The Best Books I Read in 2013
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The Best Books I Read in 2013
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Re: The Best Books I Read in 2013
#2At least no Malcolm Gladwell. Bill Gates the voice of sanity - who woulda thunk it.
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2013
#3At least no Malcolm Gladwell. Bill Gates the voice of sanity - who woulda thunk it.
After the Microsoft years he has proven to be a brilliant individual with a genuine interest I. Using his fame and fortune (and everything that goes with it) to try to improve the world.
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2013
#4Top comment on the blog post.
"Bill, you are really inspiring me to increase my concern for the critical issues of economy and technology. You are a gift to the world. thank u."
Wow, Gates has really cleaned up his public perception.
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2013
#5[deleted]
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2013
#6"But I read mostly nonfiction because I always want to learn more about how the world works."
Boy oh boy, if I had a quarter every time I heard that probably I could get a tall Starbucks latte. Many, many people are under the assumption that fiction is stuff that somebody made up and hence useless while non-fiction gives you information about the world; so if you're a busy person, read non-fiction (it's of, course debatable if such a neat classification even can be done). What these people do not realize is that great fiction can provide more information about the world, humanity in general, and what's even more important, yourself, then you can ever glimpse by reading another Gladwell book.
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2013
#7"But I read mostly nonfiction because I always want to learn more about how the world works." Boy oh boy, if I had a quarter every time I heard that probably I could get a tall Starbucks latte. Many, many people are under the assumption that fiction is stuff that somebody made up and hence useless while non-fiction gives you information about the world; so if you're a busy person, read non-fiction (it's of, course de…
Still, fiction is fiction.
It's like all those questions : would you rather do this, or live all your life with this. They are fun, but they are useless as they never happened. There is no point thinking about them besides playing with your imagination.
Fiction is the same to me, yes it came from a real context, but it's still a work of fiction and doesn't teach you anything about real life.
e.g. Are you gonna learn about dating by reading romantic novels or real life stories?
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2013
#8I find lists like this and Sivers.org/book very useful for finding new reading material, some good ones I've read this year (in no particular order);
Who owns the future - Jaron Lanier
Canoeing the Congo - Phil Harwood
Margaret Thatcher - The Authorized Biography
Venture Deals - Brad Feld / Jason Mendelson
1000 Ultimate Experiences - Lonely Planet
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2013
#9"But I read mostly nonfiction because I always want to learn more about how the world works." Boy oh boy, if I had a quarter every time I heard that probably I could get a tall Starbucks latte. Many, many people are under the assumption that fiction is stuff that somebody made up and hence useless while non-fiction gives you information about the world; so if you're a busy person, read non-fiction (it's of, course de…
My mantra:
Non-fiction teaches you about the world.
Fiction teaches you about yourself.
Re: The Best Books I Read in 2013
#10"But I read mostly nonfiction because I always want to learn more about how the world works." Boy oh boy, if I had a quarter every time I heard that probably I could get a tall Starbucks latte. Many, many people are under the assumption that fiction is stuff that somebody made up and hence useless while non-fiction gives you information about the world; so if you're a busy person, read non-fiction (it's of, course de…
Still, fiction is fiction. It's like all those questions : would you rather do this, or live all your life with this. They are fun, but they are useless as they never happened. There is no point thinking about them besides playing with your imagination. Fiction is the same to me, yes it came from a real context, but it's still a work of fiction and doesn't teach you anything about real life. e.g. Are you gonna learn…
>Fiction is the same to me, yes it came from a real context, but it's still a work of fiction and doesn't teach you anything about real life.
And what is fiction based on, if not real life? Fiction is the number one way to learn how to see the world from the point of view of a completely different person, only in fiction can you leave your own shoes. I'm pretty sure that reading fiction makes you a better person, and it's proven that reading fiction improves a person's empathy [1]. Increased empathy means that you can put yourself into other leaders' heads and guess what made them make their decisions, thereby learning how the world works.
And yes, you can learn about dating from a romance novel, except that about 99% of them are not about real life.
[1] http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/oct/08/liter...