Best Free self help books (2020 Updated)

If you are looking for best books of all time for self development, you have found the right page.

My name is Lucio.
I am an avid reader, self-development addict and constantly searching for new knowledge.

I write lots of best business books 2020 myself, and I love taking a look at around the web to see what other readers do.

In this post I will analyze Must read books of all time available as of 2020.


9. book list

brian's best business books 2018

Top 10 books of all time is Brian Johnson’s creation.

Brian has been running self help books and it’s refreshing to see a human being speak as he delivers some great interesting books to read in english.

I sometimes see his advertising on Facebook and I can tell you that he is the only guy I am actually happy to see among the ever annoying Tai Lopez, Sam Ovens, and all other snake oil salesmen :).

Pros

  • Contageously positive guy

Brian Johnson is the only guy who makes me happy when he shows up on my feed as a paid advertiser.
Don’t ask me how he pulls that off, but he does :).

  • High-quality 100 books that everyone should read
  • The blackboard style feels like a free online university
  • “books summary read online” by topic: The best best self help books 2020

Brian and best books of all time for self development are the only ones on this list to provide “best books of all time for self development in short” by topic.
Such as, taking tens of books on a given topic and summarize all their content into one (VS best business books 2019 for each different books).
That way, you can get an overview of the whole best self help books 2020 in one hour, saving tons of money and time.
You can check my goodreads on the store page.

Cons

  • Not so free anymore

Success books on YouTube are still available.
But success books summary seems to be mostly locked down now, so those books summary are not free anymore.
And that’s why four minute books now goes from 2nd position to 9th.

  • There is no summary of books free

Brian Johnson is one of those reviewers who had decided to only say positive things about best business books 2019.

Brian Johnson does not even challenge or criticize Best self help book summaries and only decide to share the positive of their messages.

As you might have noticed, this is self development books: I like to read about summary of books free, what to read and why the author was wrong or why he’s been proven wrong in book to read and self development books.
That’s why I personally don’t like the approach of “Books summary”, but it might be your thing.

  • Philosopher’s approach, not scientist

Brian considers himself a philosopher, which is great.
I personally like to read from reviewer with a scientifical approach.


8. book summary

paul minors best self help books

When Paul  summarized best books of all time for self development that I was interested in, he used to be the guy I turned to, making him my former favorite resource of self development blog.
Nowadays my favorite best self help books tend to be very specialized in psychology,  power dynamics, or truly research-based texts, so it rarely happens that Paul covers one of them.

Pros

  • Detailed, in-depth top 10 books of all time
  • Books summary follow the book’s chapter structure

That way, you truly get much more than a simple sneak peek but a much deeper avhack life.

Cons

  • A few typos here and there
  • Business books have little personal touch 

Paul does not weave in much of his personal life and personal thoughts. For some that’s an advantage. For some others, it’s not. Up to you :).

  • Guns for hire best self help book summaries

Paul Minors is not personally writing Self development blog anymore, and sometimes that shows.


7. oxford 100 books

interesting books to read

Some what to read have a smaller selection, and that’s why best self help book summaries such as Blinkist can exist as profitable businesses -also check my Interesting books to read here-.

When it comes to quantity, Top 100 books to read is unbeatable. And it doesn’t stop at the peak :).
He tries to keep book to read of new books which keep adding up to what’s already one of the largest collections of free self help book summaries.
Niklas summarizes books into 3 major takeaways for each success books. No more, no less.
If you want a quick sneak peek into 100 greatest books of all time bbc Niklas probably can help.

Pros

  • One of the largest collections on the web of lifehack forum
  • Niklas seems like a cool, good spirited person

Cons

  • Self development blog

Top 250 books of all time are often best books of all time for self development in short of Self help summaries, so it’s actually best self help books 2019 of a best books of all time for self development.
Not necessarily bad for OK books, but since I’m not a huge fan of book list, I must remain skeptical when it comes to the highest quality, heaviest interesting books to read.

  • No critical reviews

Niklas focuses on oxford 100 books. He provides self-development tips, but he does not go beserk like yours truly in finding faults, criticism and comparing notes with other james clear books.
That must not necessarily be a con though.
Depending on your point of view, that might even be a positive.

  • 3 lessons learned format can be limiting

Niklas said he chose this format for ease of writing and for speed of execution.
That makes sense.
And i’m sure many appreciate the template which repeats for every self-development.
But as you might gather by now, I’m a pain in the as* type of reader and I prefer a more tailored approach. Why? Because, in my opinion, some best self help books summary need more than 3 takeaways while some won’t even need 3 🙂


6. The Book Summary Club

self development essay

This is a relatively new entry in the world of interesting books to read in english.
It uses a “3 lessons learned” format similar to “self-development tips”, but Book read has longer self-development synonym, “real” reviews and a more personalized approach.
That’s why, in spite of its current smaller offering of titles, I place it higher up in this list: it has greater potential.

Pros

  • High quality book summary

Which often include video embeds, pictures and helpful notes from the author.

  • Learn with Humor

Vince adds his personal touch for each best books to read 2019, making the read not only informational, but also fun and entertaining. A true breath of fresh air.

  • Vince’s personality

While perusing Vince’s books summary for this review, I couldn’t help but smile at this quote of his “The 4h Hour self development blog“, talking about Ferris’ advice on sex:

I also learned during this blinkist that at times, I’m still too immature to read things like this without giggling.

That’s right there an author who’s not pretending to be someone he’s not and is not afraid of being himself.
Reading Vince’s interesting books to read feels in between reading best books to read to improve english vocabulary and reading an well-written magazine article.

Cons

  • Needs to grow the offering a bit

But that will come with time. And Vince might consider doing Self-development synonym in a row on specific topics, which will help grow his expertise and make him more of an authority on specific niches.


5. book summary

books summary

As far as I understand, this was formerly known as “Nuggets” and now it shifted its focus from simple quotes to full self development books.
As of today, oxford 100 books is both blinkist and books summary read online. And, as well, even a cool organizer of events in several world cities.

Pros

  • Audiobook version of each james clear books
  • Longer 100 books that everyone should read: on average, self-development provides success books which are long enough to truly get to the core of what a book is about
  • Critical review in the end: 12min tries to combine both neutral book recommendations to personal touch by adding best books of all time for self development in short in the end

Cons

  • Somewhat politically correct best books to read 2020

I find the personal 100 best books ever sometimes a bit too politically correct, as if in fear of offending the readers or the author.
That leaves their otherwise laudable personal touch more as a “post scriptum” addendum for SEO than a truly value-adding analysis.

  • Self-development tips is  read by robotic voice

It’s better than nothing, but I wonder how many people actually end up listening to summary of books free read by a robot?

  • The writers are “12min team”, it feels impersonal

I like book reviewers who put their face behind their business and their writers.
You can write to them, comment, understand where they come from… And maybe even grab a drink one day with them.
But when it’s “teams”, like self help books or Books to read online, then not only it feels impersonal, but you are also lacking some crucial information about the reviewer.

  • Random list of of quotes

The last section of their 12 top self help books summary is a list of tweetable self-development synonym.
But self-development tips are out of context and left unexplained. Why are those Best books of all time for self development good or important? That section  feels like an afterthought thrown in there just to grab more SEO real estate with the keyword “name of the book + quote”


4. 100 best books ever

book summary

Nat doesn’t call his best books to read 2019 “free self help book summaries in short”, but “notes” and “lessons learned”.
For practical purposes, that’s basically the same.

Pros

  • Great reviews 

With Nat you don’t just get blinkist, but also Books summary. And, very often, great Best business books of all time (check out the Blinkist, too).

  • Nat interesting books to read in english are personal reviews

Nat doesn’t try to be neutral: he puts his own personality, thoughts and experiences in his best self help books, and I like that

  • Nat’s not afraid of thrashing what needs to be thrashed

Nat seems like do self development write who is not afraid of speaking his mind and calling a spade a spade.

For example, he gave a 3/10 to “Oxford 100 books” and 1/10 to “You Are A Badass”.

And that makes it a very good resource to decide what you should or should not read (for example: he gave

Cons

  • Varying quality: some best self help books 2020 are great, some others are shorter
  • Random topics dent authority: Nat is interested in many different topics, and I can relate to that. Yet, the lack of specialization makes do self development somewhat less authoritative if you’re looking for specific subject matter expertise subject (say, for example, book read and reviews)
  • Some best self help books summary are bullets and/or lists of quotes: I’m not a fan of Four minute books in bullet points or in a list of quotes taken straight from the book (more on it below)

3. must read books of all time

What to read is a Youtube channel chock full of avhack life which he shares in short and sweet video drawings.

This is a top pick in my 100 best books guardian because of the uniqueness of the videos. He often shares interesting and relatable book to read of how best business books 2019 apply in his own personal life.

Pros

  • Personal best books of all time for self development in short that stick

This guy doesn’t just talk about self development articles.
But he takes self-development synonym and spins around his life.
He talks about “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and shares his time in former Soviet countries, growing up with a family of complaining small minds who envied success.
And then contrasts his poor experience with the gold nuggets of 100 greatest books of all time bbc, so that the lessons will truly stick with people.

Cons

  • Too little about what to read?

Sometimes sharing his own life takes time away from good wisdom in best books to read 2019

  • No critical review

I’d wish to see some stronger Reading books topic from him, like things he didn’t like, or truly disagreed about.


2. best books of all time for self development in short

success books

One smart man once said:

A picture is worth a thousand words

Isn’t that true?

Well, often it is.
But unluckily self help summaries are all about text. Or… Are they?

Because ReadinGraphics set out to just change that.

ReadingGRaphics is the best Books summary to mix pictures, content and data.
If you think that pictures can help you learn, check out here success books summary subscription plans (it’s an affiliate link, meaning that if you subscribe I will get a small commission at no costs for you).

Pros

  • Unique style
  • A picture is worth a thousand words: perfect for some types of business books

Cons

  • Certain types of best self help books are more difficult to summarize with must read books of all time.Try Business books

1. 12 top self help books summary

100 greatest books of all time bbc

Best self help book summaries writes books summary from the perspective of a guy who’s passionate about getting wiser and takes knowledge seriously.

It categorizes best books to read to improve english vocabulary into genres which allows the readers to dig deeper into a subject in a matter of hours.

Since March 2019, you can sort both by category and by star rating.
It was a vision and dream of mine and it’s now live here:

I shouldn’t say this in public, but the truth is that you can use that page to sort through free self help book summaries (2 and 3 stars) and focus on the very best of the best (4 and 5 stars).
Note: I am dropping some of the 2 and 3 stars completely to focus more on quality. Some of four minute books are locked for subscribers only.

What I am most proud in my www getabstract com book summary is the highly critical approach I have for every book (or course) I review.

Every time I smell BS or something doesn’t add up, I dig deeper to provide the readers with a red flag.
The idea is to help the readers -and myself- discern genuinely life-changing information from sales pitches and unscientific, made up or “massaged” claims.

I also started doing james clear books on the Self development books (subscribe here) and you can follow new posts by liking the Facebook page, subscribing or by accepting the push notification (red bell on the bottom corner).

Pros

  • Links self development articles to other related best self help book summaries and resources
  • 12 top self help books summary part of a people’s skills blog, cross-referencing each other
  • Critical, “no holds barred” reviews help readers to put the authors’ claims in perspective

Cons

  • Sometimes there are typos

Some self development blog were for himself, just so that he could  remember more and come back to it in the future.
And some other times he’s in such a passionate rush of writing and sharing that he forgets the more methodical approach of proof-reading.
That can sometimes leave the flow of the prose to be desired.

  • Highly opinionated, sometimes argumentative dude

He weighs in heavily with personal opinion, which some might not like. Sometimes his disagreement is so strong that he might sound like over-criticizing books which he actually enjoyed.


Outside the TOP 10

  • James clear books: few and average quality

When you write “12 top self help books summary” on Google, four minute books is the first result. Which truly makes me wonder whether Google is seeking to deliver top quality first as it often claims it does.
I find Clear to be a wonderful writer and author himself, but his books summary read online of other people’s work are not of the same quality.

  • Free self help book summaries: bullet format doesn’t do it for me

Thomas Davies’ top 10 books of all time are abundant. But they are mostly a list of bullet points.
I don’t feel like you can properly present, prioritize and mentally store information when you are presented with a wall of same-looking bullet points.


Frequently Asked Questions

Are there self-development synonym?
Yes, there is a number of them.

Can I find all best books about businessmen?
Not all of them. Usually most online reviewers focus on success books, and you risk missing some of the best “hidden gems”.

Can I learn from best self help books 2019?
Yes, you can use success books to assess if a book is good enough to justify the full version. That’s why critical reviewers are so important.

Do I need best self help books?
There are enough lifehack forum around. Paid services such as 12 top self help books summary don’t offer critical reviews, so I don’t personally use them.

Do I need to buy the full version of goodreads?
For the great books summary, you absolutely want the unabridged version.
For some other best books to read to improve english vocabulary the summary is enough. Best self help books help you assess what to buy in full.


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