My summer reading list

We’ve had a tough but productive 2021 so far. Society is slowly re-opening and like many of my colleagues, I am looking forward to a break in a few weeks. Beyond running, reading is my main outlet. Here is what you can find at the top of my reading pile for the summer holidays…

Amazon Unbound, Brad Stone

I don’t read many business stories. But, I have been following Amazon for many years. This book is the sequel to the “Everything Store”. I am impressed by Amazon’s drive to understand and please customers, their bold objectives, their focus on execution and their drive to try different things. Our big push in software engineering, AI and supply chain management in the last decade has been in part influenced by our study of Amazon. The Everything Store was mandatory reading for a few of my colleagues!

Caste, Isabel Wilkerson

This book analyzes the parallels of the painful treatment of minorities in North America, Germany and India. I particularly appreciate the insight it provides on the root causes of a caste system and how it translates to today’s society. While easy to read, the content itself can be very hard at times. Well worth a read … maybe not on the beach.

The Code Breaker, Walter Isaacson

I am a fan of Walter Isaacson and don’t know much about gene editing, so this was a natural choice. It seems only fitting to spend time on the future of healthcare after what we’ve been through in the past 18 months. While there are big moral and ethical questions, this pillar of science is promising.

The complete short stories of Ernest Hemingway

Since the start of the pandemic, I have read many classics and discovered fiction. After having devoured much of his iconic work, I now enjoy Hemingway’s short stories. Very eclectic and a perfect mix-in when you read more than one book simultaneously (which I often do).

A handful of dust, Evelyn Waugh

I have been over-indexing on English classics in the past few months. There are many layers to understand. Waugh is known as one the great prose stylists of the English language. Frankly speaking, I don’t think I can fully appreciate the prose given French is my first language, but it’s still an enjoyable read.

Reality is not what it seems, Carlo Rovelli

If fiction is not enough to take your mind away from reality, try quantum mechanics (or quantum gravity in this book). An absolute mind-bender. They say that if you understand quantum mechanics, then you don’t. Or if you understand, its simply because you haven’t read enough! So, in a weird and very relaxing way, it feels OK to not understand completely. Very therapeutic. Rovelli does an excellent job distilling concepts, providing chronology and translating them into a language that is consumable. He doesn’t shy away from tackling life’s biggest questions. I have read most of his popular work in the past couple of months and can safely say I don’t understand. But most enjoyable!          

As you can tell, I have quite a mixed stack of reading material to go through during my time off. I’m looking forward to diving in. Are you reading up this summer? Let me know what’s on your list.

Charles