The books are in the order I read them.
1) Sula by Toni Morrison: Bleak and beautiful, the sentences flow and connect so seamlessly, it feels like gliding in the wind when reading her work. Highly recommended for anyone interested in American Literature.
2) Failure is not an Option by Gene Kranz: An in depth account of what it was like to get the first man on moon. When you read about the magnitude of efforts involved, required, both on an organizational scale and the personal scale, it puts into perspective what a huge feat it was. Recommended for anyone who enjoys reading about how impressive humans are.
3) Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown: An average self help book. Might be useful for upper management and leadership.
4) The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande: An insightful book about the crucial role of checklists in the functioning of modern society, not something you usually think about. I really enjoyed the book because the core idea is presented from its conception to its fruition as a set of stories. Recommended reading for everyone.
5) Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman: Possibly the best book I read all year. It tells the story of Vincent Van Gogh through a series of letters they wrote to each other. Even if you think you know about Van Gogh, you should read this story. A genuinely touching book that left me in tears in the end.
6) Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir: Excellent modern science fiction. The science is thorough and the story is compelling. At points it seems that the story is quite linear and predictable but it manages to pull twists and ends up in an unexpected place.
7) A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini: A brutally beautiful book. It is riveting and shook me to my core. The story is one of both reckless optimism and harrowing reality. It is fictitious but inside your heart you know that many ugly variations of this have happened in real life. The way the author weaves the stories of these two women set to the background of Afghanistan in turmoil is a masterclass in writing. I will regret not being able to read it again for the first time. Cannot recommend it enough.
8) Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande: This book was probably a difficult one for the author to write and it is difficult for a reader to read. The topic isn’t one we particularly like to think about and often don’t think about until it is too late. It was an enlightening read even if sometimes uncomfortable. The reason it was only sometimes uncomfortable and not all the time is solely because of the tact shown by the author while approaching this subject.
9) When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut: The most surprising read of the year for me. Go in blind with this book. Do not read any reviews or summaries. If you enjoy science, you will enjoy this book. Highly recommended.
10) Yugandhar by Shivaji Sawant: The way Shivaji Swant writes you forget that he, the author is writing. It feels like the characters themselves are real and all he is doing is just giving a word to word historical account. It feels like he was omnipresent when the story was unfolding and recorded everything in crisp detail and is just sharing the recordings through his books. If you are interested in Indian Mythology, pick this book up.
11) Exhalation by Ted Chiang: This is a set of unique stories capturing the everyday minutiae of life and setting them up against large existential questions in a creatively imagined world. Ted Chiang is a master storyteller and if you enjoy science fiction, you need to read this one.
12) Moonshot by Mike Massimino: A good book if you want entry level knowledge about how Astronauts are made and how what they learn can be applied to our daily lives. Although I would recommend reading 'An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth' by Chris Hadfield instead.
Hope this was helpful. Please feel free to recommend me books based on what you think I would enjoy. Thank you and a happy new year!
by chaoticblack