Best of what I read in 2019

Another year has come and gone, and man it has been quite a year! Many personal changes (my second child was born) and professional changes (changes in responsibilities and assignments), but still managed to get some reading done. 16 books finished in 2019, same number as I read in 2018. This year most of the books I read were within my length comfort zone (<350 pages), and to my own surprise, a sizable number of them were still paper (25%). Yet I did not buy a single paper book this year. From the ones I read 3 I already bought previous years and the fourth I got as a present for Saint George (big book event in my region). I realized I am getting more and more reads from authors I already read books from, 38% of books I read, versus authors new to me.

Not surprisingly, I still read in the same kind of topics I did last year (disclaimer, some books fit more than one category)

• Psychology (13% of books I read)
• Classical books (13%)
• Economics (31%)
• General interest(13%)
• Milennial Thinking (38%)
• Productivity (6%)
• Healthcare (13%)

To my surprise, getting a newborn brought some time to read. The first 6 months of the year (baby was born in January) I managed to read at the fastest pace I ever did. I finished my 12th book (see order at the end of the article) by July 1st. On the other hand, the second part of the year the pace sizably reduced to half (!?!), mostly due to demanding job situations, and getting the kids to a different stage (more attention needed).

Few fun facts about reading for me during this year, I learned to read while feeding a baby with a bottle (key to reading 2 books a month for 6 months), I learned to read while biking in long stretches of straight bike lanes (do not try this at home, if you do, use an e-book with max font size) and my wife also got addicted to reading, which made us read at 1 book/week pace during summer holidays.

Here is the summary (by category) of the books I read and my subjective qualification of them. Skip to the bottom for the full list and highlighted recommendations.

General interest

I start with this section because it holds two of my highest recommended reads for the year: Factfullness by Hans Rosling and 21 lessons for century 21st by Mr Yuval Noah Harari. Factfullness is a book you need to read, and preferably soon. Dr Rosling (who unfortunately passed during the writing of this book) was a cardiologist and epidemiologist who worked in the UN for years. This book collects his thoughts on how the world's view on human kind is over pessimistic, and how there is hope moving forward. He also describes a completely eye opening angle on worldwide perceptions. A lot on statistics (from the epidemiology background) and misconceptions around health tackled face to face.

Factfullness is a book you need to read, and preferably soon.

Secondly (both chronologically and in order of relevance) I would recommend 21 lessons for century 21st as a good read to be in line with current ways of thinking. Very relevant book in the ages of Brexit and Trump, post-truth scenarios and the new role religions and faith play in the world. Having read the homo-trilogy (Sapiens, Homo Deus, and this book), I still believe Homo Deus is the best (and 2nd) book to read, but I acknowledge new ideas are present in 21 lessons for century 21st, which put a different perspective in the matters happening today. Truth to be said, because of that, there is a fair chance that the validity of this book would expire soon. Do not read it more than a couple of years from now.

Healthcare

Two books by Eric Topol are the two healthcare related books in this section. The story around them is that early in 2019 I found out that Deep Medicine was going to come out. Having read The patient will see you now, I thought it would be a good idea to first read the first book by Topol: The creative destruction of medicine. So I did. Then, later in the year (during my summer holidays) I read Deep Medicine. Here I am going to go against the whole major opinion trend. Everybody out there praised Deep Medicine as a reference book and a great classic moving forward. I beg to differ. The book is a good merge between technology (background on deep learning, etc) and medicine, with a collection of examples of what is currently available and what is there to come, limited forecasting. The book somehow concludes that although there is a lot to gain, medicine will ultimately not going to be taken over by AI, mostly because of the role of the doctors, and its human dimension. It makes for a good story, but to be quite frank, not the best book of Topol I read. On the other hand The creative destruction of medicine was the first official work from Topol targeted to the general population (and not the scientific community). I have to say that the book exposes visionary views on the world of medicine from all angles possible. A lot of what is described is somehow familiar to me (having read The patient will see you now), but to be frank, less structured into a story. It is clear a first attempt by Topol to depart from the scientific style more into a style appealing to the general public. All in all my recommendation is, if you want to read a book from Topol is to start with The patient will see you now (his second book, with a much better structured storyline), then The creative destruction of medicine (way more predictive and thought provoking) and finally Deep Medicine. That's my recommendation. Do not get me wrong, Topol's books are great and highly recommended!

...if you want to read a book from Topol start with The patient will see you now.

Funny things though, when reading books from Topol, I thought there was a great overlap of ideas with Mr Harari. I thought for instance that the closing of Homo Deus (algorithms will take over), and the predictions of Topol in The patient will see you now were common ideas (that Harari did borrow his ideas). Funny enough, Topol explicitly quotes Harari in Deep Medicine, completely closing the feedback in my mind. That's what happens when the authors you like read the books of the other authors you also like.

Milennial thinking

In this category I read two books from Seth Godin, who has become one of the writing styles I got to like most in the last few years. Concise, with nice chopping of information and many examples. I like the power of the messages that Godin puts in his books. Linchpin maybe the single one I would recommend from this section, as it provides a great way to see the world where there are no barriers. It is a wake up call to go and take the best out of what you are given with plenty of examples and guiding stories that make the book attractive. On the other hand The Dip also from Godin, is a brief book that helps you telling apart when to insist or when to quit in general. This is a great book I would recommend for people questioning their professional path and trying to understand what to do next, and maybe more relevantly when to do that. More in the startup-like millennial thinking section I read The tipping point  by Malcom Gladwell and also Zero to One by Peter Thiel (based on recommendations). Both of them represent different ways of looking at the enterpreneurship world. Thiel comes from the practical side with tips and experiences of what works and what does not, how teams need to work and how your initiatives shall be the most important single item in life. As much as I empathize with the spirit, reading the book (and having worked with companies in Silicon Valley), gave me the impression that the message should be taken with a grain of salt. As usual even great things need to be taken in appropriate doses and Thiel's perspective looked like no limits should be put to ambition and pursue of success. I am more of a believer of having a nice balance. On the other hand The tipping point from Gladwell focuses more on how tiny (apparently insignificant) factors can snowball into great things. The virality of the day to day. Interesting writing style (similar to Godin's) in which small chops of ideas make for a sparse reader's ideal scenario, allowing breaks and time for thoughts around each concept.

Additionally this year I read Start with Why by world famous Simon Simek. It is an interesting book and it has a very good point about a method to face life as a person and as a company. The concept, in my view, is simple and is explained in the first few pages of the book. The rest of the book is a reiteration with examples and situations that emphasize the idea at the beginning. Very american-style (and too much loving of the Apple story in my view), but still worth your time.

The last book that I would mention in this section would be the complete opposite of millenial thinking, which is reflected in Todo se puede enterenar (Spanish for "Anything can be trained") by Toni Nadal. This book is a praise for the classical values of respect, discipline and hard work that (in my view) are completely bypassed in the millenial generation. The author is the uncle and ex-coach of the world famous tennis player Rafael Nadal. The book is articulated around his experience training and it does have a big component of tennis, but in essence it highlights how the day to day execution of 'old-school' values make for a better learning process.

Todo se puede entrenar highlights how the day to day execution of 'old-school' values make for a better learning process.

Psychology

Only two books this year on psychology. You are not so smart, by David Mc Raney is a recommendable book (despite the fact you might not want to walk around showing you are reading it!). It talks about the cognitive biases and multiple other psychological tendencies that as humans tend to err on (and not even realize). Worth your time. The other book I read on this section was Busy by Tony Crabbe. I got a recommendation for this book in a training I took maybe a couple of years ago. The book itself gives good insights on how to thrive in a world of information overflow and how to tackle the daily busyness. It is clear this is a problematic topic affecting the very essence of our day to day. I have to acknowledge though that the book felt too long to me (it took me a long time to finish) and it would not be on top of my recommendation list.

Classics

I try to read classic books to get a better understanding of what I missed during my education years (at school) and understand stories that are within general culture. In this section (after the thread I started in previous years with Orwell and Huxley) I try to read dystopian books. This year I read Fahrenheit 451 which depicts a dystopian future where reading is forbidden (appropriate topic for this article) and firemen are trained to set fire to books. The story is depicted from the firemen's perspective and it is more about how the world look like than about the story of the main character. Very similar dark scene is depicted in The handmaids tale from Margaret Atwood. Atwood's dystopian future depicts a totalitarian society where the role of women has radically changed. Communication is limited and roles of military their wifes and the handmaids creates a vicious cycle. I know Atwood presented the second part of the book (the handmaids tale was originally published in 1985) just in 2019. Not read it and not planning to just now . I only recommend these two books (also available in movies/series) to people who likes dystopian topics (Black mirror-style). Literally read (and now reading my own review) they are very black and depressing stories. Always good to read them though in a constructive manner, understanding what we do NOT need to do to get into such situations.

 Economics

Adapt from Tim Hardord, is a nice book on the world view by an economist. I have to acknowledge though I very much liked other books by Harford better, such as the Undercover Economist, so do not put it high in your priority list.

Doughnut Economics though, by Kate Raworth, is definitely high in the list for recommendations. Explaining why the forever-growth model is not sustainable and coming with a new way of looking at economics that is more sensitive and future-ready is the essence of this book. An economist that turns into their kind and questions the very basics of the whole field. Why GDP is the wrong measurement system and why economy should evolve with the times and not get stuck in the few principles that guided the 1960's and the 70's. Basic questions such until when do you expect to grow, and how is the future looking like, where is the environment reflected in the economical model. All of them sliced in edible portions for non-economists. It should be high on your list.

Doughnut Economics explains why the forever-growth model is not sustainable and coming with a new way of looking at economics that is more sensitive.

Closing remarks

Below you can find the list of books I read in 2019 in chronological order.

In bold, my personal recommendations (from all those I read). You can also read the summary of the books I read both in 2018 and 2017 (to understand where I come from). 4 recommendations out of 18 books, that would save you some time :-).

• The dip - Seth Godin
• Adapt - Tim Harford
• Start with Why - Simon Simek
• The creative destruction of medicine - Eric Topol
• Factfullness - Hans Rosling
• Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
• You are not so Smart - David Mc Raney
• The tipping point - Malcom Gladwell
• Todo se puede entrenar - Toni Nadal
• Zero to One - Peter Thiel
• The handmaids tale - Margaret Atwood
• Linchpin - Seth Godin
• Doughnut Economics - Kate Raworth
• Deep medicine - Eric Topol
• Busy - Tony Crabbe
• 21 lessons for century 21st - Yuval Noah Harari