I love this paragraph from Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog. It’s about the time when he wrote about the long-term prospects of Blue Ribbon and how he saw the future.
“This last line was wholly truthful. It was worth shooting for. If Blue Ribbon went bust, I’d have no money, and I’d be crushed. But I’d also have some valuable wisdom, which I could apply to the next business. Wisdom seemed an intangible asset, but an asset all the same, one that justified the risk.”
You should write a book by Seth Godin from his podcast, Akimbo.
Here are 19 books that are in my book bucket list for 2019. My plan is to read these books over the course of the year.
Becoming by Michelle Obama This is a memoir of the First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role. I’ve always found Michelle Obama to be inspiring and down to earth so looking forward to reading it.
Hell Yeah or No by Derek Sivers – Derek describes this book as “a collection of thoughts around re-defining yourself, changing focus, and saying yes to less.” I’ve read many blogs on his website and watched his Ted Talks, so looking to pick it up when its published.
Your Music and People by Derek Sivers – Derek describes this book as “a philosophy for musicians (and normal people) of getting your work to the world by being creative, considerate, resourceful, and connected.” From the several interviews that I’ve listened of Derek, this book will be a treat and a game changer.
कर्नाली ब्लुज [Karnali Blues] by Buddhi Sagar A debut novel by Buddhi Sagar, I have heard rave reviews of it but have not had a chance to read it. My sister just finished reading it and she recommended the book as well.
Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs by John Doerr – I read a few pages on Amazon and am already impressed with the legendary stories. A friend finished reading it and highly recommended the book too.
A Second Chance: For You, For Me, And For The Rest Of Us by Catherine Hoke – I first heard about this book in the Tim Ferriss podcast where he interviewed Catherine and found her story to be captivating and inspiring.
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari – I am a Gates Notes Insider and Bill Gates had talked about this book on his personal blog. Reading the book’s review and a few pages on Amazon, I am looking forward to be enlightened.
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling – I learned about this book in Bill Gates’ personal blog and really want to read this book. For a long time, I have felt that labels like “developing” and “developed” to describe different countries was outdated and almost insulting. So it’s refreshing to hear about this book which tackles this old definition and provides a better framework among many other things.
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE by Phil Knight – When I went to college, I wanted to work for one company after graduation and it was Nike. This was one of the reasons why I studied abroad in Amsterdam, The Netherlands which was very close to Hilversum where Nike’s European headquarters was located. At that point, I had planned to either get an internship or a field visit to it’s Hilversum office. Neither happened but Nike has always fascinated me. When I heard about this book, I was overjoyed and wanted to read it ever since.
Thanks A Thousand: A Gratitude Journey by A.J. Jacobs – I learned about this book from Tim Ferriss’s blog and it seems like a fun read. The book is about the author who decided to thank every single person involved in producing his morning cup of coffee.
This Is Marketing: You Can’t Be Seen Until You Learn to See by Seth Godin – I subscribe to Seth’s blog and get his daily posts. Seth is a thought leader in marketing, advertising and many other domains and I’m anxiously waiting to pick it up.
Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger – A book recommended by Naval Ravikant. I actually wanted to read a book by Naval himself but came across this recommendation. This book has been recommended by many other people I follow as well so it’s about time I read it.
Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It by Kamal Ravikant – A book written by Naval Ravikant’s brother. Seems like an interesting read.
Bruce Lee Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living by Bruce Lee – Bruce Lee is a globally known figure and I’m curious to learn more about his life and philosophy through this book.
Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah – Being a fan of Trevor Noah, I can’t wait to read this book. This book will be a delight and it will surely provide a perspective from another side of the world.
Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker – In early 2018, Bill Gates claimed that this book is his new favorite book of all time. He’s raved a lot about this book and is a must read for me this year.
The Happiness Equation: Want Nothing + Do Anything=Have Everything by Neil Pasricha – An INC writer provided a list of 12 books that had the most impact to him in 2017 and highly recommended this book. Upon browsing through Amazon’s reviews, the book had over 250 customer reviews and 77% had given it a 5 star. Related to the topic, I had previously read Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert and Delivering Happiness by Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh. I hope to learn new things and gain an additional perspective on the classic subject of happiness by picking up The Happiness Equation.
The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow – I learned about this book through a friend. Also this book was referenced in Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio-one of the books I read in 2018. When I scrolled through the pages of this book, I was fascinated by the content.
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by Robert Kiyosaki – I had read this book a while back but I’m going to read it again. The lessons, knowledge and principles shared in the book are timeless and it’s always good to sharpen your financial acumen.
Image source: Getty Images
Being a huge fan of Kobe Bryant, I can’t wait to get this book The Mamba Mentality: How I Play.
The book’s Amazon page goes like this:
The first book from the basketball superstar Kobe Bryant―a lavish, deep dive inside the mind of one of the most revered athletes of all time. In the wake of his retirement from professional basketball, Kobe “The Black Mamba” Bryant has decided to share his vast knowledge and understanding of the game to take readers on an unprecedented journey to the core of the legendary “Mamba mentality……”
Looking forward to reading this book to get insight, knowledge and wisdom on how to be excellent at a particular craft.
Cal Newport’s Deep Work Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World is nicely summarized by Productivity Game.
Three rules for doing Deep Work are:
1. Schedule distractions – Schedule the time that you will allow yourself to check email/social media/chat etc. Write it down as a Distraction break and hold your focus until then.
2. Deep Work ritual – Create a rhythmic flow of doing deep work typically in the early mornings. The point is to create simple regular habit. Adhoc deep work sessions typically are not productive.
3. Evening shutdown ritual – Getting adequate sleep is important. Make a plan of the unfinished tasks and their action plan for the following day. After the plan is complete, the goal is to shutdown completely and go to sleep.
I’m looking forward to reading Kul Chandra Gautam’s Global Citizen from Gulmi.
Launched in Kathmandu, Nepal in early August 2018, the book chronicles the life of Kul Chandra Gautam’s from the hills of Gulmi to the halls of the United Nations. It has received a lot of coverage and praise over social media, online and print mediums. The book was also beautifully reviewed in the Nepali Times. A paragraph from the review by Kunda Dixit:
Kul Chandra Gautam’s life is an inspirational story of how a school boy in one of the poorest and remotest districts in Nepal went on to become the senior most Nepali in the United Nations. He achieved this by a lot of hard work, extraordinary perseverance, and never losing sight of his duty to help those in underserved parts of the world, like where he grew up as a boy.
I can’t wait to read Global Citizen from Gulmi.
I stumbled upon Tim’s podcast with Catherine Hoke – The Master of Second Chances. Catherine Hoke is the founder of the non-profit Defy Ventures and its vision is to end mass incarceration by using entrepreneurship as a tool to transform legacies and human potential. I learned tons just by listening to Catherine’s conversation with Tim. Highly recommended.
Looking forward to reading Catherine’s book: A Second Chance: For You, For Me, And For The Rest Of Us
I recently came to learn about Mallika Shakya’s book Death of an Industry: The Cultural Politics of Garment Manufacturing during the Maoist Revolution in Nepal.
I have been wanting to learn more about Nepal’s garment industry for a long time. Mallika’s book could provide insights/analysis and could be instrumental in understanding what happened to the once flourishing industry of the country.
Her bio on South Asian University reads “I am an economic anthropologist with a PhD from LSE, and postdoctorals from Oxford and Pretoria. I work on industrialisation, socio-economic embeddedness and labour. I examined the rise and fall of readymade garment industry in Nepal between 2001 and 2011, which exposed me to the turbulent national politics rooted in the Maoist movement in Nepal during that time.”
Looking forward to picking up the book and reading it.
Purpose, Incorporated is the new book from Room to Read Founder and author of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, John Wood. The book will be launching in February 2018.
Profit should not be the only purpose for a company’s existence. It has to equally have a purpose – a responsibility to serve its people and the community. It has to contribute to a greater good than just its stockholders. With a purpose integrated in its vision, it will benefit the company, its employees and the community in the long run. I can’t wait to get a copy of Purpose, Incorporated.
Get updates on the book at https://twitter.com/PurposeIncBook
I first learned about Ray Dalio’s book Principles on The Tim Ferriss Show. The title on Tim’s podcast was itself profound, Ray Dalio, The Steve Jobs of Investing.
Reading Principles’ reviews on goodreads just made me want to read the book even more. Some readers on goodreads have said that Principles is one of the best books they have ever read. I can’t wait to read it and share my thoughts.
I had put I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons by Kevin Hart in my Book Bucket List in July. Now I’m just finished reading the book. I highly recommend reading this book.
Some phrases and quotes from the book that resonated with me:
Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) is one of the best tennis players in the world. She is the winner of five Grand Slam titles (two at the French Open and one each at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open) and an Olympic silver medalist.
I visited Tim Ferris’s website and really enjoyed listening to his interview with Maria Sharapova. I highly recommend listening to this podcast to understand who Maria Sharapova is besides just being a tennis player. I have a new found respect and admiration for her now after listening to the podcast. I’m now interested to read her book Unstoppable: My Life So Far.
Being a huge fan of Kobe Bryant, the now retired NBA player, I have read tons of articles, blogs and watched a lot of videos on him. He is quite the athlete with plenty of videos and blogs talking about his obsession with greatness, relentless work ethic and winning mentality.
Recently, I watched a video of Kobe delivering a welcome speech to the LA Chargers. In that video, he mentions a book Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach and discusses the content from it. I have started reading the book to figure out why Kobe recommended it.
I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons by Kevin Hart is on my Book Bucket List.
Upon hearing about the book on a radio interview with Kevin Hart, I quickly searched online to find out more about the memoir. I found an exclusive excerpt from the book on Variety and got more interested in it.
Here’s a few sentences from the excerpt:
The goal was to break the tension and get them laughing, but without trying too hard. I’d still work to embody the part. Even if the role wasn’t for me, I wanted them to see how prepared I was and what I was capable of. I’d mix it up and play the character in ways that weren’t right for the film, just to show them that I had different levels.
I’m keenly interested in reading about Kevin’s journey to Hollywood and standup success, his come up struggles and his positive outlook on life etc.
Looking forward to reading this book soon.
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