I managed to reach my goal of reading 24 books in 2019. Ideally it should have been a simple linear process–you know, one book after the other, at more or less a pace of two a month–but it was not. And it was not due to my difficulties in focusing. Anyhow, in September it seemed like a done deal, then I went to Japan for holidays–I still have to write about it, I so love that country–and did not read as much as I thought I would, then the teaching term started, and I almost did not reach it. But at the end I succeeded.

Just to clarify, I read the equivalent of way more than 24 books, once you add all the journal articles, working papers, etc. This was a goal to expand my knowledge beyond my area of interest (economics / financial intermediation). Reading about justice, ethics, physics, productivity, and interesting lives.

So these are the three books that I think I enjoyed the most. In part just by reading them, but also because they increased my curiosity of the topics. This is my top three:

1. Hitch-22.
2. Reality is not what it seems.
3. The scientific attitude.

I have written about the first two (here and here). It comes as no surprise that Hitch-22 is the favourite one, especially when I combined the book version with the audiobook narrated by Hitch himself. A month ago, by the way, Michael Moynihan shared a great footnote in the book, what he called the “greatest footnote of all times.” Hitch is really missed.

For 2020, the goal is to do the same, but with a twist: without buying any new book. I have I would say around 100 to read to even at this pace it should be 4 years before I need to buy any new one. I’ll report in a year. Happy 2020!