So, I went kinda nuts this month.
I read 11 books, I was making up for my lack of reading in the last quarter and my estimated lesser reading over the next month.
-
Notes from a big country — Bill Bryson I like Bill Bryson’s style of writing. Having previously read A short history of nearly everything, I was excited to read this. It has the dry wit and satire that is typical of Bryson. Fun read.
-
Never split the difference — Christopher Vaz, Tahl Raz This book was amazing. A primer on negotiation from a FBI hostage negotiator. Super insightful, have been trying to put a few of the suggestions into practice since reading it.
-
Dhandho investor — Manish Pabrai This was a recommendation from a friend. Very interesting book, the investing philosophy that the author brings to the table is worth looking into. Helps that he has a track record as well. Good read.
-
The Law — Bastiat
-
Essays on political economy — Bastiat I decided to go back to the source and read the works of one of the absolute masters of economics. How far we have strayed from the noble thoughts laid down in this book.
-
Letter to a Hindu — Leo Tolstoy Another book for which I went back to the source. This is supposed to have inspired Gandhiji immensely and he even published it in his newsletter. It’s fascinating how much passion and fire simple words can incite.
-
Walden and Civil Disobedience — Henry David Thoreau Another book that is supposed to have inspired Gandhiji.
Tough read, glad I read it. Some of the content is hard to relate to. The principle of Civil disobedience is laid down in this book. Interesting how this translated into the broader peaceful political movements over the next century.
- Fahrenheit 451 — Ray Bradbury Amazing book. I had to re-read this because I felt I hadn’t got the message well enough.
These 4 books : A brave new world, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, Animal Farm are a must read for anyone in the 21st century. We need to be more aware of what is happening to us. We are moving towards one of these 4 dystopian futures, and we need to change that.
- The bed of procrustes — Nassim Nicholas Taleb A book of philosophical aphorisms from the master himself.
I keep going back to some of these from time to time.
I also bought the entire Incerto series. So, I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the books, Antifragile and Fooled by Randomness.
-
Wild Embers — Nikita Gill A book of poems that was recommended to me. The central theme of the poems are Self-Love and Individualism that lead to Self-Development. Gave poems another shot. Might be reading more.
-
Human Universals — Donald Brown Another book from my reading list from last month.
Finally getting around to closing out my publicly listed reading list haha.
Fascinating book, my first anthropology book, was a bit of a difficult read considering I’m an absolute novice in the field. It’s a great introductory and intermediate book (if you look into the references)
Books being read right now:
- Ethics — Aristotle
- Nudge — Thaler, Sunstien
- Contact — Carl Sagan
- The One Thing — Gary Keller I’m a little pumped about how much reading I did last month. Definitely going to push myself to read more this month, we’ll see how this goes.
Do leave your recommendations below.
Sainath