I managed to finish reading 50 books in 2019. I didn’t have any particular reading goal set at the beginning of the year. I let what I read to discover the next books for me and so on. In 2019, I discovered the following broad themes with the book I read.
Rome
Learning a bit more about the history of Rome was fascinating for me. There are so many parallels between the current state of the world, and the collapse of the first republic. I am keen to spend more time understanding the famous Roman caesars next time.
- SPQR
- Outline of Roman History
- Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Philosophy
Reading books by famous old masters of ink was liberating. Reading the canons is a must for anyone of any profession. I should remember to do more of this
- On liberty
- Adam Smith biography
Biographies + Americas
Whatever happened in 2019, The United States is always the main source of innovation, progress and hope. Reading about famous people who contributed to those things taught me valuable lessons, and sometimes a new framework on how to move forward and personally make contributions to humanity throughout my personal and professional journey.
- Keeping at it
- Michelle Obama
- Shoe Dog
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Radical
Asia
The rise of China was a big theme in 2019 for me. I wanted to dig a bit more about the history and some recent anecdotes how to deal with the future. I also dabbled a bit with Korean culture after having spent way too much time watching Korean series.
- Asia’s Reckoning
- Xi Jinping: The Backlash
- Silk Roads
- The New Koreans
Economics
I got to read the work by 2019 Nobel prize winners in economics. Quite an interesting work. The other big work I got to read was by The Third Pillar by former India’s Head of Central Bank.
- The Third Pillar
- Economy for the mass
- Poor economics
- Good Economics, Bad Economics
Politics
My politics reading was dominated by trying to understand the Trump presidency and how bad it is when compared to the longer timescale of US history. The craziness in the Vatican was also quite an eye-opening, and shocking.
- The Mueller Report
- In the closet of the Vatican
- Leadership
- Banking Bad
New-wave Capitalism
How tech encroaches democracy and the future of work was another big theme I paid a deep interest in. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism was probably the best book in 2019. I highly recommend it
- Uberland
- The age of surveillance capitalism
- Super pumped
- Mindfuck
Psychology
- How to win friends & influence people
- Never split the difference
- Talking to Strangers
- Range