Boosting my creativity Part I: Books

I’m an avid reader. Ever since I was a child I found great joy on reading books, comics and even the newspaper’s comic strips. As a teenager I slowed down quite a bit on reading cause…a teenager usually has other interests.

After I graduated as a graphic and digital designer and founded QB Media (back in 2003) I started reading a lot of design and marketing related books. I read everything: Packaging, animation, logo, branding, photography and basically anything Taschen or Seth Godin decided to publish.

This worked wonders for some years, I loved it and it provided me with tools to see things from a different perspective. The thing is, one day I realized all my reading was business related and I was constantly thinking about work, leaving not much time for leisure. As a result of this, I found no inspiration on these books as I did before.

So I decided to stop reading business related books and start reading other kind of books…You know, short stories, novels, etc. The kind of books that force you to use your imagination. Movies are great too, I love watching movies, but everything is presented to you in a way you don’t have to think much about it. It’s the director’s movie, he is the one who decided how the story should be told and how the characters should look. When you read a book, you have to create entire worlds out of words and paper, you have to use all of your imagination. That’s when inspiration strikes back.

So here is a list with some of my all-time non-work related favorite books, I hope you enjoy it!

John Dies at the End by David Wong

There’s a new drug on the streets and it allows users to get some super powers. But those powers have a price.

This is the first time that:

a – I buy a book after watching the movie (I don’t regret it at all, there’s too much of it left out of the movie)

b – I read such a great combination of horror and comedy. This book is both hilarious and creepy

c – I read about an exorcist with a show in Las Vegas who fights against wig-wearing monsters.

This book also includes (but is not limited to):

– A driving dog

– The use of a sausage as a phone

– Exploding eyes

– A monster made up of bacon

– Fart jokes

If weirdness was a book, this would be it. Highly recommended!

This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don’t Touch It by David Wong

The sequel to John Dies at the End is almost as good as the original book. While the story is not as weird (although it’s still pretty weird) I couldn’t put this book down. The laughs are still there, the horror is not so creepy and David Wong ( real name  is Jason Pargin) has evidently grown as an author.

Apathy and other small victories by Paul Neilan

This book was hilarious. That is of course, if  you enjoy dark, twisted humor as I do. If you don’t get offended easily and are looking for some laughs this is the book for you. Just be sure you are over 21 when you read it.

Lexicon by Max Barry

At an exclusive school students aren’t taught history, geography, or mathematics–at least not in the usual ways. Instead, they are taught to persuade. Students harness the hidden power of language to manipulate the mind and learn to break down individuals by psychographic markers in order to take control of their thoughts.

This book was nothing like what I expected it to be. I was hoping for something more intellectual/weird and maybe (just maybe) a little humor. Instead I got an action packed page turner which can be turned into a teenage blockbuster movie anytime (or maybe just a high budget TV show/miniseries).

Anyway, young adults can still enjoy this novel, I sure did.

Horns by Joe Hill

This was the first book I bought after I decided to stop reading design related books 4 or 5 years ago. Ironically, I bought this book cause I liked the cover design. I knew nothing about the author and very little about the story, which is built over this premise:

Ignatius Perrish’s longtime girlfriend was murdered and the whole town thinks he did it but he’s walking free because the evidence was destroyed. After an all night bender, he wakes up with horns sticking out of his head that allow him to hear the thoughts of others. When he learns the identity of Merrin’s killer, things start spiraling out of control…

I loved this book and, after years of avoiding Stephen King as the plague, I started reading Joe Hill’s horror books one after the other. What’s the relation? Joe Hill is King’s son, but he has managed to make a living out of writing without ever mentioning his father’s name.

This book is not for everyone, it has some really dark passages here and there, but it’s really, really good.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

I’ve read a lot of classics, but I didn’t really enjoyed most of them. Orwell on the other hand, has written 2 classics that I really enjoyed: Animal Farm and 1984 (Big Brother).

Tired of their servitude to man, a group of farm animals revolt and establish their own society, only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their leaders, the pigs. The book is, of course, a satire about the Russian Revolution but it can be fully enjoyed without knowing this.

 “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” 

Ok, I hope you guys enjoyed my random selection of favorite books. I’ll have to make a new post soon cause there are too many left behind!

Cheers,