My Favourite Books from 2020

Hi everyone!

Reading has definitely been a saving grace this year and as usual I'd like to share the best of the best with you all from what I read this year. The fact that they're on my list doesn't necessarily mean they were released this year FYI.

1. Modern Couple's Guide to Money by Lesley-Anne Scorgie

When I look back I'm happy I began educating myself around personal finance early on (basically as soon as I started working). There have been a number of books over the years that I've found helpful such as The Wealthy Barber and The Wealthy Barber Returns by David Chilton as well as articles and podcasts by Rob Carrick from The Globe & Mail.

This year I read (or in some case skimmed) a few books within the personal finance space and I found this book to have some great nuggets. It's not very long either (151 pages) so very digestable. With any books in this space there may be some topics more or less applicable to you depending where you are at in your life of course, but this one has a number of actionable areas. It also looks at some of the considerations / challenges for couples as it relates to money and how to optimize / overcome them.

2. Year Zero: A History of 1945

Growing up I learned about global history through the experiences of my grandparents and from taking history classes in high school and university. Since then I find myself relearning about history in new ways. This book I thought was fascinating because it tells the story of one year of the world's history, arguably one of the most important ones. In this single year we had the ending of WWII, the ensuring aftermath, the beginning of a nuclear age, the start of the Cold War and the founding of the UN just to name a few.

Some themes in particular it looks at are:

• Distinguishing romantic encounters, prostitution and rape in the aftermath of the war
• Returning soldiers' PTSD
• The psyche of citizens of both winning and losing nations
• The deep desire for both revenge and the challenge of instituting justice following the war
• The hypocrisy of allies in terms of their liberation of countries vs the treatment of their own colonies

3. Saudi Inc

Normally I spend a lot of time in the Middle East with work, and so earlier this year I picked this one up. A great overview of the history of Saudi Arabia, and specifically of Aramco - the national oil company that is one of (if not the) most valuable companies in the world.

I didn't know previously that Aramco had started as an American company that over time became fully Saudi. The state shrewdly was able to leverage the oil profits to fund the growth of the kingdom.

4. The Only Plane in the Sky - An Oral History of 9/11

I love oral histories in general, as they provide an account of a period in time, from different perspectives with the benefit of hindsight / time.

9/11 is definitely not a fun topic to read about, but I did really enjoy hearing such different perspectives of what life was like on that day.

From a leadership perspective, various leaders were trying to get accurate information about what was happening and on this day there was so much conflicting information it was difficult to understand what was real and what wasn't.

5. Radical Candor

My old boss Greg Boyd recommended this book to me. It provides some useful tips on team management and specifically on how to give feedback. The focus being on to be candid while also showing you care with the people you work with.

When I look back at all the books I read this is definitely one I took some of the learnings and applied this year so this has to be included on my list.

6. The War for Late Night When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy by Bill Carter

As I deal with larger organizations, you get to see the egos in action. Thus I love to read about real-life accounts that include big egos.

Bill Carter's account of the late night wars from the late 2000s shows this in action between Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and the NBC executives. I remember hearing about this at the time when it happened through the news and from other late night shows, but getting to hear it from the inside provides a fresh perspective. Bill gets all the key players including Jay and Conan on the record about this which provides a full account of what went down.

7. Race to the Pole

James and Ben are notorious adventurers who seek out the most extreme of challenges. This book provides a play by play of their journey to ski towards the South Pole.

I would never do what they did, but their writing allowed me to leave vicariously through them. The mental fortitude required is tremendous. A very nice bedtime read.

8. Seinfeldia

Seinfeld remains my all time favourite comedy (sorry The Office, you're a close second). Jennifer explains how the show came together and the incredible journey it went on.

I loved Larry David's mantra of "No hugging, no learning" to describe the approach to plot writing. It was also interesting to see how every episode they insisted that there be a plot arch for each of the four major characters, and how the storylines ideally would coalesce somehow.

Ultimately Jerry walked away when the show was on top, which I believe ultimately increased the value of the syndication revenues. He turned down some huge money ($5 million per episode) to do a final season. That's hard to do.

9. The Skin We're In by Desmond Cole

Desmond Cole is a black activist in Toronto who in this book documents one year in his life of protest and resistance.

It was eye opening to hear some of the stories he shared, as I wrongly had assumed that the stories of racism we hear from the US aren't present here in Canada. Clearly we have more work to do.

The book got me thinking about the nature of activism. We need activists that try to shift the mainstream norms/dialogue bit by bit and we also need politicians and those in positions of decision-making to build consensus and find a middle ground between different constituencies. Desmond is an example of an activist that's trying to change the public perceptions of police, being black or indigenous in Canada and how we need to do better.

10. Open Look by Jay Triano

I try to pick up any basketball book I can get my hand on. This year I read through The Jordan Rules by Sam Smith, When Nothing Else Matters by Michael Leahy (which details Michael Jordan's final comeback with the Wizards - sidenote - not the most complementary towards Jordan), Basketball A Love Story by Rafe Bartholomew, Dan Klores, and Jackie MacMullan and finally Open Look by Jay Triano.

For those that don't know - Jay Triano was a former captain of Team Canada Men's Basketball, did two stints as Team Canada's Head Coach and two stints as a NBA head coach. I found it to be a fascinating story as a basketball lover and from a distinctly Canadian perspective. The surprise of the book for me was Jay Triano's time at Simon Fraser University where he got to know Terry Fox of all people before the Marathon of Hope

Honourable Mentions:

• Facebook the Inside Story by Steven Levy - the most in depth look at the story of Facebook until now
• Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber by Mike Isaac - engrossing story of Uber's rise and then the boardroom batter around their change in CEo
• Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics by Tim Marshall - I think the title says it all
• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi - Paul is a neurosurgeon who writes a memoir about his last days as he succumbs to lung cancer.
• Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up by Jerry Kelowna - Thanks to my friend Marco Garofalo for this recommendation - lots of great personal reflection questions here.
• Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World by Bradley Hope and Tom Wright
• 28 Seconds: A True Story of Addiction, Tragedy, and Hope by Michael Bryant
• When Nothing Else Matters: Michael Jordan's Last Comeback by Michael Leahy

__________________________________________________________________________

Well that's my list - would love to hear from you what books you've enjoyed this year! :)