Best Books of Q1

India cut a sorry figure with its dismal Q1 GDP announcement. So I thought back to how dismal Q1 really was from a personal point of view- and I found a reason to cheer. Thanks to the lockdown, I’ve managed to not only read a lot more than earlier but also increase the speed and scope of my explorations with every passing month. And I thought- wouldn’t it be a good idea to do these periodic, quarterly reviews of the stuff I’ve read and offer some nice book recommendations? Of course, it is…even though no one’s going to read them anyway. 

Hah. I hope not.

I’m certain that, just like me, there’s always a small bunch of people who love their books and are constantly on the lookout for great reads that can blow their brains out. If I can be of any service to this nerd collective, I’d be happy. So here we go.

Top 3 books of Q1

1. Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialised World by David Epstein

This is a profoundly insightful book that works to dispel the many myths that we hold about narrow specialization, obsessing about the Gladwellian 10,000 hours rule, and argues passionately to make the case for wide sampling and cultivating broader areas of interest and expertise. 

Filled with wondrous stories about how the best athletes, scientists, and professionals got to where they were without really taking the conventional route, this book will leave you with critical mental models on how to approach your work and career where jobs are changing and the takeover of machines is rendering many skills obsolete. 

Read this to: know more about the idea of wide sampling as opposed to narrow specialization, read incredibly interesting anecdotes on how we learn, acquire expertise, and re-learn.

Relevant for: Absolutely anyone who’s interested in growth with respect to their work/career and specifically lone rangers who focus on a specialized craft 

2. The Attention Merchants by Tim Wu

This book brings together two things that I enjoy very much: history and advertising. A sweeping review that covers the advent of advertising and how it cheated death many times to become the gigantic presence that it is today, Tim Wu presents a fascinating (and rather alarming) picture of the rise of the attention industry. Peppered with ever so interesting anecdotes, this is sure to add a much deeper perspective of how advertising really hit the scene and the riveting/dangerous path that it continues to take. 

Read this to: Learn about the origins of advertising and grasp the deeper idea behind how the giants have always been after that one, all-important thing: our attention…and it’s subtle, continuous, and massively profitable harvesting.

Relevant for: Anyone remotely associated with the creative/media/marketing industry and history buffs in general. People who are troubled by how much their lives are dominated by digital media and their smartphones would also do good to get a 30,000 ft perspective 

3. Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Right since the beginning of the pandemic, I was looking forward to reading Taleb’s magnum opus, not sheerly because of the topicality of the idea but also because of the contrarian and provocative insights that this book contains. 

Black Swan was an eye-opening experience and had many parts that reminded me of my reading of Antifragile last year (yeah, I messed up the order but it doesn't really matter). Taleb’s absolute pulverization of bell curves and prognostication based on extrapolating from the past might get a tad overbearing at times. On the whole, though, this book shall leave you with a lot to ponder over…and, at least for a while, keeping your meaning-finding-in-everything machinery at bay. 

Read this to: understand extreme events and how not to think about them, gain a perspective of the sheer pervasiveness of randomness in everything and develop a little more humility 

Relevant for: Everyone who can labor through Taleb’s belligerent writing. On a serious note, it’s a must-read for entrepreneurs, business executives, and everyone interested in understanding extreme events and how we constantly fail at predicting them. 

Special Mention: The Plague by Albert Camus

A novel written in the 1940s about a plague that tightens its grip over a town and the reactions of its residents as the prospect of death looms large, this is a classic book that bears an uncanny resemblance to what’s happening in our world today. One must read this manuscript, now more than ever. Camus’ central idea of how the plague will never go, on the shortness of life and how death is omnipresent is worth a thought, if not the patience required to experience the entire book. If you can’t get yourself to read it, at least watch this summary video which drives home an important point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSYPwX4NPg4&t=297s

Well, that’s that. 

I have reviewed just 4 out of the 15 books I read in Q1. Review of the top books from Q2 coming soon. (Like anyone cares)

Needless to say, I’d love to know your opinions in case you’ve read/plan to read any of these. I’d also be obliged if you could share some of your best recommendations. And if you have no recommendations, I'd love to see your comments on how award-winning this article is.

Ultimately, the best wisdom and learning in life comes from reading. If you aren’t able to get into reading (despite the presence of a gigantic library in your video call background), I hope my articles nudge you to give it another shot. There’s no better time to get lost in books and hypercharge your reading practice than a pandemic induced lockdown.