2020
What I read in 2020
14 books, 3,954 pages. Newest first.
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
Brené Brown · 2012 · read Dec 2020Brown's flagship synthesis of her shame and vulnerability research, arguing that vulnerability is not weakness but the…
Braving the Wilderness
Brené Brown · 2017 · read Dec 2020Brown's 2017 book on belonging in polarized times — drawing partly on her own experience of being targeted by both political left…
So You Want to Talk About Race
Ijeoma Oluo · 2018 · read Dec 2020Ijeoma Oluo's 2018 chapter-by-chapter practical guide to specific race-related conversations and concepts — what affirmative…
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Yuval Noah Harari · 2011 · read Nov 2020Harari's sweeping single-volume history of Homo sapiens from cognitive revolution to the present, structured around three…
The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connections and Courage
Brené Brown · 2013 · read Nov 2020Brown's earlier audio-program-and-book treatment of her vulnerability and shame research — predating Daring Greatly as a…
Dare to Lead
Brené Brown · 2018 · read Nov 2020Brené Brown's 2018 application of her vulnerability and shame research to organizational leadership — built around interviews…
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
Lori Gottlieb · 2019 · read Sep 2020A working psychotherapist's memoir that interleaves her own crisis (a sudden breakup) and her time on her own therapist's couch…
The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery
Eric Foner · 2010 · read Aug 2020A Pulitzer-winning study of how Lincoln's positions on slavery evolved over his lifetime — from a moderate anti-extensionist to…
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
Charles Duhigg · 2012 · read Jun 2020Charles Duhigg's 2012 popular-science synthesis of habit research — built around the "habit loop" framework (cue → routine →…
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
James Clear · 2018 · read Jun 2020A practical synthesis of behavioral science into a four-step model for designing habits, organized around the claim that small…
Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors
Michael E. Porter · 1980 · read Feb 2020The 1980 book that defined modern strategic analysis, introducing the Five Forces framework for industry structure and the three…
Content Inc.: How Entrepreneurs Use Content to Build Massive Audiences and Create Radically Successful Businesses
Joe Pulizzi · 2015 · read Feb 2020A reverse-order playbook for building a business: build an audience first via consistent niche content, then figure out what to…
Building A Story Brand
Donald Miller · 2017 · read Feb 2020A marketing framework that applies classic narrative structure (the hero's journey) to how a brand talks about itself: the…
The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho · 1988 · read Jan 2020Paulo Coelho's 1988 allegorical novel — Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd, journeys to Egypt in pursuit of treasure revealed in a…