Vaimo Celebrates #WorldBookDay

April 23rd is an important day to acknowledge your adventures in the world to books. Whether it is fiction or non-fiction, reading is an opportunity for great exploration. In books, we live the journey of characters and delve into the problems, troubling great thinkers. For this reason, UNESCO first held Reading and Copyright Day at their French headquarters in 1995. On this day, Vaimoers celebrated by sharing their favourite books and ones they’re currently reading.

At Vaimo, we pride ourselves on our four values: Fun, Excellence, Teamwork, and Open. Throughout the books presented, we hope that you see all values represented: excellence and teamwork shown in our non-fiction books and the books we advocate for all of our employees to read (the first two books mentioned). Fun and open can easily be seen through our wide-array of fiction titles and books published in multiple languages. Vaimo has offices across 15 countries with different nationalities converging from all around the world. Below just a few of our languages are represented: Estonian, Polish, Russian, English, Finnish, and Ukrainian. We hope you enjoy this wonderful day, and please start a new book for Vaimo. 

What are we reading?

Vaimoers often references two influential books: 

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The 4 Disciplines of Execution. Both books have to do with how we achieve our goals as individuals or as part of a team. This goes from establishing a personal mission statement to achieving synergy, and as a result, transcending the sum of our parts.

In the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey focuses on helping you go from dependence to independence. Covey insists that you cannot truly begin to contribute to a team until you master the first three habits: 1) Being proactive 2)Beginning with the end in mind 3) Putting first things first. All three are essential for you to then start working on a team. In a subsequent book produced by Chris McChesney and Sean Covey, they dive into the 4 Disciplines of Execution: Focus, Leverage, Engagement, and Accountability. All four disciplines are required to put strategy into action. This is just a taste, but you can learn more by reading and watching this video. 

Why are books so important?

A lot of it involves speed: the average adult reads 200-300 words per minute (test your speed and reading time for books) while we speak 100-150 words per minute (varies by language as well). As a result, reading is a tool of efficiency. In addition, Gutenberg’s printing press came along much before Edison’s phonograph which served as a recording device and allowed humans to store the ancient myths, once passed from generation to generation on paper and distribute them to the masses.

In the realm of fiction…

Reading fiction is a great way to calm down and take a break. But for some, the interest goes much deeper than that. For many, the book exposes us to worlds we never knew existed. It takes you through a dimly lit window into a cottage in the middle of Siberia, or on a spaceship to another galaxy. In fact, the scientific community has suggested that fiction develops the human mind in impressive ways.

“Reading literary fiction helps people develop empathy, theory of mind, and critical thinking” – Harvard Business Review

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.” – George R.R. Martin – A Dance with Dragons. 

Understand the world around us…

The non-fiction genre has outsold fiction every year since 2013. Why? Well, the conventional answer is that non-fiction is much more topical, covering everyday topics as well as hot-button issues of the day. While many books do not have the legacy of an Upton Sinclair expository piece or a Truman Capote true crime story, they acquaint us with the issues that trouble our societies and help us understand our surroundings.

Thinking Fast and Slow is one of the most popular non-fiction books Vaimoers are flipping through. David Kahneman, a Noble Prize winner in collaboration with Amos Tversky, discusses how we think (you can also read about the complexity of their relationship in Lewis’s The Undoing Project listed below). The central point being that the decisions can be split into two frames: The first frame deals with instinctive and emotional choices while the second frame uses deliberative and more logical methods of decision-making. In the end, Kahneman displays his work that spans a lifetime and ingeniously educates readers on what it means to think and its consequences.

 

If you are looking for more non-fiction books follow the links below:

Bill Gates’s books span all genres but largely focuses on non-fiction. If you are looking for other books within the sphere of business, check out the Personal MBA booklist.  If you want to know more about current affairs and the rise of COVID-19, the World Economic Forum has 5 books around the topic of pandemics. 

Oldest book:

Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Scholars classify the book, first published in 1868 as a semi-autobiographical novel, describing the lives of four sisters during the American Civil War (1861-1865). In many ways, the novel describes the daily lives of four teenage girls but is mixed with the mood of the time: waiting for fathers, brothers, sons to return home from the most brutal war in U.S history. Audiences met the book’s publication with great praise. Even as the book has aged, scholars still laud the book’s anticipation of the realist tradition twenty years late and Alcott shines a light on the average woman of the 19th-century.

Find your next classic: Oldies but goodies recommended by the Penguin publishing house.

Newest book:

Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light the latest in a trilogy depicting the world during Henry VIII was published March 5th, 2020. Before reading, catch up on Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies. Journalists gave rave reviews about this journey into King Henry’s court during the 1600s and Mantel won the prestigious Booker Prize for her efforts.

Be one of the first to read these forthcoming titles: Financial Times book list for 2020 which presents some new arrivals.

Across Space…

With ample references and effect on popular culture globally, Douglas Adam’s five-book series, “The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide,” best known for the complete novel by the similar name “The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Published in 1979, Arthur Dent, the novel’s protagonist along with alien researcher Ford Perfect, spaceship driver Zaphod Beeblebrox, and a melancholic robot called Marvin, journey across the galaxy together. An incredible book, Elon Musk was inspired to launch a car into space with Dent’s mantra, “Don’t Panic,” displayed on Tesla’s dashboard.

Are you looking to read more in 2020? Try Goodreads!

Though Goodreads was launched 13 years ago, many people are yet to create a profile on the coolest social network around. Goodreads has become the social network for bibliophiles and bookworms. The website consists of discussion groups, book lists, and recommendations. You can track your progress, rate and categorise books in your library, and NEVER, EVER FORGET any book you read or lent to a friend.

Set a 2020 Reading Goal!

If you set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timed) goals in your personal life, then setting a 2020 book goal can help accomplish more than ever before.

Reading challenge:

Choose 10, 20, 50, or even 100 books if you like. The reading challenge is still open, so take a leap towards a new personal record for books completed in one year. 

Year in books:

Through scanning the barcode, entering your ISBN, or selecting the edition of the books, you can get the exact data on how you performed in the year. 

We hope that you have a great 2020 full of fantastic adventures in the world of books. 

 

About Vaimo

When we are not reading, we are the global leader in delivering award-winning digital storefronts, omni-channel solutions and mobile apps. Our only focus is to drive digital commerce success for our brand, retail, and manufacturer clients. With 15 offices across the globe, we have an international presence that cultivates close, long-term relationships. With a focus on driving digital innovation our services cover the full-spectrum of commerce needs ranging from strategy, design, development, optimisation, cloud services, into wherever commerce initiatives reach. We deliver solutions around B2B, B2C, Omni-Channel, PIM, Order Management, and Business Intelligence.