Media mogul Oprah Winfrey recently took to Instagram to share a list of books that helped her through 2020.
From health worries to financial worries to being cooped up at home, with the added stress of job insecurity, it’s no wonder that a lot of us have been feeling the strain of this year. Even if you’ve been flawlessly juggling work and your personal life while working from home, chances are your mental health could do with some TLC. And you’re not alone.
Media mogul Oprah Winfrey recently took to Instagram to share a list of books that helped her through 2020 with “their ability to comfort, inspire and enlighten”. 'The Soul of America' by Jon Meacham “I know it’s hard to focus on anything right now because we’re so distracted by the roar of the news and the steady hum of our own anxiety. So for the next six weeks over at @oprahsbookclub, I’ll be spotlighting a curated list of seven books I cherish for their ability to comfort, inspire, and enlighten me. Let’s help each other through these times with the help of these books,” she wrote on Instagram.
Oprah’s first pick was a book that’s changed how she sees life - Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now. “How do we find peace when everything is in turmoil, how do you listen to the stillness, how to you be present even when things are so chaotic and disruptive?” said Oprah. “This book changed how I see life. It continues to guide me. I discover even greater layers of understanding (when I re-read it),” she said.
'Song of Solomon' by Toni Morrison Here is the full list of books Oprah recommended:
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'The Power of Now' by Eckhart Tolle 'The Soul of America' by Jon Meacham 'Devotions' by Mary Oliver 'Between the World and Me' by Ta-Nehisi Coates 'The Fire Next Time' by James Baldwin 'Song of Solomon' by Toni Morrison 'When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: a Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry' edited by U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo
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Predictive Text: 'Frankenstein', '1984' And Other Books That Foretold The Future
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A look back at the different times when authors unleashed the Nostradamus in them and came up with something that was years ahead of its time.
A look back at the different times when authors unleashed the Nostradamus in them and came up with something that was years ahead of its time.
Vision: Virus outbreak
In 1981, Dean Koontz wrote a novel titled 'The Eyes of Darkness'. In the book, Koontz mentions a fictional biological weapon Wuhan-400, nearly 40 years before the coronavirus outbreak occurred.
'The Eyes of Darkness' is a story about a mother who discovers her son Danny is being kept in a military facility after being infected with a man-made microorganism called ‘Wuhan-400’. While Twitter went into a little bit of tizzy, that’s where the similarity ends. Unlike the book’s virus, which has a 100 per cent fatality rate, the real world covid-40 has a fatality rate that ranges between two per cent and 14 per cent, depending on several factors.
(Image: Amazon)
Vision: Virus outbreakIn 1981, Dean Koontz wrote a novel titled 'The Eyes of Darkness'. In the book, Koontz mentions a fictional biological weapon Wuhan-400, nearly 40 years before the coronavirus ou..
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Vision: Electric submarines
Jules Verne is considered one of the most forward thinking authors of the 19th century and has predicted numerous things in his most famous book, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, which was published in 1870. Verne not only predicted electric submarines 90 years before they were invented, he also imagined them just as they turned out — long and cylindrical. Verne’s submarine called Nautilus also included a main cabin, navigational devices, a dining room, and barometer.
(Image: barnesandnoble.com)
Vision: Electric submarinesJules Verne is considered one of the most forward thinking authors of the 19th century and has predicted numerous things in his most famous book, Twenty Thousand Leagues Un..
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Vision: Mass surveillance
Orwell’s book focuses on topics we are all too familiar with today: Censorship, propaganda, surveillance, and oppressive governments. It was written nearly 70 years ago. In the book, Orwell predicted mass surveillance and police helicopters. Much of what the British author imagined has come true, including facial recognition, speech to text conversion, music made by artificial intelligence, and, of course, the concept of ‘Big Brother’ watching your every move.
(Image: Amazon)
Vision: Mass surveillanceOrwell’s book focuses on topics we are all too familiar with today: Censorship, propaganda, surveillance, and oppressive governments. It was written nearly 70 years ago. In t..
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Vision: Mars has two moons
This all-time favourite book follows a man named Gulliver as he stops at different worlds, those occupied by giants, another by little humans, and one of the most interesting, the island of Laputa. Laputa, in the book, is a floating world filled with scientists. Swift writes about how Gulliver and Laputian astronomers noted that Mars has two moons in its orbit. Today we know this claim to be true, that Mars indeed does have two moons. But Swift wrote 'Gulliver’s Travels' in 1726, nearly 150 years before Phobos and Deimos — the two moons of Mars — were discovered in 1877.
Vision: Mars has two moonsThis all-time favourite book follows a man named Gulliver as he stops at different worlds, those occupied by giants, another by little humans, and one of the most interestin..
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Vision: Organ Transplants
Written in 1818, Shelley’s novel is often considered one of the first science-fiction novels. At that time, science was just beginning to explore the concept of bringing dead tissue back to life using electricity. In Mary Shelley’s 'Frankenstein', the doctor is able to keep an organ alive outside of a body to be transplanted into a new body. To say this was ahead of its time is an understatement. It wasn’t until the mid-20th century (1954) that the first organ transplant became a reality.
Vision: Organ TransplantsWritten in 1818, Shelley’s novel is often considered one of the first science-fiction novels. At that time, science was just beginning to explore the concept of bringing dead..
