It’s unsurprising that 100% of Mindstone staff love to read. We have more than our fair share of nerdy, bookish types (and proud of it).
The diversity of reading across the company is much more varied however. Leading up to World Book Day (March 2nd), we're sharing some of our team's recommended reads below.
Stefan Keranov - Co-Founder & Engineer
"A lot of literature focuses on understanding and driving change in institutional and societal systems but I would argue that the built-up world is closely tied to both and has had a perhaps overlooked impact. We perceive it as an ever-being unmoving environment but the rate of change is accelerating on par with other shifts and it’s important to recognise the impact studies like these can have on our surroundings."
Book recommendation:
- Traffic In Towns, Sir Colin Douglas Buchannan
Andrea Saez - Head of Product Marketing
“𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 2021 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 - 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 3 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘉𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 2022, 𝘐 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 30 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 40. 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺! 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺.”
Book recommendations:
- Almond, Sohn Won-Pyung
The story of a monster who isn’t a monster, but rather a child full
of love who doesn’t know how to recognise it. - The Rook, Daniel
O’Malley - Jane Bond meets X-men in the most amazing story of a government secret society of super-powered humans. - Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up, Tom Phillips
Cause if you’re gonna read about how disastrous we are as a species, do it with some humour.
Romanie Thomas - COO
"The power of now by Ekhart Tolle has been one of the most
profound and transformational books for me in recent years. I have to re-read it (regularly) but the concepts and writing continues to impact me in ways I can feel at a core level.”
- 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐲’𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭, Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Victorian literature at its finest, descriptive, dark, and challenging the stereotypical “good but weak” feminine hero expectations. - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐨 (all three), Stieg Larsson Fabulous heroine, novels stretching across the political and social spectrum covering misogyny, racism, you name it + tonnes of grey area morality to think through, yet clear good and bad characters.
- 𝐍𝐨 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐩, Ed Viesters
The importance and power of discipline, goal setting, saying no, developing the right system (plus all about climbing big mountains). - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐩, Nicholas Evans
Beautiful prose, a love letter to wolves and to Montana, against a complicated, riveting backdrop. - 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, Celeste Ng
Dramatic, heart-wrenching tale that elegantly and simply explains complex race relations in western society through fabulous female characters.
Guilherme Mota - Android Engineer
“Hands down “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” - the first book I remember reading, I was 8 at the time I believe. It immersed me into a wonderful world of magic and I felt like I was day dreaming throughout the entire thing. It also bootstrapped my interest for the UK and its culture - hence me wanting to live and work there since a young age. In a way, I am humbled to be around you all due to HP and the curiosity and (yes, I’ll say it) magic it brought to my life”
Joshua Wöhle - CEO
“I always wanted to be a wizard and Gandalf was the perfect example. On top of that, I’m a sucker for a difficult hero story with the backdrop of an otherwise easy/perfect world :)”
Book Recommendation: The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
Learning tips from the Mindstone team 💡
Read according to your energy levels
Are you fresher in the morning? Read a challenging book or piece of thought leadership that will benefit from that energy. Be realistic and accepting that in the evening your goal is to wind down, not up, and read accordingly, perhapsa genre you’re more familiar with or a novel that really transports you to a different world.
Digital or not? Mix it up!
Are you a digital reader? Try going back to a paperback book for your next read and physically move it to spots you’re likely to sit and read. Does it improve the frequency of your reading? Are things going in (or less) than in a digital environment? Mixing up your mediums can help keep your brain engaged.
Seek out alternative views
If you read a piece of thought leadership with a particular argument, straight away seek out the alternate view. By analysing the argument on both sides, you develop critical thinking, and it helps you to really formulate your own opinion.
Bright ideas come up everywhere
Purchase “Aqua Notes” and stick them in your shower/bath areas. Lots of good ideas and learning reflections crop up when we’re submerged (remember Harry Potter in the prefect’s bathroom!)
Plan your time wisely
Diligent planning can help you stay on track and make
time for learning. Combining this with the concept of "spaced
repetition" can also be beneficial. Plan when to sit down, reflect, and consolidate what you learn on a regular basis.
Keep a daily learning log
Deliberate practice is key to achieving success, and that includes setting clear goals and regularly reflecting on your progress. For example, you might want to ask yourself: what I would do differently if I could relive the day?
Prioritise sleep!
Studies show that poor sleep can negatively affect learning. I recommend getting at least 7.5-8 hours of sleep each night. For more info, check out "Sleep, Learning and Memory" from Harvard Medical School.
