4 Books To Read This Month

23 July 2022

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As if Your Life Depends on It by Chris Voss

Chris Voss is a former FBI top hostage negotiator who goes through all of the best negotiation tips he has acquired throughout his career. It is a book that is both capturing and useful as he details anecdotes of his life where he used these methods in his own occupation (e.g. hostage situations) but he also demonstrates examples of how former students of his have managed to use these techniques to award themselves with e.g. pay raises or promotions. I have also found it to be inspiring as he too allows himself to work through his and the FBI's mistakes in judgments when it came to negotiation techniques. Throughout the analysis you learn how to differentiate to a greater extent what it is that you have to pursue in a negotiation and what you have to avoid.

It is a book which I highly recommmend everyone reads at least once in their lifetime but find that it is a read which must be done thoroughly more than once.

Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson

As the title conveys Why Nation's Fail is a book which details the reasons why nations since the beginning of history have either failed or succeeded. It through deep examination of factors including but not limited to political, economic, and geographical factors that Acemoglu and Robinson analyze how different countries, societies or areas have ended up in their state. It talks about countries in modern times such as North Korea or the United States but it also talks about countries in ancient times before modern civilization such as the Americas right when Christopher Columbus invaded.

It is a truly remarkable book which I believe was my best read of 2022 so far.

21 Lessons For the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

Harari takes on the challenge to address the 21st century throughout this book to answer the unanswered questions about pressing issues such as big data and how it might impact our lives in the near future, how our senses might be out of date and how that might impact our lives etc. Harari being a historian brings in historical evidence to prove points and address current affairs to provide evidence for possible current disasters and to mirror modern events.

It is a read which really immerses yourself into thought, pondering on subjects which you would have never questioned.

Factfulness by Hans Rosling (In collaboration with Ana and Ola Rosling)

This book is a necessary read. It shows you how to properly read facts and how to accurately focus on the facts that are genuinely important. Data can be misleading, Hans Rosling throughout Factfulness portrays through factual evidence how the world is actually doing much better that we are being misinformed into believing into it is. It brings a new vision of how to understand the world through a new depiction of developed or developing countries which the Roslings call them tiers 1 through 4 which are a much better representation of the world we live in. It is through these tiers and through the descriptive analysis from beginning to end of the book that you will learn to understand how the world has actually and is developing.

(Bill Gates has actually said it is one of the most educational books he has ever read).