4 Books that will make you a smarter person in 2025

I want to share four four fantastic books with you that will make you smarter when was the last time you read a book that made you smarter or caused you to think about something familiar in a new way or introduce you to a new idea that enabled you to interact with the world at a deeper level the books I'm about to show you will do just that they cover the fields of thought creativity writing and life they're not the usual self-help Fair they're written by renowned thinkers and writers there's a man Booker Prize winner and

even a film star and I bet you can't guess who it is book one a swim in a pond in the rain by George Saunders what's so good about this one and what will it teach you let me tell you a story about a week ago I watched the film The Graduate it' been on my list of must-watch films for ages but I just never got round to it this Robinson you're trying to seduce me now I prefer to buy DVDs because you know the extras and nobody uses DVDs anymore so if you buy them

used they're really cheap but I wanted it that night so convenience one I streamed it and as I sat and watched it I noticed something every scene in the film maybe want to keep watching so I could see what happened in the next scene how did it hold my complete attention for almost 2 hours it was because it's always escalating and you could say that a story is a continuous system of escalation that's what George Saunders says in a swim in the pond in the rain it's a book about how to write but that doesn't

really do it justice because it's not a howto book at all it's a glimpse Inside the Mind of a man Booker prize winning novelist and it won't just teach you how to write it'll teach you how to read how to think about reading writing and literature it's an absolute Delight to read especially for someone like me who knows almost nothing about literature Saunders takes seven classic short stories from the Russian Masters and breaks them down sordas gives us an essay on each page of the story as we work our way through in the cart by

checkov his writing is engaging charming and warm and as he says the true beauty in a story is not in its apparent conclusion but in the alteration in the mind of the reader that has occurred along the way your mind will be altered by reading a swim in a pond in the rain but if you want to write you need to know how to think properly and the next book will help with that but before we go any further I want to tell you about today's sponsor Hensen shaving now I hate shaving I also hate

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a razor just make sure that both the razor and cream are in your cart for the code to take effect book two how to think like a philosopher philosophers have been thinking about thinking for thousands of years it's sort of their raise on Detra and I think philosophy can teach us how to be more rigorous with our own approach to thinking which can help with some of the big problems and challenges that face us like how to live a fulfilling life down to the smaller ones like why to baged onions cost twice as much in

the supermarket as loose ones in his book how to think like a philosopher Dr Julian bini himself a philosopher provides a manual for better thinking it's a light-hearted book and an easy read where he explains why philosophy can teach us lessons about thinking its benefits and limitations he then devotes a chapter to each of 12 traits he says are required to think more clearly and effectively it's very much at the popular philosophy end of the spectrum but it's a good introduction to the subject and a useful manual on how to add more precision and accuracy

to your thinking precision and accuracy a trait that the next author had in abundance Bruce Lee artist of life you probably know of Bruce Lee as a martial artist or actor he popularized the martial arts genre and his final film before his early death at age just 32 Enter the Dragon is considered the most influential action film of all time it's the most successful grossing over 4400 million worldwide it cost under a million dollars to make but Bruce Lee was also a philosopher and he wrote a lot of his personal philosophy down over the course

of his life in notes and essays this book artist of life is a collection of some of them it's split into sections on gang Fu philosophy psychology poetry and self-knowledge it lead's thoughts Reflections and experiences on becoming his authentic self and there's a lot to learn from those ideas he says I cannot teach you only help you to explore yourself nothing more and really that's what this book does by sharing his thoughts and insights about his own life he helps us to uncover the truth about ours and that's something that the next author does exceptionally

well with astute observations penetrating wit and Flawless writing slouching towards Bethlehem by Joan didan as it happens I'm still committed to the idea that the ability to think for oneself depends upon Mastery of the language that's a quote from the essay slouching towards Bethlehem which gives its name to this collection of essays by Jan didan and you're probably thinking Giles why are you recommending this book how will it make me smarter well there's a general answer to that all good writing can educate either about the topic it's discussing or The Craft So reading any well-written

book could be said to make you smarter but that's poor justification for a video like this on that basis I could include anything I've picked this essay collection for a few reasons first it is extremely well written and just by reading it you'll learn a lot about the craft of writing and to write well is to think well as you read it you see how she's captured her thoughts on the page and it's a particular strength of her writing it's visible in all of her essays read on keeping a note book and on self-esteem and

you'll see what I mean actually is it her thought she's writing down or her thoughts about her feelings or her feelings it's sometimes difficult to separate them she writes about what she sees and then what she thinks and feels about that seeing someone structure their thoughts on a page with such precision and Clarity is inspiring when I try to reach into my mind and grasp exactly what it is I'm thinking I often realize there's nothing concrete there and and it evaporates as I try to grab it which makes dian's writing even more appealing now because

you've made it this far I have a little extra bonus it'll help to make you more creative well it'll help you understand the creative process it's book number five the art of thought by Gram Wallace written in 1926 it went out of print for years but it is available again now the art of thought explains the four stages of the creative process they are preparation the research phase incubation that bit where you go away and let your subconscious mind do all of the work the key here is to away from the problem either by doing

something completely different or just resting illumination this is that flash of inspiration that your subconscious creates when it comes you need to be ready to grab it and work on it and that part is verification the hard work on the idea that your subconscious neural network has delivered