Book Lists
The Best Non-Fiction Books I read in 2020
I had the good fortune of having quantity, quality, and amazing diversity of books in 2020 — the year, I finally achieved my lifelong goal of reading a book a week.
Thanks to all the extra time afforded by the Covid induced lockdown, I was fortunate enough to fulfill a long held desire to read 52 books in a year — one for every week. There were a few more that I started and didn’t finish. This is a list of the 24 best books that I read in the non-fiction category. I have a separate top 10 list for sports books. These aren't necessarily books released in 2020. I just read them this year. So please don't mind the old ones you already know of.
I share books, because everytime I do, I end up having a conversation about it with someone. I love these conversations as much as I enjoy reading the books. Hoping for lots of conversations with this list.
I have divided this list into 4 categories. These are fairly loose and over simplified categories and there is no ranking. I have also provided their Amazon.com and Goodreads ratings. Here we go
Wish all of you lots of great reading in 2021
Category — History Of The World
We are all citizens of a global world which is full of complex issues. These books will help you make more sense of it.
Guns, Germs, and Steel- The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond ( AMZN — 4.50 GR — 4.03)
Jared Diamond’s book chronicles the way that the modern world came to be and stunningly dismantles racially biased theories of human history. It tries to explain why the Eurasians were able to conquer, displace, or decimate Native Americans, Australians, and Africans, instead of the reverse?
Everyone I know, who has read it, considers it one of their favourite books.
Bomb, Book and Compass — Joseph Needham and the Great Secrets of China by Simon Winchester ( AMZN — 4.20 GR — 3.81)
The story of how a world famous biochemist became a foremost sinologist, and single-handedly created the Western world’s understanding of China, long before it became fashionable.
This book will change your understanding of China and educate you about its remarkable history of scientific achievements.
Dictatorland — The Men Who Stole Africa by Paul Kenyon ( AMZN — 4.60 GR — 4.42)
Dictatorland tells shocking stories of greed, corruption, and brutality by Africa’s dictators. Hidden behind their atrocities lie dark secrets of western greed and complicity with these dictators, driven by their insatiable hunger for the riches of Africa.
This book makes me wonder if the European plunder of Africa is the worst crime against humans beings.
The Arabs — A History by Eugene Rogan ( AMZN — 4.40 GR — 4.32)
Eugene Rogan’s highly acclaimed book traces 500 years of tumultuous Arab history from the Ottoman conquest through the British and French colonial periods and up to the present age of unipolar American hegemony.
The Arabs are considered to be oil rich, religious zealots who are constantly embroiled in war and political strife. This book dispels all these myths and completely changes your understanding of the people and their real issues.
How We Got to Now — Six Innovations That Made the Modern World by Steven Johnson (AMZN — 4.60 GR — 4.09)
This book takes six innovations (glass, clean, light, cold, sound, time) through history, including all the inventors and all the quirks of history that led to their modern day uses. Many of which were completely unintended.
I loved all the unexpected connections between seemingly unrelated fields: how the invention of air-conditioning enabled the largest migration of human beings in the history of the species — to cities such as Dubai or Phoenix, which would otherwise be virtually uninhabitable
Utopia For Realists — And How We Can Get There by Rutger Bergman (AMZN — 4.70 GR — 4.25)
Rutger Bregman takes us on a journey through history, beyond the traditional left-right divides, as he introduces ideas whose time has come. These are the ideas for a modern day Utopia — From a universal basic income to a 15-hour workweek, from a world without borders to a world without poverty.
These are ideals that may seem far-fetched now, but the ideas of women’s suffrage, the abolition of slavery, and the welfare state were also considered extremely far-fetched before they happened.
Mindfuck — Inside Cambridge Analytica’s Plot to Break the World by Christopher Wylie (AMZN — 4.70 GR — 4.45)
The Cambridge Analytica whistleblower tells the inside story of the data mining and psychological manipulation behind the election of Donald Trump and the Brexit referendum, connecting Facebook, WikiLeaks, Russian intelligence, and international hackers.
It not only exposed the extreme vulnerabilities and carelessness in the enormous companies that drive the attention economy, it also exposed the profound vulnerabilities of democracy itself.
Category — Stories of Organizations
I work in a startup and I find the stories of organizations and their leaders endlessly fascinating and educational. How they built their business, created their culture and solved their problems.
Excellence Wins — A No-Nonsense Guide To Becoming The Best In A World Of Compromise By Horst Schulze (AMZN — 4.80 GR — 4.62)
Horst Schulze is Co-founder & Former COO of The Ritz-Carlton. Upon co-founding the Hotel in 1983, Schulze singlehandedly set the business operations and service standards that made the Ritz-Carlton brand globally elite and world-famous.
In this book, he shares the visionary and disruptive principles that have reshaped the concepts of excellence, service, and competitive advantage. Full of great actionable advice.
No Filter — How Instagram Transformed, Business, Celebrity and Culture by Sarah Frier (AMZN — 4.50 GR — 4.11)
Sarah Frier tells us the story of Instagram — from the origin to its stunning rise and billion dollar acquisition, to becoming the most culturally defining app of the decade. Sarah had enviable access to Instagram’s founders and other key players. The result is an inside, never-before-told, behind-the-scenes look at the remarkable story of the app and its founders.
The research and reporting is thorough and the writing is beautiful.
The Innovation Stack — Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time by Jim McKelvey (AMZN — 4.70 GR — 4.18)
From the cofounder of Square, an inspiring account of what it means to be a true entrepreneur and what it takes to build a resilient, world-changing company. Square is that rare company which faced a threat from Amazon but instead of succumbing, forced the giant predator into submission. McKelvey’s secret formula is the Innovation Stack — a set of interconnected innovations.
McKelvey shares historical examples of other world-changing companies built on the Innovation Stack to reveal a pattern of ground-breaking, competition-proof entrepreneurship that is rare but repeatable.
NUTS — Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg (AMZN — 4.50 GR — 3.92)
With unlimited access to the people and inside documents of Southwest Airlines, authors Kevin and Jackie Freiberg share the secrets behind the greatest success story in commercial aviation. Southwest has been consistently ranked first in almost all industry metrics.
What's the secret ? Southwest has always abhorred all management principles and found their own unique solutions — like hiring for sense of humour.
Pour Your Heart Into It — How STARBUCKS Built a Company One Cup at a Time — Howard Schultz (AMZN — 4.50 GR — 4.04)
Howard Schultz illustrates the principles that have shaped the Starbucks phenomenon, sharing the wisdom he has gained from his quest to make great coffee part of the American experience. This is the story of how Schultz built the largest coffee chain on the planet without compromising his commitment to product excellence and employee satisfaction.
The passion Schultz and his team have for what they do radiates very clearly throughout the book particularly illuminating the soul of what can make any venture successful — “Pour Your Heart Into It.”
Extreme Ownership — How US Navy Seals Lead And Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin (AMZN — 4.80 GR — 4.28)
Extreme Ownership details the mindset and leadership principles that enable the US Navy SEALs to accomplish the most difficult combat missions, and demonstrates how to apply them to any team or organization or business, in any leadership environment.
At the center of the strategies that Willink and Babin illustrate, is the principle of the leader taking complete responsibility for everything. This book is mandatory reading in many of the most successful companies.
Creativity, Inc — Overcoming The Unseen Forces That Stand In The Way Of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull (AMZN — 4.70 GR — 4.21)
This is the story behind the company that changed animation forever. Here, the founder of Pixar, Ed Catmull, reveals the ideas and techniques that have made Pixar one of the most widely admired creative businesses, and one of the most profitable.
Ed Catmull is one of the few people in the world who really knew Steve Jobs. In the last chapter, he writes poignantly about the great man, making an honest attempt to reveal the person behind the genius.
Category — Becoming Better Books
Increasingly books borrow from a variety of fields and their wisdom can be applied across many others. This makes it harder for me to classify them. So I kept this category simple. These books made me better by making me think and make notes.
What You Do Is Who You Are — How To Create Your Business Culture by Ben Horowitz (AMZN — 4.60 GR — 4.07)
To Horowitz, culture is how a company’s employees make decisions.
In this book, he illustrates how to make your culture purposeful by spotlighting four models of leadership and culture-building―Haiti’s Toussaint Louverture; the Samurai, Genghis Khan, and Shaka Senghor,
Horowitz connects these leadership examples to modern case-studies, how Louverture’s cultural techniques were applied by Reed Hastings at Netflix, and how Genghis Khan’s vision of cultural inclusiveness has parallels in the work of Don Thompson, the first African-American CEO of McDonalds.
Horowitz then offers guidance to help any company understand its own strategy and build a successful culture.
Rebel Ideas — The Power Of Diverse Thinking by Matthew Syed (AMZN — 4.70 GR — 4.29)
The argument of Rebel Ideas is that the solving of a complex problem can sometimes only be achieved by assembling a group of different-minded people. By combining different perspectives, insights and thought processes, sometimes even the most challenging of obstacles can be overcome.
The diversity that Syed refers to in this book isn’t racial or gender diversity: it’s what he calls cognitive diversity, i.e. diversity in people's knowledge and experiences,in how they think and how they see the problem. Complements Range by David Epstein and The End of Average.
The End of Average — How to Succeed in a World that Values Sameness by Todd Rose (AMZN — 4.60 GR — 4.05)
In The End of Average, Todd Rose uses compelling evidence to prove that no one is average. Not you. Not your kids. Not your employees. Everyone is unique and their uniqueness is lost in our schools and businesses which have been designed around the mythical “average person.” This has serious implications on how kids learn and how you hire people.
This book is a real hidden gem. You start seeing everyone differently.
You’re Not Listening — What You’re Missing and Why It Matters by Kate Murphy (AMZN — 4.60 GR — 4.13)
In an age when no one listens to anybody, this is an extremely essential read. The ability to listen well is a superpower. Kate Murphy uses neuroscience, psychology and sociology to explains the Why and the How of listening. How well we listen determines how we love, learn, connect and empathise with one another, and become more tolerant by understanding the world better.
I promise you. Listening well is magical.
The Happiness Advantage — The Seven Principles that Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor (AMZN — 4.70 GR — 4.18)
Shawn Achor’s book busts the myth about success and happiness. The truth is that Happiness leads to Success and not the other way round, as commonly believed. This discovery is borne out by rigorous research in psychology and neuroscience, management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe.
Achor then shares 7 actionable, practical principles which can help anyone reprogram their brain to become more positive and more happy in life.
The Serendipity Mindset — The Art and Science of Creating Good Luck by Christian Busch (AMZN — 4.60 GR — 3.87)
In The Serendipity Mindset, Christian Busch explains that serendipity isn’t about luck in the sense of simple randomness. It’s about seeing links that others don’t, combining these observations in unexpected and strategic ways, and learning how to detect the moments when apparently random or unconnected ideas merge to form new opportunities.
Busch explores how serendipity works in a rational and scientific manner and explains how we can foster the conditions that let serendipity grow. We can train our serendipity muscle and use it to turn the unexpected into opportunity. Suggest that you also read Richard Wiseman’s book on Luck.
Invent and Wonder — The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos (AMZN — 4.20 GR — 3.98)
In this collection of Jeff Bezos’s writings — his unique and strikingly original annual shareholder letters, plus numerous speeches and interviews that provide insight into his background, his work, and the evolution of his ideas — you’ll gain an insider’s view of the why and how of his success. Spanning a range of topics across business and public policy, from innovation and customer obsession to climate change and outer space, this book provides a rare glimpse into how Bezos thinks about the world and where the future might take us.
Category — Books About India
I am an Indian and I don’t know enough about the history of our country. I can’t blame the education system for my ignorance. History is just too important. We have to make an effort and learn about it.
India — From The Earliest Civilizations To The Boom Of The Twenty-First Century by John Keay (AMZN — 4.20 GR — 3.95)
John Keay’s India: A History is a probing and provocative chronicle of five thousand years of South Asian history, from the first Harappan settlements on the banks of the Indus River to the recent nuclear-arms race. In a tour de force of narrative history, Keay blends together insights from a variety of scholarly fields and weaves them together to chart the evolution of the rich tapestry of cultures, religions, and peoples that makes up the modern nations of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.
Warning — You will not absorb everything in one reading. A second reading is recommended.
Panipat by Vishwas Patil (AMZN — 4.70 GR — 4.35)
Panipat, takes a detailed look at the third battle of Panipat, which took place on January 14, 1761 between the Marathas and Ahmad Shah Abdali, the founder of the Afghan Empire. This battle is an extremely important event in the history of India. A different result, which appeared quite probable at various times, could have changed the history of India. The book covers the main events in the build-up as well as providing a detailed account of the day of the bttle.It also focuses on certain key points pertaining to India as a federal nation. Some of these points include the role of religion, the battle for supremacy between the North and the South, the detrimental influence of regional politics, the role of language, and the importance of unity. This book is extremely well researched using borrowing from many original account of the battle.
I loved this book so much I wrote a post about it .
The Shadow Of The Great Game — The Untold Story Of India’s Partition (AMZN — 4.30 GR — 4.13)
The central thesis of this well researched, extremely readable book rests on the fact that for nearly a hundred years prior to Partition, the British had engaged in what came to be known as the `Great Game’ with tsarist Russia over influence in Central Asia. The British believed that the safety of their Indian empire and access to the oil fields in the Middle East lay in keeping the Russians at a distance. British strategic interests demanded that they have a strategic base and partners in the northwest of India even after India’s independence.
The British wanted partition all along and this book chronicles the skillful maneuvering of British politicians and their finely honed craft of Divide and Rule. The Congress and its many leaders and the Muslim League under Jinnah were unwitting pawns in this game, who failed to grasp even the basics outlines of this great game.
The author, Narendra Singh Sarila, was the aide-de-camp to Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the last Viceroy of India, and had a ring-side view of the events just before and after Partition. He wrote this book after coming across many original british documents which highlighted the central premise of the Great Game.
