2020 Book Review

2020 has been my year for rediscovering books (listening to books, I don't actually have time to sit down and read one, and the act of doing so triggers my already very powerful sleep mechanism so it doesn't work for me, I have however trained myself to listen while I run, do housework or something else.)

My top 3 in order have to be:

1. Happy - Derren Brown

Happy, this book spoke to me in my own language and helped articulate feelings I always thought were true anyway and which I should credit for most of the views in my blog here.

2. The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein

The Shock Doctrine. Absolutely terrifying that this book was written in 2007 when it reads like a playbook for people who believe that Covid is an opportunity to move money from the poor to the super wealthy.

3. Don't be Evil - Rana Foroohar

Don’t Be Evil. Such a well written book on how there is no such thing as a ‘free search’ online. This shows how we have allowed capitalism to become corrupted and how big tech is manipulating that to their own advantage and no one elses. Lessons we have learnt in the past such as monopolies being a distortion of capitalism that need intervention to fix. Are being ignored when it comes to the likes of Google and Facebook.

So many others came close, Homo Deus, The Story of Philosophy, The Mushroom at the End of the World and Poverty Safari being worth the mention, 10% Happier I enjoyed in the end more than I thought and a French Philosophers view on Covid was also really good in Virus in the Age of Madness, Orwells funny, touching but affectionate description of the British class system with so many parallels still today in The Road to Wigan Pier, 12 Rules for Modern Life and especially the chapter “Do not bother children when they are skate-boarding” rang very true and connected to how we are affecting our youth with this lockdown, and of course Mans Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy, no book on the experiences in a concentration camp can fail to move you, so that could easily be in the Top 3.

The whole list from 2020:

Those purchased:

And those borrowed from the excellent library App Borrow Box:

I am going to aim for at least 52 books in 2021!