Books in Review - 2018

Back in 2017, one of my personal goal for the year was to read more books. In 2017, I managed to read 25 books. For a complete list of books that I read in 2017, it can be found on Books in Review - 2017. I tried to keep it up in 2018. In 2018, I was able to read 25 books as well. There were a lot of good books to read.

The Complete List

Below are the complete list of books that I've read in 2018:

1. I'll Give You the Sun. Jandy Nelson. Dial Books. Fiction. 386 pages.
2. How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking. Jordan Ellenberg. Penguin Books. Mathematics. 466 pages.
3. Men Without Women: Stories. Haruki Murakami. Vintage. Fiction. 242 pages.
4. Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time. Susan Scott. Berkley. Communication. 365 pages.
5. Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World. William H. McRaven. Grand Central Publishing. Self-Help. 125 pages.
6. Pocket Prayers: 40 Simple Prayers that Bring Peace and Rest. Max Lucado. Thomas Nelson. Religion. 63 pages.
7. Paper Boats. Dee Lestari. AmazonCrossing. Fiction. 400 pages.
8. Horrible Histories Special: Twentieth Century. Terry Deary, Philip Reeve. Scholastic Non-Fiction. History. 176 pages.
9. 1st to Die (Women's Murder Club). James Patterson. Little, Brown and Company. Fiction. 488 pages.
10. The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon . Brad Stone. Little, Brown and Company. Business & Money. 386 pages.
11. Hagakure: The Secret Wisdom of the Samurai. Yamamoto Tsunetomo. Tuttle Publishing. History. 288 pages.
12. Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration. Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace. Random House. Business & Money. 368 pages.
13. Rich People Problems. Kevin Kwan. Anchor. Fiction. 418 pages.
14. Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are. Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. Dey Street Books. Big Data. 357 pages.
15. The Magnolia Story. Chip Gaines, Joanna Gaines, Mark Dagostino. Thomas Nelson. Biographies. 189 pages.
16. Crazy Rich Asians. Kevin Kwan. Anchor. Fiction. 546 pages
17. Ready Player One. Ernest Cline. Broadway Books. Fiction. 386 pages.
18. China Rich Girlfriend. Kevin Kwan. Anchor. Fiction. 394 pages.
19. Daemon. Daniel Suarez. Dutton. Fiction. 489 pages.
20. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay. J. K. Rowling. Pottermore Publishing. Fiction. 304 pages.
21. No Middle Name: The Complete Collected Jack Reacher Short Stories. Lee Child. Dell. Fiction. 476 pages.
22. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. J. K. Rowling. Pottermore Publishing. Fiction. 357 pages.
23. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. J. K. Rowling. Pottermore Publishing. Fiction. 475 pages.
24. The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help. Amanda Palmer. Grand Central Publishing. Biographies. 342 pages.
25. Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One. Jenny Blake. Portfolio. Business & Money. 283 pages.

Fave Five

There are a lot of good books that I read in 2017, below are top 5 books:

• Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World. William H. McRaven. Grand Central Publishing. Self-Help. 125 pages. - This book is based on University of Texas Austin 2014 commencement speech by Admiral William H. McRaven. You can watch the speech here. Admiral William H. McRaven is a former Navy SEAL Commander. In in his book (and in his commencement speech), he gave 10 life lessons from his experience during Navy SEAL basic training. We can use these 10 lessons to change our life and possibly the world.
• Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration. Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace. Random House. Business & Money. 368 pages. - Ed Catmull is one of the founders of Pixar. I love watching most of Pixar's movies and shorts. It's amazing that Pixar has been able to constantly deliver successful movies, such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Cars and The Incredibles. The book gives a lot of insights on Ed Catmull's thoughts and wisdom in managing creative company, Pixar cultures and some events that occurred, such as Steve Jobs interaction with Ed Catmull and Pixar and also changes that happened after Disney acquired Pixar. It was interesting to read how Ed Catmull try to preserve Pixar's culture and change Disney animation's cultures. The book contains a wealth of information for leaders, not only for leaders in creative industry, but also for leaders in other industries as well.
• Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are. Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. Dey Street Books. Big Data. 357 pages. - If you like to read Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, you will most likely enjoy reading this book. Similar to Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics, this book tries to make sense (meaningful information) from data collected. It is interesting to learn that people lies on surveys (even anonymous surveys) and, not surprising, people turn to Google/ Internet search for answers. It is fascinating to know that you can actually learn a lot of things from people's Google search terms and suggestions.
• The Magnolia Story. Chip Gaines, Joanna Gaines, Mark Dagostino. Thomas Nelson. Biographies. 189 pages. - Chip and Joanna Gaines are husband and wife who starred on HGTV's Fixer Upper show. I love watching the Fixer Upper. The show was about finding houses with potential. Chip and Joanna Gaines would remodelled those houses into dream homes for their clients. The book would tells their story. How Chip and Joanna met each other. How they got that unexpected call from HGTV to do the Fixer Upper show. How they are different from each other but complete each other. The book would also document their struggles and success. I enjoyed reading the book. It was entertaining and also inspiring.
• Crazy Rich Asians. Kevin Kwan. Anchor. Fiction. 546 pages - The main characters in the novels are Nick Young and Rachel Chu. Both of them are NYU professors and they are in love with each other. Nick is from Singapore, while Rachel is from California. Nick decided to take Rachel to Singapore to meet his family. Unbeknownst to Rachel, Nick came from ultra rich family. The novel has almost everything, from romance, drama to humor. The novel was fun to read. The novel is part of a trilogy. After this novel, we have China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems.