Books are cool. You can immerse yourself in a fictional world inside your head or learn new and wonderful facts. Reading offers you first hand experience of many amazing individuals throughout history.

The beauty of it all is the inspiration and mind-opening concepts you can discover. I also learned to appreciate the alternate worlds authors can come up with and the complexity of them too. I truly now value the written word.

These 4 are not restricted to one genre. I enjoy reading both fiction and non-fiction as I believe a mix of both is most beneficial. Here we go:

1. Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

As someone who's into health and fitness, I thought I had everything covered. Smashing PBs in the gym and hitting my macros consistently however something was missing. Turns out I hadn't yet upped and optimised my sleep game. This book changed that.

The book covers everything from the science of dreaming to the fundamentals of sleep. Actionable advice is offered as well. My favourite statement from this one was:

"Sadly, human beings are in fact the only species that will deliberately deprive themselves of sleep without legitimate gain."

This opened my eyes (ironically) to my attitude towards sleep.

The hour leading up to bed and sleep time is as important as the sleeping itself which has led me to alter my evening habits. Hot showers and no screens are some of the advice given.

2. Red Rising by Pierce Brown

I like science fiction. I prefer it in a book though. It allows me to create my own picture of the characters and universe they exist in.

This trilogy is wild. Game of Thrones meets Hunger Games....but in space.

Darrow, the main character, is a "Red", the lowest colour of society hierarchy. He is chosen as the one to defeat the "Golds" by an underground resistance group fighting to overthrow and defeat the corrupt Society.

The relatable characters and crazy plot make this worth every second of reading. Be prepared to buy the next 2 in the series.

3. The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde

The only novel to be published by Oscar Wilde, this book explores theme such as the morality of beauty and life, art and women and men.

I haven't read many classics (other than Romeo and Juliet in high school). I decided to try this something new. (This one is available on Project Gutenberg, a website with loads of free ebooks.)

Its an engaging easy read if you haven't read classics before.

4. Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins

This book has no filter. The life story of a black man who grew up with an abusive father then in an all-white neighbourhood who became a Navy Seal and ultramarathon runner.

The audiobook version is narrated by Adam Skolnick (who does a fantastic job of telling Goggins' story) and stops at numerous points to discuss events with Goggins himself, who then offers challenges to the readers/listeners to change their mindset in life.

A few of my favourite challenges include:

• Step outside your comfort zone – Do one thing you don’t like everyday. For me, this is doing dishes.

• Remove the governor – gradually increase the amount of physical or mental exercise you do. This could be adding on 5 minutes to a run. You’ll end up past your perceived limits and change your inner dialogue.

• After Action Report – change your mindset on failure. View this as a chance to reflect on the process and what you can do better next time.

I never fully knew the extent to which the human mind and body can push itself. David Goggins showed me anything is possible when you put your mind to it.  

Reading is all about enjoyment. Don’t force yourself to read something you like. Stop. Put the book down and find something that is suited to you.

I’m always open to new book suggestions and would be interested to hear any that could be similar to what I’ve listed above.