Is that time of the year again. After reading 27 books by November, I sit down to reflect and type on my readings this year, a good blend of learning and exploring the work of fictional stories.
Books read per year
Fall in love with the problem, not the product by Uri Levine: Uri Levine is famous for being one of the people behind the creation and exit of Waze to Google. Levine is a seasoned speaker and startup mentor who has traveled the world explaining his product philosophy, which I can sum up in (a) having a Problem-Centric Approach (b) Product as a Solution (c) The Power of Focus (d) The Role of Team and Culture and (e) The Importance of Resilience. The book is filled with behind the scene stories of Levine and his team while negotiating with Google, building Wize and many other anecdotes that made me love the book straight away.
The story of Tata by Peter Casey: Curiously, I bought 2 Tata books 3 days before the demise of Mr Ratan Tata himself. Ever since I did my MBA in Lucknow I learned and read lots on the Tata way of doing businesses and I was intrigued to understand how this centennial behemoth has repeatedly - and successfully - mastered to many industries worldwide, from steel, to aviation, consulting, cars, food and hospitality, the Tata group is a never ending masterclass on social responsibility and profitability.
Indonesia, etc by Katherine Pisani: When I read Jakarta -current capital of Indonesia - was sinking and the Indonesian government was moving the capital to Nusantara I was tremendously intrigued by the story. Because of this I ended up finding this book after watching multiple Nusantara (name of the new capital) videos - which only kept expanding my curiosity. The moment I start reading ‘Indonesia’ I was hooked to the captivating narration, about this improbable nation made out of so many cultures, languages, beliefs and island. The book is tremendously well written and is simply fantastic.
Your face belongs to us by Kashmir Hill: I found this book in a random London bookstore and since I knew about it, I bought it straight away. The clearview.ai story is captivating from chapter 1, the whole demise of AI being able to identify any person and all the websites where this person appears is mind blowing. The writing and reporting skills of the author are also remarkable, she has put this sort of ‘high tech mystery’ in such as way the reader can’t just put the book down. Even though I have believed ‘privacy’ has been an illusion for so long, to see and learn about this type of startup building this up in stealth mode is just surprising. Perhaps my favourite read this year.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang: Completely out of my comfort zone, R.F. Kuang Yellowface was just gripping, a true page turner that explores the idea of cultural appropriation, literal ambition and the cruel world of publishing was riveting.
The story revolves around June Hayward, an unsuccessful white author who, upon witnessing the tragic death of her more successful Asian-American friend, Athena Liu, seizes the opportunity to claim Athena's unfinished manuscript as her own. With a new pen name and a carefully crafted author persona, June manipulates the publishing world and garners critical acclaim for a book that is not her own.
A remarkable piece of fiction.
That’s it for 2024, a list that was thought to put together and it could still change given the amazing line-up of books I have for December - ‘Sense and Respond’ by Jeff Gothelf, ‘Transformed’ by Marty Cagan, ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ series by Richard Osman, ‘Beyond Posible’ by Nimsdai Purja, ‘Truffle boy’ by Ian Purkayastha and ‘India’ by Patrick French.
If I had to shortlist a couple of book that didn’t made it to my list, I’d go with ‘Black Horse Ride’ by Ivan Fallon and ‘Shredded, Inside of RBS’ by Ian Fraser, 2 remarkable books narrating the same history based on the shocking events that almost destroyed Britain’s financial system.
If you want to see all of the books I’ve read and connect with me on GoodReads, follow this link.
Updated Dec 2024: I ended up reading 31 books.
