Each quarter I post a list of what I have read with a few pithy thoughts on each. Here is the final rundown for 2021.

I curate the full list to my top-ten for the year – available here

You can find – Q1’s version, Q2’s version, Q3’s version

Strategy

• Atomic Habits – James Clear – I have read the vast majority of the ‘habit’ books out – there is a reason why this one is so popular. James Clear does an excellent job of blending theoretical and pragmatic. It is easy to read and highly actionable. Gave a copy to my wife, who does not read a lot of nonfiction, and she enjoyed it too.
• Upstream – Dan Heath – Great concept, not sure this needed a whole book.
• Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life – Luke Burgis – Same here.

Wealth

• Finding Her Voice and Creating a Legacy by Amy Hart Clyne and Dennis Jaffe – Interesting research on UHWN women
• The Family Office: A Comprehensive Guide by William Woodson and Edward Marshall – This was interesting and comprehensive look at family office operations. The use of a single hypothetical case study adds narrative and realism and keeps the book from being dry and stuffy.

Management

• On Great Service – Leonard Berry – As you can see, I got on a bit of a Leonard Berry rabbit trail. Berry, a professor at Texas A&M, has written a ton about service businesses. The Mayo Clinic book may be my favorite of the ones I have read, but all are worth a think over.
• Management Lessons from The Mayo Clinic – Leonard Berry
• Discovering the Soul of Service – Leonard Berry
• Uncommon Service – Frances Frei and Anne Moriss – Some additional helpful insights here – especially on the importance of customer management / training.
• The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups. – This was great – “Culture is not something you are—it’s something you do. The Culture Code puts the power in your hands. No matter the size of your group or your goal, this book can teach you the principles of cultural chemistry that transform individuals into teams that can accomplish amazing things together.”

Investing

• The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources by Bias and Farchy – This was fascinating about a piece of the capital markets that has spent far too long in the dark.
• Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction by Philip Fetlock – Thoughtful look at a reasonable way to consider things in the future – highly research and data driven

Misc

• Brad Thor’s Lions of Lucerne, Path of the Assassin, State of the Union, Blowback, Take Down, and The First Commandment – I don’t read a lot of non-fiction that said – a hat tip to Bill H for highlighting Thor’s Scott Harvath series. Each is fairly short, with a high action plot line that is super entertaining. My guess is that these will start being produced into films in the not too distant future.
• CS Lewis – Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – I’ve only read Wardrobe, and realized I had been remiss in not reading the whole Narnia series. It takes a truly masterful author to write a children’s book that is well crafted for adults. Authors like EB White immediately come to mind in this category, but Lewis is at another level. The creation scene of Narnia in Magician’s Nephew is some of the most powerful, beautiful writing I have encountered.