My Top 5 Books from 2022

The year 2022 has come to a close. With it, concludes a year where I was able to meet my target of reading at least ten meaningful or thought-provoking books. I ended up reading twelve this year.

Among the books that I read, eight were non-fiction and the remaining four were works of fiction. Sharing below my top five books from 2022. I usually have a tough time finding a good book as I want to commit to the process of reading and find it hard to leave a book midway. So if some are like me, maybe this would help them find a few good books in 2023.

My top five (in no specific order):

Adi Shankaracharya by Pavan Varma

The biography of Adi Shankaracharya takes us through the journey of one of the most towering acharyas in modern Hinduism. The book is written by Pavan Varma an ex-IFS officer who is currently an MP of the Rajya Sabha. The book delves into the school of Advaita Vedanta, of which Adi Shankaracharya is considered to be one of the most revered proponents. Advaita Vedanta majorly converges towards a path of salvation or discipline in Hinduism under which Brahman (????????) itself is the ultimate reality whereas all else is Maya (illusion). Atman (??????) is the experiencing self which is a mere reflection or projection of Brahman. Atman is omnipresent across multiple bodies. Moksha (salvation from the cycle of rebirth) can be attained when an individual gains wisdom about this illusion.?

The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel

The Psychology of Money is one of the most talked about books in the last few years. As someone who wants to play the long wait game of investing and watching the money compound, I was quite fascinated about what I could learn from this book. Morgan Housel emphasises through this book that our emotions play a big role in deciding how we spend or save. The power of compounding over time cannot be overstated, however, the other important thing to learn is that Savings is the difference between our Income and our Ego. In other words, we should not spend money to signal that we have money. If the urge to get rich is to show to others that one is supposedly rich, then a sizeable part of one investment opportunity is spent on market signalling their network. This is a slippery slope and a never-ending one.

Born to Run by Christopher McDougal

Reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougal felt like a meditation. As a mid-distance runner reading about the great Rarámuri tribe in Mexico, who run ultra distances (100km+) as if it's a walk in the park. They do so without any visible sense of fatigue and discomfort. Some of the top long-distance runners in the world find themselves struggling when it comes to competing with the Rarámuri. The Rarámuri on the other hand are relatively reclusive by nature and prefer staying away from mainstream running competitions.

Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee

The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee is perhaps among the most detailed books that I have read on the subject of genes and DNA. There is an entire world inside of us that is beyond our conscious control. Cells communicate with each other, reactions and mutations that we can't directly control. DNAs are typically formed of 4 different chemicals Adenine (A), Guanine (G), Cytosine (C), and Thymine (T). Unique sequences in which these are stored form a DNA code which in effect is the set of instructions for building and maintaining every cell of our body. DNAs can replicate themselves which allows the DNA code to remain consistent across most cells in our body. In layman's term, when one of these DNAs go rogue (mutation) and replicate at a very high rate, bodies at a certain stage confuse the new set of code with the original code which leads to maladies like Cancers. If anything, I would love to see my son pursue a career in Gene research.

Why we sleep by Mathew Walker

The book titled "Why we sleep" by Mathew Walker is arguably the most relevant book that I read in 2022 besides "Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Dr. Walker concludes from various experiments that attempt to associate sleep with our ability to learn, stay coherent and importantly stay alive. Simplistically speaking, our body goes through cycles of REM and NREM sleep. A key piece of information that this book offers to the larger community is that as humans we need eight hours of sleep. Sleeping for six hours instead of eight does not mean that we've had 75% successful sleep. The critical and longer phases of REM sleep happen towards the end of the eight hour journey. The most complex and mind-bending dreams occur during REM sleep. This helps our brain with learning and forming long-term memories. There is a beauty about our complex physiology that disconnects our limbs and major movements within our bodies while we experience vivid dreams. NREM sleep is equally important as the body goes through a system maintenance cycle. The cells, tissues, and body heal themselves and also strengthen the overall immune system. There are several in our immediate network who would claim to sleep four to six hours. It has been scientifically proven that regularly sleeping less than six hours a day has a high correlation with the odds of getting cancer, Alzheimer's, and diabetes as we progress toward old age. The compounding effect of insufficient sleep is observed as we grow old, and by that time it gets too late to reverse the damage. There is a certain apathy towards the human need to get sufficient sleep which is further alienated from reality as there is a misplaced notion that associates lack sleep with more hours available for productivity. Adenosine is the neurotransmitter that builds up as we remain awake, a higher accumulation of adenosine induces sleep. Both alcohol and caffeine impact the generation of adenosine in the body, which in turn impacts the quality of sleep that our body requires. One thing is clear, sleeping better makes you more productive. One should not compromise sleeping hours with a false sense of bravado and caffeine-induced productivity.