Ankur Sharma

While last year I had announced the top 10 books I read; based on the feedback I got, I realised it makes more sense to rather zero into my top 5 books this year. Few patterns emerged, when I started reflecting on my reads this year : My top 3 books were written by women. While this happened organically, I see this as a reflection of my reading which has opened to diverse voices. Three of my top 5 books were authored/co-authored by prolific bloggers who share their learnings every week for free and yet have managed to write a book which sells. I subscribed/read/shared their blogs long before I read their books, helping me understand first hand the power of building a network by sharing your thoughts for free. With my 5-year-old son picking up reading this year, I started reading a lot more children books, some read to him as night time stories while others recommended by him so that we can share notes on these books. It is refreshing to have a child’s perspective on book

I am a voracious reader and by experimentation have figured out that books and longreads are always better in ideas sticking longer with you than blogs, since they help reinforce the ideas with structure. Also, with them, you have the liberty to take pauses to deliberate on the idea and come back.  This year, 2018, I ran an experiment via books. I went deeper into specific themes and ideas via books. In 2018, my themes to understand ideas were Crypto, Behavioural Psychology and Greek Mythology. The reason I chose these themes were varied but primarily to understand the long term impact on I being a product person and parent of a 4 year old. Apart from these themes, I also read Autobiographies/Biographies which have remained my constant companion for over 5 years now, considering they help me peek into people mind - People who are/were successful in their respective fields.  Without further ado, here are my top 10 books. I am adding Goodreads link instead of A