Books

*contains unpaid publicity

I was never a reader when I was a child – it seems strange considering that I was the child that “normally” should have read a lot (very good grades at school, lots of knowledge, etc.) Many of my teachers, relatives, and friends thought I was a reader and were shocked to find out I wasn’t.

I just couldn’t read any books because they seemed boring to me - especially the books we read at school (with some exceptions). The problem was, that I was reading the wrong kind of books. I lately saw an interview with Isabel Allende (a Chilean writer) about why we should give children books that they are interested in and not force them to read books they are not interested in. She said that children can only learn to love reading when they are interested in books. If we only give books to children they aren’t interested in, they will associate reading with something boring (as I did). I am a person who loves to learn new things, that’s why I don’t like most novels or fantasy stories (unless they have a philosophical background). But at school, these were the kind of books I had to read, and at home, these were the kind of books my parents would buy for me.

What I always loved instead were non-fiction books about EVERYTHING: geography, biology, cultures, history, and physics. I would “read” books about the Universe, Ancient Egypt, different cultures, animals, etc. But I didn’t consider these books as “books” but instead as a means to learn something new. When I found out my problem wasn’t the reading itself but the kind of books, I was reading, I finally understood everything. Nowadays I LOVE reading books about any topic. So here are some of my recommendations:

YouTube Video: 5 books to read in 2021 (in English, Spanish, German, French and Portuguese)