The stash of listens that I had accumulated through the year (all books can be found on Audible, I use the UK service):
AUTH: Jenny Lawson, NARR: Jenny Lawson
RT: 8h 28m | ST: Dec-22 | END: 18-Mar-23
2. SAPIENS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND
AUTH: Yuval Noah Harari, NARR: Derek Perkins
RT: 15h 18m | ST: 18-Mar-23 | END: 22-Apr-23
3. THE BOMBER MAFIA
AUTH: Malcolm Gladwell, NARR: Malcolm Gladwell
RT: 5h 14m | ST: 22-Apr-23 | END: 8-May-23
AUTH: Malcolm Gladwell, NARR: Malcolm Gladwell
RT: 8h 42m | ST: 8-May-23 | END: 25-May-23
AUTH: Ward Farnsworth, NARR: John Lescault
RT: 9h 57m | ST: 25-May-23 | END: 22-Jun-23
AUTH: Rutger Bregman, NARR: R.Bregman, Thomas Judd
RT: 11h 36m | ST: 23-Jun-23 | END: 12-Jul-23
7. STORM IN A TEACUP: THE PHYSICS OF EVERYDAY LIFE
AUTH: Helen Czerski, NARR: Chloe Massey
RT: 10h 41m | ST: 13-Jul-23 | END: 3-Oct-23
8. BLINK: THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT THINKING
AUTH: Malcolm Gladwell, NARR: Malcolm Gladwell
RT: 7h 43m | ST: 4-Oct-23 | END: 17-Oct-23
9. OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS
AUTH: Malcolm Gladwell, NARR: Malcolm Gladwell
RT: 7h 18m | ST: 17-Oct-23 | END: 15-Nov-23
10. THE TIPPING POINT
AUTH: Malcolm Gladwell, NARR: Malcolm Gladwell
MY VERY OWN EPILOGUE:
I started the year with Furiously Happy, which came highly recommended. It sounded like a hoot - a lady who had mental health issues AND wasn't afraid to talk about it and laugh at her own absurdities. Let's just say that this is a book that is probably better read that listened to.
RT: 11h 36m | ST: 23-Jun-23 | END: 12-Jul-23
AUTH: Helen Czerski, NARR: Chloe Massey
RT: 10h 41m | ST: 13-Jul-23 | END: 3-Oct-23
8. BLINK: THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT THINKING
AUTH: Malcolm Gladwell, NARR: Malcolm Gladwell
RT: 7h 43m | ST: 4-Oct-23 | END: 17-Oct-23
9. OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS
AUTH: Malcolm Gladwell, NARR: Malcolm Gladwell
RT: 7h 18m | ST: 17-Oct-23 | END: 15-Nov-23
AUTH: Malcolm Gladwell, NARR: Malcolm Gladwell
RT: 8h 34m | ST: 16-Nov-23 | END: 5-Dec-23
I started the year with Furiously Happy, which came highly recommended. It sounded like a hoot - a lady who had mental health issues AND wasn't afraid to talk about it and laugh at her own absurdities. Let's just say that this is a book that is probably better read that listened to.
Continuing along the philosophical lines, I also did The Practicing Stoic - stoicism is not as negative as a philosophy than the word generally implies. I am inherently stoic by nature but as the philosphy teaches, it is not a journey with an end because a practicing stoic continually aspires to a higher zen-like state of being.
Then, I decided to finally bite the bullet and do Sapiens, followed by its counterpart, Humankind. Honestly, doing these two back to back will either (1) give a reader whiplash, (2) leave them sublimely optimistic or clinically depressed, depending on the order in which both are read, or (3) be really noisy because these two books literally try to out-theorize each other almost point for point. Sapiens is a stark and depressing indictment of people as a race, while Humankind tries to look at that same race through rose-tinted glasses. I am a pessimist and/or a realist, hence i gravitate towards the terrifying study of Humankind.
The odd one out in this list was Storm In A Teacup which was a fun break after Sapiens vs Humankind to learn about physics and how it affects our everyday lives.
The rest of the year was dedicated to almost all the major books that Malcolm Gladwell has written on socio-psychology. I loved every one of the five books - suffice to say that the only difference between Gladwell and I is that he has wayyy more academic knowledge and all the right words to describe what we are both already thinking.
Overall haul of 10 titles (96.5 hours of runtime) done. To be fair, I spent quite a fair bit rewinding many portions of Gladwell's books because i found certain points fascinating and wanted to make sure I understood it well enough to intelligibly regurgitate as anecdotes.
Then, I decided to finally bite the bullet and do Sapiens, followed by its counterpart, Humankind. Honestly, doing these two back to back will either (1) give a reader whiplash, (2) leave them sublimely optimistic or clinically depressed, depending on the order in which both are read, or (3) be really noisy because these two books literally try to out-theorize each other almost point for point. Sapiens is a stark and depressing indictment of people as a race, while Humankind tries to look at that same race through rose-tinted glasses. I am a pessimist and/or a realist, hence i gravitate towards the terrifying study of Humankind.
The odd one out in this list was Storm In A Teacup which was a fun break after Sapiens vs Humankind to learn about physics and how it affects our everyday lives.
The rest of the year was dedicated to almost all the major books that Malcolm Gladwell has written on socio-psychology. I loved every one of the five books - suffice to say that the only difference between Gladwell and I is that he has wayyy more academic knowledge and all the right words to describe what we are both already thinking.
Overall haul of 10 titles (96.5 hours of runtime) done. To be fair, I spent quite a fair bit rewinding many portions of Gladwell's books because i found certain points fascinating and wanted to make sure I understood it well enough to intelligibly regurgitate as anecdotes.
I have decided to start every year with a Booker or Pulitzer winner from the previous year. Hence, 2024 will begin with Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, followed by a final audiobook from Malcolm Gladwell for me to complete, David vs. Goliath.
No comments:
Post a Comment