Category: Book

One Book At A Time – 2024

In 2024, information overload was a constant companion. AI tools could now summarize anything from websites to audiobooks, but it lacked the depth and nuance of truly engaging with a story. Still, finding a good reason for long-from reading felt like a big challenge nowadays.

Yet, I carved out precious moments for some reading escapes. Here are a few of my favorite books from this year:

  • 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗜 𝗦𝗲𝗲: 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘄𝗻 of AI by Fei-Fei Li (Kindle link: https://amzn.to/3PcxNVI) explores the exciting intersection of AI and human understanding.
  • 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗢𝘄𝗻: 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗘𝗿𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘁 by Chris Dixon (Kindle Link: https://amzn.to/3VZHrPj) dives into the future of the internet, shaped by Web3 technologies.
  • 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘀, 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 by Nick Bostrom (Kindle link: https://amzn.to/3BKBTBq) examines the potential risks and rewards of superintelligent AI.
  • 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱: 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 by Adrian Niculescu (Kindle Link: https://amzn.to/3ZYd9O2) explores the world of tokenized assets and blockchain investing.

Reading in the age of AI comes with its own set of challenges, so here are some tips to help you squeeze in reading time:

  • 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲: I carry my Kindle Colorsoft (my 6th Kindle! – https://amzn.to/4gVnNvT) with me everywhere. Unlike tablets, e-readers minimize distractions from emails, notifications, and social media.
  • 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝟭𝟱 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀: Even short bursts of dedicated reading can make a big difference. Utilize commutes, waiting times, or short breaks for focused reading. In my case, I also enjoy a dedicated reading session after lunch.
  • 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆: Designate a quiet, comfortable space in your home and office to signal to your brain that it’s time to focus on reading.
  • 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: Discuss books with friends, join a book club, or connect with online reading communities to enrich your reading experience.

Ultimately, reading remains a source of deep satisfaction and intellectual growth. It allows us to escape the noise, explore new ideas, and connect with the power of human imagination.

What were your reading highlights of 2024? 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀!

One Book At A Time – 2023

In 2023, the world of information consumption was dominated by short-form content. We’re constantly bombarded with bite-sized pieces of information from websites news, short / long videos, blog posts, social media, slide decks, even industrial research reports and PDFs. Podcasts have also become a popular way for me to consume information while jogging.

This constant influx of quick hits has undoubtedly impacted my reading habit, making it a slower year for in-depth, long-form reading, particularly of ebooks.

Anyway, here are the books (in purchasing order) of 2023:

And the best book to me this year is … The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century’s Greatest Dilemma. YMMV.

Previous years’ book list:

AI 2041

Instead of believing in the marketing hype of generative AI, it’s important to understand what AI is, what AI can do, and what likely we will see by year 2041. Mr. Kai-Fu Lee’s AI 2041 is really a good read with all sorts of different AI use case scenarios. Highly recommended.

It’s also a dream came true to have Mr. Kai-Fu Lee’s “digital” signature with my Kindle Scribe in an AI event !

One Book At A Time – 2022

I told myself earlier this year I needed to read more SciFi, Blockchain and AI books. However, it’s a year with a lot less time to read …

It’s also year with a new Kindle – the big brother Kindle Scribe. Look forward to have better reading and note-jotting experiences with this great new device.

Anyway, here are my favorites this year :

  1. Winning the Right Game : How to Disrupt, Defend, and Deliver in a Changing World – A great strategy book about ecosystem innovation / disruption. Don’t miss it if you want to learn more on top of industrial disruption.
  2. 所謂「我不投資」，就是 all in 在法定貨幣 – Probably the best crypto foundation and investment book in Chinese, period.
  3. Proof of Stake: The Making of Ethereum and the Philosophy of Blockchains – The ideas behind Ethereum in the words of its founder, Vitalik Buterin. You will find that every crypto idea has been brewed for years.
  4. The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything – To me, it’s the best book of the year, for IT professionals. Lesson learned – the Metaverse is not what you think.
  5. Exhalation: Stories – Nine excellent SciFi short stories, from Time machine, to Robot, Metaverse, Video Artificial Memory and Quantum Machine. Some of the best SciFi short stories I ever read.
  6. Children of the new world – If you are fans of SciFi short stories and Black Mirror, and if you love the movie “After Yang”, don’t miss this book. Not as good as Exhalation and Stories of Your Life though.
  7. Stories of Your Life and Others – Another eight short SciFi stories from Ted Chiang (Exhalation, above) and great read. Note that some of the stories are Science Fictions, some are Fictions about Science.
  8. The Blockchain Innovator’s Handbook : A leader’s guide to understanding, adopting and succeeding with this disruptive technology – Post-COVID information about Blockchain, with 3 parts (This time it’s different, The journey, Making it happen). Good for business professional to understand and to promote the technology within your organization.
  9. The Bomber Mafia : A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War – I learned a lot about Second World War and Bombers from this book … bombing is not as easy as what you see from war movies.
  10. Life After Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy – Will the search engine giant survive after AI and Machine Learning ?
  11. Scary Smart : The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World – The book that tells you why Ethical AI is important … “The course of action we take at any given time is also the result of a value system that guides us and sometimes restricts us from making decisions that contradict our values.”
  12. Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control – One of the most important AI books ever written, everybody should read it.

Previous years’ book list: