My Reading List in 2018

For 2018, I set my reading goal at 60 books — and I’d love to share with you some of the books that I read that most impacted me this year.

We all know that some books have the power to change our lives, or to change the way that we look at the world — and I’m always on the quest to read more of those, so I would love to get your recommendations on the comments below. If you’d like to follow some of the stuff that I’m reading — you can follow me on Goodreads.

I read lots of really interesting things this year, but if I had to pick the 5 most interesting ones, it would be these five in no particular order:

Radical Candor, Kim Scott

A book that’s chock full of great advice on how to become a better manager, colleague and human being.

The author comes from an incredible background, having contributed to the growth of companies such as Google, Apple, Dropbox, Twitter and Qualtrics, and her experience helps her provide some amazing examples and advice. A truly transformative book for me.

Factfulness, Hans Rosling

The reason I loved this one is because it plays right into my nature as an optimist, and it is centred on data.

Basically, it talks about how so many of us — including people in very high places who make decisions that affects billions’ of peoples lives — get so much of the world wrong, simply because we are going off of out-of-date or just plainly incorrect data.

It will make you see the world in a totally different — and hopefully better — light.

During her 14 year stint at Netflix, Patty as their Chief Talent Officer, contributing to building an amazing team and helping to create what is in my opinion one of the most inspiring examples of a company culture.

This book talks in depth about what it takes to create an amazing work culture, and how she helped scale one of the most successful companies of the 21st century by focusing on the most important asset: people.

Mindset, Carol Dweck

Carol Dweck’s Mindset is a book that speaks mainly about how building a healthy and productive “growth” mindset can be a determinant factor in a lifetime of success.

As a lifetime-learner and a recent parent, this book’s premise is incredibly interesting, and its implications have the potential to truly impact your life and personal development.

Most definitely worth the read!

Open, Andre Agassi

Let me start off by saying: I never liked tennis.

After reading “Open”, I now have a completely different understanding and appreciation for the game, along with a deep admiration for the achievements of someone who was not only one of the greats in tennis, but also someone who changed the sport considerably.

His story is incredible, and the narrative completely envelops you. You won’t be disappointed.

Some Reading Stats for 2018:

Books Read: 60
Total Number of Pages Read: 18587
Average Number of Pages per Book: 310
Average Number of Pages per Day: 51
Longest Book: Capital in the Twenty First Century (685 Pages)
Shortest Book: Rich Habits (89 Pages)

My Reading List in 2018:

1. How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading, Mortimer J. Adler
2. The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins
3. Hit Refresh, Satya Nadella
4. #BreakIntoVC: How to Break Into Venture Capital, Bradley Miles
5. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown
6. Open, Andre Agassi
7. Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion, Paul Bloom
8. The Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R. Covey
9. Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me), Carol Tavris
10. Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change, Ellen Pao
11. The Motivation Myth: How High Achievers Really Set Themselves Up to Win, Jeff Haden
12. Walk It Off, Princess, David Thorne
13. If It’s Not Funny It’s Art, Demetri Martin
14. Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics, Richard H. Thaler
15. Targeted: How Technology Is Revolutionizing Advertising and the Way Companies Reach Consumers, Mike Smith
16. Bringing Out the Best in People, Aubrey C. Daniels
17. Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, Cal Newport
18. Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor’s Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond, Chris Burniske
19. Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions, Brian Christian
20. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, Daniel Goleman
21. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life, Mark Manson
22. Grit, Angela Duckworth
23. Redirect: Changing the Stories We Live By, Timothy D. Wilson
24. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol S. Dweck
25. Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality, and Utopia, Michael Shermer
26. Predictable Revenue: Turn Your Business Into a Sales Machine with the $100 Million Best Practices of Salesforce.com, Aaron Ross
27. Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1), Ernest Cline
28. Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility, Patty McCord
29. The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work, Shawn Achor
30. The Universe in a Nutshell, Stephen Hawking
31. Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success, Adam M. Grant
32. The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups, Daniel Coyle
33. The Big Five for Life, John P. Strelecky
34. Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold, Stephen Fry
35. Principles: Life and Work, Ray Dalio
36. Ethics in the Real World: 86 Brief Essays on Things that Matter, Peter Singer
37. Successful Philanthropy, Jean Shafiroff
38. Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
39. Artificial Intelligence: What Everyone Needs to Know, Jerry Kaplan
40. Measure What Matters: OKRs: The Simple Idea that Drives 10x Growth, John Doerr
41. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, Malcolm Gladwell
42. My Morning Routine: How Successful People Start Every Day Inspired, Benjamin Spall
43. TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking, Chris J. Anderson
44. Dollars and Sense: How We Misthink Money and How to Spend Smarter, Dan Ariely
45. Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World and Why Things Are Better Than You Think, Hans Rosling
46. Intercom on Marketing, Des Traynor
47. Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts, Annie Duke
48. How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, Michael Pollan
49. Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals: Find Out How the Rich Get So Rich (the Secrets to Financial Success Revealed), Thomas C. Corley
50. Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty
51. Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, Steven Kotler
52. Robin, Dave Itzkoff
53. Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity, Kim Malone Scott
54. Narconomics: Como administrar un cartel de la droga, Tom Wainwright
55. The Challenge Culture: Why the Most Successful Organizations Run on Pushback, Nigel Travis
56. Panama Papers, Frederik Obermaier
57. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, Yuval Noah Harari
58. The New Wine Rules, Jon Bonné
59. The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control, Walter Mischel
60. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari

For 2019, I’m upping my goal and shooting for a total of 78 books — wish me luck, and in case you have any great recommendations for me, I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!