A dear friend once asked me to calculate how many coherent years I hope to have left on this planet, and how many books I read in a given year. When you multiply the two, it is staggeringly humbling. Unless my Silicon Valley bio tech buddies give me a massive extension, and assuming I look both ways crossing the street, I may have 1,500 books allotted to me give or take.
This could be very depressing statistic in one mind set. There are over 1,500 biographies alone I’d like to read. But it is also very focusing and inspiring. Books, as with whom we spend our time, are a zero sum game -- No time like the present to being pretty brutal on choosing.
2017 has thus been an incredibly fulfilling and enriching year of books. A few were flops (and now, with my new found math I stop books by page 50 if they’ve not captured my imagination). But here are some of the many I read worth considering on your list.
I should caveat by saying I rarely read “business books” — though everything I read has made me a better, more informed, occasionally better spoken and written executive. But I am in a constant state of reading, following some of the best minds in business in their blogs and what they read. I also have taken it upon myself to get smarter on AI and block chain -- any classes, posts or books in the empires of Tim O’Reilly, Sebastian Thrun’s Udacity, Andrew Ng and more have all also taught me a great deal this year.
So here we go — my top 20 of 2017 in five categories:
1) Shifting global economy and change: It is happening; it is happening faster than ever in history; there is no going back; there is enormous opportunity for those who engage.
Innovation Blind Spot, Ross Baird — Why innovation is rising everywhere, and that we limit ourselves thinking differently and investing separately in “impact” and “returns.” They, in fact, overlap.
The Complacent Class, Tyler Cowan — No blog is more fact filled and provocative on our times than Marginal Revolution. No book is a greater wake up call that business as usual in our daily desires to avoid change is unsustainable.
Conscience of a Conservative, Senator Jeff Flake — To remind us that there are extremely thoughtful public servants and that today’s fever will break.
Quantum Spy, David Ignatius — I read painfully little fiction this year, but anything David writes I read within 24 hours of it arriving. I learn more about shifting technology and its global ramifications in his novels than in most studies. Quantum computing, digital crime, US/China tensions — what more do we need...
Whiplash, Joi Ito — My book review says it all here: No one volume will better prepare us for the 21st century. This is book is the “navigation for out times.”
Technocracy in America, Parag Khanna — No one pushes us to think bigger and at the premise level than Parag. This short, breezy book pushes us to ask not only how we can fix government, but how inevitable technology and global change allows us to rethink the roles of our institutions and us.
The ASEAN Miracle, Kishore Mahbubani — To the degree Americans think globally at all, we think China. Mahbubani reminds us that the next billion is rising across South East Asia and offers incredible opportunity for economic and political engagement.
The Rise and Fall of Nations, , Ruchir Sharma — This is the best one volume tour of how each part of the world is rising well off the radar screen of most Americans. Filled with wonderful data, and not a few warnings, it is a superb look at the global economy.
2) And we’re building off a greater foundation than we think — the world is getting massively better:
Better Angels of our Nature, Stephen Pinker — My friend at Andreessen Horowitz, Benedict Evans, threw this away half way through it and questions some of the data. It is repetitive and long, but notwithstanding wonderfully provocative and reminds us how much progress pretty much in every field we have made in the last century. That, in and of itself, is worth reading and repeating.
3) But we can take nothing for granted — injustice remains profound, our systems unchecked mean too many of our sisters and brothers remain often forgotten or in spirals of poverty, and our very systems need renewing.
Evicted, Mathew Desmond — Heart wrenching in its powerful stories, staggering in its detail and data, Desmond has written one of the greatest indictments of the circle and cycle of poverty in America. In nuanced detail, he outlines how incentives in our systems make it all but impossible for struggling folks to find and sustain affordable housing, and the ramifications when they are no longer able to do so. A powerful wake up call.
Invisible Front, Yochi Dresden — one of the best written descriptions of the impact of War and its aftermath’s on soldiers, their families and their communities. The most poignant and clear overview of what PTSD is and what it means.
Raven Rock, Garrett Graff— Ever wonder what will really happen for our government leadership (and not us) should a doomsday scenario kick in? They all fly out to Raven Rock and other bunkers around the country. Garrett has done incredible reporting to understand a little known story of our government machinations.
The Retreat of Western Liberalism, Ed Luce — A whole slew of books have finally come out to report how so many Americans are viewing the world, and why populism is having a rising appeal here and abroad. In the hands of a great writer and reporter, however, with extensive global experience, it all comes together in a lucid and clear overview.
4) History can remind us that we are not the first to go through earth shaking change, and that great, in depth thinking and determined leadership matters. But remember it rhymes, not repeats...
The Islamic Enlightenment, Christopher de Bellauge — The author, tired of people saying the reason there is unrest in the Middle East is because they never had an enlightenment, proves them wrong. This beautifully written, fascinating history describes the rise of astounding political and society thought and reform efforts in Egypt, Turkey Iran and beyond in the 19th century. And it reminds us that the most successful reformers moved fast and ensured enemies of change were checked very early on.
John Stuart Mill, Richard Reeves — The author told me if he were remembered for nothing else it would be this book, and reading this riveting account of one of the most important political and economic thinkers makes me understand why.
Gorbachev, William Taubman — The definitive look at this extraordinary man in triumph and tragedy. Particularly fascinating were his young and formative years, of which I knew little, how he pulled off what he did, and the lessons where he was stymied. It’s one of the first books I’ve read where I witnessed some of this first hand, and I garnered astounding context.
Memoirs, Lee Kuan Yew — While we’re on this, his memoirs are an astounding read of the foundation of Singapore and the rise of the region. It’s a real commitment — each volume is over 700 pages — but prepared me tremendously for my travels there this summer.
5) And because no one can post anything online without alluding to relationships and sex, these were marvelously provocative, data-filled reads:
Everybody Lies, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz — We all know polling has massive deficiencies and focus groups are well outdated. Mining massive data now available, however, tells us amazing things about politics, racial bias, sex, consumer preferences and more. When we are anonymous, as when we search Google, incredible truths come out because we have no fear of being judged. Learning is, and will be, massive.
The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex, and the Science of Attraction, by Larry Young and Brian Alexander — I’m not going to tell you anything other than that with great data and neuroscience I now know what we share in common with voles and why I spent many a weekend night in high school at home watching documentaries...
Happy new year, and thank each and every one of you for what you’ve taught me over the year.
