How to keep house while drowning by KC Davis: how it’s not morally wrong to have a messy living space, and how to keep it livable even when you feel like you’re overwhelmed.
I have ADHD and depression, this book was pivotal in helping me get out of the stereotypical “depression apartment” situation.
How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie
Old Dale sets out in the 1920s to find a book about how to get along with people and gain confidence. What’s the secret sauce? He travels to many universities, corresponds with professors and other learned men, all to find there is no such book of wisdom! So he wrote one.
First off, it’s not some step-by-step textbook. The author himself says you can open it to any given chapter and have a read. True! Most of it is Carnegie telling short stories of his experiences and what he learned about people. Couple of examples that stick with me:
He finds himself at a dinner party where the host will not, cannot STFU. The man goes on and on so Carnegie listens politely and hardly says a word. By the end of the evening the host is walking him out telling him what a great orator and conversationalist he is!
In another story a man is terribly afraid of some near-future event, I think he fears losing his job? Carnegie walks him through his fears always asking him to imagine the worst outcome and then asking if he could live with it, not die. The answer is always yes.
It’s long been in the public domain.
It’s a good read (or listen if you’re into audiobooks) but it’s also easy to find the main points summarized.
“Discover What You’re Best At” by Linda Gail.
I found this book when I was out of work due to an injury. You can do the self tests in half a day, and the jobs they suggest go from entry level to college graduate. When you can get up on a rainy Monday morning and feel okay about going to work you’ve solved most of life’s problems.
At what are you best? I usually got stuff like lumberjack or garbage man on aptitude tests at school.
There are six self tests in the book. Things like math, mechanical problems, leadership, etc.
A product demonstrator, a nurse, and a hair stylist all need good dexterity and good people skills. Three totally different jobs with similar skill sets.
Hacking: The Art of Exploitation 978-1593271442
This book helps teach you programming and understanding systems at a low level. While trying to be entertaining and provides a liveCD to experiment with.
First thing I’d ever seen on the darknet was this bad boy. (Not that it was a terribly efficient way to get an epub.)
Such a bottom-up book. Almost gave up back then, thinking I wouldn’t be able to handle assembly, but then what would the point of reading about the hacker mindset be?
Arch Linux Installation Guide = How to take back control over our own computing, plus some extra tech skills, useful irrespective of your occupation or hobbies. I would suggest doing it a second device, like when already buying a new computer, so your stuff stays safe on the old one.
