10 Books I Read in 2020 That You Should Read in 2021
By Grant Hiskes
I hate to beat the dead horse, so I won’t. Despite all that 2020 had to offer, I was very grateful to have time to read more and more books, learn more about the world I live in, and take time to reflect. I would certainly say 2020 was a year of growth for me, and the books I read had a large part in creating that. So, for what is now year 3, I would like to share some with you as you start fresh in 2021. Here are 10 (out of the 15ish I read this past year).
Contagious by Jonah Berger
Author Jonah Berger is a marketing professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In this book, Berger uses his marketing knowledge and research on consumer behavior to give valuable insight as to why particular trends and ideas catch on with society. The book is very applicable to today’s times and is one of the more interesting “business” books I have read. For my full two cents on it, click here. But also keep reading below!
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
Atul Gawande is a highly regarded surgeon, public health researcher, and professor at Harvard Medical School. This past November, he was also named to President-elect Biden’s COVID-19 advisory team. Gawande uses this book to recall anecdotes and voice his opinions on how we should reconsider the way we look at end of life care as a society to better care for our loved ones in a way that makes it more comfortable, relieving, and humane for everyone involved. It seems like this would be a pretty heavy read, but its actually a quite beautiful one as well.
The Publisher by Alan Brinkley
This was one of the most difficult books I have ever read. It’s quite dense and quite long but rightfully so as it covers the life of Henry Luce. For those unfamiliar, Henry Luce was the founder of Time, Life, and Fortune magazines and was a big media mogul throughout much of the 20th Century. The book also illustrates how Luce’s childhood (spent in modern day China) impacted his worldview and how his magazines served as a vehicle to push an agenda that would bring about the world he wanted to see. I killed the first two weeks of quarantine and a road trip from Austin to Chicago reading this one.
The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis is one of my favorite authors, and I credit books of his like Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, and The Big Short with kickstarting my passion for reading. So, I had to check this one out when I saw it on the shelves at Barnes & Noble. The Fifth Risk tells the story of the Trump transition to the Presidency in 2016 in what can really only be described as botched. The book is not overly political as the majority of it actually tells the stories of longtime government employees (not politicians!) and the selfless work they do that they are very passionate about. Lewis highlights the importance of their jobs and you quickly realize how easily these things could be taken for granted and have catastrophic results. I would like to refrain from getting political here (and have left some other political titles off this list for that reason), but for more of my analysis, check out this article I wrote back over the summer on it.
No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings & Erin Mayer
Reed Hastings is the founder of Netflix. In this book, Erin Meyer and Reed Hastings discuss and illustrate the culture of the streaming giant. Netflix is unlike a lot of other companies because they are a very valuable company, but incur huge costs through the production and purchase of their content that hinder profitability. Creativity, transparency, and dependability are at the core of the company and they need to be leveraged fully for the company to continue operations. This was the last book I read in 2020, and I certainly recommend it.
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
This is one of two books on this list that were part of required reading for my fall semester course load at the University of Texas. I was familiar with Kahneman after reading The Undoing Project (Another Michael Lewis book, woo hoo!) last year if you can recall from last year's list. Kahneman has made groundbreaking strides in psychology and studies of behavioral economics along with late partner Amos Tversky. The Nobel Prize in Economics winner lays forth his biggest findings in this book as he illustrates the roles and relationship of ‘System I’ and ‘System II’ in the human mind/body. You might have to power through parts of this book as it is clearly written by an academic first and foremost and an author second. Nonetheless, it is a truly fascinating book.
Conscious Capitalism by John Mackey & Raj Sisodia
I promise you that is not a socialist manifesto of sorts. In Conscious Capitalism, the co-founder and co-CEO of Whole Foods recounts the ‘why’ behind Whole Foods and principles and concepts from their business that he hopes more businesses and people will use in efforts to leverage capitalism to make it truly work for everyone and better the world we live in. This was one of the first books I read of 2020.
Restorative Fatih by Alexander Lang
I did not have to go too far to find this one. Restorative Faith is a book authored by the pastor at my church, “Pastor Alex”, at First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights in my hometown of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Pastor Alex received his Bachelor’s degree from Rice University and received a master’s of divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary in addition to studying at Oxford University. He is a bible scholar who is focused on creating a world that seeks to accept, love, forgive, one another, and has made it not only his, but our also our church’s, mission to help others. I really enjoyed reading this book, and I guarantee that this book will challenge the bad rap Christianity can get today.
The Evolution of Desire by Dr. David Buss
This is the second of 2 books that were part of my required reading for classes this past semester. And let me tell you, this is one of the most influential books that I have read in my life. Dr. David Buss in a renowned evolutionary psychologist at the University of Texas. His research is centered around human sex differences, the role they play in mate selection, and how those traits have evolved over time. I cannot begin to do this book justice, but what really blew me away is the realization of how much my mind and body rely on my subconscious and how that subconscious has been programmed over thousands of years of human history to give us beings a better shot at survival.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
I saved the best for last. Contrary to most high schoolers, I never actually read this book until this past summer. I loved it so much that it became the namesake for this website (backwards) and is one hell of a novel. Bradbury writes of a world where books are burned, learning and thinking is discouraged, and people consequently live quite shitty lives. I’ll leave it at that. If you have already read it, you can check out my full analysis here.
Peace, Love, Cheers … all of it.
- Grant
Well, that’s a wrap folks. Hope you found at least one that looks appealing and you’ll sit down and read in 2021. If you need some more book suggestions, feel free to check out my past editions of this article:
