The books I read in 2020
Over the past seven years (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) I’ve been writing about the books I read and about some of the learnings I took from them.
In 2020, I finally achieved my goal and ended up reading 33 books. However, even though I’m happy to have read more than 30 books (my goal), this year has been atypical and that had a strong impact on my reading.
I didn’t started the year strongly, but when COVID-19 hit I suddenly found myself with time in my hands and a strong desire to make the most out of it. In the first 6 months of 2020, I read 29 books. Long books, small books, good fiction, but mainly non-fiction. Books about sales, feminism, purpose, self-improvement and biographies. But then, by the end of June I was feeling extremely tired and stressed (too much work) and I gave up on reading. I was anxiously waiting for some time-off at the beach to pick-up on reading again, but that didn’t happen. Unlike previous years, I read only two books during my vacation time (and I had to force myself to read them) and when I started working again I just couldn’t read serious/non-fiction books. I started reading some trashy fiction, to take my mind off work and the pandemic, but I couldn’t force myself to read the many great books I have in my bookshelf and Kindle.
Top recommendations
With that, I have to say that I did read some amazing books this year. It was extremely hard to select a handful of top recommendations. But here they are:
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
by David Epstein
Managing Oneself
by Peter F. Drucker
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
by Caroline Criado Perez
(You can find here, some of my favourite quotes from this book.)
Rodham
by Curtis Sittenfeld
Working
by Robert A. Caro
From these, a special note to Rodham. It’s a fiction book about how the life of Hillary Clinton would have been if she hadn’t married Bill Clinton. It’s fantastic. The first book of this genre I read.
Books on Feminism
I also decided to highlight some books that I read in 2020 that are an essencial read for any feminist:
Whistleblower: My Journey to Silicon Valley and Fight for Justice at Uber
by Susan Fowler
Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger
by Rebecca Traister
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
by Caroline Criado Perez
The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote
by Elaine F. Weiss
Two of these books, I read as part of the Portuguese Women in Tech Book Club.
And here is the list of the 33 books I read in 2020
Draft №4: On the Writing Process
by John McPhee
Blueprints for a SaaS Sales Organization: How to Design, Build and Scale a Customer-Centric Sales Organization (Sales Blueprints Book 2)
by Jacco van der Kooij, Fernando Pizarro, Winning by Design
Do Open: How a Simple Email Newsletter Can Transform your Business
by David Hieatt
Do Open: How a Simple Email Newsletter Can Transform your Business
by David Hieatt
Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World
by Scott Harrison
The Generosity Network: New Transformational Tools for Successful Fund-Raising
by Jennifer McCrea, Jeffrey C. Walker
The Mamba Mentality: How I Play
by Kobe Bryant
The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million
by Mark Roberge
Managing Oneself
by Peter F. Drucker
Hedge: A Greater Safety Net for the Entrepreneurial Age
by Nicolas Colin
Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators
by Ronan Farrow
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
by David Epstein
Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World
by Cal Newport
Management of Art Galleries
by Magnus Resch
Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements
by Charlene Carruthers
Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference
by William MacAskill
Talking to Humans
by Giff Constable
The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts
by Shane Parrish
Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
by Dr. Seuss
Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers
by Timothy Ferriss
She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement
by Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey
Whistleblower: My Journey to Silicon Valley and Fight for Justice at Uber
by Susan Fowler
The Fifth Risk
by Michael Lewis
The Fifth Risk
by Michael Lewis
Hunger
by Roxane Gay
Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success
by Phil Jackson, Hugh Delehanty
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
by Caroline Criado Perez
Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger
by Rebecca Traister
The Time Has Come: Why Men Must Join the Gender Equality Revolution
by Michael Kaufman
Young Money: Inside the Hidden World of Wall Street’s Post-Crash Recruits
by Kevin Roose
The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote
by Elaine F. Weiss
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
by Michael Lewis
Rodham
by Curtis Sittenfeld
For 2021, I want to read 30 more books. And I will have a single focus. I want to read more about Sustainability, Climate Change and its impact on economics and politics. Let’s see where this will take me.
Please feel free to email me your book recommendations. I’m always looking for great books to read.
