The 7 Best Books I've Read in 2015

In 2014, I read less than 25 books and I was disappointed in myself at year's end because I knew I could do better. So, in 2015, I aimed higher and I've started well. The plan is to read at least 40 books in 2015, and I am happy to say I'm on track to hit that target.

So far, I have read 18 books. Some have been useful, some haven't been while some others have had great effect on me. Of all the books I have read, these are 7 of the best. I have listed them in numerical descending order and in order of impact. Some (or all) you might have read, and some you might not have. However, I'll advice you to take note of and look for them if you don't have them already.

Here they are:

7. The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich

This is the book that the movie, The Social Network, was adapted from. It is the story of the founding of Facebook. It is a non-fictional (but sometimes fictional) account of how Mark Zuckerberg came up with the Facebook idea and how he turned it into the great company it is today.

If you have an idea and you do not know where or how to begin, this book is one you should read. If you are the type that loves information and you feel you can't start without knowing enough, then you should read this book. There's so much you can gain from it. It will show you how Mark started Facebook in his dorm room and gradually worked his way up to becoming a Silicon Valley giant.

6. The Everything Store by Brad Stone

The Everything Store is a detailed, accurate narration of the begin, rise and dominance of Jeff Bezos' Amazon. The book discusses not only how Amazon started, but how it is run, the values upon which it operates, the character of Jeff Bezos and what he expects from his employees, and much more. The book is really interesting and you can learn a lot about how to run a company from it.

The book is so accurate that it discusses all the good and nasty things about Amazon. It is as objective a book, as any start-up company story you can find. It also doesn't fail to hide how demanding and annoying enigmas like Jeff Bezos can be.

5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

Any personal development or personal management book (or maybe just most of them) you see in this 21st century has it's roots in the ideas of this book. Any new thing you read has it's foundations in Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It's not the kind of book you rush through or the kind you read once and dump. It's more like a manual guiding you towards personal effectiveness.

Read it if you are looking for genuine ways to improve yourself and other people around you.

4. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

I don't know how else to explain this book than by saying that it is for dreamers and people with vision. If you have discovered your purpose, and you have a strong vision, this book is a great one to read. It is the story of a boy who gets up to chase his dream which finally leads him to a treasure. The book is written in simple language and so, that makes it easy for you to dismiss it as a waste of time. However, if you are smart enough, you'll settle down to absorb the wisdom that Paulo Coelho has provided in this short novel.

3. The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

The annoying thing about many management and entrepreneurship books you will see nowadays is that they will give you steps on how to do this or do that. This book contains no such thing. What is peculiar about this book is how Ben Horowitz warns readers beforehand that there really is no stone-set way of doing things in business and entrepreneurship. He highlights how that each circumstance or situation, though basic principles are required, will work best with you finding out what works best for you and your company at that time.

Ben Horowitz sold his company to HP for more than $1 Billion, despite it going through near-bankruptcy and rejection by the stock market. The company almost started trading for penny stocks. So, if you want to learn what it takes to go through the inevitable hard times in business and life, this book is a good read.

2. Winning by Jack Welch (with Suzy Welch)

This is definitely the best book I have ever read on business management. What makes it so special is that it was written by one of the greatest business managers that has ever lived. Also, the book is so good in the sense that it was released as a collection of answers to people's pressing questions and problems. Hence, the book arose out of necessity and the need for the world to partake out of the wisdom of Jack Welch.

You'll have to read the book to understand how wonderful it is. Even Warren Buffet agrees that it is one of the greatest management books ever written.

1. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

No other book I have read this year comes close to influencing my life, approach and thought pattern the way this book has. When I started out with it, I was skeptical about Gladwell's ideas. They seemed a bit strange to me. However, as I read on, I started to see why there has been so much fuzz about the man who wrote it and the book itself.

The social theories presented in the book have taken a hold of me. What the book does is to demystify so-called outliers. It discusses why Bill Gates is who he is today, why South Korea's Korea Air experienced so many plane crashes at a point in time, and why Asians are so good at Maths. Gladwell the goes ahead to advice us that if we can replicate the circumstances around outliers' lives, say Bill Gates for example, we can have many more people like them. Hence, there's nothing so special about successful people. If we study their lives and circumstances more, we would find the reasons for their success.

So, any comments? Which of these books have you read? And/or which would you like to read? Do share.