Books break the shackles of Time
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33 libros en el 2019
Como ya he comentado antes, vivimos en una época en que el autoaprendizaje es cada día más relevante. En la medida en la que menos gente lee libros, leer se puede convertir en una ventaja competitiva importante. Es un modo muy efectivo de pararse sobre los hombros de gigantes.
El 2019 leí 16 libros de no-ficción y 17 novelas. Del primer grupo, estos son los que más disfruté y recomendaría:
- 21 Lessons for the 21st Century por Yuval Noah Harari.
- This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See por Seth Godin y Ken Blanchard.
- Building a Better Business Using the Lego Serious Play Method por Per Kristiansen y Robert Rasmussun.
- Atomic Habits por James Clear.
- Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad por Austin Kleon.
- AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order por Kai-Fu Lee.
- Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free: Laws for the Internet Age por Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman y Amanda Palmer.
En la categoría de ficción/fantasía, esta es la lista corta. Si tuviera que quedarme con uno, escogería la trilogía de Liu Cixin, Remembrance of Earth’s Past.
- A Year and a Day in Old Theradane por Scott Lynch. (Fantasía)
- The Murderbot Diaries por Martha Wells (All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rouge Protocol, Exit Strategy). (Ciencia ficción)
- The Quantum Evolution Series (The Quantum Magician, The Quantum Garden) by Derek Künsken. (Ciencia ficción)
- Lady Astronaut series (The Calculating Stars, The Fated Sky) por Mary Robinette Kowal. (Ciencia ficción)
- Delta-V por Daniel Suarez. (Ciencia ficción)
- Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy (The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, Death’s End) por Liu Cixin. (Ciencia ficción)
- The Technologists por Matthew Pearl. (Misterio histórico)
Photo by Nong Vang on Unsplash.
33 Books in 2019
As I’ve written before, we live in an age where self-learning becomes more relevant every day. As less people read books, reading becomes a real competitive advantage. It’s a very effective way of standing on the shoulders of giants.
In 2019 I completed a total of 16 books (non-fiction) and 17 novels. From the non-fiction list, these are the ones I enjoyed very much and consider worth recommending:
- 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari.
- This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See by Seth Godin and Ken Blanchard.
- Building a Better Business Using the Lego Serious Play Method by Per Kristiansen and Robert Rasmussun.
- Atomic Habits by James Clear.
- Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by Austin Kleon.
- AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order by Kai-Fu Lee.
- Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free: Laws for the Internet Age by Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer.
These are the books enjoyed most in the fiction/fantasy category. If I had to choose one, I would pick the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy by Liu Cixin.
- A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Scott Lynch. (Fantasy.)
- The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells (All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rouge Protocol, Exit Strategy). (Science-fiction.)
- The Quantum Evolution Series (The Quantum Magician, The Quantum Garden) by Derek Künsken. (Science-fiction.)
- Lady Astronaut series (The Calculating Stars, The Fated Sky) by Mary Robinette Kowal. (Science-fiction.)
- Delta-V by Daniel Suarez. (Science-fiction, techno-thriller.)
- Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy (The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, Death’s End) by Liu Cixin. (Science-fiction.)
- The Technologists by Matthew Pearl. (Historical mystery.)
Photo by Nong Vang on Unsplash.
Book Reading Goal for 2017 (Update)
One of my goals for 2017 has been to read two non-fiction books and one novel per month. Inspired by Shane Parrish’s suggestion, my plan has been to read 25 pages a day.
As of August 2017, I’ve read 12 non-fiction books and 17 novels. With some exceptions, I’ve managed to read 25 pages most days. I only wrote three book reviews (I’m not happy with this), and a summary for Kevin Kelly’s outstanding book The Inevitable, which you can download here for free or buy on Amazon.
Finally, a comment from Ryan Holiday from his recent AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit on the importance of reading:
To me, reading is both intrinsically pleasurable–it’s beautiful like music–but it also has a big ROI. I think most cases about reading use the former argument and not the latter. Not everyone loves the smell of books you know? Not everyone fancies are beautiful turn of phrase. So why try to change their mind along those lines?
(…) There is a quote from Bismarck: “Any fool can learn by experience. I prefer to learn by the experience of others.” Well, for 5,000 years we’ve been recording knowledge in the form of books and poems. That’s a lot of smart (and dumb) people talk about their experiences. Why wouldn’t you want to avail yourself of that? Why wouldn’t you want to save yourself a lot of painful trial and error? One book–that cost $15–could make you millions of dollars. Or help you meet the love of your life. Or give you an idea that changes the world. Or solve your anxiety or your resentment towards your parents.
But that can only happen if you pick one up and fucking read it.
Non-fiction (12 books)
The Inevitable. Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape our Future, by Kevin Kelly (Review)
The Unofficial Author’s Guide To Selling Your Book On Amazon: The Top 5 Cheat Sheet for Self Publishing Authors, by Richard McCartney
Antifragile, by Nassim Taleb
The Habit Guide. Zen Habit’s Effective Habit Methods + Solutions, by Leo Babauta
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck
The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg (Review)
Grit. The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth
Deep Work, by Cal Newport (Review)
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future, by Peter Thiel
Daring Greatly, by Brené Brown
Give or Take, by Adam Grant
Hack Upwork: How to Make Real Money as a Freelancer, by Danny Flood
Novels. Fantasy, Science Fiction, etc. (17 books)
Nexus, by Ramez Naam
Republic of Thieves, by Scott Lynch
Fire Thief Reborn, by Seth Mullins
Ruins (Pathfinder Book 2), by Orson Scott Card
Visitors (Pathfinder Book 3), by Orson Scott Card
Snapshot, by Brandon Sanderson
Change Agent, by Daniel Suárez
Changes (The Dresden Files, Book 12), by Jim Butcher
Ghost Story (The Dresden Files, Book 13), by Jim Butcher
Skin Game (The Dresden Files, Book 15), by Jim Butcher
Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera Book 1), by Jim Butcher
Academ’s Fury (Codex Alera Book 2), by Jim Butcher
Cursor’s Fury (Codex Alera Book 3), by Jim Butcher
Captain’s Fury (Codex Alera Book 4), by Jim Butcher
Princeps’ Fury (Codex Alera Book 5), by Jim Butcher
First Lord’s Fury (Codex Alera Book 6), by Jim Butcher
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., by Neal Stephenson
Photo credits: Pavan Trikutam