The Best Books I Read in 2019
While I normally highlight only my top three books each year, in 2019, I read just a total of four books. Not to leave one book, and because I was torn on which book would be my number three, I've decided to include a fourth in my list this year.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
by Yuval Noah Harari
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
by Yuval Noah Harari
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany
It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work
by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
Stop what you're doing right now and buy this book, it really is that good. Sapiens absolutely floored me. As someone who has always been interested in why things are the way they are, Harari does a great job of explaining just that. After finishing each chapter, I had to put the book down and reflect on my life thus far (and to avoid some existential crises). Powerful, humbling, and shocking are all words that describe this book. From learning about the history of the genus Homo and why Homo Sapiens are they only species from that genus remaining to the blatantly obvious, yet unspoken, truth that money is the world's greatest dictator, Sapiens will rock your world.
After you've finished reading Sapiens, do yourself a favor and pick up Homo Deus. This work continues where Harari left off. More thought-provoking from the modern human point-of-view, Homo Deus asks and tries to answer questions about the future of humanity and understand what is happening in today's day and age. Harari offers his thoughts on what the "next generation human species", homo deus, will act like, but more importantly, think like. He also takes brief dives into extremely existential questions such as: What is happiness and why do we feel it? and What will happen to Homo Sapiens when AI comes to take our place as the primary figure in the world. In my opinion, this book is another must read.
Who does not love Harry Potter? I will admit, when the eighth "book" was released, I was skeptical about it considering it was actually a play. I never did get around to seeing the play, but after reading The Cursed Child, I really felt like I saw it with the vivid imagery of the text. I became completely immersed in the wizarding world once again and absolutely loved it. My only disappointment with the eighth installment in the series did not come from this book, but from a Google search that told me they are not turning this one into a movie.
Fried and Heinmeier Hannson do a really great job at explaining the workplace philosophy of the company they run, Basecamp. This book is exactly what's needed, in my opinion, to improve office culture. As you can tell from one of my top books last year (Hit Refresh), I'm a big workplace philosophy guy. While I did not necessarily agree with everything the authors do at their company, I agreed with enough. It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work truly embodies how to give your employees work-life balance and keep product users happy at the same time. If you are looking for a quick read, I highly recommend this work.