2020 has begun, but it’s not yet time to close the books on the many titles published last year. As I have done in many previous years, I have compiled my curated list of ‘best of the year’ book lists. They cover many different genres, with an emphasis on business/management/leadership.
Among the latter titles, some in particular made multiple lists, such as Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy; Mike Isaac’s Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber; Safi Bahcall’s Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries; Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall’s Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World; and Shoshana Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power.
The winner of the coveted 2019 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award is Caroline Criado Perez’s Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men.
Even if you are a voracious reader, it’s doubtful you’ve read even a fraction of the books on the following 2019 lists:
The Atlantic: The 15 Best Books of 2019
BBC: The Best Books of the Year 2019
Bloomberg.com: The Best Books of 2019
Entrepreneur: Best Books of 2019 for Entrepreneurs
Financial Times: Best books of 2019: Business
Forbes: These Four CEOs Wrote The Best Business Books Of 2019 For Aspiring Leaders, by Carmine Gallo
Fortune: The 10 Best Business Books of 2019
The Guardian: Best Books of 2019
Library Journal: Best Books 2019
Literary Hub: The Ultimate Best Books of 2019 List
Medium Marker: The 3 Best Business Books of 2019 (According to Every Other Best-of-2019 List); by Todd Sattersten
The New York Times: The 10 Best Books of 2019
The New Yorker: The Best Books of 2019, by Katy Waldman
NPR: NPR’s Book Concierge, 2019
Publishers Weekly: Best Books 2019
Smithsonian Magazine: The Best Books of 2019
Strategy + Business: Best Business Books 2019
The Washington Post: Best Books of 2019
As in previous years, the Bloomberg.com list taps high-profile leaders for their top title, followed by a brief recommendation. For instance, Loonshots was recommended by Stephanie Cohen, Chief strategy officer, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Henry Ward CEO, Carta Inc. Super Pumped was the pick by Shan-Lyn Ma, CEO and co-founder, Zola. And Ana Botin, Executive chairman, Banco Santander SA, chose The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.
2020 will no doubt bring many more books than we’ll be able to read in one year. Congratulations in advance to all of the authors who will share their creativity with the world in the coming months!