Six books I loved reading in 2021

Gigi (my pup) posing with me and the books

"I read so I can live more than one life in more than one place." – Anne Tyler.

When I was a kid, my birthday gift had to be a book every year. I picked up reading thanks to my parents, who would not let me watch TV until I finished 20 pages of a book every day. The exact moment when I fell in love with reading was when Harry Potter was released. The whole series was costly, so my parents bought the first two books for me, I borrowed and exchanged a few with my friends, and my love for books grew with every passing year.

Growing up, I loved reading fiction, but I have started enjoying non-fiction and personal development books over the past couple of years. 2020 and 2021 pushed me to read more as we stayed home due to Covid. I am grateful as books helped me know about things that people would not talk about in the open, it helped me learn more about myself, and lastly, books helped me find my voice.

So, without further ado. My top 6 book recommendations are below.

1. Moment of lift (Melinda Gates)-

For all the people who know me, know how big of a feminist I am. This book is a must-read for everyone who needs to know about the global state of women's issues (with data) and how empowering women will lift humanity. The book explores the inequalities women face and addresses how supporting and empowering women can handle these inequalities. The idea is that "when you lift women, you lift everybody — families, communities, entire countries". It tells you stories of the women Melinda has met worldwide and how to challenge the status quo and push for equality as it can't wait. I cried multiple times reading this book.

2. Becoming (Michelle Obama)

The memoir has exceptional storytelling about Michelle's childhood that shaped her into the woman she is today, her motherhood challenges and journey, her purpose, and finally, her becoming the First Lady of the United States of America. Becoming is divided into three parts: Becoming Me, Becoming Us, and Becoming more. The book is inspiring; it gives you an idea about the political atmosphere in the USA and gives you an insight into Barack's and Michelle's love story. The best part is that it teaches every woman to own their story and be proud of how their life, experiences, failures, and successes shape them.

3. Atomic Habits (James Clear)

"Success is the product of daily habits — not once-in-a-lifetime transformations." — James Clear. Okay, this is the book that can change your life. We all want to achieve all our goals in life, but have you heard that habits are the root cause to make or break your life. This book tells you simple techniques that help build good habits and lose bad ones. Habits are like investments. The returns are not seen immediately but over time. Habit stacking is a crucial skill discussed in this book. This book has helped me be more organized and bucketize similar tasks to achieve more in a single day. A must-read if you want to change your life.

4. Inspired (Marty Cagan)

I also love product management as much as I love reading. I am a product manager at Microsoft, and Marty Cagan helps you understand and master product management like no other person could. Inspired covers how product management fits in with other functions in detail. For people interested in product management or entry-level product managers, this book helps you understand key stakeholders such as engineering, design, project management, and marketing. I love how well Marty has described the role of a PM- from the product discovery process to leading engineers, designers, other PMs in sister teams or customers, how PMs job is to keep the customer at the center of the design, and the importance of culture in product management.

5. Thinking Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman)

This book is on behavioral psychology and decision making. It tells you why we all make decisions and the two-system way of thinking- System 1(Thinking Fast) and System 2 (Thinking slow). Your brain uses system one maximum and takes the path of least resistance even if it is wrong. It's a fantastic book if you want to improve your decision-making abilities.

6. Tiny Beautiful things (Cheryl Strayed)

I got this book not knowing this would make me cry 50+ times. The book comprises powerful letters that people wrote anonymously to the advice column in the "Rumpus" run by Cheryl Strayed as "Sugar." Every person should read this book, refer to it when they lose perspective or are confused by life. This book made me happier and mindful and helped me discover how the biggest of problems have a solution.

Have you read any of these books? What are your thoughts? I also enjoy exchanging book recommendations; please feel free to share your book recommendations in the comments below.