2020 Books from my personal reading list

#2020 Reading list

1. A Serial Killer's Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming - Kerri Rawson This one was very gripping to read about BTK killer through the eyes of his daughter. Kerri does a great job sharing the trauma of discovering the truth about her Dad. This is certainly an insight into the depth of and capacity for evil within human nature and our ability to deceive others with fa?ade.
2. Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know - Malcolm Gladwell. This one was a good one and consistent with Gladwell’s other works with insightful observations.
3. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood -Trevor Noah Trevor is an exciting writer and does a great job capturing your attention like his comic routines. Enjoyed reading this book that is peppered with self-deprecating humor. To be honest, there were a few incidents shared in this book that did not seem rational or consistent with Trevor’s personality or intellectual capabilities.
4. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference Malcolm Gladwell An old book of Gladwell that I had missed reading. Once again consistent but found it lacking in conclusions of the observations made possibly left for the readers to make.
5. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing - Marie Kondo This one is a winner in my opinion for 2020 although my family has not reached that the level of organization that we desire. I am glad that I was able to get my 9-year old daughter to embrace Kon Mari organization method and has become an Kon Mari evangelist and tutor for the family.
6. George Washington: The Founding Father (Eminent Lives) Paul Johnson I have high regard for Paul Johnson and was possibly expecting more from this book but the Johnson’s perspective on Washington did not capture my attention to finish the book. I may pick this up later.
7. When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi This is another one that I did not complete although it was in the best seller list.
8. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants Malcolm Gladwell Appears that for 2020, I was heavy with Gladwell’s works and caught on an old book of his from my reading list.
9. The Screwtape Letters C.S. Lewis This is from my annual reading list and was able to read about 6 letters as a good reminder to be wise about keeping the focus on our Creator, Sustainer and Provider amidst COVID pandemic and distractions and disagreements about the elections and political views.
10. Flash Boys Michael Lewis Despite the best efforts of Lewis, this one was one of the unfinished one from prior year that I was able to finish and wrap this one in 2020.
11. The Captain Class: The Hidden Force that Creates the World's Greatest Teams Sam Walker From 2019 reading list, recommend this book for sports buff and those looking for leadership principles. Walker does a great job of surveying different leaderships of highly successful sports team.
12. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari Unfinished – I may need to try again since Noah Harari’s style and content did not capture my attention.
13. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis - J.D. Vance From 2019 reading list – listing this here just to share my disappointment with the movie that came out on Netflix. The book was very exciting reading about the struggles in “rust belt” of America but the movie failed to portray many of the exciting moments captured in the book despite J. D. at the helm of the movie production.

Later quarter of the year was slow progress since I am spending more time on my old RC Heli and Quadcopter hobby and learning about Arduino and motion controllers to build a 2DOF Racing simulator.