It started as questions I got asked every time by LORA entrepreneurs to share books I’m reading, now it has sort of morphed into a tradition to share my list with them every 6 months.

Reading is about insight into the human experience, about understanding. 

The more you read, the more you understand.

The more you read widely and outside your domain, the more you are able to connect the dots and gain a better understand of how the world around you functions.

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends, they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.

This semester I tried to read on specific topics, such as pandemics, China and Asia and how they transformed themselves, Africa, history, poverty and inequality, education, energy, economics and capitalism, a bit on racism given the black lives matter, a bit on innovation and creativity, a bit on introversion and a bit on leadership.

The following is the list of books I have read this year [01.01.2020 – 31.12.2020]:

  1. Patrice Lumumba: The Life and Legacy of the Pan-African Politician by Charles River Bernard [8/10]
  2. The Infinite Game: How Great Businesses Achieve Long-Lasting Success by Simon Sinek [9/10]
  3. The Fortunes of Africa: A 5,000 Year History of Wealth, Greed and Endeavor by Martin Meredith [9/10]
  4.  When The World Listened by DeNica Fairman [9/10]
  5. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin [9/10]
  6. Red Flag: Waking Up to China’s Challenge by Peter Hartcher [9/10]
  7. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham [9/10]
  8. Making of a Massacre by Ginger Thompson  [9/10]
  9. Ghost-hunter by Rebecca Bennett and Ben Lawrence [9/10]
  10. Where Should We Begin? By Esther Pere [9/10]
  11. Be the Boss Everyone Wants to Work For by William A. Gentry [9/10]
  12. Leonardo Da Vinci: The Biography by Walter Isaacson [9/10]
  13. The Evolution of Everything by Matt Ridley [9/10]
  14. The 5 Levels of Leadership by John C. Maxwell [9/10]
  15. Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom [8/10]
  16. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius [7/10]
  17. Culture Hacks: Deciphering Differences in American, Chinese, and Japanese Thinking by Richard Conrad [9/10]
  18. Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker [9/10]
  19. The Power of Self-Compassion by Laurie J. Cameron [6/10]
  20. Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber by Mike Isaac [9/10]
  21. Farsighted: How We Make the Decisions That Matter the Most by Steven Johnson [9/10]
  22. The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger by Marc Levinson [9/10]
  23. Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces That Shape Behaviour by Jonah Berger [8/10]
  24. The Future is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies are Transforming Business, Industries, and Our Lives by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler [9/10]
  25. How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World’s Most Dynamic Region. By Joe Studwell [9/10]
  26. Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalisation by Branko Milanovic [8/10]
  27. Live Work Work Work Die: A Journey into the Savage Heart of Silicon Valley by Corey Pein [9/10]
  28. Viruses, Plagues, and History: Past, Present and Future by Michael B.A. Oldstone  [9/10]
  29. Ego vs. EQ: How Top Leaders Beat  8 Ego Traps with Emotional Intelligence by Jen Shirkani
  30. Energy and Civilization: A History by Vaclav Smil [9/10]
  31. The Long Hangover: Putin’s Russia and the Ghosts of the Past by Shaun Walker [8/10]
  32. Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman [9/10]
  33. Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World by Tony Wagner [9/10]
  34. Architects of Intelligence: The Truth About AI from the People Building It by Martin Ford [8/10]
  35. Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis by Jared Diamond [8/10]
  36. Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities by Vaclav Smil [8/10]
  37. The Next Factory of the World: How Chinese Investment is Reshaping Africa by Irene Yuan Sun [9/10]
  38. Developing Leaders Around You: How to Help Others Reach Their Full Potential by John C Maxwell [9/10]
  39. Jobs To Be Done: A Roadmap for Customer Centered Innovation by Stephen Wunker [9/10]
  40. Rewiring Education: How Technology Can Unlock Every Student’s Potential by John D. Couch [9/10]
  41. The Introverted Leader: Building Your Quiet Strength by Jennifer B. Kahnweller [9/10]
  42. Poverty: A Very Short Introduction by Philip N. Jefferson [9/10]
  43. Success in Africa: CEO Insights from a Continent on the Rise by Jonathan Berman [8/10]
  44. Four Futures: Life After Capitalism by Peter Frase [9/10]
  45. Pandemic 1918: The Story of the Deadliest Influenza by Catherine Arnold [9/10]
  46. The 1918 Flu Pandemic by Katherine Krohn [9/10]
  47. Virus 1918: Spanish Influenza – The Words of People Who Lived It by Robert John Hadfield [9/10]
  48. Quiet Impact: A Creative Introvert’s Guide to the Art of Getting Noticed by Drew Kimble [9/10]
  49. China Dream by Ma Jian [9/10]
  50. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho [9/10]
  51. The Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist by Kate Raworth [9/10]
  52. Creativity Rules: Getting Ideas Out of Your Head and into the World by Tina Seelig [9/10]
  53. The Art of Seduction: An Indispensable Primer on the Ultimate Form of Power by Robert Greene [9/10]
  54. The Illusion of Invincibility: The Rise and Fall of Organisations Inspired by the Incas of Peru by Andrew Krebs [7/10]
  55. China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know by Arthur R. Kroeber [9/10]
  56. How the Poor Can Save Capitalism: Rebuilding the Path to the Middle Class by John Hope Bryant [8/10]
  57. The E-Myth Enterprise: How to Turn a Great Idea Into a Thriving Business by Michael E. Gerber [8/10]
  58. The Power of Connection: How to Become a Master Communicator in Your Workplace, Your Head Space and at Your Place by Rik Rushton [7/10]
  59. Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson [8/10]
  60. Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long Term and Happy Life by Hector Garcia [9/10]
  61. Seeing What Others Don’t: The Remarkable Ways We Gain Insights by Gary Klein [8/10]
  62. Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life by Tony Dungy [7/10]
  63. What I Wish I Knew When I was 20: A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World by Tina Seelig [7/10]
  64. The Captured Economy: How the Powerful Enrich Themselves, Slow Down Growth, and Increased Inequality by Brink Lindsey [7/10]
  65. The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges are Failing Disadvantaged Students by Anthony Abraham Jack [9/10]
  66. Not a Crime to be Poor: The Criminalization of Poverty in America by Peter Edelman [9/10]
  67. Africa’s Business Revolution: How to Succeed in the World’s Next Big Growth Market by Acha Leke, Mutsa Chironga and Georges Desvaux [8/10]
  68. Emperor Shaka The Great: A Zulu Epic by Mazisi Kunene [9/10]
  69. Rule of Fear: The Bloody Story of Dingane, King of the Zulu by Peter Becker [9/10]
  70. Choked: The Age of Air Pollution and the Fight for a Cleaner Future by Beth Gardiner [8/10]
  71. What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School by Mark H. McCormack [6/10]
  72. The Practice: Shipping Creative Work by Seth Godin [9/10]
  73. Sweat, Scale, Sell: Build Your Business into an Asset of Value by Pavlo Phitidis [9/10]
  74. How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen [9/10]
  75. Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty by Clayton Christensen [9/10]
  76. Questions are the Answer: A Breakthrough Approach to Your Most Vexing Problems at Work and in Life by Hal Gregersen [9/10]
  77. Very Important People: Status and Beauty in the Global Parity Circuit by Ashley Mears [9/10]
  78. Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: 12 Powerful Tools for Leadership, Coaching and Life by Marilee Adams [8/10]
  79. Blitzscaling: The Lightning, Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies by Reid Hoffmann [9/10]
  80. Entrepreneurial Leap: Do You Have What It Takes to Become an Entrepreneur? by Gino Wickman [8/10]
  81. What Great Teachers Do Differently by Beth Whitaker and Todd Whitaker [7/10]
  82. To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History by Lawrence Levy [9/10]
  83. The Storytelling Edge: How to Transform Your Business, Stop Screaming into the Void, and Make People Love You by Joe Lazauskas and Shane Snow [8/10]
  84. Building a Storybrand: Clarify Your Message so Customers will Listen by Donald A. Miller [9/10]
  85. Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio [9/10]
  86. Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change by Elizabeth Kolbert [8/10]
  87. Enviromedics: The Impact of Climate Change on Human Health by Jay Lemery [9/10]
  88. Life After Carbon: The Next Global Transformation of Cities by Peter Plastrik [8/10]
  89. Things I wish I’d Known Before We Got Married by Gary Chapman [9/10]
  90. Anatomy of an Affair: How Affairs, Attractions, and Addictions Develop, and How to Guard Your Marriage Against Them by Dave Carder [8/10]
  91. Beyond Me, My Selfie, and I: Finding Real Happiness in a Self-Absorbed by Teresa Tomeo [7/10]
  92. Now or Never: Why We Must Act Now to End Climate Change and Create a Sustainable Future by Tim Flannery [8/10]
  93. This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate Change by Naomi Klein [9/10]
  94. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein [9/10]
  95. No Logo: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs by Naomi Klein [9/10]
  96. Three Tigers, One Mountain: A Journey Through the Bitter History and Current Conflict of China, Korea and Japan by Michael Booth [7/10]
  97. Year of No Sugar: A Memoir by Eve O. Schaub [8/10]
  98. Forgiveness Makes You Free: A Dramatic Story of Healing and Reconciliation from the Heart of Rwanda by Fr. Ubald Rugirangoga [8/10]
  99. Letters to my Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi [7/10]
  100. Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World by Jacqueline Novogratz [8/10]
  101. A Thousand Hills: Rwanda’s Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It by Stephen Kinzer [8/10]
  102. Caffeinated: How Our Daily Habit Helps, Hurts and Hooks Us by Murray Carptenter [8/10]
  103. The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life is Worth More than Anything You Can Buy in a Store by Cait Flanders [8/10]
  104. Next Generation Leader: 5 Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future by Andy Stanley [7/10]
  105. The Disruptors: Social Entrepreneurs Reinventing Business and Society by Kerryn Krige and Gus Silber
  106. The Disrutpros 2: How Social Entrepreneurs Lead and Manage Disruption by Kerrin Myres and Gus Silber

As Cassandra Clare said in her book Clockwork Angel:

“One must always be careful of books, and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.”