Yearly Retrospective: My 2020 Reading List

Looking back at 2020 I see that most of the books that I’ve read were part of the fantasy genre. I am always listening to my inner voice and apparently I needed to experience something magical and supernatural. As I child I never liked fantasy novels. But hey, here we are, Covid-19, staying home, time for something on the spur of the moment.. something new!

This was one of those moments, the impulse to go on adventure with a good fantasy story, and read something inspirational, to check your inner self and be ready to find a different version of it into a fictional character.

📚 “The way of kings” — Brandon Sanderson

This is the best fantasy novel I’ve read so far! Brandon Sanderson’s writing is so accessible and the composition isn’t mediocre either. The storytelling and the characters are so real, relatable, and with captivating dialogs. There are so many engaging moments in the story that make your heart leap. My number one book of 2020!

“Its world is so well thought out and immersive that when you finish the book, you don’t feel like you’ve left it entirely”

📚 “The Chronicles of Amber” — Roger Zelazny (first five books)

The Story of the Nine princes of Amber is captivating and the illustrative way of writing by Zelazny makes it easy to understand and enjoy the parallel fantasy worlds. To be honest there are times when you will say “what the * is happening” and you might lose the thread, but don’t give up, just keep going…

“What if Gods who looked like people created this world and all the other worlds through their Godly thoughts? And what if their father disappeared and there was a fight for the throne which shook all the worlds? And what if this Godly war led to doorways being opened which should not have opened which could kill off these Gods?”

📚 Game Of Thrones books

Fire and Blood: 300 Years Before A Game of Thrones (A Targaryen History) — If you are interested in the reign of House Targaryen on seven kingdoms of Westeros, this is your book. It's an awesome mix of battles, politics, betrayals, dragon combats, and all the other things which you can expect from The World of Ice & Fire.

The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones: The World of Ice & Fire— This illustrated volume is a comprehensive history of the Seven Kingdoms, providing constructed descriptions of the epic battles, bitter rivalries, and daring rebellions that lead to the events of the HBO series.

But let’s see what else I can share with you, except the fantasy books. This is something old and at the same time relevant nowadays…

📚 “1984” — George Orwell

When I heard that the novel is banned by numerous organizations over the years, I badly want to see why? I cannot relate more to the book in present times — despite the fact that the book is 70+ years old. Having organizations like Google, Facebook and Microsoft can definitely be considered as The Big Brother nowadays. Nineteen Eighty-Four is an amazing story about hope, despair, love, and totalitarianism.

“The most admirable effect of the book is that it makes you rethink a lot about life and society, there were even times when I questioned the importance of history and what actually makes something a reality“

And this is the book that I’ve been reading the last couple of months. Yep, months, you will see for yourself how much time does it take a practical book like this.

📚 “Inspired: How to create tech products customers love” — Marty Cagan

A book about product culture, how to provide real value to the customer, business value deliverables, source of innovation, the product discovery process, and a lot more...

A strong product culture means that the team understands the importance of continuous and rapid testing and learning. They understand that they need to make mistakes in order to learn, but they need to make them quickly and mitigate the risks. They understand the need for continuous innovation. They know that great products are the result of true collaboration. They respect and value their designers and engineers.

Thank you for the time you spent reading this post! I am looking forward to the one book you would recommend to start 2021 with? :)