Get into the habit of reading in 2024

As we enter 2024, it’s time to break up with bad habits and makeup with new good ones. One habit would be to open our minds with good books! @Thilan Wickramasinghe, Head of Equity Research, at Maybank Securities Singapore shares his top five reads that discuss and define the human condition today in the age of social media amidst an increasingly polarised world. Check out his selection.

Lewis Dartnell's book is a fascinating read that combines biology and history to shed light on what it means to be human. He explores the contradictions of our biology – how we can be both fragile and dominant as a species. With this fresh viewpoint, Dartnell helps us better understand ourselves, our biases, relationships, addictions and fears, while sharing fascinating perspectives on life.

Our habits define who we are. They can either lead us to success or failure. James Clear’s Atomic Habits is not new but I consider it seminal. Clear provides practical tips on how to develop good habits and break bad ones. For many people, overcoming bad habits seems like an impossible task, but Clear's hacks are refreshingly simple and only require small changes to set us on the path to success.

In a society that celebrates faking it till you make it, what happens when you finally reach your goals? Hugo-Award nominated author R. F. Kuang’s Yellowface offers a humorous take on the “cancel” culture and our obsession with social media while also exploring deeper themes of racial identity, success, and morality. Filled with buzzwords that resonate with Gen Zs and depicting the joys and struggles of an “online life” that many today can relate to, this book is a page-turner that is hard to put down.

Booker Prize-winning Shehan Karunatilaka has accomplished the impossible by skillfully blending a story of Sri Lanka's violent uprisings in the 1980s and 1990s with local folklores and afterlife musings. Although the premise may seem preposterous, the book's brilliant writing, pacing, humour and deep reflections on the human experience make it a thrilling read. In a world that is becoming increasingly polarised, the author's work serves as a timely reminder of the historical repercussions of social and religious divisions.

Reading this book makes you wonder what cryptocurrency is really useful for. Michael Lewis chronicles the impressive success story of FTX crypto-empire and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, as well as its equally spectacular downfall. Based on real life, Lewis tells the story like a suspenseful thriller filled with hubris, greed, and criminal behavior that arises from a complete lack of empathy for others. The callousness at the heart of the story might be age-old story, but it remains fascinating.

Selection and review by Thilan Wickramasinghe , Head of Equity Research, at Maybank Securities Singapore. These are his personal views.