My Books log

The intent of this page is to document all the books I have read or currently reading. 

I started keeping a log of books from 2015 however I am yet to get everything on this page. I made a promise to myself to make those updates as I go.

I expect this page will become a resource for me in the long term to keep a track record of books that made their way in my life.

My yearly reading:  I average between 20-25 books a year. However, there have been years like 2019, where my reading habit suffered. I continued using podcasts, technical papers or YouTube to advance my learnings.

Patterns of reading: Over the years, I have also noticed a shift in the subjects I have been reading. From self-help and management books, Now I see myself reading Management, Technology, Spirituality, and other subjects which offer me a stronger perspective, and very different from my past reading list.

Currently Reading:

1. My Life in full - Indira Nooyi
2. How to Write Short 
3. Striking Thoughts by Bruce lee
4. Surely you are joking, Mr. Feynman! 
5. Purple cow by Seth Godin - Audible
6. Tools of Titans - Rereading
7. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

and here are the books I finished reading listed by year

Books read in 2020 

1. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
2. The Technology Fallacy, how people are the real key to digital transformation
3. The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness 
4. Getting Things Done 
5. The Money Tree: A Story About Finding the Fortune in Your Own Backyard
6. The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life
7. The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)
8. Reasons to Stay Alive
9. What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
10. Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
11. War of Art
12. Think like Amazon

My preferred medium for reading 

The book log continues below, but a little bit about how I read. I have always been a paper-based reader from the past, however during the 2018 time frame, I tried moving to kindle. however, this did not last very long. I found the kindle to be an excellent device, with an amazing battery like and ability to carry thousands of books with me but it did not stick.
I can't get over the smell of the books and the touch and feel. Kindle also felt fairly slow when it comes to its responsiveness.
Hence, My current medium of reading is paper-based books.
Additionally, in 2019 I also took to audible and started trying the books while walking around. I have been listening to podcasts over a long time, and hence this was an easy transition too. 

Still, my 95% of reading is via paper-based books. 5% is in the form of listening the book.

re-starting my Kindle journey. I have been buying and collecting far too many books and time to re-try the digital collection! #books

— Saurabh 🇮🇳 🇺🇸 📸🌵 (@Isaurabhmittal) May 16, 2020

[UPDATE 5/18/2020] While my above claims are pretty good, I recently made a conscious effort to return to digital reading, and go back to my kindle. This is because I have started to feel that I am buying too many books and I am already running out of space to keep some. I don't want to pile them but and buy more bookshelves. Plus, I am starting to realize that all the note-taking I do on the books, I need to move to a smarter system where I can access those notes on the fly. I Will share in a post soon on how my Kindle Vs paper world reading experience is going in 2020.

Where do I buy my books?

I mostly buy my books via Amazon. It's convenient. 

Amazon has done an excellent job getting books almost every time the very next day.

I also pick books from the airport during travel.

Lastly, while in Atlanta, I used to frequently visit Half-priced books. They were excellent. I would call to check the availability of a certain book, before heading to the store. I would often get books at a good 30-60% discount.

Book Stores are amazing since they are not leading you into Digging like one would do on Amazon, but instead, lead you into exploring interesting and new books and subjects. But, largely my buying is online.

My Book log (Previous years)

Books read in 2019

1. How Smart Machines Think (The MIT Press)
2. The Technology Fallacy: How People Are the Real Key to Digital Transformation (Management on the Cutting Edge)
3. What the Digital Future Holds: 20 Groundbreaking Essays on How Technology Is Reshaping the Practice of Management (Digital Future of Management)
4. Tools and Weapons: The Promise and the Peril of the Digital Age
5. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
6. Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant
7. Granularity of growth

Books read in2018

1. Spin selling - Nail Rackham [8/16/2018] another excellent book on sales which I probably read twice on the Trott. 
2. Rework - Jason Fried [8/16/2018] one of the classic books by a guy whom I admire a lot. 
3. Spin selling field guide book [8/16/2018] I actually read the field book first, and then went to the actual spin selling book.
4. The Obstacle is the way-By Ryan Holiday
5. The effective executive- Peter Drucker

Books read in 2017

Complete list of books from 2017

1. Make your Bed: Little Things that can change your Life by William H McRaven [10/3/2017].
2. First Impressions by Ann Demarais [ 10/4/2017]
3. Happy Money by Elizabeth Dunn & Michael Norton [10/4/2017]
4. High-Profit Prospecting by Mark Hunter. [10/4/2017] Excellent practical tips on prospecting. must-read book in 2018 for a b2b sales career.
5. The Greatest Miracle in the world by O G Mandino [10/4/2017] amazingly uplifting book.

Books read during 2016 & 2015: 

Books I read in 2016 and 2015 are listed here.