6 Books You Won’t Be Able to Put Down

October 23, 2020

I’ve read hundreds of books. Over 400 in the last ten years alone. Many are great. Some no-so-great. But from memory, I can only think of six books that I’ve read that I would say are “unputdownable”. In other words, I would rather read them, then do anything else. More than watch TV or a movie. More than talk to someone – even over dinner, I’d rather read the book then speak to them! Skip exercise, brushing my teeth – whatever.

A rare commodity indeed. I don’t know whether you’ll agree with me or not. But here I mine (let me know yours too)

Scar Tissue

This is the biography of Anthony Kedis (ghost written) – the lead singer of The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. It’s a crazy tail as you might expect from these wild musicians, but it starts really early in Kedis’ life. From starting to take drugs as a young child you know you’re in for an adventurous read.

Open

Tennis player Andre Agassi’s autobiography. Again it’s ghost written, and reads so well. Gripping from the first page. What’s interesting is how Agassi wasn’t really that keen on tennis, the gruelling process to become professional and eventually winning several grand slams. Whether or not you are a tennis fan (I’m not really), you’ll love this read.

Shoe Dog

The story of Nike and its founder Phil Knight. From scrappy start up to eventual behemoth. It only goes up to about 1980 in story telling, but the early days of Nike are its most interesting. How they almost folded many times, the big risks they took, the start up vibe. It reads more like a novel than a business book. I thought, while reading it, that the style felt familiar, and that it read as well as Andre Agassi’s Open. Turns out it was the same ghost writer – J. R. Moehringer.

Shantaram

This book was re-written several times by the author after original manuscripts were destroyed while he was serving a prison sentence! It’s the (billed as) true story of Gregory David Roberts. An armed robber and heroin addict, escaped from an Australian prison to India, where he lived in a Bombay slum. There, he established a free health clinic and also joined the mafia, working as a money launderer, forger and street soldier. He found time to learn Hindi and Marathi, fall in love, and spend time being worked over in an Indian jail. Then, in case anyone thought he was slacking, he acted in Bollywood and fought with the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan. I can’t wait to see if the option to make this into a movie ever gets made. I feel it would make a great mini-series for Netflix, HBOMax, Apple TV+ or AmazonPrime (in fact, a quick Google and it seems production was started and halted on the 10 episode series optioned by Apple TV+). It’s a beast of a book, so a two hour movie wouldn’t do it justice anyway probably. Now though is the perfect time as streaming long form complex stories takes off.

The Time Traveller’s Wife

Made into a so-so movie staring Eric Banner and Rachel McAdams, the book is way way better. The story of Clare and Henry who’s love is complicated by the fact that Henry has a rare condition where he seems to time travel unexpectedly. He meets Clare when she is just a girl and periodically through her life, but it becomes hard to understand as the time travel elements take hold. Really amazing book though, and one on the list I’m sure you’ve heard of as it was an international best-seller several years ago.

Warrior Pose

Perhaps my favourite book? A bold statement, but all these books are close contenders. Another true story and highly gripping. Brad Willis is a former NBC journalist who covered events such as the original Gulf War. He breaks his back, develops cancer, becomes addicted to drugs and enters rehab. There he discovers yoga – hence the title of the book – and starts a journey of inner work and discovery. Not a book about yoga or just for yogi’s but for everyone looking for inspiration and miracles.

Have you read any of these? What did you think of them? What are your unputdownable books? I’m looking for more.