Books I've read and some of my takeaways

Fascinating read about the chasm between religious fanaticism and education, and how hard it is to break loyalty from a dysfunctional family.

A good historical fiction thriller about a man sent back to a concentration camp to try and rescue a scientist whose research could be vital to win the war.

Another great book by Erik Larson that goes over the sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-Boot during World War I

While non-fiction, I found this book read like a novel, a real page turner.

Funny tale of "Joshua" (Jesus) told from the perspective of Biff, his childhood's best friend.

Witty and sometimes sacrilegious, this book spends more time discussing the "missing" years of Jesus with some hypothesis of which different cultures might have influenced his teachings.

Fun little book I picked up in Edinburgh that outlined how to find joy in the less than joyful moments while biking.

Great insights on the how Churchill, his family, his government, and the British people dealt with the Germain air raids on London and the rest of the UK.

Heavily inspired by the diaries of John Colville and Mary Churchill.

While very detailed, Team of Rivals is an easy read about the life of Abraham Lincoln.

Though he faced many political defeats at the start of his career, Lincoln knew how to build relationships with his old foes to secure his presidential nomination against very experienced rivals.

Amazing page-turner revolving around Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB colonel and British spy.

The book goes into the details of how intelligence agencies work, and the different motives spies use to betray their country.

The story follows Frank Money, a Korean War vet, from Lotus, Georgia, his special relationship with his sister, and his tumultuous relationship with his step-grandmother.

The story touches on racism in America, mental issues, guilt, entitlement, and our contemptuous relationship with "Home".

Walter Isaacson did not disappoint again. This is the story of CRISPR, highly focused on Jennifer Doudna. Is Biotech the next frontier after the digital revolution (covered in "The Innovators") and the atomic revolution (covered in "Einstein")?

Innovation is rarely a spur of genius. It is a combination of multiple small discoveries in basic science that presents when all the pieces start fitting together. That is why the same “innovation” is reached by multiple people working independently.

This book does a good job of outlining the basics of the myriad of technologies/products we use in our daily life and take for granted.

It's overwhelming how much I don't know about the inner workings of many basic technologies I use every day, and how many iterations it took to prefect them.

A logical and data-driven approach to explain what it takes to run our modern world. Smil argues that it is impossible to lose our dependency on fossil fuels any time soon.

The four most used resources in our world today (Ammonia, Plastics, Steel, and Concrete), all require fossil fuels, either as a raw ingredient, or as a fuel source or catalyst.

Prior Philip saves the day!

Last book of The Century Trilogy that goes over the events of the Cold War up until the inauguration of Obama

Second book of The Century Trilogy that goes over the events after World War I up until the end of World War II.

First book of The Century Trilogy that goes over the events at the beginning of the 20th century until the end of World War I.

The antithesis of "Less is More" by Jason Hickel. Will nuclear power be our saviour?

It is unreasonable for advanced countries to expect poorer and developing countries not to rely on fossil fuels for their development. As countries develop, they start adopting cleaner technologies: They start with wood, move to coal, diesel, natural gas, and then renewables and nuclear power, each cleaner than its predecessor.

The story of the Mongols, starting with Genghis Khan, and how their innovative tactics in battles led them to having one of the largest empires in the world.

Great book by Isaacson on the birth of the computer and the digital revolution, from Ada Lovelace to the World Wide Web.

Innovation is inevitable. Small improvements in science and technology start coming together to culminate in new innovations, but they are, more often than not, reached at the same time by multiple teams working independently.

Numbers, numbers, numbers! Using numbers to explain 71 concepts dealing with People, Countries, Machines, Fuels, Transport, Food, and the Environment.

Funny and witty short essays by John Green reviewing random things!

The perils of chasing short term gains, and a retrospective look into the practices of Jack Welch who favoured unsound financial innovations instead of engineering innovations.

As he puts it: 27 conflicting answers and one weird conclusion.

There isn't one way to live - You do you, Boo!

A funny and emotional story about Ove, who kept being interrupted from committing suicide.

A book about the way of life in Italy and enjoying the simple things in life.

The story about how Derek built and sold CD Baby, and the lessons he learnt along the way.

The fall of Count Alexander Rostov and the Metropol hotel during the most tumultuous decades in Russian history.

Historical fiction about life in France during World War II. The story follows Marie-Laure, a blind French girl, and Werner Pfennig, a German soldier with a knack for fixing radios.

An emotional novel about what women endure in Afghanistan under the Taliban's rule and acts of selflessness to provide a better life to others.

Jason Hickel makes good arguments about how our obsession with capitalistic growth is causing global warming. Some examples include: producing cheap clothes with poor and less durable fabric, so people purchase more frequently; not allowing easy and cheap repairs of electronics, so people would always purchase new gadgets at the slight wear and tear of the existing devices.

A novel documenting the customs and the changes in Afghanistan with the rise of the Taliban.

A book on the fascinating life of Leonardo Da Vinci, who combined multiple passions for creativity: Painting, anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry.

I am a huge fan of Isaacson's other works, but I found this book to be a bit disorganized, constantly jumping between eras.

Great book explaining the inner working of our bodies!

Released in October 2019, the last chapter said that we are "due for a pandemic" and that we've only been "lucky so far" by not having a bad outbreak since the Spanish flu! What on earth is he talking about :)? Oh, you mean COVID-19!

An emotional book by Paul Kalanithi as he struggles with being diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer at the age of 36, and how his diagnosis affected his life and the way he practices medicine.

The story of the Uruguayan rugby team plane crash in the Andes and what they had to endure to survive.

The story of Scott Adams' career and how he learned from each failure to propel himself forward.

Fun and witty stories by Richard Feynman about his life.

If you're on the fence about doing something, then it might not be worth doing!

The thrilling biography of Wilbur and Orville Wright, bicycle mechanics who went on to invent the aeroplane, risking their lives with every test flight.

For me, it is a story of David beating Goliath. Self funded (in today's terms, bootstrapped), they succeeded when others with endless funds from the government (or in today's terms, Venture Capitalists) didn't.