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2019 Books

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List of books that I finished this year (2019) roughly in the order of completion.

  1. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin.
  2. Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version by Philip Pullman.
  3. Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik. (Review)
  4. Words are Stones: Impressions of Sicily by Carlo Levi.
  5. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson.
  6. Following Fish: Travels Around the Indian Coast by Samanth Subramanian.
  7. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. (Review)
  8. Letters from a Stoic by Seneca (translated by Robin Campbell).
  9. The Blockchain and the New Architecture of Trust by Kevin Werbach.
  10. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. A One Book, One Philadelphia selection for 2019. (Review)
  11. How Proust can Change your Life by Alain de Botton.
  12. On Writing Well by William Zinsser. (Contains excellent advice for non-fiction writing).
  13. Gigged: The End of Job and The Future of Work by Sarah Kessler.
  14. Great Operatic Disasters by Hugh Vickers.
  15. Truman by David McCullough. (Review)
  16. India by Madeleine Biardeau and translated by F. Carter. (Review)
  17. Architects of Intelligence: The Truth about AI from the people building it by Martin Ford.
  18. The 1 Hour China Book by Jonathan Woetzel and Jeffrey Towson. (notes)
    Does what the book promises to do, a quick 1-hour introduction to large trends in recent China post-1970s. Woetzel and Towson point out six major trends – Urbanization, Rising Chinese Consumers, Scale of Manufacturing, Financial clout and money, Growth of Brainpower and “Chinese” Internet. Each of them is an interesting macro-trend by itself. The authors have included several tidbits of factoids and trivia (which I love) [For instance, China consumes half of world’s pork.] and several interesting life-story anecdotes (founders of Huawei, China Vanke, Huayi Brothers and Tencent). One issue is that writing and updates have been outsourced, led to some inaccuracies: In comparing China to Brazil (BRIC), the authors comment about Chongqin and Cancun(?!).
    Overall a pleasurable quick read, a bit like “mental floss” books densely packed with information. Won’t make you an expert of course, but it would be pretty illogical to expect that from a book that is pitched as 1-hour book. The book easily exceeds its set goal. Recommend the book for those who haven’t read much about China and are curious about trends in modern-china. 
  19. Does the 21st century belong to China?  (Review)
  20. Poorly Made in China: An Insider’s Account of the China Production Game by Paul Midler.
  21. Love and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality by Edward Frenkel.
  22. The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism before Its Triumph by Albert O. Hirschman.
  23. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb. (notes)
    Picked this book on a whim, as my child remarked that I should “expand” on my reading by reading fantasy, which aligned well with introducing serendipitous discovery.  I couldn’t have done better than landing up with the book written by Hobb. This is a contemplative book, remarkably well constructed, with layered character-building. Look forward to finishing the farseer trilogy.
  24. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (a new translation by Gregory Hays).(notes)
    Another translation that I read now. Meditations is a life-affirming treatise. I daresay I like, with preferred indifference, the studious coldness of Marcus Aurelius. Gregory Hays has been recently touted by Bay Area neo-stoics as the translation that is supposed to be read to appreciate Marcus Aurelius better. I am not so sure that I agree. This translation is surely modern and sparse. However, I found both this translation and Robin Campbell’s translation have their own strengths and weaknesses. Pick your own favorite, or not. Marcus doesn’t really care.
  25. A Discourse on Inequality by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (trans. by Maurice Cranston).
  26. White Castle by Orhan Pamuk (translated by Victoria Holbrook).(notes)
    Magical journey into one’s identity, wrapped in an absolutely mesmerizing meta-mystery of who’s who. Thank you OS, for the recommendation. Probably, my favorite Pamuk book, now. 
  27. The All of It by Jeanette Haien.
  28. The Great Cities in History edited by John Julius Norwich.
  29. Morocco by Vincent Monteil (translated by Veronica Hull).
  30. Triumph of the city: How our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier by Edward Glaeser.
  31. Ireland by Camille Bourniquel. Translated by John Fisher.
  32. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood.
  33. A Human’s Guide to Machine Intelligence by Kartik Hosanagar.
  34. City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi by William Darlymple.
  35. The Search for Modern China by Jonathan Spence. (See Books on China)
  36. How Asia Works by Joe Studwell. (See Books on China)
  37. On China by Henry Kissinger. (See Books on China)
  38. Factory Girls: From Village to City in Changing China by Leslie Chang.  (See Books on China)
  39. River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler.  (See Books on China)
  40. Katalin Street by Magda Szabo. Translated by Len Rix. 2018 PEN Translation Prize.
  41. The Way of Life (Tao Te Ching) by Lao Tze. Translated by RB Blakney. (notes)
    This thin volume of translation is a classic. In my view, despite its age it compares favorably to many recent translations. In fact, the dated English is a great way to study the evolution of English itself.   A reader more informed in biblical passages that Blakney describes in parallel, may find the comparisons compelling. For me, Tao Te Ching is deep and impenetrable, and “has to be lived through” rather than learned. Understanding it through a coda of religious scriptures may create more holes than fill them. Sometimes, the same crutches that help you walk are the ones that slow you down.
  42. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu.  Translated by Ken Liu.
  43. Connected Strategy by Nicolaj Siggelkow and Christian Terwiesch. (Note: Review copy).
  44. Singapore Dream and Other Adventures by Hermann Hesse. Translated by Sherab Kohn. (notes)
    The book covers Hesse’s essays, poems and a short story, written during his trip to Singapore, Malaya, Indonesia, and Ceylon in 1910s. It is interesting to examine how Singapore was 100+ years back.  Hesse won the Nobel prize much later in 1962. Hesse’s writing here is still developing and scratchy, but honest.  He comes across as a person who opposes colonization and yet, his ideas are dated. He considers the Chinese from a distance with mild respect and cursory interest, and seems to have a low opinion of  Malays and Indians. Our reactions to his dated attitude towards colonial subjects, is a harbinger of how our own “modern” attitudes may look a hundred years from now. In any case, Hesse’s observations on a rapidly disappearing culture are keen and vivid. He explores his own discomfort and alienated feelings in a distant land in which he is lost and struggling. There is a certain burnishing talent in his essays. The poems, however, are unremarkable.  I like Conrad better, warts and all.
  45. A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz. (notes)
    My kid says I should read more fantasy and I abide. This is a deliciously twisted book, faithful to the lore of fairy tales but brimming with an irreverent take. An enjoyable ride with fairly layered motivations and clear morals. A movie version is apparently being created. It would be a bit like Kill Bill for kids, as many heads roll in the book, and there is absolute mayhem and pandemonium. 
  46. Rebel Sultans: The Deccan from Khilji to Shivaji by Manu S. Pillai. (notes)
    An excellent book on the history of a much under-studied region in India.  Deccan is the golden quadrialteral shaped plateau that is bounded by the coasts and the great plains of the north.  Deccan covers most of the hinterlands of current day Indian states of Karnataka, Telengana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Pillai recounts (with ample dose of humour) the history of internecine warfare among the Bahmani sultans in the Deccan plateau, until the rise of Shivaji. It is astounding to read about how global the Deccan economy was — the interchange of trade, culture and arts — even as much of the history predates the Industrial Revolution. I think the book would have been even better if it had been longer,  leisurely and less frenetic. A great quick read.
  47. Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman.
  48. Turing and the Universal Machine: The Making of the Modern Computer by Jon Agar. (notes)
    Rich ideas — the book is really about theory of computing — presented in a readable style. Ending up liking the book more than my priors.
  49. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing. (Review)
  50. My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel by Ari Shavit. (notes)
    As many split reviews of the book show, it is hard to write a neutral and dispassionate narrative on the Middle East. Every view has its vehement detractors. The steady heat of the sun scorches and lights up the land. Beneath the parched lands, lay interred centuries-old sorrows and grievances, like disintegrating bones. Ari Shavit does a remarkable job of talking to people with different viewpoints.  He constantly challenges his own worldview, searching for faults with his own mentors and coherence in the views of those he is repulsed by. This is a moving, troubling and terrific must-read — particularly the autobiographical notes on Gaza Beach — on the aspirations of the peoples and complex history of the region, told from an unabashedly Israeli nation-state viewpoint.  I also learned a lot of factoids on the history of Zionism in the early 20th century.
  51. This America: The Case for the Nation by Jill Lepore. (notes)
    In this short, concisely argued essay, Jill Lepore argues for patriotism, with several elegant turns of phrase. She traces the history of Nationalism in America through its struggles with slavery, suffrage and citizenship. America is a unique nation in many ways. Prof. Lepore notes (and I paraphrase) that “many nations become states and even nation-states. In contrast America became a state before it became a nation. It is a rare “hen’s tooth” — the only state-nation.”
  52. The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect by Judea Pearl and Dana Mackenzie.
  53. The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind by Raghuram Rajan.
  54. Good Economics for Hard Times by Abhijit V Banerjee and Esther Duflo. (notes)
    The book employs the engineering mindset: solving global problems require locally tailored and implemented solutions. Many of the topics covered already familiar from the papers we have read. This book is a compendium of well-argued positions on taxation, immigration and poverty particularly with examples from India and the developing word. The book predates their well-deserved Nobel Prize. In fact, the book mentions only one woman has won the prize prize 🙂 – It would be cool to see how this changed fact gets edited in the next version.
  55. Good and Mad: Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger by Rebecca Traister. (notes)
    Rebecca Traister (another Philadelphia native) is the most unique voice in feminist writing today. I came to her book through her articles and interviews. In Good and Mad: Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger, she makes a studied and measured case that, far from being considered futile, women’s “anger” and “madness” actually do change the world.  This observation never stuck me as starkly before. In the name of stoicism, women are often asked to calm and pipe down, but such channeling of one’s frustration doesn’t change the world. Taleb, whose Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, which I read this year, in his routine displays of anger and putdowns on twitter, is often considered a Stoic by a fair number of people that I know: there is perhaps some truth to this view that anger is expressed in preferred indifference.   Women’s anger is often maligned. (Such is the world.) However, it is true that the expression of anger and madness, is a punctuation in the search for better equilibrium.  This is a great book that expounds beyond the days of Me Too events, and may become a modern classic. I hope to elaborate to elaborate a bit more Traister’s writings on the blog.
  56. Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan. (Review)
  57. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin.
  58. The Door by Magda Szabo. Translated by Len Rix.
  59. The Meritocracy Trap by Daniel Markovits.
  60. The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson.
  61. Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.