My Reading List in 2023

The year 2023 was an eventful one. My wife and I decided to move to Aachen, so we bought a house here at the end of the year. We also purchased a car that took us on quite a few trips, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Belgium, and the Netherlands. With so many events, finding time for reading was not easy, but luckily, I was able to entertain myself with a few good books.

1. How Not to Die by Gene Stone and Michael Greger Stone

This book turned me vegetarian. I used to eat meat with every meal, so it wasn't easy to give up burgers and chicken wings, yet this book made a solid point about the effects of modern-day meat and how it is linked to various modern-day diseases. The author shares stories of how, as a doctor, he was able to cure patients by simply modifying their diets. He argues that diseases around the globe have patterns that are linked to what people eat in specific regions. There is a reason why there are so many cases of diabetes and heart disease in America and not in India or other Asian and African countries - it lies with what people eat! The book is filled with data-based evidence that vegetarian and vegan diets are much healthier than meat-based diets. An eye-opening book for me, and I loved reading every single page. I can highly recommend it to anyone interested in nutrition and how not to die/t.

Personal score: 9/10

2. Why the Germans Do It Better by John Kampfner

I purchased this book in German with the expectation that it would be an easy read. That wasn't the case. The book talks about complex issues such as migration, financial policies, sustainability, and looks at how Germany compares with other countries in the world. In many aspects, Germany did much better than expected given its tumultuous past, growing to be the third-largest economy on the planet. Kampfner, who lived in Berlin and witnessed the collapse of the Berlin Wall, looks at how Germany evolved to where it is today. However, it's not all rainbows; some decisions taken in the past on issues like migration and fiscal policy might have been shortsighted. As someone who has lived in Germany for seven years, issues such as aging infrastructure, bureaucracy, and lack of digitalization are shocking for a country that is seen by many as a role model.

Personal score: 8/10  

3. Cloud FinOps by O'Reilly Media

This was more reading for business than pleasure, as FinOps is the domain I'm working in. The book did a great job of explaining complex concepts in simple terms. FinOps is the practice of extracting the most business value out of your cloud spend. It explains how cloud technology has changed the way businesses pay for IT spending, moving from fixed costs to variable costs. This means that it's much easier to lose track of your spending if you don't track your costs and deployments. Although a basic understanding of cloud concepts is required, the book explains concepts such as CUDs, right-sizing, spot instances, savings plans, etc., well. However, the ever-changing nature of IT technologies means that some of the concepts described in the book may become obsolete in a few years or be replaced by some new technologies. All in all, if you're working in the field of FinOps or hyperscalers, this book will certainly share useful advice on how to regain control over your cloud spend using FinOps principles.

Personal score: 8.5/10