Books I read in 2024

2024 has been a good year with respect to reading books. It is better than the previous year (2023). Though I did not drastically increase the number of books I read, I am glad there was an increase and I think this should compound over a period of time. One thing I do feel good about 2024 is that I also started reading books in Tamil. Though I am fluent in the language, I have not read a lot of this in the recent years and I am glad to be doing this. Thinking on these lines, it is a blessing to read in more than one language. Here are some of the books I read this past year.

Cosmos by Carl Sagan: This is a book outside of my comfort zone. It took me a while to finish this (several months) as this is not my expertise.I did not understand everything that was written, however I am thankful for completing the book in 2024. 

Invent and Wander (Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos): This book compiles the annual letters of Jeff Bezos to his shareholders at Amazon. It is also a compilation of Jeff’s interviews and writings. It is a great read to see how Amazon transformed over the years starting from 1999 to date. 

Influence, The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert C. Cialdini – This is a great book to understand Psychology of human behavior and why people behave the way they do. The book also offers different scenarios where we could get tricked(e.g. buying a house, low balling and more). I enjoyed reading this and I also think this book can also be used effectively in business.  

The CEO Factory, by Sudhir Sitapati – This is a book on Hindustan Unilever (HUL), one of the largest conglomerates in India and the world. Sudhir talks about how HUL works and what makes them great. This book is a great re-emphasis to focus on company culture. 

Obviously Awesome, by April Dunford – This book is more of a marketing our positioning guide. How do you position yourself or how do you position your product? How do you compete with the big boys? Everything starts with positioning. There were some great takeaways from reading this book and we were able to apply this to our business. 

Chip War, by Chris Miller – Reading Chip War was like reading a business novel. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. I did not know a lot about chips and the business behind it. It was an amazing read for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially considering my limited knowledge with Chips. 

Arthamulla Indhu Madham (அர்த்தமுள்ள இந்து மதம்) by Kannadasan. This book has 10 volumes (in Tamil) and I am very thankful to read this. I have completed just 5 so far and have 5 more to go. However I thoroughly enjoyed the writings of Kannadasan and could really understand why people celebrate him in spite of his shortcomings. One great thing that makes Kannadasan live long after he is gone is that he openly talks about the several mistakes and screwups he did and shares his learnings. I just love this book.  

Anna, by R Kannan: This is a book on the Life and Time of C.N Annadurai, the 4th Chief Minister of the State of Tamil Nadu. It is a biography. One thing that I did love about R Kannan’s writing was that it was un-biased and I could relate to a lot of things as I grew up in Tamil Nadu. This is a great book to understand and learn from C.N Annadurai, the leader. 

Essentialism – by Greg Mckeown – This is a great book that emphasizes that you do not need a lot and being an essentialist is luxury. This book also reemphasized my earlier learnings. Keep it simple.

The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman – This is an excellent book that anyone working in technology or even otherwise should read. If something does not work, do not blame your limited knowledge, blame it on the design. The job of design is to keep things simple and intuitive. This is an amazing book and a must read for anyone working in user experience and in the business of designing products. 

So Good They Can’t Ignore you by Cal Newport: This book talks about passion being overrated and also with practical examples illustrates that any skill could be acquired over a period of time. Hard Work and putting in the effort is critical. You just have to be so good that people can’t ignore you. People will start reaching out to you , however you got to be the best in what you do.
Nudge by Richard H Thaler & Cass R Sunstein: This is an excellent book which talks about Nudges. How do you nudge people to do things? The examples quoted in the book help you understand about nudging, getting people to do what you want (in a good way) through nudges. On the business end, this can be used by marketers as well and if you work in marketing, you should read this book.