James Clear is an American writer and speaker. He's the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits, which has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. If you haven't read it, seriously, have you been living under a rock?!

Not only is he an author, he writes one of the most popular newsletters in the world called 3–2–1, which is sent to more than 3 million people every Thursday.

I'm a huge fan of James' work, and in this article I'll be sharing just a few of the many books he's recommended in the past. I loved reading all these books and hopefully you will too!

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Meditations is the only book I own which has a permanent place on my bedside table. In my opinion, it could very well be the greatest books ever written.

Written by former most powerful person on the planet, Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher, Marcus Aurelius, Meditations is a collection of Marcus' personal thoughts and notes on life. In other words, Meditations is Marcus' journal. He would probably be mortified if he knew it was published for everyone to read!

If someone is wanting to be pointed towards a book that will genuinely change their life, the first book I'd hand them is Meditations. No doubt about it.

Meditations has helped me to live an exponentially happier, more fulfilling, virtuous life and I'm pretty sure it'll do the same for you too!

Here are a few quotes from Meditations…

• "It's silly to try to escape other people's faults. They are inescapable. Just try to escape your own."
• "You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think."
• "You could be good today. But instead you choose tomorrow."

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird is a modern-day literature classic and is considered to be one of the best novels ever written.

Written by author Harper Lee, in To Kill a Mockingbird we follow the lives of a young girl, Scout Finch, her elder brother Jem and their lawyer father, Atticus, who defends a black man wrongly accused of raping a white girl.

The books takes us deep into the routes of human behaviour brutality, affection, innocence and love. To Kill a Mockingbird deservedly holds it's place as an all-time classic, it's incredible!

To Kill a Mockingbird had been on my enormous reading list for a long, long time, but I've only just got round to reading it earlier on this year and I'm kicking myself for not reading it sooner!

It definetly won't be the last time I read it, that's for sure!

Here are a few quotes from To Kill a Mockingbird…

• "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."
• "Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts."
• "Atticus, he was real nice." "Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them."

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

Darren Hardy is an American keynote speaker and New York Times best-selling author of two books: The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster and of course, The Compound Effect.

In the compound effect Hardy outlines a wide set of principles which can help guide us towards relationship, business and financial success.

Unlike a lot of self-improvement books that promise to deliver the world i.e. become a millionaire over night, achieve the body of your dreams etc The Compound Effect teaches us the huge importance of hard work over a long period of time, to forget that overnight success exists, and be patient with the process.

If I remember rightly, The Compound Effect was either the second or third book I ever bought on Audible several years ago, and even today, I think the books has had a positive, long lasting effect on my life.

I'll have to revisit it again sometime!

Here are a few quotes from The Compound Effect…

• "You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine."
• "You alone are responsible for what you do, don't do, or how you respond to what's done to you."
• "In essence, you make your choices, and then your choices make you."

Happy reading,

See you next time,

Yours sincerely,

Tom

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