Books in 2020

My Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge target is 50 books. I’m at 45/50, with little hope of getting to 50. (I managed 25/24 in 2019.)

The 10 non-fiction books I read (most useful first) are below.

1. The Lean Startup by Eric Reis.
   The principle of Build – Measure – Learn is useful everywhere in life too, not just in startups.
2. Never Split The Difference by Chriss Voss.
   Shares principle-driven strategies to convince people.
3. The 4 Disciplines of Execution by McChesney, Covey & Huling.
   Teaches how to build execution rigor in an organization. A bit long at the end, but the first section is excellent.
4. Sprint by Jake Knapp.
   A detailed step-by-step guide to running product development sprints that you can follow blindly.
5. How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams.
   Dilbert’s author shares his strategies for life. Very readable, intelligent, and slightly provocative, but always interesting.
6. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni.
   Written as a story (like The Goal). Talks about the 5 problems in teams and how to overcome them.
7. The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle.
   Explains the elements of strong cultures – belongingness, shared vulnerability, and shared purpose.
8. Data-Driven Storytelling by Nathalie Henry Riche et al.
   Shares the latest points of view on telling data stories. My team and I read these chapters as a group.
9. Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek.
   Inspiring when I read it, but I don’t remember what it said.
10. Deep Work by Cal Newport.
    Shares tactics to focus. Practical and useful.

I also started, by haven’t finished these four:

1. Hacking Growth by Sean Ellis & Morgan Brown
2. The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene
3. How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams
4. Stories at Work by Indranil Chakraborty

I read these 25 works of fiction — mostly by Brandon Sanderson (my current favorite author) and Brent Weeks.

1. Lightbringer (Books 1-5) by Brent Weeks.
   In a world where color is woven as magic, the most powerful man is caught in politics. This series had enough twists and turns to keep me hooked till the end.
2. Skyward (Books 1-2) by Brandon Sanderson.
   An outcast girl on an outcast planet becomes a fighter pilot with an alien spaceship. I love the way this is developing.
3. The Wheel of Time (Books 1-6) by Robert Jordan.
   I picked it up again mainly because Brandon Sanderson wrote the last 3 books. It was great up to book 4 but has started dragging.
4. Alcatraz Versus The Evil Librarians (Books 1-4) by Brandon Sanderson.
   The author lies to you. Literally. And tells you that he will, in almost every other paragraph. Great book for kids to laugh over.
5. Night Angel (Books 1-3) by Brent Weeks.
   An assassin in a story that spans centuries of the history of magic.
6. Legion (Books 1-3) by Brandon Sanderson.
   A detective who has multiple split-personalities in him — that help him solve cases.
7. Snapshot by Brandon Sanderson.
   What if you could create a snapshot of the world, enter it, interact with it, and solve crimes?
8. The Art of Letting Go: Poetry for the Seekers by Sanhita Baruah.
   It’s my first poetry book. (I hate poetry.) I took this up to see if I could survive it, and get a fresh perspective. I survived.

… and these 10 comic books/series.

1. Batman, Volume 1: The Court of Owls
2. Batman, Volume 2: The City of Owls
3. World War Hulk (1-5)
4. Superman: Red Son (1-3)
5. Flashpoint (1-5)
6. Batman – The Long Halloween (1-13)
7. Batman – The Killing Joke
8. Kingdom Come (Vol 1-4)
9. Spiderman: Ends of the Earth
10. Amazing Spiderman, Vol. 1

At the moment, I’m at 45 books, with little hope of completing 5 more this month unless I pick up comics. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do 😉