With all the work demands and traveling that I had this year, somehow I still managed to read 19 books, which I am quite happy about. Out of these 19, 9 are fictions, and are coincidentally all 19-20th century European novels. Someone I met online said he only reads nonfictions because he “likes to learn things”, it seems to imply that fictions are not for learning. I recall that when I was in my early 20s I also did not care for fictions, and thought that physics is the best thing one could learn. Now that I’m older and have read more fictions, I see it as a way to pierce into the souls of different people, real or imaginary, and learn about all kinds of life experiences vicariously through them. Without further ado, below are the books in chronological order with some accompanying notes and comments from me.
1.Persuasion – Jane Austen
Having read another book by Jane Austen before, I already know what to expect from her. This one follows a similar plot. A young, smart woman meets a young man; the young man entertains some other suitors but picks the woman in the end because she’s smarter than the rest. While it is fun to follow the inner thoughts of the young woman throughout the book, the plot is too predictable thus makes it less interesting.
2.Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Compared to Jane Austen, this one is so much more gripping and invoked stronger feelings in me. Most of the plot involves a lot of sadness and suffering, which can be heart wrenching to read, but the love between Cathy and Heathcliff holds the whole book together. When Cathy died halfway through I could not imagine how the book could continue, but it did and it continued to engage me. After I finished the book I already watched a movie which further helped me visualize the whole story.
3.Siddhartha – Hermann Hesse
I’ve known this book for a few years and I am glad that I finally got to it. It is a very short book, could be finished in a couple of days, but there is so much wisdom packed into it. Siddhartha and his friend both set out to obtain true wisdom, his friend stayed in the temple all his life, while Siddhartha went out to the real world to experience and suffer, in the end it was him who became enlightened. My takeaway is that, one can read all the books in the world to learn how the world works and obtain knowledge, but the better way to learn is to get your hands dirty and experience life, forge our own paths and learn from our own lessons, it is much more meaningful.
4.A Random Walk Down Wall Street – Burton Malkiel
I listened to a talk by a Columbia Business School professor, he mentioned that this was the book that got into interested in business/finance when he was young, so I thought I should check it out. I really enjoyed Malkiel’s writing, his touches of humor here and there made the otherwise dry topic slightly more entertaining. He went through the history of investing, the different methods, the delusional charters (the way he talked about them was very funny), etc. But I think the key takeaway is that, for the average person like you and me, the best investment strategy would be to “buy and hold”.
5.Israel and the Arabs – Bregman & El-Tahri
It is hard to believe but until January of 2022 I had not yet heard of Gaza. I am glad to have met my half-Palestinian friend who told me all about the tragic situations there. Reading this book helped me understand the historical context of the conflict, which I found fascinating. In October of this year, the conflict has reached an all time high, and I am glad that this book equipped me with a little bit of knowledge to understand the situation. I hope to read more on this topic in the coming years.
6.Entrepreneurial Strategy – Gans, Scott, Stern
This textbook is recommended reading for a class at the Columbia Business School I was taking. It is very academic, it could potentially be a useful book for entrepreneurs out there, but I also think that it might just be for academics who do research in the area.
7.The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco
This book is a fascinating murder mystery set in the Middle Ages, and I thoroughly enjoyed Umberto’s vast knowledge of that era, which really made it stand out from the rest of the books, and left a deep impression for me. Following the murders and the clues was so much fun, and I particularly enjoyed learning about all the rooms and riddles in the Abbey library. Shortly after reading this book I was traveling to Austria, and I planned on visiting the Melk Abbey, which is where the story of the book supposedly took place. But I did some research and realized that the Melk Abbey in real life doesn’t have much to do with the novel, so I didn’t end up going.
8.The Art of Loving – Erich Fromm
This is one of the staple books when it comes to love and relationships. Fromm emphasize that loving someone means work, it needs continuous attention and work to make a relationship last.
9.The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Ben Horowitz
A professor at Columbia Business School gifted us this book when we finished his class back in 2021, I can’t believe that I only read it now, it is such a good book for all entrepreneurs. One thing that I learned that’s very comforting is that he talked about a few “near death experiences” that his companies suffered. It is very easily for us to look at some successful entrepreneur and think that their journey must have been full of successes, but even the most successful ones had to face some major challenges along the way. He also talked about the fact that everyone fails, but the successful ones are the ones who picks up from where they fall and try and persevere.
10.The Holy Sinner – Thomas Mann
I don’t know much about Mann, except that he’s a contemporary of Hesse, and I feel like I should also check him out since I enjoy Hesse so much. I am glad that I gave him a chance. This book is fun to read, even though there are so many sins committed throughout, more and more sins kept pilling up, but somehow the story takes a colossal turn and leads to a happy ending for everyone. I will read more of Mann next year.
11.Research to Revenue – Rose & Patterson
Columbia Tech Ventures sent me a bundle of books on entrepreneurship including this and the next one, I am very grateful. Because I have attended a lot of classes and seminars on entrepreneurship already, there isn’t much new that I learned from reading this book. Although it is a good resource to have as reference.
12.Secrets of Sand Hill Road – Scott Kupor
This book provides a good understanding of how VC firms work for entrepreneurs. However, having read Venture Deals last year, I find this to be an inferior attempt to discuss the same topic.
13.Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship – Goethe
Having read last year Augie March, which is of the Bildungsroman genre, I feel like I should read the book that is considered the birth of this genre. Also, having read Goethe’s Young Werther some years ago, I knew that there would be some similarities here. This book is much longer with a lot more details. There is a lot of details about the theater and Shakespeare, which I don’t care for too much. But overall I enjoyed reading about Wilhelm’s growth and experiences, and I liked how the ending tied everything together.
14.The Gallic Wars – Julius Caesar
This is one of the books that I picked up in Berkeley last year, I find the book hard to read, perhaps partially due to all the foreign sounding names of the places and people. The writing is very clinical and fact based, described with minimal emotions.
15.The Chinese Secret Service – Roger Faligot
I randomly came across this book while browsing in the Strand book store downtown, it unfolds a lot of the secret activities in China from the 20s to the 70s. I found it fascinating to learn the aspects of Chinese history that was previously unaccessible to me. Also it is not surprising to learn about how government officials win and lose favors from the leader sometimes for very trivial reasons, but still I find it riveting.
16.The Bride of Lammermoor – Sir Walter Scott
I first bought this book a few years ago when Lucia di Lammermoor was playing at the Met Opera. I wanted to read it before viewing it, but somehow ever got around to it until now. I have heard high praises for Scott, but I didn’t find this book particularly impressive, especially when compared to the likes of Fortunata, which is the last one on this list. Perhaps I should read other books of his?
17.The Art of War – Sun Zi
I have heard of all the principles covered in this book during my years growing up in China, but it isn’t until now that I read this book cover to cover. I am very proud of the military genius of ancient Chinese scholars. I read part of it in parallel with the aforementioned Gallic Wars, it was cool to read the theory and the practice of war together.
18.Venus in Furs – Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
I first came across a French movie with the same name, then I had to seek out this book. It is considered the first famous book on Masochism. While at first I was worried that it might be too vulgar, I was surprised by the psychological complexity that it encompasses; the gender role and the dynamics of this book is also very thought provoking.
19.Fortunata and Jacinta – Benito Perez Galdós
This is undoubtedly my favorite book of this year! I came across this author by serendipity, Because I am going to Gran Canaria in mid- January of 2024, I was searching culture things to do, then I learned that Galdos was a writer from there, and this book in particular is considered his masterpiece. I ordered it in early December, seeing that it’s over 800 pages, I thought that I could probably read the first volume before my trip. I was so griped by it once I started reading, that I finished everything in less than 3 weeks, before the new year! Galdos’ writing was so fluid and eloquent, it describes all the characters and their emotions and the socioeconomic setting so well, that I felt I was transported into late 19th century Madrid. He was a very prolific writer but sadly once a few of his works has been translated into English. I will be sure to hunt them down, and read the original Spanish versions if I have to.
Side note, while I was researching these European authors, apparently both Sacher-Masoch and Galdos were influenced by, and tried to follow Honore Balzac’s Comedy Humaine. Balzac is a French writer who wrote massive volumes of books that emphasized various themes of human nature, and he was also an admirer of Sir Walter Scott! I will surely have to read his works in 2024.
The Logical Offering 