Two books I read this week

This weekend I finished two e-books on my Kindle. I do not even know when and why I bought the art of contemplation. The obstacle is the way was a book borrowed from the library that had to be returned this week.

The Art of Contemplation

Richard Rudd presents a transformative roadmap for moving beyond mere intellectual understanding toward a "soul-level" change by harmonizing the mind, emotions, and body. Through the core practices of Pausing (creating mental stillness), Pivoting (shifting emotional reactions from fear to love), and Merging (moving toward life’s challenges with trust), the book teaches readers how to access an "inner light" and achieve Wu wei, the state of effortless, master-guided action. By embracing radical honesty, deep listening, and a simplified connection to nature, Rudd argues that we can melt the walls around our hearts and experience a permanent sense of wholeness and prosperity.

The Obstacle Is the Way

Ryan Holiday’s The Obstacle Is the Way acts as a high-performance operating system built on ancient Stoic hardware, designed to help you flip life's inevitable frustrations into competitive advantages. By breaking down resilience into three distinct disciplines—Perception (stripping away emotion to see things with a cold, "observing eye"), Action (committing to the methodical, relentless focus of "The Process"), and Will (cultivating the internal grit to find strength in suffering)—Holiday argues that our biggest headaches are actually our best opportunities for "adversarial growth." It is a grounded, tactical call to stop litigating what is "fair" and start focusing on what is "up to us," proving that while you cannot control the cards you are dealt, you have total agency over how you play the hand.

In Conclusion:

Both these book contain quotes or mentions regarding the power of books and reading:

• The Art of Contemplation: This book explicitly categorizes literature and its impact, stating, "It could be said that there are only three types of books in the world. There are books that entertain or inspire us. There are books that inform and educate us. Finally, there are books that touch our soul." It further notes that

"the true power of a book is its ability to reach into our hearts and change us in a permanent way."

• The Obstacle is the Way: This book discusses reading as a tool for transformation, particularly in dire circumstances. It highlights how figures like Nelson Mandela, James Stockdale, and Malcolm X utilized prison as a "schoolhouse" to transform themselves and others by reading subjects like law, philosophy, and history. The text emphasizes that "if you’re lucky, you have books" during such times.

Unfortunately for me, neither book has reached into my heart or changed me in any impactful way thus far :(