#MotivationMonday: Seven inspirational novels to add to your bookshelf

It’s a winter Monday, it’s chilly and you’re most probably feeling blue again, wishing there was an extra day between Sunday and Monday just so you have more time to gather the energy to take on the week ahead.

Why not make the best of your Monday to start reading a new book or two?

Seriously, what better way than to get through the cold days than cuddling under a warm blanket with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate?

Take a look at our pick of seven must-read inspirational books, guaranteed to have you feeling more positive about Mondays.

Enjoy!

• Letters to a young poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

This book contains a series of ten poems Rainer Maria Rilke wrote to one of his students at a Military Academy in 1903. At the time, Rilke was in an important artistic development phase in his career, and later the poems turned into some of his best work. This book is perfect for scholars as well as poetry lovers.

“Therefore, dear Sir, love your solitude and try to sing out with the pain it causes you. For those who are near you are far away… and this shows that the space around you is beginning to grow vast…. be happy about your growth, in which of course you can’t take anyone with you, and be gentle with those who stay behind; be confident and calm in front of them and don’t torment them with your doubts and don’t frighten them with your faith or joy, which they wouldn’t be able to comprehend. Seek out some simple and true feeling of what you have in common with them, which doesn’t necessarily have to alter when you yourself change again and again; when you see them, love life in a form that is not your own and be indulgent toward those who are growing old, who are afraid of the aloneness that you trust…. and don’t expect any understanding; but believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it.”

• Year of yes: How to dance it out by Shonda Rhimes

In this book, Shonda Rhimes explains the powerful impact saying ‘Yes’ for an entire year had on every aspect of her life, and how anyone can change their life with that one little word.

“I am not lucky. You know what I am? I am smart, I am talented, I take advantage of the opportunities that come my way and I work really, really hard. Don’t call me lucky. Call me a bad-ass.”

• Life of Pi by Yann Markel

This novel tells the story of a young Tamil boy from Pondicherry, and how he argues spirituality within himself as he survives 227 days and nights after a shipwreck, stranded on a raft in the Pacific ocean with a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker.

Whether you have seen the movie, or even already read the book, you will find inspiration in the boy’s struggles to keep his faith alive.

“I must say a word about fear. It is life’s only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unnerving ease. It begins in your mind, always … so you must fight hard to express it. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don’t, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you.”

• When breath becomes air by Paul Kalanithi

Author Paul Kalanithi tells how he went from being an A-list Neurosurgeon treating patients to becoming a patient himself, after he was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer at the young age of 36. Kalanithi explains how being faced with his own mortality made him question many aspects of his life, as well as his sickness. This thrilling novel will have anyone reflecting on their own challenges in life. Unfortunately, Kalanithi lost his battle with cancer in 2015, but his words will live on forever.

“Death comes for all of us. For us, for our patients: it is our fate as living, breathing, metabolizing organisms. Most lives are lived with passivity toward death — it’s something that happens to you and those around you. But Jeff and I had trained for years to actively engage with death, to grapple with it, like Jacob with the angel, and, in so doing, to confront the meaning of a life. We had assumed an onerous yoke, that of mortal responsibility. Our patients’ lives and identities may be in our hands, yet death always wins. Even if you are perfect, the world isn’t. The secret is to know that the deck is stacked, that you will lose, that your hands or judgment will slip, and yet still struggle to win for your patients. You can’t ever reach perfection, but you can believe in an asymptotic toward which you are ceaselessly striving.”

• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Author, Gretchen Rubin explores a 12-month path to true happiness. She speaks of the lessons she learned through current scientific research and different cultures. She also explains how money can buy true happiness if spent wisely, and how the smallest changes can make the biggest differences.

It’s definitely a novel which will give you a new outlook on life and true happiness.

“It’s about living in the moment and appreciating the smallest things. Surrounding yourself with the things that inspire you and letting go of the obsessions that want to take over your mind. It is a daily struggle sometimes and hard work but happiness begins with your own attitude and how you look at the world.”

• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

What starts out as a journey to discover hidden treasure in the pyramids of Egypt, turns into a discovery of treasure within the young shepherd, Santiago himself. The story tells how Santiago travels from his hometown in search of treasure, and of the three people he encounters on his way; a gypsy woman, a man called King and an Alchemist.

This story is a compelling novel of how the most simple encounters in life can transform your goals and dreams.

“Don’t think about what you’ve left behind” The alchemist said to the boy as they began to ride across the sands of the desert. “If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. And one can always come back. If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return.”

• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

By the age of 30, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a woman could dream of: a nice house in the country, the perfect husband and a booming career.

However, despite all this, she still did not feel happy or fulfilled. This profound feeling of confusion and panic sent Gilbert on a series of worldly travels to explore the three basic things she felt she lacked in life; pleasure, devotion and balance.

“Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.”

Also read:

• #MotivationMonday: Bad day? It could be worse… (VIDEO)
• #MotivationMonday: 10 ways to own Monday like a Boss