Last year was insane, but it’s time for this page to go up anyway. I made it to twenty-six, and the top ten are…

One note: all of the computer-related books I read were great, but I’m going to leave them out of the top ten list this year as I know they’re somewhat niche and often frequently outdated.

So!

10. On the Good Life by Marcus Cicero

A good introduction to Cicero, I think. Selections from several different works of his, so I felt like it was a pretty good exposure. It did give quite a bit to think about in terms of what a good life might be.

9. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2020, Michio Kaku ed.

I always like books in this Best American series, and this one didn’t disappoint. I admire Michio Kaku too.

8. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante

Despite hating the ending, the third in the Neapolitan Novels was very dense with action and details about the world in which they’re set. We’ll see how I think of the whole series when I finish the next novel this coming year.

7. Deep Work by Cal Newport

Pithy, chock-full of tips and tricks. Also contains plenty of more substantial organizational tools and philosophical discussions about what brings meaning to your life, both professionally and personally. A very quick and digestible read.

6. The New Royals

5. Range

4. The Roman Republic of Letters by Katharina Volk

A marvelous dance through all the plays of the end of the Roman Republic. A poignant description of a time that has never truly been duplicated.

3. The New China Playbook

2. The Crossroads of Civilization

  1. Arrival

  • Deep Work — Cal Newport
  • The New Royals — Katie  Nicholl
  • Grit — Angela Duckworth
  • Learned Hopefulness — Dan Tomasulo, PhD
  • Range — David Epstein
  • Arrival — Ted Chiang
  • You Look Like a Thing and I Love You — Janelle Shane
  • The Crossroads of Civilization — Angus Robertson
  • The Florentines — Paul Strathern 
  • The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2020 — Michio Kaku, ed.
  • Operation Paperclip — Annie Jacobsen
  • On the Good Life — Marcus Tullius Cicero
  • Designing Data-Intensive Applications — Martin Kleppmann
  • The Dance of Anger — Harriet Lerner
  • Can’t Look Away — Carola Loverling
  • The New China Playbook — Keyu Jin
  • The Windfall — Diksha Basu
  • As We Speak — Peter Meyers
  • MCADF (exam DP-900) Certification Guide — Marcelo Leite
  • The Roman Republic of Letters — Katharina Volk
  • The Story of a New Name — Elena Ferrante
  • Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay — Elena Ferrante
  • Never Let Me Go — Kazuo Ishiguro
  • Designing Machine Learning Systems — Chip Huyen
  • Exam Ref AI-900 Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals — Julian Sharp
  • Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals Certification Companion — Krunal Trivedi