My Reading Numbers

In 2020 I completed 27 books, which is an increase of about 50% compared to last year. 20 of these books were audiobooks. Of these books, 2 were business-oriented,  11 were Biographies or History  (this includes books such as The Immortal Game and Don’t Panic),  The final 14 are nonfiction books, 6 revolving around the human mind and psyche, 2 nonfiction books regarding the science of aging and 2 regarding social equality. The final 4 are a selection from various other topics such as the Climate and the power of Silicon Valley.

Selection and Review Process

This year I began methodically reviewing books after reading them. Depending on my interest in the book and the volume of notes generated, these reviews would take multiple hours (Beethoven) or  tens of minutes (Artificial Intelligence). This process results in a collection of atomic notes.

Book selection is still semi-random - either selecting from my recommended books list or just picking the last recommendation I got.

Highest Regarded

If I had to recommend a STEM book it would be Lifespan by David A. Sinclair.  The surprising advance humanity has made in the field of aging is not only exciting from a scientific view, it also changes the framing of our future life on the planet.

A promised Land by Barack Obama provides a deep insight into politics and history. It’s well written and gives proper context to many of the decisions that had to be made internationally from 2008 - 2012 including solid argumentation on the paths chosen. The book was further  an interesting view of people living in the US.

Invisible Women is the most concise and well-researched book on the shortcomings of society regarding the equality of women I’ve read. Don’t go into this book in the hopes of solutions; this book provides few, and none of them long-term. It’s a list of statistics that shows the disadvantages women face. And that’s important enough to read and be aware of.

Year Summary

This year had fewer life-changing books than 2019, where various books convinced me to ditch eating meat, restrict my dairy intake, and focus on a consistent sleep pattern. Nonetheless, the dive into thought processes and mental models has allowed me to formulate a more long-term goal regarding brain health and gave me a frame of reference on how to increase mental markers.

Biographies it turns out work particularly well for me when listening to them. They provide enough of a ‘story’ foundation, that they are easy to follow and open a window into historical times, that I could otherwise not generate interest for.

Top Blog Posts and Projects

Don’t be a free user argues successfully, why you should never use a service you like without paying for it.

Why I Keep a Research Blog describes the author’s process of externalizing his thoughts and experiences in the form of regular blog posts.

Simple Time Tracker by Razeeman is a perfect time-tracking tool for me. This open-source application is optimally easy to use and provides the right amount of settings to minimize hassle.

List of Books