In the mid-90s, the Russian artist duo Komar and Melamid conducted an interesting experiment. They hired research firms in 11 countries — including the US, Russia, France, China, Turkey, Iceland, and Kenya — to interview 1,000 people each and ask them: What do you most want in a visual work of art? Then, they painted the results. Here they are:
What was supposed to be a beautiful exploration of human diversity turned out to be, according to Komar, “a collaboration with [a] new dictator — Majority.” 30 years later, the duo’s People’s Choice series merely seems like the tip of the iceberg.
When opening his viral essay “The Age of Average” with their example, designer and strategy director Alex Murrell concludes: “The landscapes which Komar and Melamid painted have become the landscapes in which we live. […] Distinctiveness has died. In every field we look at, we find that everything looks the same.”
Murrell’s article about our statistical convergence mostly deals with the visual, but books do make an appearance. First, for their titles, which, among other trends, seem to love swear words these days, and second, for their lack of breadth in authors. Murrell quotes Adam Mastroianni: “In the 1950s, a little over half of the authors in the top 10 [of bestsellers] had been there before. These days, it’s closer to 75%.”
While I’m still waiting for my first top 10 bestseller, let alone repeat visits on those coveted lists, even being an aspiring self-published author has its benefits. Namely, you get to know other aspiring authors. The ones who haven’t quite made it yet but are taking their craft seriously. So, for today’s book recommendations, I have the incredible privilege of sharing titles written 100% by people I personally know and admire. Some of them, I’ve worked with. Others are old friends. But all of them are awesome writers.
ChatGPT would never suggest these books to you. You likely won’t find them on the New York Times Best Seller list or at the next airport bookstore any time soon — not that they don’t deserve it. But if you want to pick up some unique ideas from underrated people, look no further than these books.
Here are 12 great reads that’ll help you break out of the age of average.
Table of Contents
- 1. Creative Doing by Herbert Lui
- 2. Shy by Design by Michael Thompson
- 3. Perfect Village by Tom Houts
- 4. The 4 Minute Millionaire by Niklas Göke
- 5. Wa — The Art of Balance by Kaki Okumura
- 6. Startups for Outsiders by Amardeep Parmar
- 7. Something Like Hope by Hengtee Lim aka Snippets
- 8. Crypto Confidential by Nat Eliason
- 9. Bonus Time by Brian Pennie
- 10. What Extraordinary People Know by Anthony Moore
- 11. Digital Nomads for Dummies by Kristin Wilson
- 12. 2-Minute Pep Talks by Niklas Göke
1. Creative Doing by Herbert Lui
Herbert is one of my favorite writers. He’s also the only good friend who’s been writing a daily blog as long as I have: for more than 1,000 days!
In Creative Doing, Herbert shares 75 amazing exercises to boost your creativity, stay inspired, and get unstuck whenever you feel like you’re banging your head against a wall. In three parts, Herbert covers starting artful projects, keeping your momentum, and cultivating a creative purpose that never runs out.
This book is short but extremely dense in great ideas. I kept reading a page a day, then feeling inspired to continue my own writing. I highlighted a lot. It gave me energy and insight for many months. If you’re trying to make more time for creative work or finish a project that’s important to you, Herbert’s your guy.
My Full Review | Favorite Idea: Enlist Chance as an Ally
2. Shy by Design by Michael Thompson
Michael grew up with a stutter and eventually took a sales job to work on his biggest fear and weakness. Today, he’s a writer and communication coach. Shy by Design is his collection of 12 principles you can use to quietly stand out in a noisy world.
Mike is one of my oldest writer friends. We’ve created courses together. We talk regularly on the phone. And we support each other through thick and thin despite being almost 10 years apart in age.
As our check-ins often do for me, this book will help you communicate better, share your ideas in ways that resonate, and be heard — but it will also make you a better listener and show you how to lead without being loud.
My Full Review | My Summary | Favorite Idea: Maybe, You’re Already Winning
3. Perfect Village by Tom Houts
Tom grew up in Kansas City, became a realtor, and lived the suburban life with a house, wife, and two dogs. Then, it all fell apart — and he had to completely reinvent himself 5,000 miles away, in a foreign country whose language he didn’t speak.
I’ll never forget the day I met Tom. “Anyone who’s carrying around a stack of books like that must be a writer,” he asked me out of the blue while sitting next to me at WeWork. “Are you?” Many coffees chats and exchanged drafts later, Tom has become one of my best friends here in Munich.
His memoir, Perfect Village, tells the story of his reinvention. It’s extremely well-written, especially considering Tom had no prior professional writing experience. But after his move to Germany, he persevered for several years and brought this story to the world.
What I love about this book is that it shows how unique we truly are, and that everyone has an amazing tale to tell. If only we all wrote well-crafted memoirs…
My Full Review | Favorite Idea: Being a Supporting Actor
4. The 4 Minute Millionaire by Niklas Göke
Yeah yeah, sneaky, I know! But as an author who’s extremely proud of the 2 measly books he’s managed to publish this far, I had to mention this one.
The 4 Minute Millionaire was an experiment in concentrating years of reading and summarizing. It’s a curated collection of 44 tips from the last 50 years’ best finance books, interspersed with my personal experience. All lessons are grouped into themes so anyone can start wherever they’re at. Plus, you can read and take action on most of them in just 4 minutes each!
If someone wants to up their money game, I truly believe you could do a lot worse than handing them this book to start with. Or read it yourself, of course!
Reviews | My Summary | Favorite Idea: Trading Is a Job, Investing Is a Mindset
5. Wa — The Art of Balance by Kaki Okumura
Kaki struggled with her weight growing up, and so health became a key focus of her life. In Wa — The Art of Balance, she explains how we can all live longer, healthier, and happier thanks to a philosophy of simplicity and ease grounded in 4 pillars: eating, moving, resting, and socializing.
I met Kaki through Medium. She’s a fabulous writer and someone who thinks and cares deeply about her work. Born in Dallas, raised in New York and Tokyo, Kaki has always been a traveler between two worlds: East and West, old and new, inward and outward.
The book is beautifully written, colorized, and illustrated — all by Kaki herself! It even includes her favorite recipes. I highly recommend you get the hardcover version. It’s stunning.
My Full Review | My Summary | Favorite Idea: What’s Your Dream Health?
6. Startups for Outsiders by Amardeep Parmar
Startups for Outsiders is a great reminder that innovation is not the privilege of the rich, and that ordinary people have the most billion-dollar ideas.
Amardeep grew up as an outsider in one of the world’s most diverse but also intimidating places: London. He’s a former consultant now turned writer and community builder with a mission much larger than himself — empowering Asian founders in Britain to dream big and scale their ventures accordingly.
The book will teach you how to go from idea to execution in 12 sections, even if you know no one in the world of startups. From preparation to finding cofounders to marketing, building a product and business model, raising money, and even exiting when the time comes — it’s all there.
My Full Review | Favorite Idea: “The best way to get funded is to have a startup worth funding.”
7. Something Like Hope by Hengtee Lim aka Snippets
Hengtee used to write the most beautiful short stories on Medium. It was a wonderful, irregular column of what he called “Snippets.” Each one contained a little bit of wonder, melancholy, love, and hope. Centered on the big city life of individuals in Tokyo — individuals who often feel lost, small, or insignificant — his stories weren’t always happy, but they almost all ended on a somewhat optimistic note.
When he compiled a collection of his favorite stories into a book, Hengtee named it accordingly: Something Like Hope. I can’t say I know him well, but Hengtee told me he’s taking a break to live new experiences before wrapping them into new words. He needs to inhale.
In the meantime, Something Like Hope got me through a serious case of the flu when I first read it. I can’t recommend it enough. And while Hengtee’s shop is also on a break, you can read many chapters right here.
My Full Review | Favorite Story: Paper Planes
8. Crypto Confidential by Nat Eliason
Nat honed his writing skills for a decade before pursuing his first book deal. Crypto Confidential is a gripping memoir about his time deep in the crypto world during the hype in 2021. The book will keep you entertained, make the techy blockchain world understandable, and teach you real lessons about finance and money.
Nat and I have always pursued different projects, but our trajectories in the world of online writing were somewhat similar. We started out as blond-haired youngsters fresh out of college, tried to make money a million ways, and have been writing about that and everything else ever since.
If you’re curious about crypto or in the market for a fun yet insightful money memoir, make this book your first stop. It’s a blast and easy to fly through.
My Full Review | My Summary | Favorite Idea: “Don’t Get Too Good at the Wrong Thing”
9. Bonus Time by Brian Pennie
After 15 years of heroin addiction, my friend Brian went cold turkey. It was hell, but he made it — and found an entirely new outlook on life. Today, he’s a PhD in neuroscience, a speaker who’s famous all over Ireland, and still an all-around cheery and fun guy.
Bonus Time is Brian’s story. It details the time of his addiction, treatment, and turnaround. The book is riveting and well-structured. When you meet Brian in person, you can feel him brimming with zest for life, and the same energy shines through 100% of the pages in this book.
If you want a before-and-after tale that’s as epic and life-affirming as it gets, give this one a go.
Reviews | Favorite Idea: Already on Bonus Time
10. What Extraordinary People Know by Anthony Moore
Anthony, like many folks on this list, used to be a popular writer on Medium. Then, as they did for me, things got more quiet. Today, he’s writing for purpose. Instead of success, he talks about meaning. He has a job, lives a quiet life, and enjoys time with his family and kids above all.
Having been through a similar transition, I admire what Anthony is doing. Still, this little book he published six years ago remains awesome: What Extraordinary People Know is a collection of good advice from good people, mixed with what Anthony learned in his own life.
The book is colorful with lots of photos, bolded quotes, and overall just a small but dense page-turner. Very neat little dose of inspiration to add to your collection!
Reviews | Favorite Idea: “What You Believe About Yourself Is What You’ll Become”
11. Digital Nomads for Dummies by Kristin Wilson
Kristin was a digital nomad before the term even existed, let alone before it was cool. She has worked remotely for over 20 years while traveling the world. Kristin also runs her own business, where she helps people move abroad, see the world, and work from anywhere — be it temporarily or permanently.
I was happy to hear Wiley chose Kristin to write Digital Nomads for Dummies. There wasn’t a better person on the planet to do so, if you ask me. And in typical “for Dummies” fashion, the book covers literally everything you could ever need to know if you want to live and work in places other than the ones you already know.
Kristin also has a Youtube channel where she shares all kinds of travel-related tips, and while her podcast is currently on hiatus, we did once chat for over two hours on all things travel, work, and life on there.
Reviews | Favorite Idea: The Many Shades of Digital Nomads
12. 2-Minute Pep Talks by Niklas Göke
2-Minute Pep Talks is a collection of my best short pieces from eight years of writing. I curated, sorted, and edited 67 tiny reads into five distinct themes: Work, Comfort, (Tough) Love, Reminders, and Hope. It’s as “soft-help” of a book as it gets, and I daresay there’s something in it for everyone.
I tried to make this the perfect bedside, coffeetable, and particularly toilet break read. You can pick it up, flick to a random page, and, two minutes later, you’ll feel a little more inspired.
If this book rekindles your inner child’s spirit for a few hours, I’d consider it a success — and if it ends up providing daily motivation for over two months, all the better.
Reviews | My Summary | Favorite Idea: Tomorrow Can Be a Good Day
Komar and Melamid may have been dejected at their results for People’s Choice, but Murrell believes “the age of average is the age of opportunity.”
In the 1950s, the US Air Force measured over 4,000 pilots on over 140 dimensions each. Using the averages of this data, they designed the perfect cockpit — except not a single pilot fit into it.
For real humans, average does not exist. And yet, on a global scale, countless domains merge into “majority preference”. According to Murrell, this is a chance “to chart a different course. To be different, distinctive and disruptive.”
A great book can change your life for a handful of dollars. There’s nothing wrong with the popular ones everyone reads, but, given we are all unique, the list of books that might change your life is far longer than the bestseller sections would have you believe.
I hope you’ll be bold enough to give some of these un-average books a try. Perhaps one of them will inspire you to conduct an interesting experiment. And who knows? Maybe that very experiment will turn you into an outlier.
Don’t yield to the age of average.
