Looking for a good book? My 2018 Reading List
I had a lot of fun reading in 2018. As you can see from the difference between my 2017 List (read here) to 2018 List (below), my area of interest is moving more towards how technology is going to impact our future. I strongly recommend you pick up at least one of the below books to get a better sense of what that really means. I pretty much am only listening to one podcast these days (see below). Look forward to your comments on other books and resources to check out. Hope everyone has a great 2019! Happy Reading!
Podcasts:
1. Leaders in Supply Chain and Logistics Podcast - Radu Palamariu
Rating: ****
Thoughts: Radu does a great job of finding thought leaders in the logistics industry and I learn something during every podcast. It is a great way to catch up on all the latest trends in logistics and find new companies to follow. Hope I can make it on the show someday!
Related LI Post: https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6454191089388740608
Books (Non-Fiction)
Technology Books
1. Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future
Rating: ****
Thoughts: I reread this one again as I presented it for a book club I am in. In a second read, I found just as many good insights as I found the first time. This is one of my favorites and a highly recommended read.
Favorite Quote: “Another huge advantage that humans have is good old common sense. Some of us have more than others, but all of us have infinitely more than even the most advanced computers”
Related LI Post: https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6384921813293637632
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2. Introducing Artificial Intelligence: A Graphic Guide
Rating: **1/2
Thoughts: Stumbled across this one online. It is a little outdated and doesn’t give great context to the ideas that it talks about, however, an interesting book to skim through.
Favorite Quote: “If Al’s goal of exposing humans as mere machines succeeds, then we will no longer suffer the restrictions of our organic machinery. Humans, and intelligent machinery in the widest sense, could then, in theory, evolve outside the restrictions of biological evolution.”
3. AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order
Rating: ****1/2
Thoughts: This was my favorite book of the year. Even having read all the books above, I still learned interesting facts and history related to the development of AI. As a person who is interested in Sino-American technology race, this was full of great case studies and insight into what the future will look like. Most recommended book of the year!
Favorite Quote: “Realizing the newfound promise of electrification a century ago required four key inputs: fossil fuels to generate it, entrepreneurs to build new businesses around it, electrical engineers to manipulate it, and a supportive government to develop the underlying public infrastructure. Harnessing the power of AI today—the “electricity” of the twenty-first century—requires four analogous inputs: abundant data, hungry entrenpreneurs, AI scientists, and an AI-friendly policy environment.”
Related LI Post: https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6373397884511051776
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4. The Industries of the Future
Rating: ***1/2
Thoughts: Interesting insight and full of good case studies with a broad overview of the technologies that will affect our future. A good place to start for those who haven’t read much about these technologies so far. It goes into details regarding robotics which I hadn’t read too much about previously.
Favorite Quote: “Why would Foxconn make such a massive investment in robotics? Some of it may have to do with Gou’s peculiar management style. As he explained in a 2012 New York Times article, “As human beings are also animals, to manage one million animals gives me a headache””
Related LI Post: https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6367534501752594432
5. Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Rating: ****
Thoughts: This book does a fantastic job of putting things into perspective and is another eye-opener. Definitely worth a read for those who are interested in the nitty-gritty of AI as it describes quite a bit of detail behind the technology.
Favorite Quote: “Everything we love about civilization is the product of human intelligence, so if we can amplify it with artificial intelligence, we obviously have the potential to make life even better. Even modest progress in AI might translate into major improvements in science and technology and corresponding reductions of accidents, disease, injustice, war, drudgery and poverty.”
Related LI Post: https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6383587309857660928
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6. Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Probably my least favorite Thomas Friedman book that I have read so far. While some of the book was quite interesting, I found his anecdotes lacking and the last few chapters of the book I just skimmed as it didn’t hold my attention.
Favorite Quote: “That’s right—when I was running around in 2004 declaring that the world was flat, Facebook didn’t even exist yet, Twitter was still a sound, the cloud was still in the sky, 4G was a parking space, “applications” were what you sent to college, LinkedIn was barely known and most people thought it was a prison, Big Data was a good name for a rap star, and Skype, for most people, was a typographical error”
Related LI Post:
https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6387465943953567744
7. Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Excellent work on what you can find out just using Google Trends. I found this book interesting in that it provided a good context and case studies on how to use data from different perspectives from picking a winning or to picking a presidential candidate..
Favorite Quote: “In fact, I think Big Data can give a twenty-first-century update to a famous self-help quote: “Never compare your insides to everyone else’s outsides.” A Big Data update may be: “Never compare your Google searches to everyone else’s social media posts.””
8. Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies
Rating: ***1/2
Thoughts: Wow. This book, written by one of the world’s leading experts in AI, was eye- opening to the extent that we all should be concerned about what the future holds. Although, it goes way out into the future and explores the unknown, I found the first half of the book really interesting as it traces the history of AI.
Favorite Quote: “Of course, there is a tradeoff: the potential benefits of better technology must be weighed against its costs, including not only the cost of obtaining the technology but also the costs of learning how to use it, integrating it with other technologies already in use, and so forth.”
Related LI Post: https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6403066541541289984
Rating: ***
Thoughts: After hearing the author speak on the podcast Invest like the Best, I decided to check out Albert Wenger’s book. While it is still a work in progress, I really enjoyed reading his thoughts on the new knowledge age and the opportunities it is opening up.
Favorite Quote: “We are experiencing a technological non-linearity, which renders many of the existing predictions about society based on extrapolation useless. The space of the possible for humanity is expanding rapidly due to the extraordinary power of digital technologies, which deliver universality of computation at zero marginal cost.”
Related LI Post: https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6391258534725681152
Rating: ***1/2
Thoughts: This book gets into the weeds when it comes to building a platform which I was a little overwhelmed with, but the overall history of the platform I found interesting and definitely worth reading if you are aspiring tech-entrepreneur.
Favorite Quote: “The effort necessary to individually verify credit- and trustworthiness is an example of the high transaction costs that used to prevent exchange. By providing default insurance contracts and reputation systems to encourage good behavior, platforms dramatically lower transaction costs and create new markets as new producers start producing for the first time”
11. The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future
Rating: ****
Thoughts: This was the first book I have read by Kevin Kelly and it definitely won’t be the last. I learned about him from Tim Ferris’s podcasts. Interesting glimpses into what the future living with technology is going to look like. He has some prediction that are just close enough to home to feel like it could be coming really soon, but also just far enough away to have fun imagining what it is going to be like in the future.
Favorite Quote: “It is hard to imagine anything that would “change everything” as much as cheap, powerful, ubiquitous artificial intelligence”
12. Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone
Rating: ****
Thoughts: Great stories, great writing, great leader. Really enjoyed this book which provides a peak behind the scenes as Microsoft pivoted directly into the cloud computing space. Definitely a good read for all aspiring CEOs. Wish I had invested after reading this book as Nadella’s work has really paid off!
Favorite Quote: “Whether you are in Ethiopia or Evanston, Ohio, or if you hold a doctorate in data science or not, everyone should have that capability to learn from the data”
Related LI Post:
https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6484206943094308864
13. How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World
Rating: ***1/2
Thoughts: Can you name them? I doubt it. Steven Johnson does a great job of highlighting some inventions that at least myself had never thought of as so important. As a logistician, I particurlarly enjoyed the chapter on ice as I have previously posted here.
Favorite Quote: “The time travelers are unusually adept at “intercrossing” different fields of expertise. That’s the beauty of the hobbyist: it’s generally easier to mix different intellectual fields when you have a whole array of them littering your study or your garage.”
Related LI Post: https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6428407857632342016
14. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
Rating: ***
Thoughts: While I didn’t enjoy this book as much as Sapiens, Harari’s previous book, he always does a good job of carefully researching and pulling together vast chunks of time in a logical and interesting way. Although some of the technology examples from the other books, #1,#3,#5, I appreciate that Harari took the time to put everything into context.
Favorite Quote: “Knowledge that does not change behaviour is useless. But knowledge that changes behaviour quickly loses its relevance. The more data we have and the better we understand history, the faster history alters its course, and the faster our knowledge becomes outdated.”
15. The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger
Rating: ***1/2 (reread)
Thoughts: While the book needs to be updated (or perhaps I just didn’t have the latest version), I enjoyed reading this book again for the second time. Although some of the history is a little dry and the first few chapters drag on, I really enjoyed the portion from the late 1960’s to the 1980’s – the portion on the Vietnam War is particular interesting as it was a catalyst for the widespread use of the container. I also enjoyed the portion regarding Felixstowe and how important the choice for the small city to outfit with the equipment to handle containers was.
Favorite Quote: “By the middle of the 1990s, Barbie’s citizenship had become even less distinct. Workers in China produced her statuesque figure, using molds from the United States and other machines from Japan and Europe. Her nylon hair was Japanese, the plastic in her body from Taiwan, the pigments American, the cotton clothing from China. Barbie, simple girl though she is, had developed her very own global supply chain. Supply chains like Barbie’s are a direct result of the changes wrought by the rise of container shipping”
China Books
Rating: ****
Thoughts: Really enjoyed this book as it gives a good first person view of what doing business in China was like as it first opened up. It does a good job of balancing incredible anecdotes with the historical context.
Favorite Quote: “…when Kruschev game to China, Mao forced him into his swimming pool. Mao knew Kruschev couldn’t swin of course. Made him look like a fool and lose face in front of those officials, floating around in a rubber ring”.
17. Chinese Rules: Mao's Dog, Deng's Cat, and Five Timeless Lessons from the Front Lines in China
Rating: ***1/2
Thoughts: This is a follow up to Clissold’s Mr. China. Can’t say it was quite as good but once again had some incredible stories and good introduction to doing business in China. Also, I enjoyed learning about the carbon credit program that was booming at the time.
Favorite Quote: “The traditional Chinese method is to bide time—for decades if necessary…We don’t need to agree with any of this, but we do need to understand it. “Melons ripen,” Mao said. “Don’t pick them before they’re ripe. When they’re ready, they’ll fall off of their own accord.””
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Much like Paul Midler’s previous book, Poorly Made in China, this book has some great anecdotes and lessons for doing business in China. He does a good job about highlighting some of the history and psychology behind some of these cultural differences between the China and the West. That being said, I still do not quite understand his choice of sources as he only used quotes from other foreigners who had lived in China in the past few hundred years. Neglecting to use any Chinese sources and the persistence of negativity disappointed me as I really enjoyed his first book.
Favorite Quote: “Chinese work environments are like an American high-school classroom: the teacher is strict and the students bored and uninspired.”
19. The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth
Rating: ****
Thoughts: I used this book to teach a class this semester. Although it was written 12 years ago, I found it interesting to compare the data from then to what is going on now. There is an updated version, which I suggest you check out. This book is definitely readable and provides a great insight into how China got where it is today.
Favorite Quote: “Services declined from 1952 there was one retail salesperson for every 81 people, 1978 there was only 1 for every 214 people. In 1952, there was one restaurant for every 676 people, in 1978 there was one for 8,189 people.”
20. The Hundred-Year Marathon: China's Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower
Rating: ***1/2
Thoughts: Fascinating peak behind the scenes on what the author thinks is the motivation of China’s ambitions. Good analysis and interesting thesis. Let’s see what comes true.
Favorite Quote: “As Henry Kissinger has noted, “China’s sense of time beats to a different rhythm from America’s. When an American is asked to date a historical event, he refers to a specific day on the calendar; when a Chinese describes an event, he places it within a dynasty. And of the fourteen imperial dynasties, ten have each lasted longer than the entire history of the United States.”
Books (Fiction):
21. The Fountainhead
Rating: **** (reread)
Thoughts: I had read The Fountainead probably 20 years ago and wanted to see if it was as good as I remembered. Can’t say I enjoyed it quite as much as the first time but still found it really interesting to see how much my current political views matched up with Howard Roark’s so many years later. Not sure if I believe in his flagrant disobedience with the status quo and the past, but it is a refreshing reminder and inspiration to set my own path according to my principles.
Favorite Quote: “But you see,” said Roark quietly, “I have, let’s say, sixty years to live. Most of that time will be spent working. I’ve chosen the work I want to do. If I find no joy in it, then I’m only condemning myself to sixty years of torture. And I can find the joy only if I do my work in the best way possible to me. But the best is a matter of standards—and I set my own standards. I inherit nothing. I stand at the end of no tradition. I may, perhaps, stand at the beginning of one.”
22. Atlas Shrugged
Rating: ***1/2 (reread)
Thoughts:As a student of Chinese history, I found reading this book fascinating as some of the government policies laid out in this book were happening simultaneously as it was released. Again, like The Fountainhead, I found the book refreshing as it reminds you to examine what you are doing for others and what you could or should be doing for yourself. However, like the previous book, I am not sure if I agree with all the sacrifices that Rand has her characters submit themselves to.
Favorite Quote: “The giants of the intellect, whom you admire so much, once taught you that the earth was flat and that the atom was the smallest particle of matter. The entire history of science is a progression of exploded fallacies, not of achievements. The more we know, the more we learn that we know nothing.”
Rating: **** (reread)
Thoughts: As I have settled down from my globetrotting days, I loved rereading the adventures of Linbaba as he explores and learns the new culture of India. As I have experienced and tell others, there is nothing quite like taking yourself completely out of your comfort zone and throwing yourself into a new environment as foreign as it can be. Very fun book to reread.
Favorite Quote: “…on the stairwell, there were these Indian guys, one after the other, carrying big pots of water on their heads, and climbing the stairs. I had to stand against the wall to let them pass. When I made it to the bottom, I saw this big wooden barrel with iron-rimmed wheels attached to it. It was a kind of water wagon. Another guy was using a bucket, and he was dipping it into the barrel and filling the big carry- pots with water. I watched this for ages, and the men made a lot of trips, up and down the stairs. When Prabaker came along, I asked him what they were doing. He told me that that was the water for my shower.”
***Let me know what I should be reading this year***
***Also, any pointers on editing in LinkedIn Publishing much appreciated***
Logistics | eCommerce | Sales | Operations | Data Analytics | Private Account
6 年Thanks for sharing your book list with summaries! As you are interested in platforms I can recommend The Digital Transformation Playbook from David Rogers. It is a text book we used in a course ‘Digital Strategies for business’ with Columbia Business School. I found the book very helpful how to design platforms and it comes along with a lot of use cases.