???? ???????????? ?????? ?????????? ???? ?????? ???????? ????????

Reading is neither easy nor fun more so if you must balance the same with other responsibilities (social and professional life); it takes a lot of sacrifices. But as Francis Bacon once admonished us, ???????? ???? ?????????? ?????? ???????? ???????????? ???? ?????? ????????, ?????? ?????? ???????? ???????? ???????????? ???? ????????????????, ???? ?????? ???????? ???????? ?????? ???? ????????. This aphorism kept me going, and indeed, I have often the case reaped the benefits from the same. No regrets.

I know 2020 feels relatively "old" already, but I guess it is never too late to share my 2019 book reading challenge experience.

Now, I have always heard of people making New Year’s Resolutions to improve their lives in one area or another. However, I have also heard that most people didn’t succeed in those resolutions and even more crashed-and-burned within the first month.

I am not a New Year Resolution type of a person, but in 2019, two questions remained for me.

1. What New Year’s Resolution did I want to pursue 2019?
2. How could I avoid becoming one of those people that simply failed at their goals despite the best of intentions? How could I decide upon a substantial goal and succeed (or get close if I failed)?

The first question was actually the easiest to answer. I decided that I would read more books -40 books in 2019 than I did in 2018- 26 books. Sure, I found myself laughing at disbelief at the thought of my reading count, hitting almost half of my previous achievement. But, hey, playing it safe has never really been my life philosophy, so here’s to a new year of experimenting, failing, and growing. And, if I’m fortunate enough, then also succeeding a bit.

I learned from setting the reading goal of 40 books in 2019 that if you want to really reach for something (something that you feel you can’t reach), then you must aim high. Many times, that reading target kept motivating me and, soon enough, I began to just enjoy the process of reading while the “stats” of how many books I’d read or started reading seemed less and less important. Before I knew it, I was 41 books down.

Here is a list of the books I romanced with, and I can’t lie to you, the mental orgasm associated with the same was unparalleled. I largely enjoyed most of the books and had my misgivings about others. I will arrange them thematically for ease of reference.

1. ?????????????????????? ?????? ?????????????? ??????????

a) Steve Job by Walter Isaacson

b) Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

c) Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

d) Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankel

e) When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

f) Thomas Sankara An African Revolutionary By Ernest Harsch

2. ???????????????? ?????? ?????????????????? ??????????????

a. God: A Human History of Religion by Reza Asla

b. Letter to a Christian Nation: A Challenge to Faith by Sam Haris

c. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

3. ????????????, ???????????? ?????????????? ?????? ???????????????????? ??????????

a. Global Health Watch 3: An Alternative World Health Report

b. The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates

c. The Wisdom of Whores by Elizabeth Pisani

d. Is Science Racist? By Jonathan Marks

e. Democritus by Paul Carteledge

f. Civilisation and Its Discontent by Sigmund Freud

4. ???????????????????? ?????? ???????????????????? ??????????

a. How the Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give in by Jim Collins

b. Emotional Intelligence Why It Can Matter More than IQ by Daniel Coleman

c. On Leadership Harvard Business Review 10 Collection

d. How to Win An argument: An Ancient guide to the art of persuasion by Marcus Tillus Cicero

5. ?????? ????????, ???????????????????? ????????????????????????, ???????????????????? ?????? ???????????????? ??????????

a. The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson

b. Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking

c. Future Minds: How the Digital Age is Changing Our Minds, why this Matters and What We Can Do about it by Richard Watson

d. Big Data: The Essential Guide to Work, Life and Learning in the Age of Insight by Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier

e. The Industries of the Future by Alec Ross

f. 21 Lesson for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

6. ?????????? ???????????????????? ?????? ?????? ?????????? ??????????????????

a. Meditation by Marcus Aurelius

b. How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life by Massimo Pigluicci

c. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

d. Everything is Fucked: A Book About Hope by Mark Manson

7. ??????????????????????, ??????????????????, ???????????????? ?????? ?????????????????? ????????????

a. The Body Politic by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

b. Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman

c. A Brief History of the Third Reich: The Rise and Fall of the Nazis by Martyn Whittock

d. Dead Aid: Why AID is Not Working, and There is Another Way for Africa by Dambisa Moyo

e. Becoming A Nigerian: A Guide by Elnathan John

f. Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen

g. Invisible Hand by Adam Smith

h. Presidential or Parliamentary Democracy in Kenya Choice to be Made by P Anyang’ Nyong’o

i. Liberal Democracy and Its Critics in Africa: Political Dysfunction and the Struggle for Social Progress by Tukumbi Lumumba-Kasongo

j. The Chomsky-Foucault Debate on Human Nature by Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault

k. Prisoners of Geography: The Maps that tell everything you need to know about Global politics by Tim Marshall

Taken together, there’s still no excuse for not finding time to read more. At the end of the day, I am still making excuses and not meeting my short-term goals in the reading department. I know I can do better. As Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey would say, “Go have this experience.” If we can do that, then the results will come anyway regardless of whether or not we ultimately successful with this challenge.

Happy Reading in the year 2020!!