My 2016 books
As I write this post, I feel an old anxiety flaring up. Growing up and going to some pretty poor public schools in the South, it was never really OK to be a bookworm. The cool kids played sports, draped their letterman jackets around cheerleaders, and harassed kids like me who hung out in the library. This feeling that it’s not cool to read has been growing stronger recently as fewer and fewer people seem to read anything except headlines and snack-sized content.
Well, I don’t care. I’m a nerd (not a geek) and proud. Here are the books I consumed in 2016, with the ones I strongly recommend given **special formatting** and a bit of an explanation as to why I think they’re so great. This list is half the length of the list of books I purchased in 2016, so a New Year’s resolution for 2017 is to first make it through all of my backlog before buying another book. So difficult.
The list:
**Manna: Two Visions of Humanity’s Future** — a novella about a heavily automated world. Thinking about automation and its impacts on the future was a major theme of my reading this year. http://amzn.to/2id9DJ1
**The Food Revolution** — the other major theme of my reading this year was about ethics and food (and the relationship between the two). This was my favorite book on the subject, written by the son of the Baskin Robbins founder. This one contributed in a major way to my decision to go vegan this year. http://amzn.to/2hFyXuz
**The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership** — Incredible and life-changing. I read this book at least four times this year (no joke), as I used it to deescalate and solve some intractable conflicts. Don’t be put off by the title — this is a book that has broad and extremely applicable lessons for living life in a responsible, conscious frame of mind. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. http://amzn.to/2i7Deb0
**Reinventing Organizations** — This incredible book shows a better way to structure companies and cultures than the flawed, top-down structures that we unthinkingly inherited from the era of industrialization and Taylorism. It made me question many of the basic (and flawed) assumptions that are baked into the governance structures of most modern companies. http://amzn.to/2idheHC
** Ethics in the Real World ** — The NYT review of this book says what I’d want to say about it: “The first thing that needs to be said about “Ethics in the Real World” is that the writing is mostly dishwater gray. Mr. Singer seems to regard wit as immoral adornment. He picks up his topics as if they were heavy rocks, hauls them a few feet, and drops them, sometimes on our toes. His abstemious style made me long for a despairing wisecrack. What carries you is the quality of his thought. He is persuasive on so many topics that he makes you wish we could turn the world off, then on again, in an attempt to reset it. http://amzn.to/2h85ZTm
** I Contain Multitudes ** — This book changed the way I think about what it means to be human, what I think I know about health and the human body, and how evolution works. Spoiler alert: we know very little about the microbes that live on and in us, but they’re an absolutely essential and critical part of who we are. http://amzn.to/2hFM2UC
** Animal Liberation ** — Peter Singer again. This is his best-known work, and one that pushed me past the no-return point with its clarity of logic. It became completely clear to me, after reading this book, what our moral stance towards animals should be. http://amzn.to/2idM2YK
** Girls & Sex ** — A non-fiction horror tale that every parent should read well before their kids are old enough to get into the troubles described in this book. Because healthy sexuality is taught long before kids are sexually mature. http://amzn.to/2hRZBhF
** Between the World and Me** — Left me shattered and sad for our country, and a little more aware of the depth and power of the river of racism that runs through it. I loved the audio version because the author himself reads it. His cadence and voice are all the clearer in that version. http://amzn.to/2idWHmq
An Everyone Culture — I had high hopes for this book, but honestly, you can get the key ideas from this article in HBR: https://hbr.org/2014/04/making-business-personal. The book was a bit of a slog, and not well-written enough to make it worth it, contrary to the glowing reviews on Amazon. http://amzn.to/2i7JOOH
The Mediation Process — Only recommended if you find yourself, like I did, needing to moderate some heavy workplace conflict in a humane and fair way. http://amzn.to/2i7P194
The Generalist Counsel — Picked up when I was contemplating a communications role that would have reported into a GC. Read this book to better understand the potential future boss. http://amzn.to/2h7Y5t4
Remote — Read it again this year as I worked to shape corporate culture around remote work and work-life blend. http://amzn.to/2h7VPlC
Flawless Consulting — Because I did a lot of consulting work this year and needed advice on how to do it more effectively. http://amzn.to/2hXIEC1
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? — To answer the question posed in the title of this book: no, we’re not. We’re a self-centered species content to flatter and delude ourselves about our superior intelligence, when there’s plenty of evidence to suggest we’re not all that smart, and animals aren’t all that dumb, after all. Lots of really great science about different forms of intelligence. http://amzn.to/2hXMnzo
When Breath Becomes Air — A book about death. Written by a neurosurgeon as he was dying of cancer, and finished by his wife that survived him. Highly recommended by just about everybody. Well written, but not one of my faves of the year because I disagreed with (and couldn’t understand) Paul’s desire to return to work, and the unsatisfying self analysis of his motivations. It felt like he never achieved an epiphany that was just around the corner for him. http://amzn.to/2hajH9N
Hillbilly Elegy — An attempt to understand the culture of Appalachia, where I grew up, and the results of the election. A good book that made me cry several times, but less revealing than I’d hoped it would be, given the similarity between the author’s experiences and my own. http://amzn.to/2hXRlfz
Grit — A book about the power of passion coupled with perseverance. I read this to become a better parent. I wasn’t disappointed in the quality of the book or its advice. I just think it could have been done in a quarter of the length. http://amzn.to/2h84CnG
How Not to Die — I read this to understand how to craft a healthy, life-prolonging diet for myself and my family. I like the organization structure of the book, which takes the leading causes of death and discusses how to mitigate (or in some cases eliminate) these risks through diet. Excellent advice. A little long-winded, though. http://amzn.to/2h7Zos2
Without Their Permission — The wittier of the two Reddit cofounders wrote a book about free speech, internet culture, and the founding of Reddit. I enjoyed it greatly, especially since the audiobook was read by the author. http://amzn.to/2hFs1NP
Team of Teams — A great book to pair up with Reinventing Organizations. Recommended to me by the CEO of CultureAmp, a company that does a really great job of helping companies understand their own cultures and how to improve their working environment. The book’s written to answer the following question: “What if you could combine the agility, adaptability, and cohesion of a small team with the power and resources of a giant organization?” http://amzn.to/2h80vYI
Lean Startups for Social Change — Read this when I was thinking of starting a not-for-profit in 2016. Tons of practical advice, but it would have been a better (and perhaps more inspirational) use of my time to read and apply the lessons of The Lean Startup (by Eric Ries). http://amzn.to/2hRujHB
Crush It! — Quirky tale of a wine blog that became a serious business. Loved it, and really appreciate GV’s perspectives. http://amzn.to/2hXUDQ2
Choose Yourself —James Altucher is a charming weirdo and this book inspired me to choose myself. http://amzn.to/2h850T5
Big Magic — Really great when read in conjunction with Choose Yourself and Crush It!. This book is about finding and living your creative life. http://amzn.to/2hY0Rj4
Porcelain — I saw Moby talk about this book in San Francisco. I love Moby as a musician, but this book was masturbatory, poorly written, and not very self-aware. I enjoyed the read, but I’m pretty disappointed that Moby didn’t do better. He’s got a way better story to tell than the one he told here. http://amzn.to/2hSKbMC
The Inevitable — Really like Kevin Kelly’s imagination and breadth of understanding. He explains 12 technological trends that will shape the next 30 years. The organization of the book, with chapters titled “becoming,” “cognifying,” “remixing” and so on is a little gimmicky, but the dude has far sight, and delivers. http://amzn.to/2haYMn7
The B Corp Handbook — Horribly written guide to a really great program (B Corp certification). I wanted a walkthrough of the program that I could listen to while working out, and that’s what I got. http://amzn.to/2idVQCh
Good Strategy / Bad Strategy — Excellent book on strategy that cuts through the bullshit of “mission/vision/goals.” http://amzn.to/2idVYBL
Behind the Cloud — A book promoting Salesforce and its founder. Disappointing. Unless you work at, or aspire to work at Salesforce or a competitor, you can skip it. http://amzn.to/2ie3igB
Kitchen Confidential — Not quite as shocking or funny as people led me to believe it would be. I thought Anthony Bourdain was supposed to be really interesting? He was only mildly interesting here. But then again, I worked 10 years in food service and nothing shocks me about it. http://amzn.to/2i8zpm5
Eating the Big Fish — Another excellent strategy book, written for underdogs attacking a market leader. http://amzn.to/2idOi2a
The Tastemakers — Good book explaining how food crazes like Cronuts, cupcakes, acaii berries, etc., actually take root and happen. http://amzn.to/2hYKtyT
Crucial Conversations — Excellent. A classic guide (that I re-read this year) to talking when the stakes are high. http://amzn.to/2h8LXbd
The Industries of the Future — If you’re paying close attention to tech, you’ll be disappointed that this book stays in the shallows as it surveys today to predict the landscape of the future. Felt like it was written for leaders in government, rather than for tech insiders. http://amzn.to/2idRye2
Beyond Outrage —I was already on the same page as the author about many of the assertions made in this book. “Beyond Outrage connects the dots, showing why the increasing share of income and wealth going to the top has hobbled jobs and growth for everyone else, undermining our democracy; caused Americans to become increasingly cynical about public life; and turned many Americans against one another.” Yup, that’s pretty much what I thought before and after reading this one. http://amzn.to/2hRWo1F
Humans Are Underrated —A great book on our highly-automated, jobless future. Read this one along with other books describing the currently underway automation wave that will sweep half the world out of jobs (Industries of the Future, Rise of the Robots, The Second Machine Age, The Inevitable, and Manna). Forewarned is forearmed. http://amzn.to/2h8HXr8
Man’s Search for Meaning — Had been sitting on my virtual night-stand for years. Kind of like how Schindler’s List sat in its Netflix envelope on my desk for months before I finally forced myself to watch it. I’m glad I made time for it because it was ultimately uplifting and reaffirming. http://amzn.to/2idRefa
Playing to Win — Strategy book that guides organizations through the following set of important choices: What is our winning aspiration? Where will we play? How will we win? What capabilities must we have in place to win? What management systems are required to support our choices? http://amzn.to/2ie4Ve5
Street Smart —I had hoped a book subtitled “the rise of cities and the fall of cars” would deliver a little more insight on autonomous vehicles, but the author isn’t a futurist, and sees things through the lens of his formative years as NYC traffic commissioner in the early 80s. A good read, but not what I was hoping to read, what with my autonomous vehicle obsession. http://amzn.to/2hGi6rq
Come as You Are —I learned so much about the the mechanics of female sexuality from this book. I had no idea. Many women, according to the author, have no idea either. Which is shocking, really, because they’re born with the gear and get little training on how it works. Fix that by reading this. http://amzn.to/2hGmBlT
Essentialism — Reread this one again this year to help me unclutter and purify goals and increase my chances of executing on them. Great advice, hard discipline to follow. http://amzn.to/2h8J5ev
The Signal And the Noise — It was fun reading this after the election, because Nate Silver was one of those who seemed almost certain Hillary was going to win the election. On November 7, he wrote, “Hillary Clinton has a 70 percent chance of winning the election, according to both the FiveThirtyEight polls-only and polls-plus models.” This book about how to predict and not predict is mostly pretty good, but I sure would have loved a new forward. http://amzn.to/2h8PHJN
The First 90 Days — I re-read this one occasionally. It’s full of good advice applicable to the first 90 days in a new job. http://amzn.to/2hYME5n
The Second Machine Age — Really great, but not as insightful as several other books that forecast impacts of widespread automation. My favorite in the genre is Martin Ford’s Rise of the Robots. http://amzn.to/2h8Ppmb
The Idealist — Excellent and haunting tale of Aaron Swartz, a fragile, idealist genius-activist who killed himself when one of his attempts to set information free was met with fierce resistance by MIT and the FBI. http://amzn.to/2h8Ef0E
Heart of Darkness — I re-read some classics occasionally. Really loved the audiobook’s narration by famous Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branagh. http://amzn.to/2hGgQ7o
The Four Agreements — 1. Be impeccable with your word. 2. Don’t take anything personally. 3. Don’t make assumptions. 4. Always do your best. Read it for an explanation of each. http://amzn.to/2h8EBEu
Helping — Explains how helping relationships work (and don’t work). Wisdom for consultants and others who must help without formal authority to just do it. http://amzn.to/2hYS14u
Humble Inquiry — The art of asking without telling. Something I’ve been working on. Schein (the author) is wise and a wonderful mentor. http://amzn.to/2ie4OiY
Chocolate Fortunes — The book follows Hershey, Nestle, Cadbury, Mars, and Ferrero as they try to sell chocolate in China as the country is opening up for the first time to Western CPG companies. Fascinating business case studies with lots of detail. Not told as well as Michael Lewis could have done it, but still compelling. http://amzn.to/2hTo4ps
