Top 5 Re-Readables of 2019 📚
By reading books over the years I’ve gotten better at reading, first of all, but I’ve also gotten better at choosing. With each passing year I’m more likely than ever to choose books I’ll not only like but want to actually re-read, and less likely to choose duds.
If I do come across a dud I’ve also gotten better at abandoning it. I’ve come to accept that it’s usually because the book is either not for me, or it’s not for me right now. (Reading partway through means I still have enough knowledge of its contents to know whether or not I should pick it back up in the future.)
So far I’ve read 65 books this year, but that number is mostly meaningless—not just because page count makes the whole thing misleading, but because reading is an exercise in chasing quality not accumulating quantity. Not only that: I believe the best books shouldn’t just be read, they should be studied. Great books also tend to reference other great books, so I get the benefit of quality recommendations built-in. Many of the books I read are because another book I read mentioned it.
Below are the top 5 books I read in 2019 that I’m most likely to re-read in the future, and why.
The Path of Least Resistance, by Robert Fritz
"The way people choose reveals where they see the power in a situation residing and how that power is activated and used. Nothing forces you to make the choice to create what you want to create, and nothing can take this power from you."
Why I Will Re-Read This: The best indicator that a book should be re-read is if it’s not easily summarizable. This book, like the other four that follow, had me highlighting, underlining, or flagging something on almost every page. At that point, I realized my notes of the book would be almost as long as the book itself.
This is a book about creating—whether it’s a computer program, an invention, a work of art, or a life. It’s about how to set up systems that make creation easier and more fruitful, and why creating matters in the first place. It’s at once a how-to book and a meditation on why-to. It pulls together various strands of thought across disciplines such as habit formation, philosophy, creativity, structures, psychology, identity, and play, and weaves them into a thesis that both explains and instructs.
It’s inspirational and practical. Useful and charming. Serious, yet light.
It’s also the best expression of the idea behind one of my favorite quotes, from a 1924 book by Karl de Schweinitz called The Art of Helping People Out of Trouble: “Living has yet to be generally recognized as one of the arts.”
Fooled By Randomness (Incerto, Book 1), by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
“Probability is not a mere computation of odds on the dice or more complicated variants; it is the acceptance of the lack of certainty in our knowledge and the development of methods for dealing with our ignorance.”
Why I Will Re-Read This: This book, like all the others that make up Taleb’s Incerto (The Black Swan, The Bed of Procrustes, Antifragile, and Skin in the Game) is written so well that each sentence and paragraph reads like a carefully worded aphorism, and individual chapters can stand alone as being worth the price of the entire book. It’s also the most accessible entry point into the series, though it’s better to think of all of these books taken together as a single work called Incerto (Uncertainty) aimed at exploring the financial, moral, practical, and philosophical implications that come from the realization that the world that we experience is incredibly opaque, and we know far less than we’d like to think we do about why things happen the way they do. It’s a body of work that explores probability, luck, human error, and uncertainty using everything from mathematics and statistics all the way up to very easy to use heuristics for everyday decision-making.
No other writer as had a bigger impact on how I think than Taleb.
The 48 Laws of Power, by Robert Greene
“Do not leave your reputation to chance or gossip; it is your life's artwork, and you must craft it, hone it, and display it with the care of an artist.”
Why I Will Re-Read This: There was way too much covered, and the lessons were far too rich and potent, to be fully appreciated from just one read. (It’s also one of those rare books that I began in audio format but quickly bought a physical copy to read in parallel). This is a classic that is referenced and recommended by virtually all readers and leaders, but I know that some people are still put off by the idea of reading a book about “power.” That it’s a book reserved only for the most power-hungry and Machiavellian among us. That’s the wrong way to think about this great, great book. It’s arguably more important for the powerless to study the playbook of how the powerful think, behave, and manipulate others to reach their own goals, if only as a defensive tactic to avoid power’s influence over us.
Greene has done an incredible job taking stories and references from powerful leaders and influencers throughout the ages and extracting the deepest insights, organizing the lessons into themes that make for useful comprehension and reference. I also read his book The Art of Seduction this year, which is just as re-read worthy
Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food, by Catherine Shanahan, M.D.
“It is essential that you learn to recognize two toxic substances present in our food that are incompatible with normal genetic function: sugar and vegetable oils. These are not just toxic to people who have food sensitivities or certain medical conditions like leaky gut or prediabetes. They’re toxic to every living thing.”
Why I Will Re-Read This: I spend a fair amount of my time reading scientific studies about diet, nutrition, exercise, and chronic disease, and thinking about how best to direct my own diet and lifestyle in accordance with what science has shown (and not shown) about how the human body works; this is the first book I’ve read that is not only consistent with most (all?) of the latest science on the subject, but also improved my understanding of some of the biological mechanisms underlying human physiology. It’s a holistic look at food—not merely as “energy” (Calories) or collections of nutrients as people commonly reduce the subject to, but rather information. Information that you are giving to your body and which your body, in turn, gives to future generations. Shanahan connects a wide range of research to some very simple conclusions that have huge, long-lasting implications on human wellness. Her writing is clear, thorough, and well-referenced. And while she explores the well-documented benefits of a number of meats and dairy foods she is also respectful of alternative lifestyles that choose not to eat animal products for ethical reasons, and does her best to suggest the necessary supplements or replacements that can help compensate for the nutritional deficiencies incurred.
This latest edition also includes a large Q&A section drawn from reader questions, helpful meal planning and grocery shopping resources, and a handful of recipes for those who aren’t used to buying and making their own food.
It’s the single best book I’ve read on the subject so far.
The Upanishads, Introduced & Translated by Eknath Easwaran
“Indian mathematicians would have developed modern numerals, the decimal place system, zero, and basic algebra and trigonometry; surgeons would be performing operations as sophisticated as cataract surgery and caesarean section. But the roots of this scientific spirit are in the Vedas. ‘All science,’ Aldous Huxley wrote, ‘… is the reduction of multiplicities into unities.’ Nothing is more characteristic of Indian thought. The Vedic hymns are steeped in the conviction of rita, an order that pervades creation and is reflected in each part—a oneness to which all diversity can be referred.”
Why I Will Re-Read This: While it’s the last book on this list it was the first one I read this year, and like all ancient texts still in circulation it bears re-reading for the sheer fact that what it teaches needs to be lived—not just read—and true understanding comes from reacquainting oneself with words time and again as one changes and grows.
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that the free public domain versions of books are a great value if they were originally written in your native language, but if they weren’t: always pay for good translations. I chose this version not because it’s the most complete or academically thorough version of the Upanishads, but because it includes great introductory essays and commentaries that are lyrical and profound on their own, and make for a super accessible entry point. It helps newcomers appreciate what was written, the context in which it was written, and the ways one can interpret its meaning. If after reading this you want to explore the text further, you can always pick up one of the many other editions that can offer different perspectives on the same source text.