Whether you want to learn a new skill, get fit or make a million, here are some of the top ‘how to’ books on the market.
Show Me How: 500 Things You Should Know - Instructions for Life from the Everyday to the Exotic by Derek Fagerstrom
This all-in-one book will have you learning everything from performing CPR and dancing the tango to making authentic sushi rolls and fighting a shark. Not to mention, it is packed with colourful graphics, making it fun and easy to follow.
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The Competitive Runner’s Handbook: The Bestselling Guide to Running 5Ks through Marathons by Bob Glover
If you want learn how to run competitively, without the price tag of a personal trainer, this is your book. It has all the latest information needed to design basic training programmes; special workout ideas to increase strength, endurance and power; schedules and worksheets to develop individual goals; and specifics on preparing for all kinds of races.
The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life by Timothy Ferriss
This innovative book is not only a guide to cooking, but also a five-stop journey through the art and science of learning. As the book states: “Before you learn to cook, you must learn to learn.” Restaurant owner Nick Kokonas says: “Tim Ferriss distills kitchen wisdom like a rotary evaporator on power surge. The results are potent, lucid, and delicious.”
The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting and Pruning Techniques by Tracy DiSabato-Aust
From beginners to master gardeners, this book has tips for everyone. Filled with colourful photographs and a helpful encyclopedia, it is not only informative, but makes learning about gardening fun and exciting. It details essential practices of perennial care such as deadheading, pinching, thinning and disbudding, all of which are thoroughly explained and illustrated.
How to Build a Fire: And Other Handy Things Your Grandfather Knew by Erin Bried
This witty book is filled with humour and wisdom, allowing you to have a laugh while learning some pretty resourceful skills, from tying a perfect tie and writing a love letter to changing a flat tyre and giving a sparkling toast.
ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett
More and more people are turning to blogging as a way of documenting their life and lifestyles, but also as a way of making a living. This book delivers the best advice for beginners wanting to learn the craft. Written by two successful bloggers, Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett, this has everything you need to know about blogging, editorship and, ultimately, making a business.
Editors on Editing: What Writers Need to Know About What Editors Do edited by Gerald Gross
In this handbook, professionals inform writers of the special demands and skills necessary to write for the mass market, the romance genre, special markets and more. Written by America’s most distinguished editors, these 38 essays will teach and inspire anyone interested in editing and writing.
Graphic Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design by Bryony Gomez-Palacio
Graphic Design, Referenced is a visual guide to the most commonly referenced terms, historical moments, landmark projects and influential practitioners in the field of graphic design. It has more than 2,000 design projects illustrating more than 400 entries, providing an intense overview of the varied elements that make up the graphic design profession.
Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf Potts
Nearly everyone has had the fantasy of dropping everything and travelling the world. This book teaches you how to live out that dream. Vagabonding is about taking time off from your normal life - be it six weeks to two years - to discover and experience the world on your own terms. This guide has all the necessary information on financing your travel time, determining your destination, adjusting to life on the road, working and volunteering overseas, handling travel adversity and re-assimilating back into ordinary life.
