My favorite books of 2019
Read 55 books this year. The shortest book was “If You Can” by William J. Bernstein, the longest - “The Snowball” by Alice Schroeder. Reread the all time great “Dune” by Frank Herbert and two Yuval Noah Harari books. There were three photography books: “Wall and Piece” by Banksy, “Ara Güler’s Istanbul” and “Icons of Men’s Style” by Josh Sims.
Here are my top 5 favorite books of 2019:
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The book reminded me of Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah, which takes you on a journey to South Africa at the time of apartheid. This book does the same, but opens another window, through which you can see the live of a mormon family (although very radical one). I’d recommend the audio version.
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Awareness: A de Mello Spirituality Conference in His Own Words by Anthony de Mello
I guess this book really stands out for its contrary point of view. I had quite a few AHA moments while reading it.
This is one of the more personally challenging books I’ve ever read. It made me think… hard. I wanted to sit down and argue with this guy. I didn’t like how it was written. I didn’t like what he said about people and selfishness and being and love, but I can’t stop thinking about it. The more time passes, the more I think thiss asshole is on to something. The Pope must have thoght so too, since he EXCOMMUNICATED HIM FOR WRITING IT. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7662760?book_show_action=true
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For all the Banksy fans out there. Loved the photos and the small text intro telling his position on advertisement and governments.
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Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
Living in the era of the information abundance, it’s becoming increasingly hard to focus. I too feel it. Sometimes you don’t even notice the moment you go to Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/etc. But in most areas, you do need to focus on a job at hand (unless your job is multitasking). This book explains both why and how to archive deep focus.
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Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss
A handful of techniques from a past FBI international lead hostage negotiator.
You can find all the other books as well as some statistics on Goodreads.
Previous years: