2020 may have been a terrible year on many accounts, but I'm quite proud to have read more books in 2020 than any other year in my adult life. The reason is likely the sedentary lifestyle forced upon us by the pandemic, but it's also the result of a conscious effort to make reading a daily habit.
This year I found a really nice balance of book genres - bouncing between several categories of non-fiction and fiction throughout the year. For the first time, I read some biographies including a couple terrific ones from Walter Isaacson: Steve Jobs and Leonardo Da Vinci. I explored some incredible sci-fi with Three-Body Problem, Exhalation, Recursion, and Dune 1 & 2. I also devoured some of the best business books I've ever read including Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, Competing Against Luck, and Creativity Inc.
It's going to be hard to top this year in books, but I'm looking forward to trying in 2021. As always, if you have any book recommendations, please let me know.
Good Strategy, Bad Strategy
Richard Romelt, 2011
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Rumelt has likely forgotten more about strategy than most will ever know, and he isn't shy about it! The core ideas in the book could be distilled to a long blog post but it's the real-world examples and stories from his experience that are most instructive. I came out of this book with a much stronger understanding of strategy and most importantly, how to apply it to my work.
Competing Against Luck
Clayton M. Christensen, 2016
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Competing Against Luck seeks to provide an answer to a question that Christensen often encountered in his work on competition and disruption theory - is innovation a game of luck? As an answer, the book lays out the jobs to be done framework as the best framework to understand the underlying needs of a customer and how a company can innovate to meet those needs.
This was my first exposure to JTBD and I came away a believer. It's an essential tool in a product leader's arsenal. It can help cut through the noise help you discover the real need a customer has that the product you're building can solve.
Leonardo Da Vinci
Walter Isaacson, 2017
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An incredible, well-researched glimpse into a famous but poorly understood historical figure. Isaacson is able to pain a vivid picture of Leonardo's life, personality, and adventures. The book reads more like a novel, interpersed with amazing descriptions of Leonardo's painting techniques that made his art one of a kind.
What I loved most about this book is how it takes you into the mind of a genius like Leonardo. His relentless curiousity and drive for perfection are what made him the quintessential renaissance man.
Bad Blood
John Carreyou, 2018
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Steve Jobs
Walter Isaacson, 2011
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Creativity, Inc.
Ed Catmull, 2014
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The Everything Store
Brad Stone, 2013
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What You Do Is Who You Are
Ben Horowitz, 2019
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Astrophyssics for People in a Hurry
Neil deGrasse Tyson, 2017
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The Obesity Code
Jason Fung, 2016
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Range
David Epstein, 2019
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Atomic Habits
James Clear, 2018
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Talking to Strangers
Malcolm Gladwell, 2019
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Elon Musk
Ashley Vance, 2015
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Say Nothing
Patrick Radden Keefe, 2018
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The Making of a Manager
Julie Zhou, 2019
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Station Eleven
Emily St. John Mandel, 2014
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This is likely a very popular read this year. It centers around a highly contagious and deadly virus that wipes out most of the human population. The book does a great job of touching on life before, during, and after the pandemic. The bulk of the book takes place decades after the pandemic ravaged the world and focuses very much on the new normal in the world.
The Three-Body Problem
Liu Cixin, 2006
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A brilliant premise for a sci-fi novel that builds upon a physics concept by considering what it would mean on a planet scale. It's translated from the original Mandarin but it doesn't seem like much is lost in translation. The book is thought-provoking, suspenseful, and surprising.
Dune
Frank Hebert, 1965
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A classic that is almost always mentioned in the pantehon of great sci-fi. I had tried to read this in my youth but since the book doesn't do much hand-holding it can be tough to get into. On this go around I absolutely loved it and couldn't wait to crack open the next volume. The concept of extreme water scarcity and how that can shape a civilization and a people is a brilliant idea. Layered on top of that is a classic hero's journey that still manages to surprise and delight even though it's beats have been replicated by hundreds of novels since.
Dune Messiah
Frank Hebert, 1969
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Into the Wild
Jon Krakauer, 1996
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Recursion
Blake Crouch, 2019
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Underground Railroad
Colson Whitehead, 2016
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The Road
Cormac McCarthy, 2006
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Exhalation
Ted Chiang, 2019
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Exit West
Mohsin Hamid, 2017
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The Giver
Lois Lowry, 1993
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Origin
Dan Brown, 2017
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Nothing to See Here
Kevin Wilson 2019
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