Books that shaped my thoughts (2021)

In one life time, you can only experience as much by your own. For everything else, you see the world through the lens of all the incredibly amazing authors who make the world come alive like a motion picture 3D movie. Thanks to the canvas painted by them, you have your own imaginative metaverse.

Thanks to the pandemic, I could rejuvenate my repertoire of books over the last 2 years. What helped? Well, my morning runs were a lot more disciplined. And the run and audibles fed into each other, sometime, I'd run further because I had a great book, else, I'll go for a great title because I had to run. Yes, I do spend a good time to research and pick up the titles. There's NYT lists, Goodreads reviews and my husband, Gopal's recommendation are great picks (his average read is 45-50 books a year- a far cry for me). Incidentally, I did a high 5, going from 20 to 25 books this year!

?With that, here's sharing a list of 5 books that left a mark in 2021:

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An engrossing science fiction story that has so much more! I loved the way it tickled both sides of the brain. It made me revisit many of the Science and Engineering concepts and also made me think about how close friendships can be formed even between people who are so different from each other.

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A book that I can read multiple times! It questions the way we cling onto beliefs, processes, and habits without re-examining them, as they seem to work just fine. Adam Grant highlights that the ability to rethink, unlearn, and a collaborative approach in negotiations leads to higher creativity and better results.

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So many unique perspectives! Sadhguru offers a multi-layered description of Karma. I loved his take on how mindfulness and living in the moment can help us approach life’s challenges in a sensible way and lead us to a more fulfilled life.

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A perfect AI tale for our times about Klara, an AI being and humans around her. It touches upon so many aspects such as meetings to practice getting along, ‘Artificial friend’ and loneliness that resonated with challenges many of us faced in recent times. Ishiguro made me contemplate about being human. He pushed me to think, what does it mean to be human? What is self, and how much of it can we give to others?

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A captivating epic tale that focuses on people caught in the whirlwind of the Great Depression and a prolonged drought that led to the Dust Bowl. The book also gave me hope for better times...Just as Elsa, the protagonist, faced a host of hardships with grit and courage, we too can survive, overcome and thrive amid unprecedented challenges.

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Would not want to end the post, without ?? ???????? ???? ?????? ???????? 10 ?????????? ???????? ?????????????? ???????????????????? ?????? ??????????????????????.??A mix of the new ones this year, some a throwback re-reads, some I'd missed earlier.

Bill Gates’ book was an induction for me into the mega topic of Climate change with all the complexities, most importantly what can one do about it. With the changing balance of the ROI of money, the duo of ‘Psychology of Money’ as well as ‘Coffee Can Investing’ provided nuanced perspectives. A peek into the intrepid styles and mega thinking of Bezos and Musk via ‘Think and Wander’ and ‘Power Play’, a treat to entrepreneurial thinking.

A couple of soulful reads and a bit of drama always perks you up, ‘Anxious People’ and ‘Color of Law’ were up the alley out there. Going back in time and what went into the politics of history, the art of war and the making and breaking of the mighty Soviet, came alive in ‘Bomber Mafia’ and ‘Moscow, December 25,1991’. Finally, Shane Parish’s ‘Great Mental Model’ rejigs your mind gym with a lot of lateral thinking.?

So here's wishing you happy reading, do write in with which books topped your list this year!

#LoveBooks #2021Reads