book– “Whoever you are and whatever start you get in life, knowing stuff makes the world more abundant with possibilities and gleams of light more likely to illuminate the darkness. It opens the universe a little.”

3. The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance and Empower the Mind.

Publisher – Doubleday; 1st Edition

Author- Michio Kaku

If you want to buy this book you can click on the Buy Now button.

Synopsis

What kind of technologies and advancements would we feel comfortable with when it comes to our brain? Just think about what kind of technologies we would happily adopt. For instance, would we happily accept intelligence-boosting gene therapy or would we worry about it changing “who we are”? Or would we accept electrodes to be surgically inserted into our brain if it meant we could directly experience the memories and emotions of our friends and loved ones?

So, here is the question of our answer because The New York Times best-selling author of Physics of the Impossible, Physics of the Future and Hyperspace tackles the most fascinating and complex object in the known universe- the human brain.

For the first time in history, the secrets of the living brain are being revealed by a battery of high-tech brain scans devised by physicists. Now what was once solely the province of science fiction has become a startling reality. Recording memories, telepathy, videotaping our dreams, mind control, avatars, and telekinesis are not only possible; they already exist.

The Future of the Mind gives us an authoritative and compelling look at the astonishing research being done in top laboratories around the world-all based on the latest advancements in neuroscience and physics.

One day we might have a “smart pill” that can enhance our cognition; be able to upload our brain to a computer, neuron for neuron; send thoughts and emotions around the world on a “brain-net”; control computers and robots with our mind; push the very limits of immortality, and perhaps even send our consciousness across the universe.

With Dr. Kaku’s deep understanding of modern science and a keen eye for future developments, The Future of the Mind is a scientific tour de force–an extraordinary, mind-boggling exploration of the frontiers of neuroscience.

Contents

1. The Mind and Consciousness

• Unlocking the mind
• Consciousness: a physicist’s viewpoint

2. Mind Over Matter

• Telepathy: a penny for your thoughts
• Telekinesis: mind-controlling matter
• Memories and thoughts made to order
• Einstein’s brain and enhancing our intelligence

3. Altered Consciousness

• In your dreams
• Can the mind be controlled
• Altered states of consciousness
• The artificial mind and silicon consciousness
• Reverse engineering the brain
• The future: mind beyond matter
• The mind as pure energy
• The alien mind
• Concluding remarks Quantum consciousness?

Grooming Urban Personal Review

Dr. Michio Kaku’s Future of the Mind starts off with a little bit of history and some basics of the brain and some methods used over the years to gain a better understanding of it, he then goes into consciousness and describes a theory that is very intriguing.

The third level of consciousness deals with the evolution of the prefrontal cortex, how that integrates with the amygdala, the nucleus accumbens, the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the hippocampus, and other regions of the brain to allow us to take memories from the past to predict and plan for the future, as well as have a sense of self-awareness.

He weaves in capabilities and advancements within this compelling book and even shows where we’re currently at, going, and even where we could go all while obeying the existing laws of physics.

This book is just phenomenal because an astonishing amount of information is crammed into the confines of its 377 pages. Kaku’s presentation is effortless and very accessible, as one of his numerous youtube videos.

We just cannot help getting infected with his enthusiasm about the science he presents – the science which sheds new light on deemed-esoteric-forever concepts like telepathy, telekinesis, and mind-reading and that which is on the cusp of performing tasks like memory implants, memory recording, dream videotaping, mental espionage, and numerous others.

He not only describes the ways scientists design and does these experiments, but also dexterously points to precursors in sci-fi books and movies. The concepts behind at least 25-30 movies were explained in considerable detail, which for a not-so-avid movie watcher like us felt like a bonanza.

Another wonderful aspect of the book is how he theorizes and weighs the numerous ethical issues that should creep up once such brain tinkering is perfected and become common practice. A highly informative and feel-good book, one should go for this. We will give this book 5 out of 5.

Favorite quotes from this book– “The brain weighs only three pounds, yet it is the most complex object in the solar system.”

4. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change.

Publisher – RHUK

Author- Charles Duhigg

If you want to buy this book you can click on the Buy Now button.

Synopsis

In the Power of Habit, award-winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed.

With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg brings to life a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation.

Why can some people and companies change overnight, and some stay stuck in their old ruts? The answer lies deep in the human brain, and The Power of Habits reveals the secret pressure points that can change a life.

From Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps to Martin Luther King Jr., from the CEO of Starbucks to the locker rooms of the NFL, Duhigg explores the incredible results of keystone habits, and how they can make all the difference between billions and millions, failure and success – or even life and death.

At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary companies and social movements, and achieving success are understanding how habits work.

Habits aren’t destiny. As Charles Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.

Contents

• Prologue: The habit cure

Part. 1: The habits of individuals

• The habit loop: how habits work
• The craving brain: how to create new habits
• The golden rule of habit changes: why transformation occurs

Part. 2: The habits of successful organizations

• Keystone habits
• Or The Ballad of Paul O’Neill: which habits matter most
• Starbucks and the habit of success: when willpower becomes automatic
• The power of a crisis: how leaders create habits through accident and design
• How Target knows what you want before you do: when companies predict (and manipulate) habits

Part. 3: The habits of societies

• Saddleback Church and the Montgomery Bus Boycott: how movements happen
• The neurology of free will: are we responsible for our habits?

Grooming Urban Personal Review

Habits, both good and bad, govern our life. But it’s very difficult for us to start a new one or break a bad one. If we are more aware of why and how habits are formed, then we’ll be able to control them. That’s exactly what “The Power of Habit” tries to accomplish.

This well-researched book consults academic studies, interviews with many scientists and executives, and research conducted at various companies. We had heard some lessons from this book by watching a few YouTube videos, but reading it was such a fun experience.

One of the most useful takeaways from this book is that habits are powerful but also delicate. They can be formed outside our consciousness or with our intention. They can form without our permission but can be reshaped by us. Old habits never disappear, but we can change them by altering the cues and rewards.

This book isn’t a detailed guide on how to form habits but focuses more on the research aspects and the nitty-gritty of habits, right from how to form them and factors that influence them. We highly enjoyed reading about the habits of organization and societies as it was something new to us. We will give it 4.1 out of 5.

Favorite quotes from this book– “The Golden Rule of Habit Change: You can’t extinguish a bad habit, you can only change it.”

5. Moonwalking with Einstein- The Art and Science of Remembering Everything.

Publisher-Penguin Group

Author- Joshua Foer

If you want to buy this book you can click on the Buy Now button.

Synopsis

An instant bestseller that is poised to become a classic, Moonwalking with Einstein recounts Joshua Foer’s yearlong quest to improve his memory under the tutelage of top “mental athletes.” He draws on cutting-edge research, surprising cultural history of remembering, and venerable tricks of the mentalist’s trade to transform our understanding of human memory.

From the United States Memory Championship to deep within the author’s own mind, this is an electrifying work of journalism that reminds us that, in every way that matters, we are the sum of our memories.

Contents

• The smartest man is hard to find
• The man who remembered too much
• The most forgetful man in the world
• The expert expert
• The memory palace
• How to memorize a poem
• The end of remembering
• The ok plateau
• The talented tenth
• The little rain man in all of us
• The US memory championships

Grooming Urban Personal Review

Ignore the ridiculous title. Forget the hideous book cover. This is a fun and interesting read once you get past those stumbling blocks. Joshua Foer was a journalist who wrote a story on the U.S. Memory Championship, and he became so intrigued by the chance to improve his memory that he spent a year training to become a “mental athlete.”

The book covers his year spent learning about mnemonics and memory palaces and all of the memorable characters he met along the way. Our favorite sections covered the history of memorization — it goes back to the ancient Greeks when Socrates famously complained that writing destroys memory — and some inspiring passages on how to make your life seem more full: “Monotony collapses time; novelty unfolds it.

You can exercise daily and eat healthily and live a long life while experiencing a short one. If you spend your life sitting in a cubicle and passing papers, one day is bound to blend unmemorable into the next — and disappear.

That’s why it’s important to change routines regularly, and take vacations to exotic locales, and have as many new experiences as possible that can anchor our memories. Creating new memories stretches out psychological time, and lengthens our perception of our lives.”

The last chapter and the epilogue cover the memory championships in which Foer competed, but the outcome of those events really doesn’t matter. By then, it was clear that the purpose of a good memory isn’t just for party tricks like memorizing a deck of cards; more importantly, it teaches us to become more mindful in our life. We will give it 3.8 out of 5.

Favorite quotes from the book– “The more we remember, the better we are at processing the world. And the better we are at processing the world, the more we can remember about it.”

So, that is all for today guys see you in our next blog. If you like our article please doesn’t forget to share with others & follow our Instagram page for your daily dose of Motivation.

Thank You,

Regards

Grooming Urban

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