2024 - my year in books

It’s a well researched fact that the books you read define your outlook in life, and to some extent, your personality. But I have found that the way my year shapes up also defines what I read! That showed up very clearly in the books I read this year. I started out this year with a goal of reading 20 books – I should end up at 18 – yeah behind target but (this is the salesman in me) not that far behind! :)

The year started out with me needing to reinvigorate my reading so I did end up reading quite a bit of fiction – revisited Agatha Christie, and discovered a new author – Lucy Foley – interesting writing style – must have been the book I finished the quickest! There were a few books though that really stood out. So here goes

1.??????? 2034 and 2054: by Elliot Ackerman and (Admiral) James Stavridis. Don’t you wonder where all this conflict in the world is going to take us? If you listen to all the doomsdayers out there, we are closer to a world war III than ever. These two books artfully blend today’s reality with fiction, and imagine a world where we do have the third world war and who (not a person by a country) saves the world and how it reorganizes itself. Really fantastic work by the authors – no wonder that one of them was an Admiral, given the authentic storyline. I loved 2034 more than 2054 but both of them are instructive reading for us to understand what the world should not be doing – hope the world leaders listen! And hope we – the world citizens – stay sane!

2.??????? The year of the re-runs – seems like 2024 was the year of the re-runs – not just in my reading but also with the authors. There were two re-runs (or sequels, if you please) that came out this year – The Return of the Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell), and The Singularity is Nearer (Ray Kurzweil). Both follow from their successful first books, and I would say that neither disappointed. Although there were some negative reviews of Malcolm Gladwell’s sequel, I enjoyed his data driven narrative and the conclusions he draws. Ray’s book updates his hypothesis around the Singularity (term borrowed from Physics and applied to computing and artificial intelligence) and makes it all relatable to what we see today. The only challenge to authors writing about AI is that by the time you write your book, it might be obsolete (given the rate of change in AI), however Ray does a stellar job in keeping it all relevant and relatable. Both are great reads

3.??????? I’ll be back – and Arnold Schwarzenegger was back (atleast for me). I have recently signed up for Arnold’s latest venture – the exercise app called “Pump”. He sends a daily fact based update which I follow – unlike others who effectively send out advertisements, Arnold’s update is informative and researched and, like he says, it is the “positive corner of the internet”. I started out with his Seven Tools for life (Be Useful), which was an ok book, but then I moved to his biography Total Recall. I wrote in my review of that book that although this was a very voluminous book, it was really an embodiment of the American Dream – how an immigrant from a village in Austria who couldn’t speak much English when he got to America, is now one of the most recognizable faces in the world. And he was the Governor of California amongst many other achievements. His book gave me hope that anyone can make it big with hard work and focus. I think that lesson is worth reiterating. If you are into biographies, Total Recall is worth a read

4.??????? Freedom at Midnight (Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre) – I was surprised that I hadn’t read this book – I had heard so much about it. Growing up in India, we read a lot about our history and I have read several accounts and versions of India’s independence struggle. Nothing would have prepared me for this account. India’s independence struggle recounted from a western view point, I must say is somewhat different from Indian authors’ viewpoints – Larry and Dominique’s retelling of the story turns out to more sympathetic to the British than anyone else’s. I had mixed feelings reading this book. On the one hand, this book offered insights into the struggle I hadn’t had before, on the other I was almost offended at the way this book seems to say that the British were more benevolent than they were – they subjugated India for such a long time and it took a long time for India to get back up to today’s stage in the world. However I feel that all viewpoints have a space in the world, and as a responsible citizen of the world, we should listen to all viewpoints and then feel free to make our own. In the end, I am glad I read this book

5.??????? Beyond the Walls (Zeev E Neuwirth) – as a consumer of the American healthcare system, I am always surprised and frustrated by the inefficiencies that we face on a daily basis. From the long wait times to the high costs and the opaque pricing, it is an ongoing struggle. The system keeps insurance companies and medical device companies profitable and the hospital systems themselves extremely unprofitable, and the patient unhappy. So is there any hope? That’s the reason you should read Zeev’s book. There are a lot of innovations happening in this space which have the potential to really transform healthcare – by harnessing the power of the patients to bring about change. We at GE HealthCare see these innovations everyday, and also partner or help some of these innovators. This book gives a very good overview of why we should all be hopeful

Thank you for reading through. I am always touched and humbled to hear so many of you tell me that you look forward to reading my book reviews at the end of the year. Sorry that I had too many fiction books in my reading list this year. Let me know if any of these books are also in your reading list. I would love to hear from you about the books on your reading list as well.

Wish everyone a very Happy New Year 2025 in advance! #booklovers #books #yearinbooks