As it’s World Book Day and kids all over the place are getting excited and dressing up as their favourite characters, I thought it’d be the perfect time to go through a few of my favourites.

I’ve never been able to pick just one book (trust me I’ve tried!). It’s just about been narrowed down to 8, and it’s a massively varied mix! So here goes, in no particular order:

1. Grinding it Out: The Making of McDonalds – Ray Kroc

Everyone knows McDonalds, but I bet not everyone knows that McDonald’s wasn’t made into the multi-billion dollar company it is now by the MacDonald brothers, it was Ray Kroc. I love this one because it’s told almost like a novel. It’s such an easy read and takes you on a journey, from the beginning when Ray was door to door selling milkshake mixers, right through to the McDonald’s we know today.

It goes through all the issues he faced when trying to grow McDonald’s, and how much he fought for the company he knew it could be. It even tells you about how they looked for new items to diversify the menu (and what didn’t make it!). I can’t put this one down whenever I pick it up!

This has also been made into a film; The Founder is on Amazon Prime if that’s more your cup of tea!

2. The Exorcist – William Peter Blatty

Probably the odd one out of them all, but this will always be in the top 5 for me! It has a lot of sentimental value weirdly, as it was passed down from my Auntie (I just wish she’d passed down the poster she had when she was a teenager that was actually banned by a lot of authorities at the time!).

The story of the young girl who turns out to be possessed by a demon. It was known for being the most chilling novel of its time, the way Blatty describes each scene creates such a visual in your mind, it’s enough to send you to sleep with nightmares. It’s absolutely one of a kind, if you don’t mind a little terror then this one is a must-read from me!

3. Harry Potter: All of them – J K Rowling

This collection obviously needs no explanation. I’ve just started reading The Philosopher’s Stone again for the umpteenth time (remember the first release when you had to try and work out how to pronounce Hermoine’s name in your head before the movies!) I’ve also had to beg, borrow and steal the whole collection this time round because I’ve somehow misplaced mine, oops! But really, who wouldn’t want to be drawn into a world full of Witches & Wizards over and over again?!

4. Start With Why – Simon Sinek

If you haven’t seen any of Simon’s Ted Talks, then you need to head to YouTube right now and check them out! He’s completely open and frank about how he sees the future of business & people; and it is inspiring.

Start with Why was his first book, and it is well up there on my list because everything resonates. To really achieve what you want and life the life you want to live, you need to know WHY. For some people this is easy but for me it was one of the hardest questions to answer. He talks through why it’s so crucial to know your WHY, how to find it, and has plenty of case studies to show it in practice which are of incredible companies. ‘People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.’

5. The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom

So what happens when you die? In Mitch Albom’s novel, Eddie comes across 5 people that appeared and had a profound impact at some point in his life. The simplicity of this book is absolute genius. It shows you just how much you can impact others’ lives daily without you even knowing. It’s inspirational, heart-warming and tear-jerking all the way though. I highly rate all his novels but this one is my favourite out of them all!

6. The Alchemist – Paulo Coehlo

One of my all-time favourites because it doesn’t matter how many times I read this book, every time I find something new.

This one’s a fable about a boy who’s a shepherd, meets a king and has a destiny to find treasure amongst the pyramids but not everything turns out as expected on his travels. It’s 100% stood the test of time, a tale of faith, trust and and is definitely a ‘go to’ when I need some clarity or a new perspective on my life.

7. Money – Rob Moore

Back to business. Rob Moore is one of my favourite non-fiction authors (he also is the author of my absolute favourite podcast. Check out The Disruptive Entrepreneur for some of the best content around!).

A lot of people still feel like money’s a bit of a taboo subject, but if you take on Rob’s messages throughout this book that will all change. It’s 100% what they don’t teach you in school; this book is gold! It’s one I’ll keep coming back to for years.

8. 12 Rules For Life –Jordan B Peterson

Jordan Peterson is one of the most famous psychologists, and authors. I’d been recommended this book numerous times but it took me a while to get round to this one. I don’t know why because as soon as I started it the value was there! 12 Rules that aren’t going to be a shock to the system, but that you do need reminding of from time to time; it brings you back to think about what type of person you are/want to be and what you can apply to make that happen. It gets mixed reviews sometimes but it will be in my top 10 for a long time to come!

It’s well worth checking out his interviews with Joe Rogan too (YouTube; The Joe Rogan Experience).

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Ask me again in a month and these might have shuffled around slightly, I’m always in the middle of minimum 3 books at once! I know this one also wasn’t printing related, but hey ho! There is lots going on at Iris HQ which we’ll go into but if you can’t write about what takes your fancy every now and again, where’s the fun?!

I’d love to hear what other people think of the one’s in my list too, please let me know. And if there are any suggestions that need to be added to my current reading list! 🙂

Amelia x
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