Last updated 30/10/2021
I have chosen books I read more than a year ago for the first time, so the impact has been lasting. Many books could have made the list; you can find many of them here. Right now, it makes no sense to include notable mentions, but the list is a work in progress.
Man’s Search For Meaning
Short Summary
This is psychologist Viktor Frankl’s testimony of the holocaust as seen from his point of view as an inmate in concentration camps like Auschwitz or Dachau. He gives a psychological point of view to the concentration camp experience through his psychological thesis on searching for meaning or purpose. He explores how to overcome hardship and how to accept fate no matter what it is.
Who Should Read It?
Anyone going through a hard time. People who are interested in psychology, World War II and spirituality. This should be a book that should be in the high school curriculum.
Quotes
“Yes, a man can get used to anything, but do not ask us how.”
“Et lux in tenebris lucet”—and the light shineth in the darkness.
Surely you’re joking, Mr. Feynman
Short Summary
Surely You’re Joking is Richard Feynman’s memoir in which he recalls anecdotes central to his personality development. These anecdotes vary in theme and tone and are both scientific and mundane. Feynman is a unique character with a wide array of interests and an emphasis on multidisciplinary, working in teams and staying curious throughout his life. His writing is very accessible, and his humour contrasts with some of the most serious parts of the novel.
Who Should Read It
Anyone interested in a funny memoir about one of the best teachers of the past century. People interested in physics and the Manhattan Project want an inside perspective. People deeply specialised in a field who seek motivation to open their horizons and learn about other things. People who want to be less serious about themselves and push their boundaries as much as they can.
Quotes
“He was doing what I was supposed to be good at, ten times better. That was quite a lesson to me”
“I had thought that “loosen up” meant “make sloppy drawings,” but it really meant to relax and not worry about how the drawing is going to come out.”
“All the time you’re saying to yourself, ‘I could do that, but I won’t,’ — which is just another way of saying that you can’t.”
Shoe Dog
Short Summary
Shoe Dog is Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, ’s memoir about the early years of his company. He recounts the process of creation, the adversities he encountered and how his life ran parallel to the company’s development. Phil Knight has a very resilient personality and is very vulnerable in talking about the doubts when starting his company and his youth
Who Should Read It
People interested in a coming-of-age memoir written by an entrepreneur. People interested in how East Asia did business in the 60s and 70s, and the business culture of Japan. People who like running or sports in general. People who have doubts about travelling the less beaten path.
Quotes
“I was up before the others, before the birds, before the sun.”
“Like all my friends I wanted to be successful. Unlike my friends I didn’t know what that meant.”
“Go home, a faint inner voice told me. Get a normal job. Be a normal person. Then I heard another faint voice, equally emphatic. No, don’t go home. Keep going. Don’t stop.”
Books By Walter Isaacson
Short Summary
This is a series of books from the same author that have inspired and influenced me for different reasons. This includes Leonardo, The Steve Jobs biography, The Innovators and more recently Code Breaker. Isaacson is a great documentator of innovation and guides the reader through his own process of understanding the topic using history either of the person or the field to guide the reader from the fundamentals into the complex, using the early stages as a foundation on which he builds making his books not only engaging but really accesible.
Who Should Read It?
This depends on the book by Isaacson you chose; the commonality is innovation and the process it undergoes from the idea to the reality. Anyone interested in understanding the foundation of modern technology should read The Innovators, as it is a detailed history of innovation through the lens of collaboration. The post-World War II innovations described in the book are the foundation for modern computers and phones. The last addition to the list, The Code Breaker, has been one of my favourite reads of 2021 and the book I have been recommending the most lately.
Long Walk To Freedom
Short Summary
This is Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, from his childhood until his nomination as prime minister of South Africa in 1994. The book talks about the struggle under the apartheid government through the lens of a person coming of age, developing and reaching acceptance and compassion in the face of adversity.
The book starts in his early childhood with beautiful images of rural South Africa and tender stories of an innocent childhood. It then goes on to Mandela’s university education, the beginning of the antiapartheid movement, his time as an outlaw, where he was considered a terrorist and pursued, his 27 years in prison.
Who Should Read It?
Anyone interested in knowing more about South Africa as a country, with a first-person account of its twentieth-century history, which also delves into South African culture.
Don´t be put off by the page count; it reads surprisingly easily for a long book, and the book is engaging and thought-provoking. Mandela´s sense of humour, like Feynman’s, comes out frequently.
Quotes
“In love unlike politics, caution is not usually a virtue”
“I now believed I was seeing things as they were. That too of course, was an illusion.”
“ If anyone thinks I’m a pacifist, let him try to take my chickens, and he will know how wrong he is.”
Antifragile
Short Summary
Nassim Taleb’s book is about systems and how they respond under stress. Taleb is a famous statistician and former Wall Street analyst who talks about risk management using fables and myths to illustrate his points and make them more accessible.
Who Should Read It
This is one of the books with ideas that could benefit anyone in any field. There are movements in many fields to adapt the thoughts from this book into them.
It is especially interesting for people with a formal education in risk and economics, as Taleb challenges most of the mainstream ideas taught in finance and economics degrees. The book is long, but stories and personal anecdotes make it engaging and accessible to someone with no prior knowledge in the field.
Quotes
“Wind extinguishes a candle and energizes fire.”
“Fragility can be measured; risk is not measurable (outside of casinos or the minds of people who call themselves ‘risk experts’).”
Which brings us to the largest fragilizer of society, and greatest generator of crises, the absence of “skin in the game.”