The 10 Best Books I Read In 2017

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For some reason I've stopped posting my summer reading lists on this blog. So instead I thought I'd start posting a top 10 list at the end of the year. As I typically like to do I read a lot of business books, history books and biographies. I also read a couple good fiction books but none that make the top 10. Here's the 10 best from 2017, in order:

  1. America's Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Back-Room Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System by Steven Brill. This is a phenomenal chronicle of how the Affordable Care Act came into law. An in-depth summary of the issues in American healthcare and the troubling challenges that come with passing an important piece of legislation in today's environment.  
  2. Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg. This is written by the same guy that wrote the Power of Habit, also a great book. This is sort of a business/self-help book but one of the few with actionable, useful insights to transform busy work into productive work. Probably a bit too long due to all the examples, but this one was worth the time.
  3. Hacking Growth: How Today's Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success by Sean Ellis. This should be required reading for those of us focused on growing early-stage companies. Very focused on consumer businesses but the book is filled with really refreshing "out of the box" thinking that is so important in a high growth company.
  4. Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones. Probably the best-written book on this list, this tells the depressing story of the formation of the opiate epidemic in America. This should be mandatory reading for any politician interesting in fixing this crisis. There is so much context in here that needs to be understood before anyone can think about effective solutions.
  5. Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Enlightenment by Robert Wright. No, I'm not a Buddhist but I've been fascinated by pieces of it for a few years now and I wanted to dig into it a little deeper. This is also a wonderfully written book that gives a great summary and strong defense of the religion's truths. 
  6. Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. Written by two former Navy SEALs that saw enormous amounts of brutal conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, the book takes the lessons of being successful in war to being successful in business. And these two guys are just incredible human beings. They make a strong case for getting up at 4:30am each morning. Yes, "business is war" is definitely an old euphemism but this book is on point. And it is true that much of what we do in business translates to the battlefield. Jocko also has a podcast that continues the story that's worth adding to your list. 
  7. Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. da Vinci didn't just paint the two most famous paintings in history he also obsessively studied anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. This is another book that was somewhat too long but understanding more about this man was enormously inspiring.
  8. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth. I had read so much about this book prior to reading this book that I really didn't need to read it. But the concept is great. The strong evidence of the fact that grit is the most important trait for one to have is fascinating and inspiring. A good one for parents.
  9. The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker. I've read this at least three times and it's always worth it. Timeline insights from the management guru.
  10. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meachem. I saw Meachem speak earlier in the year and took a look at what he's written. For some reason, I continue to find early American history to be incredibly interesting. This is really a big history book about the formation of the United States. Extremely well written, an in-depth history book. A good one for the beach.

I hope you like some of these recommendations. Happy New Year!