2020 was strange year in many ways, including my reading habits, where the majority of my reading time was dedicated to following the news and researching the economics, biology and psychology of the pandemic. Still, it was a great year of reading, with a new found love for biology and enjoying reading fantasy and sci-fi more and more.
2 Key Lessons from 2020— Books:
- We are Resilient — Humans endure (and are strengthen) through crisis — through the Cosmere, through millions years of biological history, through 5,000 years of human future history and in 2020.
- Bio Eats World — “We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium. Synthetic food will, of course, also be used in the future” — Winston Churchill, 1931
Top 3 books of the year:
Seveneves
Decoding the World
Clean Meats
11 Books this year: (in reading order)
- Mistborn. Brandon Sanderson. Re-read
- The Shining. Stephen King. Recommend
- Talking to Strangers. Malcolm Gladwell. Recommend
- Clean Meats. Paul Shapiro. Re-read
- Well of Ascension. Brandon Sanderson. Recommend
- The Obstacle is the Way. Ryan Holiday. Skim
- Hero of Ages. Brandon Sandersen. Re-read
- Billion Dollar Burger. Chase Purdy. Recommend
- Seveneves. Neil Stephenson. Re-read
- The Psychology of Money. Morgan Housel. Recommend
- Decoding the World. Po Bronson and Arvind Gupta. Re-read
So here are my takeaways and verdicts (Pass, Skim, Recommend, Re-Read), ordered from first read.
- Mistborn. Brandon Sanderson. Re-read
After reading Way of Kings in 2019, I decided to read other Cosmere series from Sanderson. Great idea. Mistborn is a less complex series (for now) than WOK, and still the magic system (metals) is amazing (I picture pulling and pushing like magnets would), and the story is great! A little of game theory and a great set of characters, specially Kell and Eland.
2. The Shining. Stephen King. Recommend
Amazing book, but Horror is definitely not my genre. It truly surprised me that during the 2 weeks I read the book I felt a little earie, being a lot more conscious of bad things, and even my dreams changing (reading mostly in bed). Reading horror is 100x scarrier than watching horror. The scene with the man disguised as a dog was chilly, so were the hedge animals. Redrum.
3. Talking to Strangers. Malcolm Gladwell. Recommend
Really enjoyed the stories and insights. The story on Cuban spies (Ana Montes) and how she deceited the US gov beneath their noses illustrates Default to Truth. The Friends Fallacy and associated experiments show how our facial expressions are not a real proxy of our emotions and thoughts, Transperancy. Crime concentration in a few streets exemplify Coupling. Combine these 3 and it’s a perfect storm for misunderstanding strangers. Awareness is valuable. This was a very unique audio book, more like a podcast.
4. Clean Meats. Paul Shapiro. Re read
A really mind blowing book, which coincided perfectly into my job. Back in 2017 a first heard Richard Branson mention lab grown meat, and never really put much more attention or heard it again. Now reading in depth at what has been going on during the last 10 years, and actively looking for investments in the space is amazing. I truly believe this will have a drammatic change in the world in the next decade, particularily cultured meats with a Tesla type play (start premium to bring down costs) and with acellular milk, which I just can’t stop picturing will be adopted by breweries. Will for sure look back to when I read this book in 10 to 15 years.
5. Well of Ascension. Brandon Sanderson. Recommend.
Great sequel, although not as great as mistborn, the last chapters were amazing. Really liked how Sanderson used game theory in mapping the strategies for a 3 and 4 way war.
6. The Obstacle is the Way. Ryan Holiday. Skim
Perception is all we control, and in it we decide with what lense to view at any situation. This means we can always perceive a situation to be an opportunity to put in practice a virtue, be it patience, humbleness, servitude, forgivness, etc. It is also in this perception that we can find the good in every situation.
7. Hero of Ages. Brandon Sandersen. Re read
Amazing closing to the trilogy, really enjoyed reading a whole series with an actual closing with no (very few) loose ends. Great discovery process on the history, religion and magic surrounding the Last Empire.
8. Billion Dollar Burger. Chase Purdy. Recommend
A more novel like book to Clean Meats, with a bigger focus on JUST than other companies. Found the insights and background on the regulatory status and history of cellular agriculture in the USA very usefull. Enjoyed the book now that have been actively exploring and investing in the space. Still would recommend Clean Meats over this book.
9. Seveneves. Neil Stephenson. Re-read
There are about 4 books in one here, and enjoyed and would recommend re-reading each one. Loved all the orbital mechanics in play, from the break up of the moon to the development of Izzie. Also loved the genetics stories, which is a subject I am enjoying much this year. The more I read scifi the more I see I enjoy hard scifi and long time horizon stories (5k years in this case).
10. The Psychology of Money. Morgan Housel. Recommend
Refreshing read on investing. Really enjoyed the various stories. I really identified with the passive and simple approach to personal investing (vs institutional), and the importance of the combination of compunding and time. Resonates with how critical it is to have a solid portfolio of passive equities early on that will compound for ages with no interruption.
11. Decoding the World. Po Bronson and Arvind Gupta. Re-read
An amazing journey into science and entrepreneurship at IndieBio. Every chapter had so much packed knowledge that it is woth the re-read. Specially enjoyed the chapter on alternative proteins, and read it at the perfect time now that we have invested in Geltor, Clara and New Age Meats. Also found everything regarding gene editing to be so easy tu grasp and amazing. Lastly, the chapter on the human brain and memory was just mind boggling (memories are actually physically grown on synapsis!).
