2018 Reading List
I love reading books and I made a point to read a little bit every day since 2017. I’ve been using more audiobooks lately, but when I want to write down notes, I prefer to read physical copies to be able to repeat fragments easier. I’m adding little commentaries but not full reviews. I’ll probably review some books in the future. Here is a filtered list of the best books I’ve read this year so far.
Design/Business Books
Branding is the new way of advertising
Excellent book. This is one of those books where the author is really able to articulate what I’ve concluded from my short period of time as a visual communicator and art director.
In essence, traditional forms of advertising are no longer effective with younger generations and this book goes through a series of points and case studies that explain what the right branding and storytelling are able to achieve for a business. This one is a must-read not only for designers but also for business owners and entrepreneurs.
Biographies
Musk Before Tesla
I always like to know the story of creators and innovators as well as successful business people. Musk is certainly one of those. Really good insight on Musk’s origins.
Fiction
For Neil Gaiman Fans
I was not very familiar with Norse Mythology and I asked some coworkers for some good books about it and this one was strongly recommended. Loki is truly my favorite God. I really feel like these stories are all about Loki’s actions and the reaction from the other Gods to that. I love Gaiman’s work, therefore him being the narrator was the cherry on top.
I started with the wrong Book
Apparently, these books were not published in the right order. However, I’m familiar enough with the characters to get the story. The book has great characters and it’s a very easy reading. It’s great for the video game fans.
2nd Reading
This is the 3rd book of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and probably my favorite book of the series.
GoT is Dune fantasy edition
I was already familiar with Dune because of an early 2000’s adaptation of Children of Dune starring James McAvoy that I watched when I was a teenager. I found out that there was also an older TV show and I was recommended to just watch it instead of reading the book but I decided to read the book. It was good but extremely familiar. Royal families, politics, and intrigue in space with a lot of middle eastern influences. Really Good.
Science/Nonfiction
Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons from Neuroscience
Everything you knew about the brain is not quite right
It took me a bit to go through this book. Not because it was difficult to understand but because it has a lot of information. Very important information about how our brain works. Some of those myths explained in it are: Our memory is unreliable and most of us we can not remember things exactly how they happened. Having a bigger brain mass does not equal more intelligence and finally, the whole left brain is logical while the right brain is creative is false. Those are some of the myths mentioned in this book. All of these and more are explained through case studies and details on how sections of the brain work and communicate with each other. Overall, very enlightening. This is a book that needs to be read thoroughly and without distractions.
History & Philosophy
Back to Basics
I studied philosophy in Cuba but not very in depth. I decided to go back to the origins and start with Socrates. I want to give it another listen because there were some parts I didn’t get because of the language used. However, Socrates was a rebel, an agitator and truly ahead of his time.
Life-changing
I read this book at the beginning of the year and a lot of the concepts are extremely interesting. I need to read it again because I want to be able to understand it better. It’s still hard to explain for me, but a lot of the concepts about spirituality and the human condition resonates with me. It’s a very short reading but with a lot of depth.