Thursday, December 31, 2020

2018 - 2020

Just because I was absent from the blog in 2018, 2019, and 2020 does not mean I did not read. Trying my best to recall the books I read...

2020
  • Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber by Mike Isaac - About the founding of Uber and the struggle for control. In the "top books" of 2020.
  • Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel - About the behavioral side of money, told through 20 short chapters. Highly recommended.
  • Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann - About the Osage murders and the birth of the FBI.
  • Upstream by Dan Heath - About solving the root of problems vs reacting to problems.
  • Billion Dollar Whale by Bradley Hope and Tom Wright - About the 1MDB fund in Malaysia and how Jho Low spearheaded one of the biggest heists of all-time. 
  • Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman - About how people think in terms of gut reactions vs the more analytical side. The length keeps it out of the "top books", but still highly recommended.
  • That Will Never Work by Marc Randolph - About the beginnings of Netflix. In the "top books" of 2020.
  • Bad Blood by John Carreyrou - About the rise and fall of Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes. In the "top books" of 2020.
  • Finding Chika by Mitch Albom - About Mitch Albom's adoption of Chika from Haiti.

2019
  • American Kingpin by Nick Bilton - About the mastermind behind the Silk Road.
  • The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom - The follow up to The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

2018
  • We Were The Lucky Ones by Georgia Lyn Hunter - About a family during the Holocaust...did not finish this one.
  • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon - About a lighthearted murder mystery.

I am definitely missing some books. Truthfully, I didn't read much in 2018 or 2019, although I do recall reading a few at the beach in Delaware. I gave away a couple books each Christmas (probably between 4-6 books). I read more in 2020, especially in the second half of the year with COVID-19 keeping us home. And I gave away 7 books this year, which is the most since 2017. Feels good to be back.