2 to 3 minutes to read
#1: Daring to Hope by Katie Davis Majors
This year, I met a special woman, and it was pretty earth-shattering for me. It was in April, and my life has never been the same. This was her favorite book! It was a joy reading it and an honor as well since I got to read her copy with its annotations. Something I’ve always loved about my (now) wife Nana is her tenderness and heart for the marginalized and suffering. This book follows the themes richly, and I highly recommend it.
#2: The Great CEO Within by Matt Mochary
Much better than the title. I read this book as I was entering unagiscooters.com and learning through my first less-intern-y experience at a venture-backed tech startup. It was a chaotic rollercoaster, with ample opportunity for learning on the deep end. Zack Wynegar recommended this book highly upon my entry, and I thoroughly enjoyed its conciseness and practical startup wisdom. There are countless books in the categories of productivity/success/management that are not worth reading. This is certainly in the camp of the must-reads.
#3: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Solzhenitsyn. What more do I need to say? This is one of those books that I consider it an almost moral responsibility to read for anyone living in the post WW2 era. Compelling fiction. I fully intend to read the Gulag Archipelago in due time...The Brothers Karamazov...but it’s a journey to be sure. One Day...Ivan Denisovich is a much lower commitment to get started that I highly recommend to most.
#4: Super Pumped - The Battle for Uber by Mike Isaac
A bit long, but this was one of the most major stories of both Silicon Valley and 2010’s world events to internalize. I did enjoy Mike Isaac’s work. Of course, it does paint caricatures with mass-appeal shock value. What can you expect from a journalist going for a NYT bestseller? So unfortunately I recommend it a bit less to those outside the industry.
#5: Explaining Postmodernism by Stephen Hicks
It was very interesting to hear someone who is not a Christian critique postmodernism and the Zeitgeists of modernity, evaluating the sequencing that brought us to this point. Good summary of philosophical history. I intend to reread on the account of its quality (not just because I fell off at the end and only had so much background in philosophy to that point!)
Honorable Mention 1 of 1: Superheroes Can’t Save You by Dr. Todd Miles
Fresh, creative, (extremely) approachable and about the often-overlooked subject of historical affronts to orthodoxy (it’s too bad the term’s meaning is so lost today). He makes it matters very un-boring and applies it to life through the creative illustrations of superheroes.
Others Of Note in 2020
- Nine Marks of a Healthy Church - Dever
- Very Famous Book on Preaching by Haddon Robinson
- The Sensation Best-Seller The 5 Love Languages - It was just alright, as expected.
- Also Sensational Best-Seller: The Dave Ramsey Classic - I didn’t personally gain much from it.
What Happened in 2020?
For simplicity, this iteration is 2020 + some of senior year of college. I met an incredible woman in April and distance dated. COVID. Graduated with a degree in Computer Science. Got a job at unagiscooters.com in Product/Marketing/Growth. Moved to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Previous years list → 2019
Next years list → 2021