Top 20 Books on Creativity- Book Recommendations

top 20 Books on Creativity

In today’s modern world, where everything is available online, and one can perform countless tasks without even going out of his room, one may think that creativity is undoubtedly a thing of the past. People don’t have to use their brains for various life situations and surf the web for the answers. Here are the top 20 Books on Creativity.

From how to wear a tie to the solution of a complex maths problem, everything is so readily available that it blocks the thinking process of humans. But, unfortunately, it also makes us dependent on others and thus leaves us at the choice of others, who try to brainstorm on things to only think for our purpose and manipulate us as their wish. 

As the famous physicist Albert Einstein said and said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” Edward De Bone once said, “there is no doubt that creativity is the most important of all the human resources present. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be repeating the same methods again and again”. 

That’s why creativity is so essential to humans as it not only engages our mind but also helps us think something different from the created norms and practices. It connects a person to him, let’s set him experience his mind, and challenges us to get out of our comfort zone. Creativity also helps us motivate ourselves as it can shake off our bad moods and lift our spirits. It even allows us to see the big picture of something and helps us not to get lost in all the information present. 

It also relieves the stress of a person and makes him more relaxed. Creativity also brings like-minded people together and helps in the growth of a community by making people innovate.

Freedom of expression, one of the fundamental rights, can also be connected to creativity as a creative mind helps a person express himself more clearly. One also essential aspect related to invention is that it can help you to live longer. According to research, if we think, the more we exercise our brain’s neural networks, the more our life span to some extent. 

However, as discussed earlier, we are becoming increasingly dependent on technology to do the thinking process. As a result, it is becoming difficult to get people to think about a problem and its solutions. So to help in this process of opening people’s minds, some of the most beautifully written and perfectly crafted books discussed below will help you to understand creativity and develop your mind gradually to a point where it starts to think about all the problems it faces in life before deciding what to do next. 

Books on Creativity

1. Thinking Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman 

The first book in this list is Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel, which talks about how slow thinking is the enemy of creativity. In this book, Daniel, who also happens to be A Nobel Prize winner in economics, talks about various thinking systems of the brain. 

According to him, our brain consists of two systems, one which helps us make fast decisions and the second which is slower in the thinking process. He discusses how a slower approach to a problem is more beneficial than thinking fast and messing things up. 

He even communicates through exercises one should do to accurately choose a path out of the two systems and make a correct choice.

2. Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality – Scott Belsky 

Tenacity and determination are just as necessary as that initial spark, and that’s why Scott Belsky in this group goes a step further and gives you the ideas and concrete strategies so that you can realize the vision that you thought of and not only this, but you are also able to learn and achieve it time and time again. 

This book talks about how you can be creative and make ideas happen by integrating more organizational habits and leadership capabilities. 

3. Things I have learned in my life so far – Stefan Sagmeister 

Stefan Sagmeister is regarded as one of the world’s first graphic designers, so a book on creativity is worth it. The book integrates material from his expositions alongside his maxims on an excellent design. 

Also, the book is very engaging, with great designs, visuals, and dynamic covers on display. Each pamphlet takes very little time to go through, and all of them spurs new ideas in the reader’s mind. 

4. How we got to Now: six innovations that Made the Modern World Steven Johnson 

This book talks about six inventions that made modern society as it is today. Reading this book will give you an idea of how humanity has done various unknown innovations and is very difficult to think of over thousands of years and how several accidents have shaped modern society. You will get an idea of how we as humans don’t exactly know where we are going, and it is just a game of fate and drive to move forward. 

Also, the connection between different tales is shown in the book to make the reader curious and keep him engaged. 

5. The elements of Style- Strunk, and White 

This book by Strunk and White will guide the reader and give you an idea of how to transmit your creativity effectively. A list of often misspelled words provides information on punctuation and grammar to help the reader better understand the mistakes he can make while communicating. 

Also, to help you write, clearer principles of composition are given in the book. 

6. The Laws of Simplicity – John Maeda 

John gives here ten laws that people in creative fields can use to find the right balance between simplicity and complexity in their work. Book teaches us how to need less but get more from the same, and we learn various exciting and intriguing concepts such as how simplicity equals sanity. It is a concise book (hardly 100 pages), making it easier to read even to those not interested in reading. 

Essential concepts such as time, trust, etc., are explained very well in the form of laws. Note that the book is not that much about philosophy; instead focuses more on product design. Still, it is a good read and will 

help the readers with creative thinking.

7. Where Good Ideas Come From the natural history of innovation – Steven Johnson 

Another book from the famous author on creativity Steven Johnson analyzes how specific individuals and societies develop creative ideas and identifies seven different patterns behind some of humanity’s most significant innovations. 

It is a fascinating book on innovations and will surely make the reader think and deep dive into the process of thinking. The book also tries to answer what sparks the flash of brilliance. All this helps the reader to increase his cognitive thinking. It is a mixture of a self-help book and a business book which makes it unique. 

8. Steal like an artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative Austin Kleon 

This book was written after a viral video of Austin talking to students. The main point and the reader presumes that one should not worry about originality as someone or the other has done the same thing before, so instead of worrying about the uniqueness of the work, one should try and think of different ways in which he can give his personal touch to work through their creativity. 

9. The War of Art- Steven Pressfield 

This book gives different warrior metaphors, which are very helpful to the people involved in the creative field. 

The book describes how a person always wants to be in his comfort zone and is constantly battling with himself to overcome his friction with creativity. Book presents this battle as the one that can be won through focus and determination, and that success will come as a by-product of overcoming this resistance. 

10. Jack’s Notebook- Gregg Fraley 

Gregg himself brings an innovation consultant to become a perfect choice for a book on creativity. He has worked with some of the world’s biggest companies, and this book teaches how he advises these companies and institutions’ problem-solving skills and how to turn any idea into action. This book is an excellent one that wants answers to different problems, and one can also get to know how it can solve various issues. 

11. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Everyone has come across the concept of flow which talks about the time when we are entirely absorbed in our work and time flies by quickly at our optimal performance. 

But the dilemma with the flow is that it cannot be summoned per our will whenever we like. So to solve this query, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has written this powerful book that talks about how you can achieve this optimal state through the various exercises given in the book and the latest research to prove it.

People who are easily distracted during their works must use this book to produce the maximum output. 

12. Manage your Day to Day- Jocelyn Glei 

This book is more like a compendium of advice from some of the best creative minds in the world. Big names such as Marketer Seth Godin, Professor Cal Newport, and many others provide us with their advice and knowledge in this book. 

It focuses on building a workable routine to help a person maximize their productivity and creativity during the day while doing other important things. Being a compendium, this book is perfect for someone who only wants most ideas in one place and for someone limited on budget. 

13. How to get Ideas- Jack Foster 

One of the biggest concerns of the people involved in the creative field is how they can be different. There is always a concern regarding the ideas they get, as they should be unique in some way and be customer-friendly. This book solves this problem through various tricks and tips and applying them correctly to get the optimal result. 

14. Wired to Create: Unravelling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind- Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire 

People often overlook a lot of science behind a creative mind and idea because it takes time and effort to understand. Wired to Create does an excellent job bridging this gap and explaining these science elements to the reader. In addition, the book features the research of Scott Barry Kaufman, which provides us with the insides of the minds of highly creative people to make the content exciting. 

The latest findings of neuroscience and psychology mentioned in the book prove that it is all true. 

15. Release your Creativity: Discover your Inner Artist with 15 simple painting projects- Rebecca Schweiger 

Rebecca Schweiger is the owner of New York’s top-ranked art school. In this book, she gives step-by-step instructions for fifteen different hands-on paintings and projects. The book helps the reader understand the concept of creativity and gets him going with creative juices flowing inside him once he thoroughly reads and implies these instructions. The unique thing about this book that makes it special is the structure and the way it is written. For example, the introduction of each chapter of the book is done amazingly by Rebecca. 

This book is written in such a fantastic way that even if you don’t do the mentioned projects ( as most of us will not), the knowledge and insight regarding the creative natures is beneficial for Everybody. 

One can easily connect with their inner artist after reading this book. 16. Living Artfully: Create the Life You Imagine- Sandra Magsamen

This is one of the best books that you will come across in this genre. This book is for everyone regardless of whether you are a practicing creative person who has years of experience or someone just beginning your journey on a creative path and plans to go a long way ahead. This book will take the readers on a journey of self-discovery. The book provides you with the word of inspiration and the practical application of the same. If you are a beginner, you will love it as these applications will help you have a better sense of the things written, and even if you are a seasoned person in this field, you can skim through the applications quickly. The book is so powerful that it will transform the way you think and what you think. It will change your perception of art creativity and even personnel satisfaction and make you believe that you already have all the ingredients you need to create a successful life. 

17. Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock your most creative and productive self- Manoush Zomorodi 

This book talks about the benefits of spacing out. Many of us did not pay attention to what the teacher was saying, and when we were young, we were in place of our own. We would be scolded and made to feel guilty for doing so. However, this book will make you realize that when you were doing that, you were not wasting your time but allowing your mind to wander off and be the most creative it can be. 

Manoush, a popular podcast and radio show host, made approximately twenty thousand people sign the project for this book in which experimented. First, they told people to unplug from their devices and get bored only to kickstart their creativity eventually. 

Found that Mind-wandering helps us to think initially and increase our problem-solving ability. Also, we can harness this boredom and become our most creative and productive selves. 

This book gives you good insights also, and by the time you finish your book, you will be practicing more and more the technique to space out from the people and your current space and increase your creative abilities. 

18. Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other keys to creativity- Hugh MacLeod One of the most effective ways to cultivate creativity in ourselves is by revisiting our respective childhoods. Childhood was a time when some of our most creative selves came out. One of the best ways of doing it is by doodling. Even the writer of this Hugh started to doodle cartoons which later on became very popular. The main message of the book is that everyone is born creative, but as time passes, we pay little attention to our creative selves, and instead, we start to focus on uninspiring things that close down our creative selves. MacLeod writes and explains in this book how after so many years when we try to focus on the creative side, it is just our mind that wants to wander off as it used to when we were little. 

19. The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life- George D.Cohen

Suppose you are in the second half of your life and if you think it is too late for you to be creative and bring out your creative side. Then this book might help you get through this thought and start your journey on the creative path. 

The author, Dr. Grorge D.Cohen, a pioneer in mental health, says that it is never too late to start your journey if you want to, and you can withdraw it at any time of your life. He thinks that our whole species is blessed with creativity, and it does not matter what your profession was; all you need to do is be on the right path. 

He dwells and covers many aspects of the mind and how to work on our creative side even if we have passed a certain age and time of our life. He believes that the flame of the human spirit is all that we need for our creative and cognitive growth. 

20. Conscious Creativity: Look, Connect, Create- Philipa Stanton Philips is a famous Instagrammer, artist, and photographer who has written this book about conscious creativity. This book is photo-heavy which illustrates beautifully throughout the book. This book is about conscious creativity that will help you open up all of your senses and enjoy the beauty in your everyday life. 

Engaging and straightforward exercises will not make the reader take them as a task but as a fun activity. The practices encourage attention and experimentation and give you an idea of how to open up your creative side using just natural curiosity. You will enjoy the book from the first page to the last and will leap into some of your most creative times ever with this book. 

So these were some of the books which can help you unlock your creative side. All of them are written with easy-to-do instructions and exercises and are well researched with their facts. They are super engaging and will not make you feel like you are doing a task; instead, you will enjoy reading them and doing the mentioned tasks. In a fast-growing world where more and more people are becoming dependent on their part of thinking, you can stand out and make a name for yourself. We hope that you will find the list mentioned above of books exciting and helpful, and they can help you increase your creative thinking.

One of the simple leisure time activities is reading. It not only helps your mind relax but also gives you the immense pleasure of calming your mind, organizing your thoughts, and letting you think effectively and efficiently. Therefore, reading is one of the most popular activities, and most people are interested in this. Be it story books or comic books, fiction or nonfiction, biographies or autobiographies; reading helps you stabilize your mind and find a way to ignore the chaos and move towards calm. It is also often considered equivalent to meditation. 

If you don’t want to be left behind in this fast-paced world, you have to keep developing new skills and talents. Reading books on creativity will always help you in staying two steps ahead in the game.

Top 20 Books on Creativity- Book Recommendations

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