12 Books I will read in 2017

 

First the list of books I read in 2016:

1. Zero to One by Peter Thiel
2. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S Clason
3. The Expectant Father by Armin A. Brott and Jennifer Ash
4. To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
5. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
6. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (again)
7. Four hour work week by Tim Ferriss (again)
8. Four hour body by Tim Ferriss (again)

Though my goal was to read 15 books in 2016, I missed my goal for two reasons:

First, my baby boy -Kiaan- arrived in this world, and for all the good reasons my entire attention shifted towards him. Second, I listened to lots and lots of podcasts in 2016, mostly from The Tim Ferriss Show.

Now, in 2017 my goal is to read at least 12 out of 16 books listed below (in no order):

1. Brain Rules for Baby by John Medina (1/3 – 1/12)
2. The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson
3. How to have a Beautiful Mind by Edward de Bono
4. Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill
5. How to Read a book by Mortimer Adler
6. Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss
7. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
8. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (2/15 – 3/4)
9. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
10. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
11. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
12. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
13. Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance
14. The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone (1/3 – 2/14)
15. Freakonomics by Levitt & Dubner (3/5)
16. Day to Day Economics by Satish Y. Deodhar
17. If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit by Brenda Ueland
18. The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Scott

Happy reading!

Five takeaways from ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’

This post is not a book review – for one, I am not a book reviewer and two, this all time American classic needs none. Every avid fiction reader must have To Kill a Mockingbird in their list of favorite readings. I loved it so much that I watched it’s feature film (available on NetFlix) but the movie is no where compared to the book.

Published in 1960, this novel by Harper Lee deals with serious issues of 1930’s like racial injustice and rape that are very much predominant in today’s society, not only in America but across the world, making it a great read as this remains a true picture of today’s society as it was back then.

#1: This book portrays the power game in the society played by the powerful people who bent the rules to their will and victimize the poor and middle class and simple and even the most truthful and honorable people of this society. This is the harsh reality of our society and it prevails from the time  unknown.

But despite such tough issues it has warmth and humor and family and friendship as the main protagonist in book is a small girl, Scout.

#2: As a budding writer I learned it is not always necessary to address serious issues in a serious tone, they could be dealt and may impact more in a lighter and implicit tone.

This is the only one of two published books by Harper Lee. It was immediately successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature, that led her to many awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

#3: This exemplifies that we don’t need multiple projects in our lives to be successful. Sometimes only one project or two are enough. But we should also not overlook the hard work she must have done (diligently learning and improving her craft) to prepare herself to deliver this one project of her lifetime.

Scout’s Father, Atticus, replies to each and every question to his kids – simple or tough. He never dismissed any question – what is rape? Why people call you nigger-lover? He gives them freedom to think, to experience, to understand both beautiful and ugly part of this world, but also equally prepares them well to make the correct decision and take the right action.

#4: As a father I learned that one of the biggest contributing factor for a child’s intelligence is its inquisitiveness and curiosity. And parents could play a key role in keeping this inquisitiveness alive by encouraging their children to challenge the status quo and ask tough questions, and by answering them appropriately in the best way possible.

Attitus, himself a very humble and honorable man, also teaches his children not to judge anyone but try to get into other person’s skin to understand them better.

#5: Though it is easier said than done, but still a good reminder that we should always try to understand others’ point of view, what’s actual happening in their lives, what are they going through at that point in time, their circumstances, before reacting or judging them for their words or actions. Might make life bit less stressful.

Every great book is suppose to teach us in a way. These are my five takeaways from To Kill a Mockingbird.

My readings for 2016

Recently, I turned 33. Assuming the best case scenario that I am reading till 75 years of my age leaves me with 42 years of reading i.e. 504 months. This means that with my current reading pace of one book a month, I can read ~500 books in my remaining lifetime.

Isn’t this revealing? I’ve to either choose my readings carefully or increase my pace. Probably both.

Well, here is the list of my readings for 2016.

Non-Fiction

Zero to One by Peter Thiel

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance

The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S Clason

How to have a Beautiful Mind by Edward de Bono

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Fiction

To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (again)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (again)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J K Rowling

Image Courtesy: http://www.konnectafrica.net/

The books I read in 2015

I am not an avid reader by any measure. I am more like a sporadic one. I have my phases with books. At some point, I am always reading a book and other times the book keeps lying on my side table and I don’t even look at it; 70% it’s latter.

Despite of that I always love being around books. I can spend hours in a book library or a book store – flipping through different books and taking their pictures to buy kindle edition later. Even while waiting for my flights at airports, I mostly find myself drifted towards the book store. It’s like a therapy that leaves me in a blissful mental state. May be some genes from my grandparents who have a great collection of books at our home and are avid readers – they both read everyday.

In the beginning of 2015, I decided to read one book every month for the entire year. And I am glad to have ‘almost’ completed my resolution, falling short by two books. I know it’s not a lot of reading, but something is better than nothing. It’s far from an avid reader category but it’s regular at least. And I’ve learned that good habits develop not by measure but by consistency. So let me be proud of this little accomplishment and check out the books I read in 2015:

1. The Success Principles by Jack Canfield
2. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
3. The 4 Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss
4. The 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
5. Business Model Generation by Osterwalder and Pigneur
6. Focus by Daniel Goleman
7. Seeking Wisdom by Peter Bevelin
8. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
9. In The Plex by Steven Levy
10. Autobiography Of A Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda
11. Search Inside Yourself by Chade-Meng Tan (read 25%)

I am working on my list of books to read in 2016; target is 15 books. And Isha is planning to buy me a Kindle Voyage. So, that would be more fun!

And do let me know the books you read in 2015.

Cheers!