The 10 Best Books I Read In 2020

2020 was a year to remember for a lot of reasons…but that's a topic for another day. Today I'm talking about the best books I read last year.

I read some great books on business, history, self-development, healthcare, politics and lots of other topics. I also developed a minor obsession with Navy SEALs and how they train and as a result ended up reading a bunch of books about their training and missions. I find this community to be fascinating. Their dedication to something larger than themselves and to their self-improvement and being the best in the world is just incredible. While obviously very, very, very different, I do think that much of the way they go about their training is applicable to the startup world. I'll try to write a post on what I mean by that at some point.

Anyway, here are the best books I read in 2020. You can find past lists here.

1/ The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Eric Jorgensen. I wrote a short post on this the other day. Naval is the founder of Angellist and is just an incredibly insightful person. I couldn't put it down and probably made more notes and highlights than any book I've read. From the book:

"When you’re young, you have time. You have health, but you have no money. When you’re middle-aged, you have money and you have health, but you have no time. When you’re old, you have money and you have time, but you have no health. So the trifecta is trying to get all three at once."

2/ SEAL of Honor: Operation Red Wings and the Life of LT. Michael P. Murphy by Gary Williams. Michael Murphy grew up on Long Island dreaming of being a Navy Seal, and he became one of the best. He died in an operation in Afghanistan that was depicted in the movie Lone Survivor. Such a pleasure to read about this incredible person. This quote from the SEAL ethos really underscores the amazing commitment these guys make to our country:

”I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight. We demand discipline. We expect innovation. The lives of my teammates and the success of our mission depend on me—my technical skill, tactical proficiency, and attention to detail. My training is never complete. We train for war and fight to win. I stand ready to bring the full spectrum of combat power to bear in order to achieve my mission and the goals established by my country. Execution of my duties will be swift and violent when required yet guided by the very principles that I serve to defend. Brave men have fought and died building the proud tradition and feared reputation that I am bound to uphold. In the worst of conditions, the legacy of my teammates steadies my resolve and silently guides my every deed. I will not fail.”

3/ 438 Days: An Incredible True Story of Survival at Sea by Jonathan Franklin. This book was just nuts. I loved it. It's about a really cool guy that leaves the coast of Mexico for a two-day fishing trip and survives 14 months lost at sea and travels more than 9,000 miles before being rescued. Obviously, this is an amazing story of survival, but the writing is magnificent. You really end up feeling like you know this guy.

4/ 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge by Dan Harris. I've believed for a while now that people will soon think of meditation the way they think of having a gym membership. We've known that we need to take care of our bodies for a long time. Now we're realizing we have to do the same thing for our minds. I started listening to Dan's podcast (also called 10% Happier) a year or so ago and I knew I needed to check out his book as well. It feels like meditation is taking over the world these days. For those of you that are new to it, this is a great way to get started. Dan is definitely the kind of guy that would think meditation is a silly waste of time. But he became obsessed with it. This book tells you why and how much it can do for our mental health.

5/ Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos by Walter Isaacson & Jeff Bezos. I continue to be immensely interested in anything written by Jeff Bezos. He gets a lot of criticism these days but the money machine that he has built is unbelievable. There are some great insights in this one. Including the fact that the idea for Amazon Prime came from a junior software engineer. A great, quick read.

6/ The Operator: Firing the Shots that Killed Osama bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior by Robert O'Neill. This is the biography of a kid that grew up in Montana not knowing how to swim who broke up with his girlfriend, got angry, and decided to join the Nacy SEALs. Years later, he became one of the most decorated combat veterans in the United States and found himself standing face-to-face with Osama Bin Laden and his wife in the middle of the night at a house in Pakistan. This book is extremely well written and easy to read and really helps you understand how this warrior found himself in this spot.

7/ The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It by Kelly McGonigal. This book was recommended to me by several people and I finally got around to reading it. It piles on top of some of the books I've read by Jim Loeher, who consulted for a company I worked with a while back, who thinks about stress as a muscle that you need to build. Just like your bicep, you need to strain it and then rest, and then do it again with more weight. Stress is similar. If managed well, it's a great thing for your health. This book helps you understand how to think and manage it that way.

8/ Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box by the Arbinger Institute. This one is kind of a clunky read. It's set in the form of a guy starting a new job and having conversations with his new boss and several other people in his new organization. But the lessons are wonderful. To lead well, we need to get out of our box and get inside of the context of the people we work with. This is extremely difficult to do but this book makes clear why it's so enormously crucial. From the book:

”When we find ourselves in situations of disagreement or conflict (which may have as its roots self-deception) we encounter the other person’s “box.” Each person then provokes the other and like a well-choreographed dance, we have the “dance of the boxes.” Each helps to create the very problems they blame the other for and justifies a reason for staying in the box.

It works something like this: let’s assume that you were just promoted to a manager’s position and assigned to lead a cross-functional team. You believe that a manager’s role is to achieve results and that it’s important to build a cohesive and trusting team environment. It’s your intention to do so. It’s now six months into your role as manager and things have not worked out as you envisioned. Team members are not collaborating, schedules are not being met and trust is low. If you were acting from within the box, seeing your team through the filter of self-deception, you would most likely see them as the problem and try to change their behavior. This is a common in-the-box problem-solving approach.

It’s important to note that being in the box does not mean that the team’s behavior does not need to improve. Remember though, when we’re in the box it’s a distorted view of other’s in which we place blame on them or circumstances to justify our self-deceit.”

We have to get out of the box!

9/ Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do by Celine Cousteau. I've had an obsession with the ocean since I was a kid. Swimming in the ocean is a magical experience for me. I've always known there was some deep reason why. Blue Mind unpacks our obsession with being near the water. A great one for the beach.

10/ What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir by Haruki Marakami. This is a fascinating memoir from an accomplished writer about his journey to prepare for the New York Marathon and the overlap he finds between writing and running. This is a fun, introspective read that I highly recommend.

I mostly read nonfiction, but I always like to end with a fiction recommendation. So I'll recommend Severance by Ling Ma. A fascinating, sort of apocalyptic book, about a woman who continues to show up at her Manhattan publishing job even as a plague takes over the city. Not typically my style, but a great one nonetheless.

I hope you enjoy some of these.