"A book is a dream that you hold in your hand." - Neil Gaiman
There was a time in our generation's lifetime when books did not have to compete with the hyper-rewarding, dopamine-triggering, instantly gratifying digital entertainment options available today. Even if there are few moments of quiet available - say, just standing in the checkout line at a grocery store - I find the urge to check my phone for notifications, and if there are none, "entertainment" is an easy click away - checking news, stock prices, social media, games - pick your poison!
We evolved shorter intestines over millions of years as we learnt to cook our food. It is hypothesized that shorter intestines are energy-efficient, allowing the energy to be redirected to our brains, and larger brains became possible. We literally sacrificed a part of our body for our brains, and what is the point if we don't appreciate and use it for the gift that it is? Technology, starting with the discovery of fire, led us to atrophied muscles. Will smarter machines (smartphones, generative AI, etc.) which can ease our cognitive loads lead to atrophied minds?
Regardless of whether we need to read more books because will effectively substitute a harmful form of entertainment (smartphones) for a benign one, or allow for some deep thinking (frankly, shallow is fine too at this point), or lead to self-development, here's a list of books I'd wish to read (or in some cases, re-read).
Atomic Habits by James Clear book is a popular best-seller. From the author's website, the book could help build and retain good habits not just for you but also your children (there seems to be a primer on how to apply Atomic Habits to parenting). I'm sold!
Sudha Murthy is a trailblazer - a computer engineer in the 70s, the first woman engineer hired at Tata Engineering and Locomotives Company - she wrote to the company's chairman after taking an issue with "men only" engineering positions (source: Sudha Murty - Wikipedia), a prolific author having written 40+ books in three languages, a philanthropist, educator, wife of Narayan Murthy, whom she supported in founding Infosys and later became a chairperson of the company, mother-in-law to the current British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and recipient of the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award. She is a billionaire, but if you watch her interviews or read her columns, only her humility and brilliance shine through. Wise and Otherwise is one of her earliest books, and a collection of stories that each drive a message and outline human nature (source: Wise & Otherwise - Wikipedia).
Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind was an award-winning persistent best-seller. While the first book was about the past, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century discusses current global issues ranging from loss of jobs due to technological advancement to international terrorism. As with Yuval Noah Harari's other books, this book was received mostly favorably but elucidated some criticisms (source: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century - Wikipedia). While acknowledging that the content might not be perfect, it definitely will be thought-provoking, and consequently worth reading. I have had a copy of this book for a while and have not had the chance to read it completely, which I would very much like to do.
To say Steve Jobs was a visionary is wasting a sentence. He founded Apple, was fired from the company he founded, founded Pixar and Next computers, until he went back to Apple. Jobs' keynotes were legendary, as were his speeches (Stanford commencement speech).His interviews on product management are still relevant in a fast-paced world where things and ideas become obsolete so quickly. I understand the book is not without controversy - Jobs' family and friends disapprove of Jobs' portrayal (source: Steve Jobs (book) - Wikipedia). But Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson is the authorized biography. So, recognizing that the book might not be perfect, it is worth a read, nonetheless.
Love him or hate him, Elon Musk has had a significant impact on the world. As with the Steve Jobs biography, Walter Isaacson's portrayal of Musk in the book Elon Musk is not without a little bit of controversy (source: Elon Musk (Isaacson book) - Wikipedia), but as with Jobs, Isaacson did follow Musk for a significant period of time and this book is an authorized biography.
Warren Buffet is one of the most successful investors of our times. Per him, The Intelligent Investor, by his guru Benjamin Graham, is one of the best books about investing! Need there be more said to motivate picking this book up?
Over the years, I have dabbled with stock trading using technical indicators - which aspiring data scientist worth heir salt haven't tried applying statistical techniques and machine learning for stock predictions? More recently, I have come around to just investing in index funds. However, I am hopeful that The Intelligent Investor should offer insights into how to value a company in general, regardless of whether that is for evaluating the company's stock or the company itself.
The Investments textbook by Zvi Bodie, Alex Kane, Alan J. Marcus, and Pitabas Mohanty was a course textbook for an introductory finance course at the business school I attended. I have hung on to the textbook in the hopes that I'll one day do it justice.
It's a textbook, and hence covers a broad range of topics: different asset classes, how are securities traded, how do funds hedge against different types of risks, etc. My one takeaway from my first at reading the textbook back in the day - when most people (me included) think of "investments", the natural association that comes to mind is "stocks", and maybe "real estate" for some. This book should help switch from a mindset of specific asset classes to planning and evaluating a portfolio as a whole - not just from the perspective of return, but risk-adjusted return.
The term "disruption" in the context of business might feel a little over-used today. The idea by Professor Clayton Christensen is worth paying attention to. His seminal book The Innovator's Dilemma explained how incumbents in multiple industries were disrupted by newcomers with access to fewer resources but unencumbered by the baggage that massive companies need to carry. Not having read the book, I am given to understand that The Innovator's Dilemma might be slightly more academic for the general public, and consequently The Innovator's Solution made the ideas more accessible.
The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing is another textbook that I hope to get back to and do justice. While I don't get to work in an area of a business where I'm able to set the price of products or services, it seemed from my initial (incomplete) read of the book that some of the ideas should be taught to all. If they were, "cost-plus" pricing, which is the idea that if producing a good cost X, then the price could be set at X + Y, where Y is some margin, would not be a thing today. A better pricing strategy is "value-based pricing" where the price is set based on the perceived value of a product or service to buyers. There obviously are other factors to consider such as substitutes, bundled services, etc.
For those working to set pricing strategies, there is a newer version of this book available, which includes significant revisions (per book notes), including a discussion on using AI and machine learning to analyze pricing opportunities. For the rest of us, either the previous edition or the newer one could make an interesting read even from our viewpoint as consumers, to be mindful of the tactics companies might be employing to get the maximum profit from us 😛!
I really enjoyed The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford the first time I read it. It explained economics concepts in plain language through relatable examples. For example, why does the real estate price in London stay high? If you do give it a read, it is sure to change the perspective on how you perceive the world, though a possible side-effect might be your friends' and family's annoyance at having to deal with your questions 😜!
Professor Richard Thaler's books Nudge and Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics explain how our natural human biases affect our decisions. We may like to believe that we are perfectly rational decision makers who always make optimal decisions. However, this book, which builds on the earlier book (Nudge) should help us view our own behavior, and that of companies, in new light (source: Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics - Wikipedia)
A credentialed expert in the field of machine learning, Chip Huyen shared her experience on building production ready machine learning systems in her book Designing Machine Learning Systems. Here's the description of the book on her website. Hoping to read this soon!
When I was researching MLOps, I stumbled on Lak Lakshmanan's blog explaining when should MLOps be used and when it might be overkill. Ever since, I have wanted to pick up his well-received book: Machine Learning Design Patterns. He is also listed as an author for several other books and also appeared as a guest in several interviews and podcasts.
When I completed my Computer Science undergrad, we did not have Python programming classes. I happened to come across Al Sweigart's book and accompanying course Automate the Boring Stuff with Python when learning Python on my own and enjoyed it. Beyond the Basic Stuff with Python is his book which covers more advanced topics. Here is the author's website listing his works, most of which are available to read for free on the website or can be purchased from Amazon if you prefer a print copy.
Charles Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most popular novels of all time. Per Wikisource, the novel, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution, depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same period. It follows the lives of several characters through these events.
Wikisource describes Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace as,
"Epic novel which tells the story of Russian society during the Napoleonic Era and generally thought to be one of the greatest novels ever written."
It has inspired many works, including - to my pleasant surprise - The Wheel of Time, a favorite of mine! (source: "Interview with Robert Jordan. SFX. No16. September 1996).
Per Wikipedia, Journey to the Center of The Earth is
"... a classic science fiction novel by Jules Verne. The story involves a professor who leads his nephew and hired guide down a volcano in Iceland to the "center of the Earth". They encounter many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards, eventually coming to the surface again in southern Italy."
It is interesting that we have sent probes beyond our solar system - the Voyager 1 has travelled over 14 billion miles - yet the deepest bore hole into the Earth has been less than 8 miles. While it was still pushing the frontiers of engineering, it goes to show there is a lot more to explore within the Earth's crust. In this book, the author has imagined and presented entire worlds under the Earth's crust.
The Time Machine is the OG of sci-fi time travel.
This work is "is generally credited with the introduction of the concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively." Source: The Time Machine on Wikipedia
In the novel, the protagonist invents a time machine and travels to various other times, including a far future dystopia where humans have evolved into two very distinct species as an effect of our societal structure today. The story is sci-fi entertainment, yet can be profoundly thought-provoking.
Per Wikisource,
"... the detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson are called to investigate the mysterious death of a wealthy Dartmoor resident whose death appears to be connected with the curse of a legendary, monstrous hound of supernatural origin."
Of all the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles and A Study in Scarlet have somehow made the most lasting impression on me.
The Day of the Jackal is an intense spy novel. The narrative alternates between the point of view of an assassin hired to carry out a high-level political hit, and multiple secret service and police agencies that uncover the plot and race to identify and catch the assassin before the assasination. For me, the book was reminiscent of the Bourne series. The Jackal is basically Jason Bourne, if Bourne were a bad guy.
Per Wikipedia,
"... The novel received admiring reviews and praise when first published in 1971, and it received a 1972 Best Novel Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. The novel remains popular, and in 2003 it was listed on the BBC's survey The Big Read."
What list of fantasy fiction books is complete without the inclusion of The Lord of the Rings? J. R. R. Tolkien's trilogy set the tone and inspired so many works that followed, including George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire ("Game of Thrones"). While the story itself is gripping - remember when the last movie in The Lord of the Rings trilogy won in practically every category at the Oscars (11 Oscars in all!)? (I realize that is more a reflection on the film rather than the book) - it is amazing to learn that J. R. R. Tolkien had invented entire languages for different peoples inhabiting the fictional world of the books.
Robert Jordan's epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time paints an even richer world than The Lord of the Rings. The series' 14 main books and a small(er) prequel is span over 10,000 pages! The series lists different fictional cultures, and the different cultures' different beliefs and societal viewpoints are quite fascinating.
"The series draws on numerous elements of both European and Asian mythology, most notably the cyclical nature of time found in Buddhism and Hinduism; the metaphysical concepts of balance, duality, and a respect for nature found in Taoism; and the dualistic concepts of God and Satan."
When I started reading this series around 2010 and caught up to the last book available at the time, I remember eagerly waiting for each subsequent book to be published. At the time, it was believed the series would conclude at book #12 - imagine learning that the series was extended to 14 books and the story's ending will now be delayed a few more years - it was painful! I imagine A Song of Ice and Fire fans must be feeling the same way right now, though George R. R. Martin did present (a possible?) conclusion in the TV series.
Amish Tripathi's Shiva trilogy, the first of which is The Immortals of Meluha is a fictionalized modern-day spin on stories from Hindu mythology. When reading the series, I remember thinking that this is similar to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code in that it presents an alternative version of mythology. Similar to The Wheel of Time, I remember waiting impatiently for the next books in the series to be released after going through each book.
I imagine that the author's Ram Chandra series based on another mythological figure - Lord Ram - is a similar alternative retelling of The Ramayana. Looking forward to reading it, hopefully soon.