Although I didn’t find the inspiration to write very often in 2020, I think it was a perfect year for reading. Among the 45 titles I read (with different thoroughness levels, I must add) I found many gems. And just as I did in 2019, I wanted to put together a list of those I liked the most.

All the books in this list have the common trait of juxtaposing elements that may seem disconnected in principle, but they illuminate and inspire when brought together. I bought multiple copies of these 10 books, in combinations of paperbacks, Kindle versions, audiobooks or English/Spanish translations. I know I will read most of them more than once:

1. Critical Mass (Physics of society)
2. Seeing like a state (Central planning)
3. The Fate of Rome (History of Rome)
4. The Switch (Renewable Energy)
5. Twitter and Tear Gas (Social movements)
6. The Coddling of the American Mind (Ethics and psychology)
7. You Are Not So Smart (Ethics and psychology; self-help)
8. Chasing Venus (Astronomy and adventure)
9. Blindness (Fiction)
10. Sing Backwards and Weep (Biography and Rock)

Books 1-3 opened my eyes and shaped my mind as only a few books have done it in my whole life – that I have read these three in the same year is remarkable. Books 4-6 cover aspects specific to the times we live. They may not be relevant in 50 years, but they talk with intensity about things we should all care deeply about now. Books 7-8 were surprising, well written and fresh. And books 9-10 touched my soul deeply; reading them were some of the most emotional events of a year already quite overloaded with emotions. Click on the titles to read my personal notes on them.

Finally, let me know if you have read any of them and your favourite books you read in 2020.

Next: 1. Critical Mass