When your new girlfriend starts to seem more and more like your last girlfriend, know that it’s not because they are all that similar as people, but that their having been your girlfriend has shaped them, bringing out certain facets of their personalities... Own this fact, and you’ll know what to expect from your next beau. In fact, you met her when you met your first girlfriend ever. The same goes for the new company you’ve just started at, and your new boss there, and colleagues—soon you’ll see them becoming like your previous bosses and workmates, and you’ll know what experience awaits you just around the corner. - Anyan, Hu. I Deliver Parcels in Beijing: On Making a Living (pp. 187-188). Kindle Edition.
2008 was the last year that ended without me posting any of my writing to the internet. I was in my second year at university, George Bush was the US President, and the BlackBerry Curve had just launched. That feels like an eternity ago. So, when I realised last week that I had not posted anything to the blog this year, I knew I had to make time for a quick one.
For this post, I’ve gone back to the FT interview style, answering questions I’ve gotten from friends over the past few days. Here goes:
What did you read this year, and what stayed with you after the last page?
I finished 35 books in paperback or Kindle format and another five audiobooks. My reading list included familiar favourites like Morgan Housel’s Psychology of Money, James Michener’s Sayonara and Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air. I also enjoyed new books like David Jarrett’s 33 Meditations on Death, Dan Wang’s Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future, and Karen Hao’s Empire of AI. At the beginning of the year, I wanted to read more “useful books”, which in hindsight was a misnomer. All books are useful. In fact, the single most important thing I learned about myself this year came from a book I wouldn’t have considered “useful” at the start of the year: Hu Anyan’s I Deliver Parcels in Beijing. As to what stayed with me after the last page, my top choice is the quote I started this piece with. Go on and read it again. It’s relevant to the next question.
