2023 Reading List: The 39
2023 Reading List: The 39

Target of 50 proved too ambitious. The 39 excludes travel books (mostly) and those I lost interest in midway through. It includes some books I skimmed parts of (anything below a 3 rating).

1. Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson
2. Give and Take by Adam Grant
3. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
4. Spare by Harry
5. How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil
6. Onward by Howard Schultz
7. Grief Trip by Stuart
8. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
9. Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
10. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
11. How to Change your Mind by Michael Pollan
12. The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama
13. Einstein by Walter Isaacson
14. Persuaders by Anand Giridharadas
15. Open by Andre Agassi
16. Stay True by Hua Hau
17. More Myself by Alicia Keys
18. Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
19. Outlive by Peter Attia
20. The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee
21. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman|
22. 100 tips for visiting Iceland by Eric Newman
23. Seven brief lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli
24. Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
25. Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
26. Best American Travel Writing 2016 by Bill Bryson
27. Atomic Habits by Peter Clear
28. In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
29. At Home by Bill Bryson
30. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
31. One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
32. Recoding America by Jennifer Pahlka
33. Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
34. David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
35. Joy of Costco by David and Susan Schwartz
36. The Puzzler by AJ Jacobs
37. BTS Biography by University Press
38. Prodigal Daughter by Jeffrey Archer
39. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

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Anupam Singhalbooks
The Goal: 50 books in 2023
The Goal: 50 books in 2023

Fresh off compiling my 2022 book list, and inspired by the Tail End post at Wait But Why to be more intentional with our remaining time on earth, I decided to make a New Year resolution to read 50 books this year. Off to a good start.

  1. Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson

  2. Give and Take by Adam Grant

  3. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

  4. Spare by Harry

  5. How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil

  6. Onward by Howard Schultz

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booksAnupam Singhalbooks
Daily fitness regimen: 2 hours of VR TT
Daily fitness regimen: 2 hours of VR TT

Eleven VR Table Tennis has become my goto for fitness and fun. An hour or two, one charge cycle, the need to meet daily Move goals. Stay muted usually, don’t need to talk all the time. Using gestures is good enough. Played someone in China today, was fun to chat, both our English accents notwithstanding. The app needs a restart every other day when flicker gets too high. Can tell if the ball bounces too high on serve. Just one crash in a full year of playing. It’s straightforward to get started, just put on the controllers and headset, do a few warmup knocks with the AI and then jump into multiplayer. Takes a few seconds to find a match.

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Anupam Singhalvirtual reality, fitness
WTF is XR?
WTF is XR?

At $1500, the Meta Quest Pro is pretty much DOA, as in dead on arrival, the apparent reason for the price point being Apple’s foray into VR expected early next year. The enterprise tie-in is a joke. Productivity and creativity are going to be a tiny niche. Face it - this is for gamers and for fitness. And for that, the $300 Quest 2 is more than adequate.

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Anupam Singhalvirtual reality
Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein
Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein

This was an eye-opening book for me. I was not familiar with US politics prior to Reagan. A lot to take in and digest. A few things stand out.

Up until the 1960s, being a Democrat or Republican did not imply a clear set of values, the left and the right we hear about now. Voters habitually split their vote for President and Congress between parties. Parties tended to dominate for decades and politicians got used to making deals with the other side to get things done. Now, they just wait for their turn. Reagan and Bush Senior raised taxes - that would be an anathema today in the Republican party. Clinton came into office on a tough-on-crime platform. That would be just as out of place in the Democratic party today.

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Anupam Singhalbooks
100 Reasons to Vote for Joe Biden
100 Reasons to Vote for Joe Biden

From a fellow MoveOn volunteer, here are 100 reasons to vote for Joe Biden for President:

  1. $15 federal minimum wage

  2. Reinstate DACA – allowing new applicants to apply

  3. 12 Weeks federal paid family leave

  4. Universal Pre-Kindergarten/Childcare for ages 3 and 4

  5. Tuition free college for those with household income less than $125,000.00

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Anupam Singhalpolitics
Plunging into Virtual Reality with Oculus Quest
Plunging into Virtual Reality with Oculus Quest

Turns out I bought the Oculus Quest a month before it got discontinued.

A stand-alone VR system, it sure has been a lot of fun to play with in the last couple of weeks. No wires at all. Yes, the headset is a bit on the heavy side, but you get used to it. The hand controllers are surprisingly well-designed and feel natural, whether handling a gun or a ping pong bat. Headset battery life is about 2 hours. Each hand controller takes a single AA battery. Changed it for the first time yesterday after well over 10 days of play, each day an hour plus.

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Anupam Singhalvirtual reality, gamesComment
Five Dysfunctions

Once I started reading 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, I couldn’t put it down. Written as a fictional story, it had me fully engrossed. In two hours, I was done and wondering why I had not come across this gem of a book earlier, now almost 2 decades old. This should be mandatory reading for every manager.

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Anupam Singhalmanagement, books
May your workplace have Radical Candor

I highly recommend Kim Scott’s Radical Candor to every manager and non-manager alike. It talks about a culture and a framework of empathy and providing frequent positive and critical feedback that Kim developed over her years of working at Google and Apple and as a CEO coach. The first part of the book focuses on the philosophy and the second part has practical tools and techniques you can apply in your day-to-day work life.

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Anupam Singhalmanagement, books
A month with the Oura Ring
A month with the Oura Ring

After a month of sleeping with the Oura Ring every night, it’s been eye-opening and a journey in itself. The three tiny sensors on the ring are a marvel of technology. Size is made to order. Phone connection is seamless. Charging is needed every 4-5 days. This is a beautifully designed and executed device. I love how it feels. The phone app is a joy to delve into and browse the data and insights provided. But the sheer quantity of data does feel overwhelming.

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Anupam Singhalgadgets
Bloomberg joins the fray

This is what the debates are all about. What an exciting bout! They kept going at each other round after round. A few came out bloody, like Mike and Amy, and one in particular came out on top, Warren. Starting with the six, the weakest links are Amy and Mike. Amy dug herself into a hole with her “are you calling me dumb?” comment and never recovered. She’s toast. Bloomberg’s efforts to spend his own money for Democratic causes are to be applauded, and I cannot fathom a billionaire buying his way in and winning vs Trump.

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Anupam Singhalpolitics
Bernie, Pete and Amy

Biden is down and hopefully on the way out. His African-American support should transfer to another candidate once Obama starts canvassing. Doesn’t have much of a shot against Trump. P/VP ticket pair possibilities:

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Anupam Singhalpolitics
Wristwatch: Back to Analog

Generation 1 of the Apple Watch was the bomb. It was magical and amazing. Every message notification could be read immediately and every call answered right on the wrist. Customizable watch faces - ooh! The honeymoon period lasted for over 2 years.

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Anupam Singhalgadgets
Democratic Front-runners Top 3

Another debate came and went. Pete Buttigieg keeps growing on me every time I see him. His centrist talk resonates. Cory Booker and Andrew Yang sound fresh. Biden has a hard time saying a complete sentence and fumbles badly - he’s clearly too old for this. I like Kamala Harris but her mismanaged campaign and falling poll numbers remove her from the running.

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politicsAnupam Singhalpolitics
Grieving and Monsters by James Blunt

My maternal grandfather - Nanaji - passed away at the age of 94 a few days ago. It was expected and a relief to him and to those caring for him. He was a larger-than-life personality and lived a glorious life but his last year was not pleasant. I was close to him and find myself thinking of him and of his words often. He was a paragon of virtue

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Anupam Singhalmusic