Skip to main content

Best books of the year

These are the best books I read this year - they may well have been published in 1900...but these are what I read and enjoyed...

A Stroke of Insight - worth reading if you want to understand a little more on how the brain functions

The Second machine age - has a very pertinent take on the age of machines - and it makes you think. I plan to read the sequel to this in the coming year.

The Leadership moment - 9 stories on leadership - not your usual leadership stories and that makes it a rivetting read

Alan Mullaly and the fight to save Americas Icon - has some good insights on corporate culture in the  fight to turnaround Ford

The Box - is a fabulous story of the Container - yes, something as simple as a container and it is such a great story to read

A man called Ove - a fictional bittersweet story about an old man from a different generation...

Call of the wild - an old classic about a dog, but a heartwarming read

Wonder - its a childrens book, but my, does it make you think!

Eragon - again a childrens book, loosely modelled on LOTR? I lost interest after the first one...

Divergent - sci fiction - starts on a strong premise - then I got bored of the book

Wonder why there are so many childrens books, it is because they get these books home and I get curious enough to read some of them...

Apart from this, Mindset - by Carol Dweck - this is a classic read.

Anywhere but home - the story of Anu Vaidyanathan - is a candid read on the world of long distance running by Indias first Ironman (yes, a woman)

Ingenius (Tina Seelig): the worst book I read this year

A general theory of love: This is a neuro biological explanation of the process of love - and I loved it for the explanation of the brain

Behave: A deeper explanation of why we behave, how we behave - not an easy read, but if you are interested, this is a book worth reading...

Irrestible: easily my most thinking book of the year - because it opens the window into the dangerous new world of behavioural addiction - the internet

Homo Sapiens - a little late to the party, but easily my best read of the year...

And as for the coming year, the reading list is already lined up...

, 

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Be Civil. Make nice!

Popular posts from this blog

The man who saved Pumpelsdrop

This was a story we had in college if I am not mistaken. Perhaps it was in school, but a delightful story it was. The story goes somewhat like this ( reproduced from here ), but the college version we had was slightly different from this.  I t was a dull, gloomy and a depressing morning in a town named Pumpelsdrop in northern England. The Great Depression had brought all the businesses to a standstill. The bored automobile dealer was spending time alone, as usual. But, this seems to be an unusual morning as an odd entity (customer) appeared on the horizon. A man in a bright suit walks up to the dealer and says, "I need to buy a Rolls Royce Phantom II. We have a business conference coming up and I need to impress my customers". Then proceeds to pay 10% of the deal with a single check for 2000 pounds. The rest he says will pay when he takes the delivery.   The auto dealer was stunned. He was delighted to hear that someone is holding a business conference of some kind and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

And the unconference happened

 Most conferences have an agenda. No, not the stated agenda, but an agenda of marketing, airtime to sponsors, ensuring the past and future customers are invited, of ensuring that the "stars" of the industry are invited and attention showered of them. All in all it is a your scratch my back, I scratch your back syndrome. Some of these become cliques and claques and therefore the real point behind a conference is lost. And then there is the unconference - organised and run by the alumni of the ISABS ODCP program. And as the name suggests, this is truly an un-conference organised by the alumni, for the alumni. No funders - except the alumni themselves. No sponsors. Just the team.  I havent seen a more tastefully organised conference (yes, its an unconference).  To begin with - the location - not a typical star hotel, but an outdoorsy place. The food - simple. The welcome - personal. It was like a homecoming. The setting was warm and welcoming. It was a smaller conference. Ju...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why does elearning exist?

 Elearning is one of those niches that does not deserve to exist. Yes, it was a novelty 20 years ago, but not now. It cannot exist. But somehow it does. Disclaimer: I used to head a content team once upon a time. And I used to ask those whom I hired - tell me the last thing you learnt from an e-learning. The answer is - pretty much nothing (and this is a good decade ago).  Why?  If you want to learn a recipe, you go to Youtube, or Reels or something like that. If you are terribly old fashioned - as in, you read - then you go to a website and read the recipe and make it.  Most other things you learn by doing or learning on the job or asking an expert.  If you have to learn something in depth, then there are other ways.  So, where does e-learning fit in all this? E-learning is one of those products that the customer hates, but has no choice, because someone has decided it is the best way. For instance, you have to learn a new CRM or some other product - you w...
Post a Comment
Read more