Beacon Scholars Reading List
12 Rules for Life
by Jordan B. Peterson A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini is a story about Mariam. She is a young Afghan woman and throughout the book she goes through many negative things and some positive things as well. The main aim of the author in this book is to show people what women in Afghanistan…
A Thousand Splendid Suns
by Khaled HosseiniThis is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan’s last thirty years – from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding – that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of…
Audacity of Hope
by Barack Obama The Audacity of Hope was written in 2006, a year after Barack Obama’s election as the United States Senator of Illinois and a year prior to him campaigning for president. The book illuminates Obama’s political ideologies and social principles while providing a compass to navigate his perceived truths and his solution to…
Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind
by Geert Hofstede While sociology, social anthropology, psychology, and politics are topics that can be difficult to grasp without a certain extent of background knowledge in the subject areas, Hofstede clearly illustrates all of them and their connections with each other in his work of non-fiction designed for all readers. ‘Cultures and Organizations: Software of…
Drive
by Daniel Pink Drive seeks to explain the fundamentals of what Daniel Pink calls ‘Motivation 3.0’. In Drive, intrinsic motivation is subscribed to over extrinsic motivation, relegating the latters usefulness to a small subset of highly specific contexts. This is combined with advocacy for Flow theory and packaged as “Motivation 3.0”. The books shining feature…
Facing Mount Kenya
by Jomo Kenyatta This book is about the Kikuyu culture. The Kikuyu worshiped a god called Ngai. He was known as the creator. Ngai lived at the top of Mountain Kirinyaga (now known as Mt Kenya). The first man was known as Gikuyu, and the first woman was called Mumbi. The peaks of Mount Kenya were…
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
by Angela Duckworth Angela Duckworth sets out to prove that talent alone is not enough to succeed in life. I have learned the importance of grit in achieving success. Angela describes grit as passion and perseverance. She uses real-life examples to illustrate this such as her teaching experience, psychology, statistical studies such as the treadmill test…
Leaders Eat Last
by Simon Sinek Leaders Eat Last distills contemporary management theory into an easy to understand and relate with package. The theories are succinctly presented, with well thought out examples throughout. The topic of humanizing the workforce, both management and those being managed is explored in depth. The role of a leader in the modern workforce,…
Long Walk to Freedom
by Nelson Mandela Long Walk to Freedom is an autobiography about one of the greatest men on earth Nelson Mandela. Tt describes the South African Apartheid. Mandela describes his childhood; his development into a freedom fighter; his twenty-seven years in prison; and his remarkable role in the construction of a new, democratic South Africa. The…
Lord of the Flies
by William Golding Lord of the Flies is a book that tells us a story about a group of schoolboys who are involved in a plane crash that leaves them stranded on an island. The lack of adult supervision creates questions about whether these boys will survive from the potential dangers on the island as…
Meditations
by Marcus Aurelius Meditations by Marcus Aurelius was more than just a book; it was a journey. From the minute I cracked it open, I felt as if I was entering the thoughts of a wise friend who had seen everything. Marcus’s insights about life, virtue, and how to deal with the unexpected were a…
Outliers
by Malcolm Gladwell “What truly distinguishes their histories is not their extraordinary talent but their extraordinary opportunities.” This quote from chapter two of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is one of two that has stuck with me the most, the other being “Outliers are those who have been given opportunities – and who have had the…
Persepolis – The Story of a Childhood
by Marjane Satrapi Satrapi’s Persepolis is a book about growing up in Iran during the Islamic revolution. Marjane is a young girl who is experiencing everything from a child’s point of view. Her father and mother are protesters and risk their lives in order to spread the word. The book gives the reader an image…
Slay in Your Lane
by Yomi Adegoke & Elizabeth Uviebinene Halfway between a handbook and a colourful retelling of the author’s and guest contributors experience, this is a book that is relevant to all stages of the black girl experience in the UK. The book covers issues such as education, work, the university experience, representation, health through the lens…
Switch on your Brain
by Dr Caroline Leaf Great book that tackles the aspect of the power of thought and how that can destroy or uplift one’s life. It can definitely be a hit or miss depending on one’s pre-existing beliefs before reading the book. However, it offers a fresh perspective on how one can begin new habits deal…
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens
by Sean Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey is a guide book that has the transformative power of changing one’s perception of their ability to control the events in their life. With the use of comical cartoons, personal and non-personal anecdotes, and activities, Covey illustrates to teenage readers ways in…
The Havoc of Choice
by Wanjiru Koinange This is a ravishing story that tackles elitism and the problem of class in Kenya through multiple perspectives experiencing the Election period and the post-election violence of the 2008 Kenyan Election. It really allowed me to reflect on my own privileges. As the violence awakens at the closing of the year, the…
The Mammoth Book of Muhammad Ali
by David West (Editor) Great Men are considered great, not only because of what they achieve but also because of the road they travel to reach their final destination and this is what Muhammad Ali had. I was excited to read Muhammad Ali’s Life due to the influence that Malcolm X had on Ali’s Life…
The Power of Habit
by Charles Duhigg The power of habit effectively describes The Power of Habit. Charles Duhigg dives into the complex process of forming and breaking a habit showing the reader that whether we know it or not our lives are fundamentally ran by habits. Each part of the book centers around a key aspect of habit formation…
The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead The book follows the journey of Cora, a young slave who escapes from a plantation in Georgia with her companion, Caesar, and they head north on an underground railway based on a network of track and tunnels. Throughout their journey they are pursued by a relentless slave-catcher and face a multitude of…