2019 in Books ...

If you know me, or have been following Kung Fu Manager, then you know that I am an avid reader. I can’t say that I am one of those rare people who reads 100 or more books per year, but I sure wish I was one of those people. But I still do what I can to read as many books each year as I can.

Me and GoodReads.com

Regardless of my whining, I have a method to my literary madness. First off, I use GoodReads to catalog the books I’ve read and, more importantly, the ones I still want to read. I find the site invaluable in keeping straight all the titles that come flying at me throughout the year.

The site seems to have an endless accounting of every book in circulation. I have yet to enter a title that stumps the database. Perhaps that isn’t so surprising when you realize that GoodReads is owned by Amazon. In addition to listing, I use the GoodReads Reading Challenge to push myself to read more each year. This year I’m able to say that I have completed reading 37 books.

That may not seem like a huge number, but for me it is a personal triumph. Which brings us to the list. Below I’d like to list the 3 best non-fiction and 3 best fiction titles I read in 2019.

Non-Boring Non-Fiction

I am a huge fan of non-fiction books. I am just boring like that. Ranging from management theory to psychology to economics, I’ve got a wide range of interests. I hope you find my 3 recommendations useful in your own reading.

Principles: Life and Work

I think Ray Dalio’s Principles: Life and Work may well be the single most influential book I have ever read. I’ve known about this title for years, but it frankly seemed like an almost insurmountable read. I assumed that due to Dalio’s phenomenal economic prowess and reputation that it would be a text beyond my understanding.

Fortunately, I found that I could not have been more wrong. Dalio’s writing is well within reach of the common-minded person. The concepts, while immense, are broken down into facets that are easy to consume. From radical transparency to his ideas on algorithmic decision-making, I found the concepts presented to open several avenues of thought.

How the Mighty Fall - Jim Collins

By now Jim Collins has entered into the business book hall of fame for his seminal work, Good to Great. And there is no doubt that it is a well-deserved honor. But as wonderful a book as that is, How the Mighty Fall is an even more important book!

Collins and his team have a unique skill of translating qualities such as “good” and “great” into quantifiable metrics. Combining this skill with a unique 5-phase listing of the stages of decline and you have a prophetic message that any, and every, business leader should pay close attention to.

If you only have time to read one Jim Collins book, this is the one. Easy to read and hard to ignore, it should be on the shelf of every C-suite executive.

When - Daniel H. Pink

I’m going to make this one short and sweet. Pink is a good writer. Good, not great. And the idea of the study of “time” is a complicated matter. But this book made me stop to consider whether the matters I had tried to discover the “why” of had actually been matters I should have considered the “why” of. If that sort of mental shift, presented in an easily understood context, isn’t enough to convince you that “When” is worth your time, I don’t know what is.

Fantastic Fiction

A few years ago, I realized that I had only read non-fiction books since about 2011. It’s true that I had learned quite a bit, but that really doesn’t make for a well-rounded person. So, beginning in 2017 I began to do my best to make my non-fiction / fiction ration as close to 50/50 as possible.

Given that task I can gladly say that I have read some great fiction in 2019!

The Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski

Being a nerd, I’ve long since been a fan of the Witcher games. And as I write this, I’m hyped to watch the newly released Netflix series. Until then I am glad that I read the first entry in the Witcher’s world.

Geralt of Rivia is an enigmatic character, paradoxically shunned and needed by society. His lot in life is that of an outcast who serves a vanishing role to rid the world of what we would call “monsters.” It’s not an original idea, to be sure. What it is though is a fantastically well-developed world that is complete with love, pain, and fear. This “0.5” entry is a collection of short stories that gives a wonderful peak into Geralt’s world and one that is a tantalizing entry into the franchise.

The Templar Legacy - Steve Berry

Take 1-part Jack Ryan, 1-part James Bond (maybe a 1/2 part), and 1-part Atticus Finch and what do you get? Besides a headache, you get Cotton Malone. An ex-government agent who has retired to Copenhagen to sell books. The problem is, beginning a couple years after retirement, his life becomes way more exciting than expected.

Berry writes fantastic globe-hopping works of intrigue and espionage that are all based on real-world facts. Were the Knights Templar real? Yes. Do some people believe the Knights secretly survive to this day? Yes. Will you find out where “Cotton” got his name? You’ll have to read the book to find out. Spoiler: You don’t.

I once read someone describe Berry’s books as “history at gunpoint” and I think that is a fantastic categorization of one of my all-time fiction franchises. If you like historical, fiction then you can’t pass up this introduction into the wonderful adventures and characters that make up Cotton Malone’s world.

Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

This last entry is on the fiction list recently caused quite a bit of hullabaloo with the release of Amazon’s limited series, Good Omens. Born from the legendary minds of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, nearly 30 years ago, this tale of Heaven and Hell portray the biblical standoff in the zaniest of terms.

You have a demon who, while largely self-centered, isn’t all that bad. And there is an angel who … well just isn’t all that good at his job. Toss a young unemployed man, a witch, and a witch hunter into the mix and things become interesting. Oh wait, there is also the Anti-Christ, who has a case of mistaken identity, a book of wonderfully silly prophecies, and a teeny tiny hell hound. How can you possibly go wrong?

Oh, and if you haven’t seen the Amazon series, read the book first. They are both wonderfully constructed, but the book is always better.

Closing the Book on 2019

So, there they are, my top three lists for non-fiction and fiction. Am I saying they are great books? Yeah, I sort of am. At least as far as I’m concerned. If you are interested in the rest of what I read in 2019 you can visit my personal Reading Challenge list and think about signing up for the 2020 challenge yourself. Already a member on GoodReads? Then friend me so I can see what you are reading.

As the year closes out, I hope that everyone who read this long entry to the bottom has a great and safe new year. Oh, what the hell, have a great new year even if you didn’t read the whole entry …