1. Man's Search For Meaning

Author : Viktor E Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning was first published in 1946. Victor Frankl was a leading psychologist in Vienna when he was arrested for being a Jew during the Nazi regime. He survived holocaust and used his experiences to write this book. He propounded the theory that it is Man's constant search for meaning that allows him to survive even the most brutal, the most degrading situations in his life.

He said there are only two races in the world, the decent and indecent. They will maintain their innate beliefs, no matter which side they are on. The decent ones will try to help the fellow human beings and the indecent ones will be selfish and serve themselves at the cost to the others.

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2. Thinking, Fast and Slow

Author : Daniel Kahneman

The phenomenal international bestseller - 2 million copies sold - that will change the way you make decisions 'A lifetime's worth of wisdom' Steven D. Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics 'There have been many good books on human rationality and irrationality, but only one masterpiece. That masterpiece is Thinking, Fast and Slow' Financial Times

Why is there more chance we'll believe something if it's in a bold type face? Why are judges more likely to deny parole before lunch? Why do we assume a good-looking person will be more competent? The answer lies in the two ways we make choices: fast, intuitive thinking, and slow, rational thinking. This book reveals how our minds are tripped up by error and prejudice (even when we think we are being logical), and gives you practical techniques for slower, smarter thinking. It will enable to you make better decisions at work, at home, and in everything you do.

3. The Willpower Instinct

Author : Kelly McGonigal

Based on Stanford University psychologist Kelly McGonigal's wildly popular course "The Science of Willpower," The Willpower Instinct is the first book to explain the science of self-control and how it can be harnessed to improve our health, happiness, and productivity.

Informed by the latest research and combining cutting-edge insights from psychology, economics, neuroscience, and medicine, The Willpower Instinct explains exactly what willpower is, how it works, and why it matters.

4. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

Author : Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

The Bestselling Classic On 'Flow' – The Key To Unlocking Meaning, Creativity, Peak Performance, And True Happiness

Legendary psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's famous investigations of "optimal experience" have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. In this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, Csikszentmihalyi ("the leading researcher into ‘flow states’" —Newsweek) demonstrates the ways this positive state can be controlled, not just left to chance. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience teaches how, by ordering the information that enters our consciousness, we can discover true happiness, unlock our potential, and greatly improve the quality of our lives.

5. A Brief History Of Time: From Big Bang To Black Holes

Author : Stephen Hawking

'A Brief History of Time: From Big Bang to Black Holes’ poses some interesting and unanswered questions, like if there had been any beginning of time or if time can run backwards or if there is any boundary to the universe itself. Stephen Hawking, the great scientist and theoretical physicist, tries to answer it all by drawing theories of the entire cosmos from Albert Einstein to Newton. In doing so, he also sheds considerable light on the dark secrets that still reside at the heart of time and space.

This book takes the readers on a journey into the depth of cosmos right from the big bang theory, through the nature of forces and the world of string theory in physics, to the different forces that constitute the universe itself, summed up as the theory of everything.

6. Daily Rituals: How Artists Work

Author : Mason Currey

Franz Kafka, frustrated with his living quarters and day job, wrote in a letter to Felice Bauer in 1912, “time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle maneuvers.”

Kafka is one of 161 inspired—and inspiring—minds, among them, novelists, poets, playwrights, painters, philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians, who describe how they subtly maneuver the many (self-inflicted) obstacles and (self-imposed) daily rituals to get done the work they love to do, whether by waking early or staying up late; whether by self-medicating with doughnuts or bathing, drinking vast quantities of coffee, or taking long daily walks. Thomas Wolfe wrote standing up in the kitchen, the top of the refrigerator as his desk, dreamily fondling his “male configurations”. . . Jean-Paul Sartre chewed on Corydrane tablets (a mix of amphetamine and aspirin), ingesting ten times the recommended dose each day . . . Descartes liked to linger in bed, his mind wandering in sleep through woods, gardens, and enchanted palaces where he experienced “every pleasure imaginable.”

7. Bird by Bird

Author : Anne Lamott

For a quarter century, more than a million readers-describes and scribblers of all ages and abilities-have been inspired by Anne lamott's hilarious, big-hearted, homespun advice. Advice that begins with the simple words of wisdom passed down from Anne's father-also a writer-in the iconic passage that gives the book its title: "thirty years ago My older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder Paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then My father SAT down beside him, put his arm around My brother's shoulder, and said, 'bird by bird, Buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'" An essential volume for generations of writers young and old, bird by bird is a modern classic. This twenty-fifth anniversary edition will continue to Spark creative minds for years to come.

8. The Power of Habit

Author : Charles Duhigg

We can always change. In The Power of Habit, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg translates cutting-edge behavioural science into practical self-improvement action, distilling advanced neuroscience into fascinating narratives of transformation.

Why can some people and companies change overnight, and some stay stuck in their old ruts? The answer lies deep in the human brain, and The Power of Habits reveals the secret pressure points that can change a life. From Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps to Martin Luther King Jr., from the CEO of Starbucks to the locker rooms of the NFL, Duhigg explores the incredible results of keystone habits, and how they can make all the difference between billions and millions, failure and success – or even life and death.

9. Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

Author : Joshua Foer

A journalist is coached by the world's foremost "mental athletes" on the latest methods for improving memory.

Can anyone get a perfect memory? Joshua Foer used to be like most of us, forgetting phone numbers and mislaying keys. Then he learnt the art of memory training, discovering the mnemonic ancient 'memory palace' technique first practiced by Simonides of Ceos over 2,500 years ago

And only year later, Foer found himself in the finals of the US Memory Championships, alongside 'mental athletes' who could memorise the precise order of ten shuffled decks of cards in under an hour.

From the man who can recall nine thousand books to another who constantly forgets who he is, from the ancient world to the cutting edge of neuroscience, Joshua Foer discovers a truth we often forget: that memory is the key to everything we are.

10. The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance and Empower the Mind

Author : Michio Kaku

Michio Kaku, the international bestselling author of Physics of the Impossible, gives us a stunning and provocative vision of the future of the mind

Recording memories, mind reading, videotaping our dreams, mind control, avatars, and telekinesis - no longer are these feats of the mind solely the province of overheated science fiction. As Michio Kaku reveals, with the latest advances in brain science and recent astonishing breakthroughs in technology, they already exist. In The Future of the Mind, the New York Times-bestselling author takes us on a stunning, provocative and exhilarating tour of the top laboratories around the world to meet the scientists who are already revolutionising the way we think about the brain - and ourselves.