2020: year in books (non-fiction)

Doesn’t it sometimes feel like the past twenty years have just evaporated without your even noticing? There’s a good reason for this.

A warm and well-organized book on mindfulness from Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer for Google X. The main part of the book is a comprehensive discussion of commonly accepted misconceptions about human mind, for example the idea that our mind is the same thing as our thoughts. Mo unpacks this and similarly unhelpful ideas, demonstrating how they get in the way of everyday wellbeing.

Solve for happy ∙ Mo Gawdat ∙ 2017, English

We have an economic system that fetishizes GDP growth above all else, regardless of the human or ecological consequences, while failing to place value on those things that most of us cherish above all—a decent standard of living, a measure of future security, and our relationships with one another.

A comprehensive introduction to the climate crisis. Naomi Klein strikes a good balance between breadth and depth, discussing the key economic and social factors related to climate change, taking good care to separate science from ideology.

Takeaway: there doesn’t seem to be a need to use ideology to justify climate activism – the science alone seems more than enough to warrant recognizing man-made climate change as a crisis. Act accordingly.

This changes everything ∙ Naomi Klein ∙ 2014, English

When you think of power, remember that exercising it comes at a cost, and that your job as an activist is to make that cost rise ever upward

As indicated by the lengthy subtitle: how to use rice pudding, lego men, and other non-violent techniques to galvanize communities, overthrow dictators, or simply change the world, the book reviews the methodology of non-violent protest successfully used by Otpor, a Serbian youth movement protesting against the rule of Slobodan Milosevic.

Takeaway: Pick battles big enough to matter, but small enough to win.

Blueprint for revolution ∙ Srdja Popovic, Matthew Miller ∙ 2015, English

Monumental book on how biology shapes human behavior, from milliseconds to years before each action. In terms of “popular science”, the book succeeds on “science” but at times struggles with “popular” – some chapters go into such detail that it reads like a neuroscience textbook.

The reward for persevering is a pretty mind-boggling view into the science of human behavior – from the role played by hormones (apparently all we hear about testosterone and oxytocin is misrepresentation) to genes and evolution.

Takeaway: The impact of genes on the organism is context-dependent and tends to be oversimplified. We can never say what a gene does, only what it does in the environment in which it was studied.

Behave ∙ Robert Sapolsky ∙ 2017, English

Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.

A classic collection of essays on managing software engineering projects. The book is frequently referenced, as it introduced several concepts that became part of the software engineering vocabulary, such as “mythical man-month”, “second system effect” and the Brooks law quoted above.

Full notes.

The mythical man-month ∙ Frederick Brooks ∙ 1975, English

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

View into life and work of a person who profoundly changed personal computing (iPhone, iPad), the music industry (iTunes), digital publishing (iBookstore), and even animated movies (via his involvement in Pixar).

The life story of Steve Jobs is rich and fascinating, and Walter Isaacson succeeds in recounting it in a way that’s comprehensible and captivating. It helps to better understand the evolution of personal computing driven by Apple and the importance that Jobs put on good usability design.

Steve Jobs ∙ Walter Isaacson ∙ 2011, English

White progressives can be the most difficult for people of color because, to the degree that we think we have arrived, we will put our energy into making sure that others see us as having arrived.

A thought-provoking book on racism, explaining in depth how racism can persist in a society in which every individual person “isn’t a racist”. It turns out there is no contradiction there – racism is a systemic phenomenon independent of the intentions of the participants.

Takeaway: “Color-blindness”, ie. claiming that we don’t notice race, is not helpful. It invalidates the lived experience of the Black community while doing nothing to address the issue. If you don’t see race, how will you notice racism?

White fragility ∙ Robin DiAngelo ∙ 2018, English

People love to say: Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime. What they don’t say is: And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.

Despite the sinister title and the objectively tough setting, the autobiographical story of growing up in South Africa by Trevor Noah is a warm and humorous read. (or a listen – the book works great as an audiobook narrated by the author himself)

The book gives us a vivid view into the daily life in the South African Black and mixed communities described by the author – the social contracts, the microeconomy, the challenges and the opportunites. Racism is in the context of these stories, but is not the main topic of the book.

Born a crime ∙ Trevor Noah ∙ 2016, English

A hostage negotiator plays a unique role: he has to win. Can he say to a bank robber, “Okay, you’ve taken four hostages. Let’s split the difference—give me two, and we’ll call it a day?

The book shares principles of successful negotiation grounded in empathy and seeking to understand the other party. One takeaway from the book is the recommended use of open questions – “How I can possibly do that?” can work better than “No”, as it invites the other party to look at the problem from your perspective.

Never split the difference ∙ Chris Voss ∙ 2016, English

“AMAZING BREAKTHROUGH! Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer. It enhances your memory and makes you more creative. It makes you look more attractive. It keeps you slim and lowers food cravings. It protects you from cancer and dementia.

(Edited on 2021-02-07) The book is, or appears to be, a comprehensive review of what science knows about sleep. While the book mentions plenty of practical tips & tricks on better sleep, the focus is on understanding the phenomenon of sleep and its impact on humans, not self-help.

I wrote “or appears to be” above, as there is some debate about many of the key facts presented in the book as scientific consensus – see this article and the discussion in the comments below.

Why we sleep ∙ Matthew Walker ∙ 2017, English