Books I read and how I finished a book in every 10 days

How I read

I was coming out of the U-bahn station and walked straight into a steel door knocking myself out and dismantling almost everything that I was carrying, including my Kindle. I paid the price of my proud skill of reading while walking. However, I continued. This is routine for me (reading, not bumping), I always carry a book along and just steal a few pages here and there. You can always gain a significant amount of time if you are not driving. This could be a moot point likely to have been encountered a few times. Without condescending, using public transport and not driving is a blessing for the readers. On an average, even for slow readers, you can finish a page (both sides) in 3 minutes, with an hour of travel every day that would lead to 20 pages. A 300-page book will be done in 15 days! However, the equation is not so simple, and you do not go to work every day, and not all days are same. Therefore, a bed-time reading, even for 20 mins is a must. There are a thousand articles available online which will show techniques to read fasters, which might lead to comprehension debacle. The only way to read books with proper comprehension is to confer reverence to the content of the book and appropriate time accordingly.   

"There is no other way to read more books than to spend more time on reading.”

I have three simple rules:

1. Always carry a book
2. Read while you are commuting
3. Read before sleeping

With these three rules, I finished more than 30 books last year, other than the regular work-related books that I incessantly read.

I am an old-school guy and like to read hard copies of the books. I also own a kindle, which is very convenient to use and carry books. The first rule becomes easy to follow if you have a habit of reading books with Kindle. I like hard copies of the books because that makes it easier for me to refer if I need something from the book later. In case you struggle with vocabulary, then Kindle will surely assist you. There are pros and cons, but the important thing for me is to read. I devour on content in any form, so for me it is not a problem to adapt on any device or interface when it comes to reading. However, you should take care of this factor, read only form the interface that you are comfortable with. It will significantly change your reading habit.

The rule number three is easier said than done. Initially you will take a book, get into bed and sleep within few minutes (some people take fraction of a minute). Especially when you are tired of the day’s work, which I assume will be your daily situation. So, the bed-time reading must be redefined into your system as read-before-getting-into-bed. If you are amongst those, where even a look of the bed raises an uncanny sleep call - then just stay away. Only way to develop this habit is to simply sit and read, as you are doing your work. It will take time, months to get used to this, and then you will naturally start reading every night.      

Why I read

People read for different reasons, I mostly read non-fiction because knowledge out of my craving for knowledge. I read fiction at times to live in the amazing world created by the author.

“One who reads can traverse any boundaries of imagination.”

Imagination is something that we are consistently losing with the amount of visual aids we get through internet these days. In no way I want to demean the new ways of learning, they are sometimes useful for clarifying the ideas in your thoughts, but at times they might lead to killing of the thought at first place, or might shape the way you create your thoughts and thus giving it an unnecessary bias. I take reading as an exercise to build up my imagination. Indubitably, reading broadens the horizon of your thinking and makes you delve into unknown territories.

I work in a very specialized field, nuclear engineering to be precise, surrounded by experts in the field of nuclear energy. The discourses in the relevant field come very naturally to me, however, reading books assures that I am never out of place in any sort of discussion. It also allows me to take inferences from different fields and apply to my specific field of work, thus creating a unique milieu for personal as well as professional growth. To read about things on internet and participate in a discussion is one thing, and reading the same topic in a well-researched book is another. One good book is worth hundreds of superfluous articles on internet. I make sure to pick good books, however there would surely be some books that would disappoint you – sometimes due to half-hearted effort of the author and sometimes your half-hearted attempt to understand the author. 

What I read last year

I read a lot of good books last year, however I will try to recommend here the ones that I found well researched, well presented and something that contributed to my development.

I have a natural inclination towards history and therefore most of the books I read have a historical component in them. I believe that history always has something to teach and prepare you better for the future.

Why Nations Fail, by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson: The fact that the book is a result of 15 years of research is evident. The premise of the book is very simple: how inclusive institutions are virtuous and how extractive institutions are vicious. The quintessential excerpts from the history, the critical junctures in defining the path of the nation and how the country's polity unfolded, is very well explained. A 500-page gripping book with just one simple concept, but never gives a feeling of repetitiveness.

The Gene: An Intimate History, by Siddhartha Mukherjee: The book humbles you by describing how little we know about ourselves. Genetics is one field, other than nuclear, where if given an opportunity I would like to work. Atom, gene and bit – three simple units that redefined energy, humanity and information in the world. The book is a whole-hearted attempt by the author to simplify the historical development in the field and present it in a very lucid manner. Various milestones, like formulating the structure of DNA, first cloning, etc. are celebratory presented, displaying powerful emotions that scientist exude when they are able to achieve a breakthrough.  

Reality is Not What it Seems, by Carlo Rovelli: The very acceptance of the point with humility that we do not know everything is the foundation of science. The continuous nature of being in doubt is what breeds scientific thinking. The book written by a theoretical physicist surely had a lot of physics to take, too much at times, but I really enjoyed it a lot. He is a proponent of loop theory and clarified a lot of concepts for me. I missed a strong discussion on string theory which could have been covered with one extra chapter, but I understand that it might not have been on author's mind. The last two chapters are phenomenally written - absolutely beautiful.

Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics, by Tim Marshall: An interesting book on understanding the geopolitics. Given an overall picture; the book is more on breadth than on depth. It is important to understand the bigger picture before you dig into one or more specific areas. I think this book is a good starter for an overall understanding of the world geography and its role in the politics. The way the author has written, will give a new perspective to your understanding of the maps. Of course, if you are a student of the subject, there might not be something new; but for those also, the writing style of the book will make it simpler to refresh the concepts. This book along with Why Nations Fail, will actually give a lot of clarification and understanding about geopolitics.

The Age of Sustainable Development, by Jeffrey Sachs: A comprehensive book covering various dimensions of sustainable development. However, covering so much in one book takes away the depth of the analysis. But I think that corresponds to the purpose of the book. 

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari: The book focuses only on Sapiens and how the world we live in today is shaped by this species. Challenging to the established rationale and igniting thought process - it is a brief history, power packed with lots of facts, insights and analysis. The book is one of the most recommended books to be read in this century.

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, by Yuval Noah Harari: I read it back to back with Sapiens, I was sceptical that author will not be able to do justice to this book after receiving lot of praise for the first book. But, I was happily surprised to find this book equally interesting. It talks about the author’s view of the future that we are heading towards. Some of the points will make you ponder upon, others you might like to dismiss at their first occurrence.  

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character, by Richard Feynman: A humble story by a humble man of physics. There is nothing I could write to explain the content of the book. There are personal memoirs with a touch of humour and insatiable curiosity. He talks mainly about his adventures as well as frustrations about the current system, specifically education systems. The book will actually take you to the adventurous life of Dr Feynman.

What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, by Randall Munroe: Quite a good collection of questions, I barely skipped a few of them. I am happy that I got a chance to peek into few fields which I would have otherwise never thought of reading. Now, I do have a list of areas that I would explore further to satiate my own curiosity. I am going to read his other book too, Randall surely knows how to explain things in a very simplistic way. If you are looking for some light book and are curious to explore, surely read this book.

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE, by Phil Knight: I read a few biographies this year, however none was as special as this one. I think it is the age that bespoke wisdom out in the book. The last chapter was so emotional that it brought tears to my eyes.