In Five Years

 Author: Rebecca Serle

The saddest part of this book was that within the first few pages itself I found out that this book is not up my alley! It is based on a premonition - just not something I believe in :( 

Dannie Kohan always has a plan for the next 5 years. She knows exactly where she will be, what she will be doing. She has the job that she was aiming for, she is engaged about to be married, they know after marriage where they want to live, how many kids they will have and so on. One day she has a dream where she's intimate with a different man. After she wakes up from the dream, she is unable to shake off the picture of the man. She has fallen in love with man in her dreams. That one dream will change the rest of her life. 

Normal People

 Author: Sally Rooney

It was anything but a normal story! I can't believe the high ratings this book had on Amazon and GoodReads! It reminded of hundreds of Bollywood movies that are based on exactly the same skeleton - boy meets girl, they are "only friends" but somehow can never find any partner they can live happily with, they are their true selves only with each other, they do coming back to each other but can never decide to stay together for the rest of their life.

That pretty much sums it up.

Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us

 Author: Daniel H Pink

Loved reading this book! Very well written and really liked the content!

As the name suggests, the book is about what motivates most people. The author talks about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic true to it's name, comes from within and end of the day, it is what leads to the best work! Extrinsic is when we are motivated by external rewards; also called if-then rewards by the author. In such a case, the doer already knows that "if" they do this, "then" they will get that. The focus in such a case is on finishing the job and not so much on how the job is done. As a result, the doer will try to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal - trying unethical means, lower quality work and so on. Extrinsic motivation can work for routine jobs.

On the other hand, creative work requires intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation comes when an individual has autonomy be it over the task, the time, the technique and/or the team, they can see the purpose for what they're doing and can hope to achieve mastery.

Towards the end of the book, there are specific suggestions for individuals in various roles as well as organizations.