My top twenty books in 2021.
In 2021 I read upwards of 70 books, it wasn’t easy to narrow them down to the top twenty, but I wanted to take some time and reflect on the best and share what I learned from each book. Instead of a traditional top 20 list, I have decided to group the books together and talk about what I learned and how they made me a better person. Today I am sharing the first six books on the list.
Six Books that made me think differently.
I believe a good book is one that makes one think and each of these books challenged my thinking in different ways.
Forward and The War on Normal People by Andrew Yang.
Each of Andrew’s books challenged my ideology and got me thinking about the world’s problems in a different way. In my opinion Andrew has accurately assessed the problems out political structure faces and while I don’t agree with all his ideas to fix the problems, it is refreshing to read someone who thinks deeply about problems and isn’t afraid to put new ideas out.
The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell.
The Tipping Point is a wonderfully written book about how big things happen in small ways. A book about ideas and relationships. My favorite quote from this book is:
“Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. With the slightest push—in just the right place—it can be tipped.”
The Constitution of Knowledge by Jonathan Rauch.
The book at its core is a template on how to seek out and find truth in a world filled with misinformation. It discusses how our system of government is designed to help our leaders govern through compromise and understanding and how we need to get back to that style of governing. It discusses the problems of past civilizations and how they aren’t very different than our modern-day problems. This book led me on a path of reading philosophers like, Aristotle, Plato and Socrates. The biggest take away from this book is that if you want to find the truth, you’re going to have to work at it.
How the Force and Fix the World by Stephen Kent.
Stephen’s book is one of hope, in what is feeling more and more like a hopeless world. His book opened my eyes to the importance of pop culture in our society and how it can play a role in helping people understand the complex problems we face in the world. His book is warm, genuine and left me smiling. In the book Stephen asks, do you have hope? My answer is yes, I have hope because books like this are being written.
Corruptible by Brian Klaas.
Corruptible is a fascinating dive into power and people. Brian chronicles how and why bad men obtain power and whether it’s the power that corrupts the people or the people who corrupt the power. As you will see when I release the rest of the list, I spend most of my time reading about the best men in our history, Brian chronicles some of the worst, which gives me a different perspective on our world and the how others seek and wield power. Brian’s book taught me if we want to limit the number of corruptible leaders in the world, we need strong systems in place to balance their power.
I hoped you enjoyed reading about the books that made me think differently. Tomorrow I will share books about leadership, sacrifice and foreign policy.