On Sunday, I published a list of my favorite podcasts of the decade. Podcasts are a huge part of my entertainment “diet,” but another one that has become just as big is reading. In 2019, I read 69 books. In a noisy world, reading has become my go-to activity to quiet my brain. For my last post of the decade, I wanted to give you my favorite books of the year. Whether you read on Apple Books, Kindle, Audible, or even paperback, I think you’ll enjoy these books.
The Martian
The Martian has become a yearly re-read for me. It started as a book being published by blog, but then the author packaged it up as a Kindle book, and it took off. It was even made into a movie a few years back.
Buy it on Apple Books, Kindle, or Audible.
Ready Player One
Ready Player One came out in 2011, but I didn’t read it until 2016. It was one of the first books I read part of it, and I also listened to it while cutting the grass. It also was made into a movie, but the book is much better. It’s a book those that grew up playing video games will love.
Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader
Steve Jobs dying affected me more than I would have ever imagined. While the “official” biography left much to be desired for Apple fans, in 2016, Apple fans got the book they deserved. Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader seemed to come out of nowhere with its 2015 announcement. Apple even participated in the book from a sense of responsibility to Steve. In my opinion, it’s the best book ever written about Steve Jobs.
Drawing on incredible and sometimes exclusive access, Schlender and Tetzeli tell a different story of a real human being who wrestled with his failings and learned to maximize his strengths over time. Their rich, compelling narrative is filled with stories never told before from the people who knew Jobs best and who decided to open up to the authors, including his family, former inner circle executives, and top people at Apple, Pixar, and Disney. In addition Brent knew Jobs personally for 25 years and drew upon his many interviews with him, on and off the record, in writing the book. He and Rick humanize the man and explain, rather than simply describe, his behavior. Along the way the book provides rich context about the technology revolution we all have lived through and the ways in which Jobs changed our world.
11/22/63
11/22/63 was the first Stephen King book I read. The premise is fascinating. What if you could go back in time to prevent something terrible from happening? That is precisely what Jake Epping has the opportunity to do. He travels back to 1963 to prevent the assassination of JFK. It was even turned into a mini-series on Hulu.
It begins with Jake Epping, a 35-year-old English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching GED classes. He asks his students to write about an event that changed their lives, and one essay blows him away: a gruesome, harrowing story about the night more than 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a sledgehammer. Reading the essay is a watershed moment for Jake, his life – like Harry’s, like America’s in 1963 – turning on a dime.
Not much later his friend Al, who owns the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to the past, a particular day in 1958. And Al enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession – to prevent the Kennedy assassination.
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
If you only read one book on this list, I will recommend you pickup Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. It’s at the top of my list of favorite books of the decade on Apple Books. Coming into the book, I hadn’t read much about it, so I was shocked as I learned more about what happened. The rise and fall of Theranos will go down as one of the biggest business frauds of all time.
When I started it, I couldn’t put it down and finished it over a weekend. If you’re a little low on cash from Christmas, check out the podcast version called The Dropout.
Wrap-up on favorite books of the decade on Apple Books
A lot of great books have been published this decade. What’s on your list for favorite books of the decade on Apple Books? I’d love to chat about it in the comments. Where do you like to read? Apple Books, Kindle, Audible, or paperback?
