Unlocked: A Great Book a Week in 2020
By: Zecca J. Lehn
Tags: Biography, Venture, Book Review, Business, Investing

Photo by Alfons Morales on Unsplash

What a whirlwind this year has been for us all. Finding sanity in this experience is unique to each person. Whatever anyone can do to make sense of it all, is valid. For me it took the form of a goal to complete 52 books by the end of the year, and to track the scores.

The books that interested me personally are in the genre of true stories in leadership / startups / VC + impact / positive psychology / history / politics / adventure. For a complete list (each rated up to 10), please see the link here.

It turns out, reading a book a week wasn’t too difficult — even at 1x. In fact, I may hit 60+ by the end of the year, as I didn’t start tracking until Feb, and finished in early Dec. A few of the books were read in the background. Maybe ten were started, but I didn’t find interesting enough to finish — those weren’t included.

Finding a book is an art, and ratings / reviews help in deciding on whether it takes time to read one. If the narrators voice is important, the preview feature on Audible is a good way to ‘get a feel’ for the book. Libby is exceptional for reading books as they are free, but if you don’t keep pace, you may have to wait for weeks to pick up again. This is okay if you read books in tandem. I like to read one at a time, and usually while doing something else that doesn’t require too much attention — hike, road trip, doing dishes, doing spreadsheets 😎.

An easy way to do this yourself, is to set up a Google Form, and make the link as an app on your phone — right upon completion, add some notes.

Here’s a quick plug for the top books (10/10):

The Undoing Project — by Michael Lewis

Rated this one high, largely because I love all of Michael Lewis’ books — Liar’s Poker, The New New Thing, The Big Short, etc. This book, in classic Lewis style, is told with an advanced view into the personalities and personal histories of two original thinkers, and Behavioral Economists: Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. It tracks their discovery of human bias, and is such an excellent character study.

Billion Dollar Whale — by Tom Wright & Bradley Hope

A true story about scam artists, on a scale never before seen. An incredible study of human greed, and gullibility. This book highlights such incredible research, digging into the backstory, transactional history, and a sense of concern for the perils of finance.

Educated — Tara Westover

Absolutely loved this book by Tara Westover, about a rural family with an abusive father suffering from Bipolar disorder, coupled with isolated ideas of grandeur. It’s a transformational true tale of the power of education, and how important mentors can be in discovering latent potential. The author goes from living in isolation, to reach the international academic stage — and is such an inspiration and hope for humanity.

The Moment of Lift — Melinda Gates

This book was incredibly inspirational from the standpoint of vision. Mrs. Gates writes from the heart of her true experience. It’s filled with inspiring stories, studies, and insights for impact. The linkages to social positives tying into community and sustainability particularly wonderful. Was particularly moved by the non-obvious link between family planning and infant mortality. There is so much compassion and inspiration in this book.

Who is Michael Ovitz — Michael Ovitz

An excellent autobiography by a titan of Hollywood, and one of the Founders of CAA. The book reveals the complexity of deal making, and the history of each person in such a powerful way. There are so many layers of business wisdom in this book, which can only be gleaned by completely absorbing it.

Utopia for Realists — Roger Bregman

The cover and name of this one speaks for itself! So well researched and interesting — from the standpoint of social impact and policy.

Finite and Infinite Games — James P. Carse

Picked this philosophy-meets-game theory, and social psychology book up after reading Simon Sinek’s book The Infinate Game. Although not as punchy as Sinek’s book, it deserves more recognition for it’s originality and uniqueness. Something we could all use a bit more of these days, if I don’t mind saying so.

Lifespan — Why We Age, and Why We Don’t Have To — David A Sinclair, PhD

This is one of the most important books one can read, imo. It’s co-authored over months as David leads his longevity research lab, with findings, at Harvard. Some of the science was over my head. However, the raw ethical sharing of information and discovery here is likely unmatched in any other scientific book written. If you read this post 1000yrs from now, you can buy me a beer.