Books that have inspired me lately ♡

I was thinking about doing another travel diary for this week’s post, but then realised that travel diaries are all that I have been doing for the most part in the past few months. While I loveee sharing all my travels with you guys, there is so much more going on in my life that I would love to share with you here as well 🙂 So today, I decided that I would do a post on the books that I have been absolutely loving and that have inspired me lately. ♡ 

It wasn’t until my University days that I realised leisure reading is a total luxury when you are super busy, and that setting time aside to read a book (that is completed unrelated to your work/ studies) is not something which can be done all the time. When I moved to the flat I am living in now one year ago, I was suddenly so much further away from the city centre, and commuting became an essential part of my life (that is – no more walking across the street like I used to do when I was living in a University hall). While that meant my journey to school was not as convenient as it used to be, I also happened to have developed a new habit – having my ‘me-time’ while commuting. 

Whether that be listening to a new album, reading a new book, or even reading the newspaper that a fellow commuter left on the empty seat beside me, having to commute means that I suddenly have so much more ‘me-time’ to do the things I otherwise would not have set aside extra time for when I am at home. My journey to school is 40 minutes long; since I will be spending at least 80 minutes on a moving train every single day whether I like it or not, I thought I might as well make those 80 minutes time of my own.

A couple of weeks ago, I finished reading Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin, a book about forming habits and breaking bad ones. It was an incredibly inspiring read and I found myself constantly talking about it to my friends, the biggest victim being my boyfriend who basically had to listen to my never-ending thoughts on the links between personality and habit formation (whoops! hehe). Long story short, not only had this book made me realise that different people form habits in different ways, it also explained how some fundamental habits can help almost all other habits form and last – i.e. having enough sleep, eating well, decluttering etc. The author is of the view that when you form a certain fundamental habit – e.g. when you get enough sleep, it is much easier for other habits – such as to exercise regularly to be formed (because sleep gives you the energy to exercise!)

All in all, this was an excellent read which I would recommend to anyone 🙂 Now onto the next!

I picked up #Girlboss by Nasty Gal’s founder Sophia Amoruso over the Summer when it was very hyped up in the blogging community. It was what everyone was reading (or at least – using as decor on their coffee tables) so when I saw it on sale, I decided to pick it up as well. I did not expect much from the book to start off with because I thought it was just another trendy read, but I was so wrong! I got sucked into the book from the first few pages and absolutely could not put it down.

This book is an autobiography by Sophia Amoruso, in which she shared how she turned her eBay clothing store into a multi-million dollar business in 10 years’ time. Sophia described her turbulent childhood, from dropping out of community college and shoplifting for a living, to finding her passion in vintage clothing and selling them on eBay, which ultimately led her to setting up Nasty Gal which is now worth millions of dollars. Sophia shares her work ethics throughout the book, including what is it that makes her business different from those of others, her views on money and spending (this is my FAVOURITE chapter from the book – *spoiler alert* – Nasty Gal had never taken a single loan before and at one point had one million dollars in cash in its bank account – if this is not inspiring for any start-up business I don’t know what it!), etc. and it was overall a very inspiring and entertaining read, with a lot of humour and a little bit of profanity involved 😛

The last book that inspired me lately happens to be Niomi Smart’s new cookbook Eat Smart! I had pre-ordered this cookbook before it went on shelves (mainly because I am a big fan of Niomi Smart and her healthy recipes on YouYube) and when this book finally arrived on my doorsteps, I was SO excited! I have been eating healthy for the past 2 years and love trying out healthy recipes whenever I am at home. Needless to say, I have been making the recipes from this cookbook non-stop! All the recipes in this cookbook are plant-based (or vegan, as one might say), but you can easily adapt them into healthy meat dishes. Here are some photos of the recipes that I have made from this book 🙂 From banana bread to coconut pancakes to acai bowls, everything was super delicious and I will definitely be trying out more lunch and dinner recipes from the book soon <3

Follow my Instagram for more healthy food creations! ♡

And that is it for the books that have inspired me lately 🙂 I am slowly making more time for leisure reading so please leave recommendations for some of your favourite books down below 🙂 I have a few more books on my shelf that is up next on my to-read list but I am definitely thinking about getting a copy of the Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, since I enjoyed Better Than Before so much!

I will be back with my travel diaries soon (I have another trip coming up in one week’s time and I am SUPER excited about this one! So… lots of travel diaries to catch up on <3). In the meantime, have a wonderful week everyone! ♡

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