X3 Books for Out of the Box Thinkers

An historic account, a success trap rethink & when beliefs form identity

If you marvel in the company of books and if your eyes light up like a Christmas tree every time you are amongst the delectable scented (aka natural) paperbacks, then you are in the right place.

Somewhat allured by the smell of a good book (I smell each of mine — it’s the most peaceful breath you’ll ever take), I find peace and space by escaping into another realm filled with words that conjure vivid and intense pictures within your mind’s eye.

My most recent reads have been chosen based on how I feel and what I feel I need and what interests me. As an avid reader and lover of all things wordy I am most at home in a library, in a chair with my favourite book or in the garden with my book of the moment.

Yes, the dog is always firmly planted upon my lap although the exception is if I’m in the study working (he doesn’t like the optics. He’s a chihuahua — what can I say. Not all divas are human).

I digress, back to the books. Books are my north star, my compass and a way for me to make sense of the world, the people in it and how I navigate my day to day. Books are not only escapism, they’re inspirational, educational, factual and fictional & deliver untold mental riches.

Amongst all of the building works (it’s still going, I won’t bore you with more this week) and whilst we plaster I thought I would offer you & myself a reprieve this week from discussing the dust, the noise, the planning and the working around our build. I thought I would gift you a list of X3 of my most recent & thought provoking reads:

1.     The Success Myth: Emma Gannon

Seeing success as you define it and in a way that works for you. Emma (she has a Substack you can read here) holds up the mirror and speaks with wise voices to bring to light the myths about success that we’ve all been fed and how, if you want to, you can break free and discover what that means to you and create a life that works for you.

Success to me as a business copywriting consultancy owner has very much been about creating a business that supports my clients but that also synonymously supports running a family and being there for my teenage children through the years when many influences (including social media) are at play.

2.     The God Desire: David Baddiel

David sets out a word-perfect essay in his desperation to believe that God exists and to evidence that although he really wants to say that He does — he details why he doesn’t believe that it’s true. Although, true within our stories, our hope, our vulnerabilities and how we shape our identities — he discusses how it’s a construct for us to make sense of the world.

What did engage & enlighten me on this particular topic, is how much of our identities can be attached through our beliefs, including religion, which is why for many of us it can be quite an emotive topic. Because it’s our belief systems that we associate ourselves with that can mean we align ourselves as belonging to a particular group (religious or not), a certain culture, a set of values, a way of life and they inform our way of thinking, responding and in how we present ourselves.

As someone who likes to learn and see all perspectives, even if they’re different to my own, I had a 360-degree angle from this book that made me realise why we don’t have to sit on opposing sides of the fence to appreciate another’s beliefs or even to argue our own. We can come to an understanding with which to see another’s view.

3.     Anne Frank Remembered: Miep Gies & Alison Leslie Gold

I recently watched A Small Light on Disney + and it opened my eyes to the unsung heroic actions of others in a very scary and unsettled period in history where one’s own preservation was set aside in order to attempt to save another’s.

This book is from the perspective of Miep Gies (co-authored with Alison Leslie Gold) who helped to hide the Frank family during WW2. For 2 years, she and her husband hid the Frank’s, and four others, in an annexed space disguised by a moveable bookcase.

It’s a real life story of great sadness, true courage and brings to life the human’s behind the names we all know and one of most famous voices of that historic episode, Anne Frank. Miep saves Anne’s diary after the family’s arrest by the Nazi’s and years later gives it to Anne’s father, Otto Frank, the sole & only family survivor to return from the camps after the war ended.

This book is a detailed account of unfathomable terror & bravery during an unforgettable barbaric time in history that is a stark reminder of what should never be forgotten, repeated and demonstrates the clear danger of indoctrination from extreme ideologies.

When I titled this article, ‘for out of the box thinkers’, I mentally pictured people like you whom want to expand their mind and consider different perspectives and voices perhaps that you haven’t heard before or titles of books that you may not usually pick or genre’s that perhaps you don’t usually go for.

I do have some fictional reads lined up for my summer holiday this year — but I’ll deliver those for you on another post. There’s something special about a book that can whisk you away somewhere else entirely in your head to alleviate the stressors of the day, unwind your mind and weary muscles and that allows you to step back & breathe from the daily grind.

As a millennial (just scraping in), reading was something I would choose over and over again as I grew up (I was even a school librarian at one point) but with my teenage children, social media fights for their constant attention and YouTube is the general preference over the television.

If this is also where you find yourself, podcasts and audiobooks are a great alternative and I will never stop personally buying books for my children every birthday and Christmas because it’s words that give us knowledge, understanding, context and comprehension to organise our own thoughts, compile our own opinions and to use in our work, life and daily interactions in whatever form they come.

To me, it’s not how we get the information but it’s in accurately absorbing it from reliable and reputable sources in a form that works for each of us. And if in doubt, I always say to my children, to fact check everything, at least twice.

I wrote another piece previously around library etiquette if you want an additional read and to learn about The London Library’s history, along with its new and first female President, Helena Bonham Carter – you can read the article here.

Thank you as always to you, the reader — it’s no exaggeration to say I appreciate you being here and I hope that you get something from these musings. As always, a huge thank you to my teenage, autistic and creatively gifted son for his graphic work. He’ll never know (despite how many times I say it) how truly proud I am of him and how much he pushes to thrive in a world that can at times be challenging.

Subscribe to The Copy Shop

For more Copy Shop Insights & Tell All Tales, stories, topical and noteworthy conversations, beyond the copy curtain approaches, know-how tips, random facts and news about the news, wordy subjects, people, business, culture, values and life — why not sign up to instantly receive all future lengthy thoughts, essays and threads where you can share your hot topics, opinions & challenges with me Amber Smith of Simply Amber Lou Business Copywriting Services here in the comments along with what podcasts you’re hungry to listen to at the moment and what you are digesting in terms of reading be that non-fiction or fiction books right now.

You can also find and connect with me on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

About Simply Amber Lou

Simply Amber Lou business copywriting services was founded by Amber Smith and is the home of business copywriting, content writing, course creation, copy power hours, copy packages, bespoke & bolt on services and copy audits, guided business copy teaching programmes, notebook designs and writing consultancy.

Our aim is to help business leaders to define their online voice and grow their audiences by writing sharp, smart and captivating content with over 20 years of professional business expertise.