Friday, January 07, 2022

2021 List of Books

 

Twas a good year for reading. Audible and audio books played a big part in helping me stick with the reading habit and a clear goal of trying to do 52 books - 1 new book a week helped too. All of it ensured more focus on reading and using books as escape vehicle as opposed to endless social media scroll.

I had a few books earmarked from lists from previous years from friends & family but a wide majority of the books just popped up from some conversations on twitter or from various online book clubs / chat groups.

Among things I tried while reading this year was to focus on certain regions and topics. Some of it was deliberate by seeking out certain books and others just happened. There was a book about Genghis Khan which I wanted to read for a while but was putting it off because it was super long but once I completed I picked up something related to Mughals and with Taliban in news ended up reading a book about them then by sheer chance ended up reading something set in Karakoram range and followed it with a book set in Nepal and then a book written by someone who was hitchhiking in a truck across India but he sorted of ended in North east India towards the end and then I picked a book about Burma. Something similar happened when I picked up a Morocco based book but this time I think amazon algorithm pitched me a book set in Tunisia next and ultimately ended up with a Saudi book.

All in all covered books from wide range of topics this year and of course like with most lists its deeply personal interest based. I covered human behavior, psychology, geo politics, personal finance, society, sports and stories about people in various parts of the world in past and present overcoming various challenges. Lot of non-fiction paired with lighter fiction reads.

I guess thats enough talk, so without much further ado here is the list.

Non-Fiction 

 1. Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel

I usually enjoy articles by Morgan Housel, this was among the first books of the year and its something I feel I should re-read again, something elemental. Uses pretty simple language to cover an extremely complex topic - what is money and our relationship with it and makes you really think about money and wealth . I ended up recommending this to many folks and urge all to try this. 

2. Digital Minimalism - Choosing a Focused Life In a Noisy World by Carl NewPort

3. Three Cups of Tea - Totally random pick from somewhere, this is the story of Greg Mortenson a mountain climber turned humanitarian who raised funds and built schools for poor kids in remote Pakistan. The title refers to the number of cups of tea for you to be a family friend to the people in the mountainous area of Pakistan covered in the book. As I subsequently learnt there was some controversy over some of the claims made, but I could still accept that as a back story for a movement certain embellishments are necessary to make you sound cool and visionary. Keeping that in mind it is still a tale of positive changes brought in by efforts led by one man to ensure education ( schools) reach inaccessible poorer regions and also that it benefits  mainly girls as well.  Also as a story it was a good read to see that armed with a will to do good what you can really achieve and far reaching effects of philanthropy and humanitarian spirit.

4. The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen-  A classic. Happened to read this when a snowstorm was raging in my city so was very interesting and really made me feel it.

5. Stuff You Should Know - An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant - this was a podcast turned into a book and was a light read full of fun trivia which you forget very quickly unfortunately.

6. Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria

7. Truck De India - A Hitchhiker's Guide to Hindustan by Rajat Ubhaykar

A guy hitches rides with truck drivers and goes up and down the country and tells us many interesting stories of people in various parts of the country in company of several interesting truck drivers. This is an India we don't see or hear about that often in mainstream commentary.

8. Genghis Khan and the Making of Modern World by Jack Weatherford

Fascinating book giving a good view on how an orphaned boy from Mongolia steppes gradually rose up and managed to unite constantly warring nomadic clans to build an empire. Spends a lot of time on his early years and the nomadic steppe culture and also covers how his giant Mongol armies managed to be so successful.

9. The Anarchy - East India Company, Corporate violence and the Pillage of an Empire by William Darymple 

Enjoyed this book, its more of history of East India company and how a small English private corporation with no real expertise happened to successfully make it big and ended up controlling majority of a rich and ancient civilization is quite a story. As always history that we read in school or what we know is mostly a high level summary, this book sort of gets more into the weeds and its fascinating to see how things turned out this way.  Darymple builds a riveting narrative and covers several small incidents in detail while keeping us involved with the macro perspective of how a multinational trading company got so successful and why things turned out so bad for Indian people. Lot of potential 'What-If' moments in there.

10. How the Internet Happened : From Netscape to iPhone by Brian McCullough

Highly accessible backstory of how something that started with ARPANET and university research funded basic Mosaic browser birthed the key technological innovations that drive the modern society.

11. A Little History of the United States by James West Davidson

As a non-native who is settled in the country, I wanted to pick up an accessible, easy read to cover 400 odd years of history and this was good from that perspective.

12. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee : An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown

After a short version of US history, I picked up this more deep and gruesome one about how Native Americans fared once settlers from Europe started landing on North American shores. Knew it was really bad, but didnt realize how bad until you read about systematic persecution and how it ends up happening. It was really depressing read as you realize how bad things are going to get and how it keeps getting even worse than you would think every single time. 

13. Ponting : At the Close of Play by Ricky Ponting

I try to read a few books about my fav sports every year and picked up a book about one of cricketing stars I dislike. Ricky Ponting is a legend and surely ranks among the best no:3 batsmen in modern game but somehow the perception I had - mostly driven by 2008 tour of Aus by Indian test team - was a very negative one. In general when you read someone's autobiography and if its genuinely written from their heart, you sort of see their point of view and feel positively about them. So I picked this up to test that and while I can surely see where he is coming from and understand his approach I'm still unchanged in perception of him. Nevertheless as a book this was a good read to understand Australian sporting culture and Ricky Ponting as an individual and how Australian team of that golden era (which was pretty much the entire career of Ponting) worked.

14. The Puma Years - A Memoir of Love and Transformation in the Bolivian Jungle by Laura Coleman

Its a memoir of sorts by the author about how she found purpose and got transformed spending time as a volunteer in a wildlife refuge/rescue center at the outskirts of a Bolivian Jungle as an aimless twenty something. Hitchhiking across the South America, Laura who is from England chances upon a flyer asking for volunteers for an animal rescue charity and she decides to help out. The refuge cares for ill-treated and badly abused wild animals who were mostly bred in captivity and have been rescued but are badly scarred mentally and within a few days of joining she is assigned a puma to look after. The memoir takes you literally to animal sanctuary and is a joy to read but at the same time depressing as you understand what human activities are doing to jungle and wild animals.

15. The Art of War by Sun Tzu

16. Surely you are joking Mr.Feynman - Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard P Feynman

Picked up this one which I have been meaning to read for a really long time. Richard Feynman is a Nobel winning Physicist but this is more of an amazing set of quirky stories or incidents from his childhood and youth. One of the major themes from the set of anecdotes is his curious mind and willingness to try anything and apply himself at the problem - whether it be new language, skill like lock picking or musical instrument and become fairly proficient at it.

17. Napolean's Hemorrhoids  and Other Small Events that Changed History by Phil Mason

Lot of major events in history if you look closely were close calls, was very interesting. In history books we read large sweeping statements many of them could have been near miss.

18. The Wisdom of Wolves : Lessons from the Sawtooth Pack by Jim & Jamie Dutcher

Research notes from a couple who spent several years living with and studying wolves in a controlled setting in North America. Picked this up as a follow up read for a few other books I had read on similar topic.

19. The Prisoners of Geography : Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need To About Global Politics by Tim Marshall - Among my best reads of this year, this super lucid book shines light on one of the most complex topics - geo politics and one of the most under discussed topics - the role of geography itself. How all leaders are constrained and influenced by Geography - something that they just cannot control and hence have to / are forced to play their cards in a certain way. Fascinating topic and book.

20. The Scout Mindset : Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't by Julia Galef

21. The Hidden History of Burma : Race, Capitalism and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century by Thant Myint U

Super informative book written by a man who had corner seat during the changes that was happening in Myanmar to sort of untangle all that was happening in a country which is mystery. Country has been in news for wrong reasons last several years after a brief period where decades of military rule seemed to have given way to a popularly elected Govt. This is an insider view of the country covering events from formation of the country to how things became the way they are.

22. The Story of English in 100 words by David Crystal

Chanced upon this and triggered a lot of further reading on origin on words, this was a fun and interesting read.

23. The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth

This was a book someone recommended in a reading group ( social media is a delight sometimes)  when we were discussing etymology which does fascinate several people. This was a superb book if word origins really interest you like me. I now have a truckload of trivia which unfortunately I will forget most of it but just uncovering and reading about language / words was so delightful that I don't think I will ever mind not being able to bore people with language trivia.

24.  Made in America - an Informal History of the English Language in the United States by Bill Bryson

Another one I picked thanks to Amazon algorithm and it being available free on Audible Plus.

25. The Premonition by Michael Lewis - A scary book looking at how federal organizations work and move in face of a beast like covid 19 pandemic and how its ultimately up to just a few individuals going above and beyond to keep things running.

26. Why We Get Sick by Benjamin Bikman

More than just about how we fall sick, this was more about insulin resistance.

27. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl - Again one of those age old classics, deeply moving and profound.

28. Masala Lab by Krish Ashok - got this as a gift for my wife who enjoys cooking both as an art and as science by trying to understand the flavor combos and what makes some dishes and combination work. This book fits that sort of thinking neatly and is a breezy read and at the same time super informative.

29. How I Invest My Money by Joshua Brown and Dave Portnoy - this is a set of essays edited/complied by a couple of finance/investment gurus of modern age. They basically ask some 15-20 financial experts - these are big names who feature in TV and print and run hedge funds or financial firms or are VCs on how they actually invest their own money. Very interesting because of the question and asking them to give 3-4 page answer on what money means to them and how they invest for retirement. Reveals a lot of lessons and as expected there is no one easy answer or way and investment philosophy is deeply person, all depends on your life experience growing up and what you are going through in life. However some common themes are that live well beyond your means, maintain a decent safe cash reserve / emergency fund, most of these financial gurus actually invest in simple ETF/mutual funds and don't track their portfolio at all that often. They mostly believe in investing time with their life and family and prioritize safer investments for majority of money and not letting quest for money detract you from life.

30. Korma, Kheer, Kismet - five seasons in Old Delhi by Pamela Tims

A book I had read 5 years back or so, I got this for my wife this year and then as we discussed this I realized I didn't remember most of this stuff so ended up re-reading and it was a pleasure of course.

31. The Lost Continent - Bill Bryson

Another of those long rambling books from that I totally love reading. This was a bit dated as it was written about his travels across US in 80s where we tries to visit places he visited several decades ago as kid. Totally cracked me up. 

32. Taliban by Ahmed Rashid

Story of Afghanistan and how the country came under Soviet occupation and its subsequent liberation by mujahedeen and how the subsequent squabbles gave birth to Taliban. The story here ends in late 90s. 

33.  Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

34. Dictatorland by Paul Kenyon

Story of Africa, the natural resource rich countries everyone of which got exploited by colonial powers and had a brief period of hope where home grown leaders got them freedom and the very same folks ended up ruling brutally and siphoning off all the wealth. This was a heavy one, at times was very depressing/demoralizing to read to see the same  sad story play out again and again in every mineral rich nation. 

35. The Change Agent by Damon West

This was a physical book shipped to us by my company's CTO and she wanted all of us to read it hoping it  helps us the way it did for her. As a bonus the author was invited for a virtual session including Q&A with us. So ended up reading this book about a promising young white man who was a college football athlete from a good highly respected middle class family in Texas and all that was needed to succeed and make it big. After a career derailing football injury he picks up drug habit and while he is able to do well including getting good breaks in early career with jobs in Washington and good connections to even build a political career this addiction habit slowly starts catching up.  Long story short he attempts some changes to get things in control but he continues downward spiral into addiction and debt which drives him to world of crime leading him to commit numerous burglaries and finally he gets caught. As a high profile case because of the targets he chose he ends up getting an extremely harsh sentence which should have broken most men, the book then spends time about how he learnt even in the most adverse circumstances to turn things around and find himself and redeem himself and claw back. Life is hard and lot of us start slipping and hopefully none of us end up such bad places like him but there are times when you lose some control and this was a book about hope and inner strength and willing yourself to get back to track with self discipline and being able to learn lessons from mistakes and find the inner courage to face your demons/weakness and overcome them. I have ended up writing way beyond the 2-3 lines I wanted to but have stayed away from the best bits of his philosophy. Have to say, I really enjoyed reading this, again a book I would have never picked up but found it really good.

36. Stargazing - Players in my life - Ravi Shastri  - Well this was supposed to a book covering Shastri's observations of 20-30 cricketers he has played with/against and coached/interacted with during last 40 years. Was a total meh for me as there was nothing radically new.

37. Blood and Oil - Mohammed Bin Salman's Ruthless Quest for Global Power by Bradley Hope & Justin Scheck

Necessary and super interesting read to understand middle east and modern geo politics

38.  The Delusions of Crowds by William J Bernstein

Manias and popular delusions are all arounds us and you got to wonder how people fall for it again and again. But they do and actually we all fall for it, maybe not that badly or with catastrophic results but we all get sucked into it. Very good examination of this through various financial bubbles,  manias and cultish beliefs especially around influential messiahs and those birthed within abrahamic relions driven around end times narratives.

Fiction

39. Dresden Files - Storm Front by Jim Butcher

40. Dresden Files - Full Moon by Jim Butcher

Part of my efforts to try sci-fi/fantasy / mystery genre a bit more and branch out to stuff I usually don't try. Suggested by my sis who is into these genres a way more than me.

41. The Call of the Wild by Jack London

42. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain -  

The two books above are re-reads, having lived in US for close to a decade I get the story and several aspects much better than what I did when I read this as a kid in India.

43. Empire by Yashodaran Devi 

Fictional story set in Chola era 

44. Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada - Among the best mystery novels I have read in the recent past. Its a whodunit and howdunit. 

45. Convenience store woman by Sayaka Murata

This was a really different and unusual book, I just randomly picked with no idea and ended up really liking. Story of a Japanese girl/woman who is a total social misfit because of genetic reasons, this is packed with lots of dark humor. Makes you question societal expectations, stereotypes and how people get labelled. This was a short book  with a light tone but totally lands its punches makes you really appreciate what those don't fit in go through and how casually cruel society can be to those who don't conform to expected norms.

46.  Midnight Library by Matt Haig

This was among the popular fiction reccos in a neighborhood reading club, so tried it. Though this is fiction, its a little bit philosophical about the value of life

47. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E.Schwab 

something similar to the one above - a book club recco and again about value of life but this is a story of a woman whose life begins in 1700s and is blessed with immortality but cursed equally as no one can remember her after a while so she can form no bonds longer than a day.

48. Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Another book club favorite - this was made as film by Netflix a few years back and I did check that out eventually - the movie was a disappointment for me having experienced the book which was warm and sweet World War 2 / Post war period drama

49. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - Easily one of the most delightful books I have read in a while. A group of 70+ year olds in a retirement home try solving cold cases from police files to keep themselves occupied and then they stumble upon a murder nearby. 

50. Hope and other dangerous pursuits by Laila Lalami

Short stories set in Morocco with a common theme of individuals trying to escape life in difficult conditions and dreaming of making it big in Europe by getting across the sea illegally. Boat people and immigration have been in news for a long time, this is really well written behind the scenes account of what makes people go for it. 

51. The Ardent Swarm by Yamen Manai -  this was amazon recco engine doing its job based on the previous book I read. This was a story set in Tunisia themed around Arab spring days.

52. My Man Jeeves by PG Wodehouse

Wife & I started watching Jeeves & Wooster series on YouTube and I thought why not revisit this and read this one.

53. The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura

Another of those haunting Japanese books about society and human psyche, this was a short one though

54. The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman - 2nd book in the Thursday murder club series

55. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - one of my all time favs, just ended up re-reading this one and it remains hilarious

 

So I ended up with 55 books in 2021! By far the most I have managed and despite losing my way a bit towards the end - I seriously slacked off a bit in the last 2 months because we watched a lot of tv in Holiday months - this was amazing. When I tell people I aim to and usually read more than 50 books a year, I'm met with 'thats impossible' response. Its just about channeling the ample amount of leisure time that we all have from smartphone addictive past times to books is all that is needed to hit this mark. I was doing like 10-20 books until 3-4 years back and if I - with serious self control and attention issues - can manage this then I think anyone can if they put their mind to it.

I'm hoping I continue this pace in 2022 as well and I sure hope to improve the imbalance between fiction and non-fiction which continues to be lopsided. 

1 comment:

Ramki said...

Amazing list aa always Anush. Hats off touching such a wide spectrum on topics. Your compilation is always a source of reference and inspiration for me. Thanks for sharing.