I’ve never been big on making New Year’s resolutions and I see no reason to change for 2021. What I have usually done is make a list of books I want to read in the new year. For me it’s a form of New Year’s resolution. Here are some of the non-fiction books that are on my list for this year. Some of these I’ve already read and I feel the need to reread as I recuperate from an emotionally exhausting 2020. Others are books that are new to me.
“Designing Your Life” by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. The tagline under the title says, “How to build a well-lived and joyful life”. Sounds like something I want! This is the sort of book that you work through by doing the exercises, and then work through again and again to ensure that your life continues to be well-lived and joyful. There are many nuggets of advice and wisdom scattered throughout this book; a couple of my favorites are:
- “Your life is not a thing, it’s an experience; the fun comes from designing and enjoying the experience.”
- “It’s never too late to design a life you love.”
Reassuring words, especially as I look forward to 2021.
“Better” by Atul Gawande. I have read this book a few times over the last few years and I learn something new with each reread. His suggestions for concrete actions to take in order to become a “positive deviant” give me something to actually DO during these tumultuous times. Here are Gawande’s five suggestions for becoming a positive deviant:
- Ask an unscripted question
- Don’t complain
- Count something
- Write something
- Change
Even though I’m not a physician, I can think of myriad ways to incorporate these suggestions into my job and life.
I have always enjoyed reading books by Paul Farmer so his newest book, “Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds”, is on my list. In this book Farmer blends medical history and anthropology to describe the origins of the 2014 Ebola epidemic which also has useful lessons for life during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I love a good spy story so I’m looking forward to reading “Agent Sonya” by Ben Macintyre. This book tells the true story of one of the most important female spies in history. Her real name is Ursula Kuczynski and during World War II she was living in England with her husband and children and working as a machinist. She was really a high-ranking Soviet intelligence officer responsible for managing agents across Europe with the goal of gathering the scientific secrets that would enable the Soviet Union to build a nuclear bomb.
Lest I forget some of the hard lessons of 2020, I plan to reread “Plagues and Peoples” by William McNeill. This book, originally published in the 1970’s, traces how infectious disease has impacted and altered human history.
That should give me enough to think about for the first few months of the year. And I have another list of fiction books that I intend to plow through!